Maxbialystock

Apparently.

The talent was there after 31 July. The biggest problem is that Anthony and Abreu went on the IL and Bregman into a slump. Before Abreu went on the IL, just about everybody claimed--incorrectly--that the Sox had too many outfielders (Duran, Rafaela, Abreu, and Anthony.

Funny thing, but whoever was calling Early's pitches in the first inning kept asking for fastballs, which is how he got into trouble. His hallmark is that he likes to tbrow breaking balls.

Early recovered, plus only 2 of his runs were earned. And the bullpen has been pretty good. Horrible Sox baserunning although one out at home was on the 3d base coach. Duran caught not stealing was just stupid. Rafaela excellent in CF. My, my. Tolle replaces Kelly in the 8th with 2 on and no one out. Not his cup of tea. Ugh.

Only one thing worse that having Abreu on the IL--having him back in the lineup. Both have been just awful.

To quote Sidney Poitier, "Amen., Amen. Amen Amen. Amen."

Love this discussion, as always, but am going to jump in with a slightly different thought. The 2025 Sox are different from all Sox teams I can remember because their pitching is primarily what wins games. And right now it sure looks like they have 5 decent starters in Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Early, and now Harrison. Plus a decent but not great bullpen. After Chapman and Whitlock, not much reliability. Relatedly, I was the first to point out that the loss of Anthony was huge. But since then I've developed a new thesis--while big bats can be invaluable, a bunch of smaller bats can in fact score runs as we have seen in the last two games. Last night 5 different Sox bats had rbi's and the night before 7. And let's not forget the lineup's secondary mission of providing a good defense to back up the pitching. Right now Rafaela is the best CF in MLB, Abreu, when he returns, is close to the best RF, and Narvaez the best C. Plus Duran in LF, Bregman at 3b, and Story at SS all have plus DWAR's. Hammond is an excellent defensive 2b, but Cora is right to start Gonzalez. Make no mistake: I love big bats. We all do. But the Sox have thrived without Devers huge bat--OPS of .905 and he played in every single game until June 16--largely because of the Sox pitching. In the August 7 game winning streak opposing teams scored 5, 1, 1, 3, 1, 5, and 2 runs. In the July 10 game winning streak they scored 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 2, 3, 4, 0, and 1 runs. In the June 6 game winning streak they scored 1, 3, 1, 3, 0, and 0 runs. In those same 6 games the Sox scored 3, 4, 2, 4, 2, and 2 runs.

Look, I do recognize that one player can make a difference. We do miss Anthony's bat. We don;t miss Campbell;'s bat, glove, or arm. Ditto Toro. Ditto Hicks. On the other hand the Sox are very competitive in the AL right now. With just 7 games to go they have 85 wins to Toronto's league best 89, Yankees 87, and Detroit's 85, Cleveland's 84, Seattle's 85, and Houston's 84. Right now the Sox have stud pitcher, Crochet (and Chapman), but no stud hitter since Anthony went on the IL. Despite that--or because of it--the collective Sox, the team that pitches, fields, hits, and runs the bases is a pretty good ball club, albeit with imperfections. You are right to point your finger at the hitting, but the Sox are pretty good at the other 3 items and right now seem to be hitting the ball well collectively. They've scored 17 runs in 2 games against a good pitching Rays team with a team ERA of 3.85. Tonight 5 different Sox had an rbi. Last night 7 Sox had 1 or more rbi's. Rotten, terrible, useless Yoshida had an rbi in both games. Narvaez is the best defensive catcher in MLB as a rookie. Lowe's OPS with the Sox is a semi-decent .722 and plays an OK first base. He had 2 rbi's last night and 1 tonight. Wong didn't play in either game but he is a good backup catcher whose September OPS is a decent .750. So, please, lift your eyes up from the trees and take a gander at the forest. Did I forget to mention that the AL East once again has the best W-L record of the six MLB divisions?

That was one fantastic win. Quality start, fumble by the bullpen, and a gigantic 9th inning rally. Nevertheless, Cleveland took both games from Minnesota, 8-0 and 6-0. They are now exactly `game behind the Sox and the Tigers. In their last 10 game the Guardians are 10-0 and the Tigers 2-8. So we only have to outrun one of those guys.

