SoxFanForsyth

Couple things: 1. Why on earth did Miller throw a 3-2 fastball to Aaron Hicks with 1B open and 2 outs in a tie game in extras?? It made no sense. His slider is absolutely filthy. Hicks would have had no shot at it. Very poor pitch selection (although all reports are that David Ross had to talk him into throwing it). 2. That we're 20-20 at the .500 point really should not be a surprise. This is going to be a 2nd half team, all the way. With the amount of young players we have at key positions right now, it's going to take them about 1/2 of the season to get settled in and find their stride. I fully expect this team to be about 4-6 games over .500 by the ASB, about 3-4 games out of 1st place, and then turn it on in the second half and end the season with 93-95 wins. Also really see this being the season that the Sox make a blockbuster move. Could they trade for Cliff Lee, let Lester walk, and give the young pitchers an extra 1-2 seasons of a veteran ace (Lee has 1 year left plus an option) to buffer their entrance into the bigs? Certainly could be an option. Lee - Lester - Lackey would be a pretty nasty top 3 in any series.

Unless they trade Gary Sanchez, it's not happening. I'm not sure they have the chips even if they include Sanchez to be honest. Cubs are asking for the moon for him.

Betts definitely has the range for SS. He was drafted as a SS and moved to 2B because of his arm, not his range. But that was 3 years ago, I'm not sure how much his arm has strengthened since then. I do know, however, that the Sox are exploring the option of having him on the left side of the infield, though.

Why the Mookie Betts Position Question is Really an Answer To go onto what UN said, "I make it a point, always in the third group [of batting practice], I go to center field," said Betts, who has played second base exclusively for most of the last three years after opening his career as a shortstop. "I pretty much take it like a game situation, take all the line drives, flyballs, anything, and sometimes I take some groundballs and throw them to the bag just to see what it's like out there." Also, "But those notions are getting a bit ahead of Betts' current circumstance. If the 21-year-old continues to rocket through the Red Sox system at this pace, it likely will be in Triple-A Pawtucket -- perhaps later this year -- that he will start gaining exposure to positions other than second base in games, at a time when he can work with one coaching staff on making any necessary transitions, with the relevant coordinator or coordinators (infield instructor Andy Fox or outfield instructor George Lombard, depending on the Sox' needs) linking up with Pawtucket as needed to round out Betts' education at a different spot. That's how the Sox proceeded with Xander Bogaerts a year ago: He took some grounders at third base in Portland, but it wasn't until he arrived in Pawtucket -- after he'd shown that he needed to be challenged by a higher level of pitching -- that he began his more formal training at the position where he'd eventually prove a pivotal postseason performer." Don't think for a minute that the Sox wouldn't absolutely love a Ben Zobrist-type player if they could get that from Betts. If he can play 2B, SS, CF, LF, and 3B, and produce offensively like he's shown, he's going nowhere. And that's coming from someone who would trade him in a deal for Stanton in a heartbeat, but that's not the way the Sox will go, IMO.

8-5 is a .615 W%, and is good for a 100 win pace. If they win their remaining 138 games (after the 11-13 start) at a .615 pace, they win 96 games.

I believe Betts streak is at 62 without the 2013 playoffs, 67 with. I just went to bbref and looked at Betts 162 game average based on his season so far. It made me laugh. .396/.458/.597, 26 HR, 102 RBI, 205 Runs, 76 SB. A recent Alex Speier article mentioned that his stock as risen to "untouchable" status on the Sox. Just to be clear, he's on the same timeline as Xander was, and in all honesty, is absolutely crapping all over Xanders numbers, as a middle infielder as well. I can definitely see a scenario where Mookie goes back to SS, Xander slides to 3B, and Middlebrooks/Cecchini plays 1B and one gets traded. Then again, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep all 4 in the case that someone gets hurt.

You could get Ethier plus a good chunk of money (taking his AAV down to 11-13mm/yr) for probably Ranaudo, to be honest. I'm not sure how much I value Ranaudo, I'd have to think about it, but either way he's not a blue chipper and Ethier, even with his platoon issues, is a consistent 120-125 wRC+ player.

