dustcover

So what's going on with Vasquez? The Sox front office go out and sign a recently released catcher off waivers and then make him the backup catcher to Leon after putting Hannigan on the 15 day DL. So how come they leave Vasquez languishing in Pawtucket, when they could have brought him up for 15 days while Hannigan recuperates? I don't get it. Any thoughts?

Perfect opportunity for Brentz to up his value as a trade-chip, thus boosting his chances of getting to the 'show' since his path to MLB with the Sox is blocked by Bradley, Betts, Brock, And Benintendi. So what does he do, he takes a third strike with the bases loaded, not once , but twice. Good grief Bryce, this ain't rocket science, protect the damn plate!

Kinda reminds me of the carpenter strolling along the beach as the fishing boats were coming in, barren of any fish, and him telling Peter that he could show him where and how to catch more fish.

deja vu all over again. In the sixth game of the 1986 World Series, McNamara failed to substitute his best defensive infield, namely Stapleton for Buckner at 1B, when the game was on the line. So why on earth, with a 1-0 lead and a ground-ball reliever brought in to close out the ninth, did Farrell not put Hill (career fielding % .985) in at 3B and move Shaw over to 1B? The whole idea of building a bench with depth, applies to defense as well as offense. Hill is a better defensive third baseman than Shaw, and Shaw is a better defensive first baseman than Hanley. Would the game outcome have turned out differently? We'll never know! But what I do know is that Farrell did not put his players in the best position to win.

His pitches were good, but the umpire did him no justice, and his teammates did him no favors on defense. But for that he would have gotten out of the inning unscathed.

Sore right knee.

On the flip side of that coin, if a contending team suffers some losses between now and the deadline, their urgency and degree of desperation will certainly factor into the equation which I'm quite sure Beane will take advantage of. That '3-fewer-starts perspective' in itself may be offset by how anxious a team is to bolster their starting pitching for the stretch run of the regular season and particularly for the playoffs. Personally, I consider that to be quite significant.

Going into the season we were looking at a rotation of: Price Buccholz Kelly Porcello Rodriquez Now going into the second half of the season, Price Porcello Wright Rodriguez Pomeranz with O'Sullivan available for spot starts. Sure, I'd love to see another 'ace' on the staff, but I'm nonetheless feeling much better now regarding the rotation than I was earlier on.

I can't dispute any of your stats, but sometimes it just comes down to 'chemistry' and inspirational plays by teammates. For example, I'm certain his teammates were further inspired when Brock Holt turned a sure double into a miraculous throw-out at 2nd base, besides his multi-hit game just coming off the DL with concussion problems. And I further submit that when the offense is clicking and giving pitchers run support it alters their approach as to how they manage the game from the mound. So getting back to Bradley batting 9th, there is more to it than his stats. Having a quality bat with speed at the bottom of the lineup provides two lead off quality hitters back to back throughout the game and drastically changes the complexion of the lineup for opposing pitchers. So although I can't guarantee success, after going 10-16 for a month on the heels of a very successful two-month stretch, I'm still of a mind that reverting to the earlier batting order might well reignite the team's offense and possibly alter the pitchers' landscape in a positive way.

With a 10-16 record in June, maybe it's time to go back to what worked so well at the beginning of the season when the Sox offense was explosive. For openers with Brock back in the lineup, put Bradley back to batting 9th. Comments???

Say goodnight Gracie. "Goodnight Gracie."

Way to go O'Brien! ROLL TIDE!

play ball!

Having read a few recent media reports that the Padres may be shopping Wil Myers has me intrigued. This may sound silly, but when he came up with the Rays in 2013 and I saw him play against the Sox, he just looked like a star in the making. I particularly liked the fluidity of his swing. I thought the Rays had found another Evan Longoria. Admittedly, in his brief career he has not lived up to my expectations nor for that matter many others expectations. However, with all that being said, I'm still wondering how he might do in a Sox uniform. Does anyone have access to his stats when he played for the visiting Rays at Fenway? And while at it, I'd enjoy knowing what the keen baseball minds on the forum think about how he might do as a Sox and where he would fit in?

So said the hare to the tortoise!

That's very interesting. Point well made.

Not an argument, more like a discussion. But I did invite everyone to 'weigh in', so thanks for your input.

Recently, a friend and fellow Sox fan initiated a discussion on the subject of Sox shortstops. He claims that Xander is now better than Nomar at shortstop. I'll admit that Xander has the potential to become one of the better shortstops that have played for the Sox but to now classify him as better than Nomar is a bit of a stretch. Here are some stats on their respective early playing years. Nomar .........G...BA..OBP..HR..SLG..OPS 1997 153 .306 .342 30 .534 .875 1998 143 .323 .362 35 .584 .946 1999 135 .357 .418 27 .603 1.022 2000 140 .372 .434 21 .599 1.033 Xander 2014 144 .240 .297 12 .362 .660 2015 152 .320 .355 7 .421 .776 He is now trying to convince me that this year Xander will eclipse Nomar's best single year. Anyone care to weigh in?

So it appears that Wright gets the majority of votes for 'most surprising'. Perhaps, just for fun, I'll post the same question toward the end of July/early August to see if any responders have changed their opinion.

I'm just a little intrigued that no one has mentioned Hanley, who has played with enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and in spite of his recent struggles at the plate, has played admirably in the field at 1B. His overall performance thus far must certainly be considered surprising in light of all of the off-season discussions on what might be expected regarding his converting to the role of first-baseman. I'm not saying that his performance qualifies as 'most surprising', but he certainly merits inclusion in the conversation.

I sincerely hope that I'm not overlooking an existing thread in which I should be posting this, but I'm interested to know what others think on the question of which Sox player, thus far into the season, is performing most surprisingly?

Referencing off-the-radar brings back memories of 1981 when the 20-year-old Fernando Valenzuela took Los Angeles (and Major League Baseball) by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Series. That year, Valenzuela became the only player in MLB history to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season; he was also awarded the Silver Slugger Award. With his youthful charm, devastating screwball, "Ruthian physique", and a connection with Los Angeles' large Latino community, Valenzuela touched off an early '80s craze dubbed "Fernandomania".

Apparently not. I believe it was announced that Christian would be catching Wright on Friday, and Leon catching Rodriguez on Saturday.