SS, you should know you are one of my absolute favorite contributors to talksox. You possess both insight and wit. No need to descend to words like that. Ballgame!!!!!!!!!!!

He's 4th on the team in rbi's, so he must have had some timely hits. Also 3d in total bases and runs scored. Heck, He even has 16 freaking dingers. Tonight he's 1/3 with 2 runs scored. Last night he was 4/5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored. Plus--and I guess you just forgot all about it because of your little tantrum--these two games are absolutely crucial to stay in the hunt for the postseason. Every one of those 5 hits were big.

WAR is imperfect, but it's the best estimation going for a player's total value. It even allows comparing pitchers to lineup players. Thus does Crochet's 5.6 make him easily the MVP of these Sox. Speaking of "stepping up and making an impact," what in sam hill do you make of that grab he made earlier in the game? Chopped liver?

Duran chokes big time.

WAR don't lie. His 4.3 is ranked 34th in MLB. Mookie's is 4.8. Manny Machado's is 3.9.

Foxholes were/are dug when going on defense. Nobody every won a war from a foxhole which, come to think of it, would suit you perfectly.

He has the 3d highest WAR on the team because he is the best centerfielder in MLB, which we saw again tonight. It would be madness to bench that good a centerfielder. Plus his OPS, 696, is ranked `130th in MLB, Given 30 teams, not too shabby.

Frankly, I think anything is possible. The Sox pitching and hitting right now are both unpredictable.

Only a million or so times. Of course everything can change in a moment. But the OP asks a simple question--who do you prefer to face, @ Seattle and then the Jays or the Yankees and Tiger? Based on what I know right now I vastly prefer door #2. Also, I think the most unpredictable team still in the hunt for the AL postseason is our own Red Sox.

They were and are obvious exaggerations. I'm sure your numbers are the right ones.

Same lineup as last night. Wong rides the pine.

Good stuff.

That could happen, but I'm basing my answer on where we are today. Plus the Sox don't do well on the West Coast.

For tonight it's likely Bregman, Eaton, Lowe, and Story are in the lineup because all four have faced Houser and hit him. It's hot in Tampa, even at a 7 pm start, so I think might go with Wong instead of Narvaez, who caught for half of 3 hours last night at 87 degrees. Otherwise, pretty much the same lineup as last night.

Excellent, provocative questions. Gotta go with #1 if only because the West Coast is so far away from Boston. Plus the Mariners are hot, hot, hot. Detroit is chilly, and the Sox did well at Yankee Stadium.

Agree. I think Breslow, despite mistakes like Sale, Buehler, etc, has the Sox going in the right direction. He is helped by all those youngsters signed by CB, but acquisitions like Crochet, Chapman, Bregman, Narvaez, and Gioliito have made a difference this year. Attendance this year is over 34,000 for the first time since 2019. In 2018, the greatest Sox season ever, average attendance was 35,747. As for Cora, he has managed his buns off this season. When Bregman was announced as the Sox 3b for 2025, Devers was crushed and unhappy, but Cora convinced him to embrace DH, where Devers was in fact a huge success. He missed no games and had an OPS of .905. Cora has gone thru `13 starters this year if you include Crawford who didn't play or start this season and exclude Bernardino's three "starts." Also 33 pitchers overall. And this Sox team has the best team ERA since 2018. As for the lineup, he has started 43 different guys at 1b, 36 at 2d base (including his fantastic CF, Rafaela), and a whole bunch in the outfield (Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Anthony, Yoshida, Ref, Eaton, Garcia, and Campbell). Of the 9 players in last night's lineup, just 4 were in the opening day lineup. Just 3 Sox players have or will have played in 75% of the games this year: Duran, Story, and Rafaela. Those 3 also lead the Sox lineup players in WAR with 4.5, 4.3, and 3.9. Bregman, his best player, missed 7 weeks May 23-July 11 and has been in a slump since Aug 23. His best hitter was Devers until June 16. Anthony was his best hitter in July and August and until his injury on Sep 2. Mayer went on the IL July 25 and Abreu August 21.