Kimmi

Holt is sporting a .480 BABIP and a 32% line drive rate. Ridiculous.

Agreed. I think he could be really good if he could get some consisten at bats.

I think depth, on the whole, is underrated. It's often not the all star starters that make the difference, but rather the bench guys that can fill in when needed without having the team miss a beat. In 2013, the bench was huge for the Sox. I've stated many times how much I like the depth on this year's team. IMO, Holt, Nava, and Craig could all be starters on other teams.

That's really whack.

The Sox have scored 19 unearned runs in 14 games. Not that I'm complaining, but it would be nice if they could actually get a hit with RISP. They are batting .204 with RISP (3rd from last in MLB), and they have been woeful in that regard in the past 4 games or so. It's been frustrating to watch. OTOH, it's great that the offense hasn't really gotten it going yet, and we're still winning games.

You are the man Thunder. Good job with the game threads and with the mojo! Keep it going!

Stat geeks everywhere are rejoicing. MLB showcased Statcast in a game last night. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/119234412/statcast-technology-debut-2015-cardinals-nationals-mlb-network Statcast will do for defense and baserunning what PITCH/fx did for pitch framing and blocking pitches. Exciting times!

How can anyone not like the Cubbies?

Hi Bigemu. I'm guessing that's the plan for the Sox offense - make Archer work and get him out early, but we shall see. Do you know the other 4 fans? LOL

It's always good to win the first game of the series and take some of the pressure off. I hope the Sox offense can get to Archer tonight. Let's do this boys! Keep the good mojo going!

I agree with Bellhorn here. Except for the contract being one year too long, he was worth his contract. As I said before, he might not have performed up to task offensively in terms of HRs and RBIs, but he contributed in other ways. Also, the market for corner outfielders was rich when Drew was given his contract.

I always thought Drew got a bum rap. He didn't live up to many people's expectations offensively, but he was better than most people gave him credit for. I think a lot of people didn't like him because he didn't show enough emotion on the field. They mistook his lack of displayed emotion for lack of caring/enjoyment of the game. At any rate, I can't imagine having to be away from a child when he/she is that ill. As much as I like stats, I understand that the players are human and that they will be affected by outside factors. On a similar note, I think this is why the team played so poorly under Bobby V. As professional as we'd like them to be, it's hard to play for a manager that you don't trust or respect.

This was actually the very example I was thinking about when I typed that post. I remember a lot of Drew bashers that year (and every year) despite the fact that he might have been struggling due to very real family issues.

Momentum can be looked at in different ways, and it has been by statisticians. They have looked at momentum in terms of teams on hot streaks carrying that into the postseason. They have looked at it in terms of a team gaining momentum late in a game to earn a come from behind win and how that momentum carries into the next day's game. They have looked at it in terms of a team making a huge game changing play (either offensively or defensively), and how that carries into the remainder of the game. It doesn't matter how momentum is defined. Momentum does not have predictive value.

You are arguing points that I am not making. I didn't say that Pedroia's grit has impacted a lot of games. I said that I think Pedroia is as good as he is largely because of his grit. I strongly believe that. There are not stats to prove or disprove that. It is just my opinion. It is a strong opinion. I don't even know what your question about being a miniscule believer versus a strong believer has to do with anything, and how you are concluding I'm a miniscule believer. As far as the base stealing goes, my argument has nothing to do with Ellsbury contributing momentum that has impacted games. My argument is that a hitter at the plate does not have an advantage when there is a speedy base runner on first versus when there is a non speedy runner on base. That argument has nothing to do with momentum or grit or any of those other "unquantifiable" qualities that you are talking about. Showing that batters do worse when speedy runners are on first than they do when non speedy runners are on first is quantifiable, and the evidence has been presented.

It's not so much the spinning into a positive that bothers me with some Yankees fans. It's the double standard. A setback for the Yankees is spun into a positive, while the same setback for the Sox means that the Sox simply stink. Can't have it both ways.

Ha! I am certainly no fan of Joba, but I can root for anyone who shuts down the Yankees.

While I agree that good pitching is the key in the post season (and that does not mean that a team needs an ace), the key is to get there first. In a short series, anything can and does happen. Besides that, it is very unlikely that the rotation we have now is the rotation we will see in the playoffs, provided that the Sox get there.

Masterson dug us out of the cellar. Our starters are now 29th in ERA! For all the talk of our starters not getting deep enough into games, they have not been that bad. A couple of stats I read on another site: The average AL SP goes 5.57. The average for the RS is 5.53. Yes, it would be nice if they went deeper, but it hasn't been as bad as some people are making it out to be. Also, if you take out the marathon extra-inning game against the Yankees, the Sox are also right about average in terms of innings pitched by the BP so far, so it's not like the starters are wearing the pen out at an extraordinary rate.

I like JBJ too. I really hope that the Sox do not trade him, and that he can hit enough to earn a spot on the team, maybe next season. Not sure if that will happen though.

This is a good board. I've enjoyed posting here. The members have all been very welcoming, and the moderating is not stifling. All is well, thank you, and I hope the same for you. The season has been both frustrating and enjoyable so far. The starting pitching should be better than what we saw last week, and IMO, the bats have not really warmed up yet. Given that we are 8-5 despite that, I am optimistic about things to come.

I don't think they have internet service in WVA.

Good job with the mojo Thunder! We needed that win. Keep it going!

If the team were 12-0, I would be optimistic, but I wouldn't be buying my WS tickets just yet. I know better than to base an entire season on 12 games, good or bad. No one has said that the rotation is perfect, or that they haven't been mediocre and inconsistent. All we are saying is that 12 games is too soon to make any real judgments about how they will be over the course of the season, or to be saying that this team is going nowhere unless they get pitching help.

Twelve games is not enough to base any long term decisions on. The starting pitching could be a serious problem, or this past week of starts could be something fluky. It's too early to know. That's all I'm saying.