Yup. Although it won't be like this all year, as Bogaerts and Bradley will begin to see the fruits of their labor showing up as the season progresses. I wouldn't, however, be surprised at all to see the Sox go out and pick up a bat for LF and get a little more offense going and a bit more stability out there. Not sure if they'd go after a huge piece (i.e. Stanton), try to buy low on a guy with huge upside (i.e. Kemp), or go with more of a mid-level piece. But I certainly see them making a move and not letting the season get away from them.

Win. Sweep. Streak. Get to .500.

Carp isn't allowed to bring a bat to the plate anymore. 2 straight walks, 6 in 3 innings and he goes chasing on a 1-0 pitch. Oh man. That is so infuriating

There's no possible way that Carp doesn't lead the world in GIDP's, even in his limited playing time

One down. Keep rolling. First place by next weekend. Streaking by Sunday.

Stanton is 24. Bautista is 33. Why would you take Joey Bats on the back end of his career instead of Stanton through the prime of his??

He and Vazquez yes. But you don't get Giancarlo Stanton by giving up Nava Roberts and Capuano. But I table this to 6-1

Plus JBJ's 33.1 UZR/150 (which could be close to record breaking). Basically 100 points difference in UZR projected over a season.

JBJ a much better center fielder than Sizemore, particularly defensively. Both have been hitting almost identically (JBJ wRC+ 70, Sizemore 67). Sox have come out and said they see Grady as a corner OF, which means he's a platoon partner w Gomes a la Nava 2013 now. Agree we need to trade for an outfielder, but I'll wait until June (or at least Memorial Day) to get on my trade for Giancarlo Stanton horse (spoiler alert, Betts Cecchini Swihart and Barnes should get it close)

She's already 100% getting one. She's a CRNA (nurse anesthetist), so she is very familiar with all of the anesthesia stuff.

Jackso my wife and I are having our first child (daughter) in about 4 months. I think I remember you had a little girl last season, no? Anything I should expect?

Alright whatever. Someone's gotta start this thread. Last night was as embarrassing and sloppy as it gets. But tonight, we finally field our whole team. Tonight it changes. Tonight, we start a winning streak, and a long streak in which we win 22 of our next 28 games. Get on my back boys, I'm carrying this team to 1st place.

Couple things on last night. Doubront, man, what can you say. Makes you sick to your stomach to watch him pitch. Clearly he's not right, and he needs a stint on the DL to figure out whats going on. Not sure where he's injured, but he has now completed two outings of 2.2 innings this year. Workman is still building up arm strength in the minors, but there is a starter down there who looks outrageous. Rubby De La Rosa: 22.2 IP, 21 K, 4 BB, 1.19 ERA. It's well discussed that the 2nd year back from TJS typically is when you find your control. Combine that with him coming back in better shape, and I think he's leapfrogged everyone in terms of coming up for a start. Whether its RDLR or Workman, it doesn't much matter to me. I'm tired of destroying our bullpen because Doubront can't get through 3 innings. And it's happened in 2 of his 5 starts thus far. Right when Lackey throws the crap out of the baseball and goes 8 IP and saves the pen, Doubront goes out and absolutely murders the bullpen. It wasn't just that he pitched bad these two times. It's that he just gives up. Loses concentration. Stops paying attention to runners. Stops caring about easy ground balls. Just stops caring. I can put up with a few bad outings. They happen. If you're going to stop concentrating (which he admitted to post-game), and you visibly stop caring (Roberts stole 2nd before Doubront even picked up his leg), then you're dead to me. Go down to Pawtucket...no, you know what? Go down to Portland and figure your crap out because what you did last night is absolutely, 100% unacceptable. Get lost, Doubront.

lol. did u forget ur bullpen

Not true at all. You don't give out a contract to a player because someone hit the 15 day DL, particularly when you've got Cecchini in AAA who just needs a little work on defense, and you certainly don't position hop a 21 year old future superstar.

Pineda will give up 4 runs next inning and will get pulled after 2 outs.

Then what, once Middlebrooks is back?

Henry Owens overall AA line: 43 IP, 1.26 ERA, 3.6 BB/9, 13.4 K/9. Silly numbers. AAA by June. MLB by August.