Maxbialystock

Completely agree. That's on Breslow more than the hitting coach.

Indeed.

Agree on the weak lineup and on over-reliance on Anthony. Cora was offered the Phillies job as soon as they fired their manager, who may have been fired because Cora was available. I'm beginning to think the problerm is with Breslow. He's not to blame for Story and Yoshida, both overpaid, but last year he dumped two good bats in Devers and Bregman. Bregman's strong suit is pitching, which is coming apart at the seams.

You may have said "don't lead off with Anthony" back during spring training, but, had I read it, I would have disagreed. Anthony was brought up last year because they thought he was ready. They already had three outfielders--Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu--plus Refsnyder as a back up. Anthony was huge leading off last year, the best hitter on the team. And he had been great in the minors. I don't of course disagree he has strugggled this season, but guess what? No one else has excelled leading off. The new guy has Anthony batting 3d. Does that mean he's an idiot too?

i'm smiling because you are one of the optimists. Me more so. My view is that that the starting pitching is looking like what we hoped for and the bullpen is OK. The defense with Contreras at 1b and Durbin at 3b and Mayer at 2b is better than ever. Outfield of Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu is maybe better than the infield, and catcher is good. The problem is obviously with the hitting., but I honestly think it will come around--especially Durbin, Mayer, and Anthony. Story and Duran I'm less sure of. Rafaela is already off to a pretty good start. I do not however see a quick fix to the lack of power. Those 17 runs in Baltimore have skewed the team's runs scored up to 18th. So the team OPS, ranked 27th, is the truth of the matter. The best W-L records in MLB right now belong to the teams among the top 9 in team OPS's. The three best W-L records also have the three best team ERAs--Braves, Yankees, and Dodgers. Chris Sale, whom Breslow dumped, is having his 3d straight excellent season with Atlanta. He's had 5 superb starts and 1 lousy one. But it all boils down to wins and losses. The Sox have won 3 straight with Tolle on the mound tonight. If he wins and the Sox win with loser Bello tomorrow, there just might be light at the end of the tunnel.

What a crock. I don't recall you saying anything last season when Anthony was our best hitter in July and August. I agree he has struggled this season. I don't agree this is the "real" Anthony of the sub-.700 OPS.

Thanks for the lineup. Good question. This is no doubt a copout, but I wonder if the cold weather has been part of problem.

It Tolles for thee. John Donne. One of my favs.

The smallish budget is 6th largest in MLB. While I agree the Sox needed another big bat after Breslow dumped both Devers and Bregman, his forte is really pitching, and that has not looked very good at all. In his defense, however, is that Story and Yoshida are paid a total of $41M with not much performance--both were signed by CB. Right now I'm very anti-Breslow, but remain hopeful that it's still early and a cold early at that.

Indeed. Succinct and on target.

Meh. I agree the team is depressing but disagree with the manager part. The center of every game is the confrontation between hitters and pitchers and both of those rely heavily on individual performance and not on "enthusiastic responses. " I think the blame rests squarely on Breslow. This is his team far more than it is Cora's. To a degree it's also Chaim Bloom's team and after him it's JH's team. That does not mean Cora can't get fired. Heck, JH fired (didn't renew his contract) Francona.

Oh, stop it. He had a terrific season last year, including leading off, which ended way too soon on Sep 3. So the freaking hype was justified. The pitching savced last year's Sox, but Anthony was a big help with Devers gone and Bregman's hitting dropping off after the injury. This year, I agree, is pretty awful so far. But almost no one on the Sox is having a good season at the plate. Contreras and Rafaela seem to be the exceptions. Maybe Yoshida is. Wong doesn't count--yet. Story leads the team in rbi's with 17, 5 more than 2d best Contreras, and Story's OPS is .531. Now that's just weird. Right now the Sox rank 26th in MLB in runs scored--which is a reflection of their collective incompetence. And their team ERA is ranked 21st. The above two stats point to one guy, Breslow. And you want us to believe it's because Anthony is leading off.

I like Durbin's defense plus I'm sure he can hit better than he has.

Agree the Sox are down, 2 games to 1, in this series. The worse news is that the one win was from the only run, unearned in the 10th inning, in game 1. The pitching is nowhere near expectations, but frankly neither is the hitting. Sox have 2 runs but are 0/8 with RISP.

Fair enough. I am a habitual over-reactor, but right now what scares me is I might be right.