Maxbialystock

Anyone want to guess who signed our $40M/year thirdbaseman who just had a repeat of an injury 2 or 3 seasons ago? And how did it happen? He rounded first base, that's how.

Guess who hired Giolito and dumped Sale. Anyone? Anyone?

You guys are hyper critical. The problem today is Giolito. Everything else pales into insignificance.

It took me so long to write that, I completely missed the Sox 5 runs!!!!

I think that's right--that Cora and Breslow have tenure because of the Sox situation. I do not think Cora is the problem. Today we saw yet again what has happened too often this season. The starting pitcher has done his level best in the very first inning to keep the Sox from winning. In addition, Bregman's injury was followed by the Sox going 3-8 in the next 11 games with the lineup scoring an average of 2.45 runs per game. That ain't on Cora either. And let's not forget that Breslow signed Giolito for $40M for 2 seasons. He missed all of the first one and so far is pitching as though the Sox would be better off he had missed this season as well. Plus Breslow dumped Sale while paying his first year's salary--after which Sale won the NL Cy Young last year. This year Sale is not that good, but is still the best pitcher on the Braves staff. Whit his 5 quality starts, 67.2 IP, and 3.06 ERA he would be our 2d best starter. Credit Breslow for Crochet, Bregman, Narvaez (a great get!), and Chapman. Credit Bloom for Yoshida and Story--both big disappointments given their salaries. Credit Bloom, mostly, for the talent coming from the farm system. It is what it is.

What "advanced metrics?" I'm talking about the simplest of stats, fielding percentage. The Sox are near the bottom, but still make 98% of their plays, and the MLB leaders in team fielding percentage only make 1% more. And this. Rafaela leads MLB centerfielders in DWAR even though he has 3 errors, which is more than any other centerfielder with a plus DWAR. Last night the Sox committed 3 errors and none of them resulted in an unearned run. The unearned run in the 10th was the ghost runner who scored. Do I need to remind that the Sox pulled off an excellent double play in the 10th with the bases loaded to limit the damage to that ghost runner?

Think what you want to, but the real telltale is that the Sox are 3-8 in the 11 games since Bregman went on the IL, largely because they have scored an average of 2.45 runs per game without him. I agree errors can be frustrating, but you can't ignore that at least four positions--catcher, CF, RF, and 3B--have been fielded well, and SS is hardly a disaster. All 5 positions have positive DWAR's. Duran has 4 errors in LF--not good--but his DWAR is just -0.1. The problem positions are 1b and 2b. Last night the 3 errors did not lead to any unearned runs. The one unearned run was the ghost runner scoring in the 10th. Amen.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but am saying the Sox situation this season is daunting with Yoshida and Story not earning their pay, ditto Giolito, Since Bregman went on the IL for an estimated 2 months, the Sox are 3-8 in the 11 games since and have scored an average 2.45 runs per game. Campbell is struggling afield and at bat. Duran is not yet last year's Duran. I don't think Casas is missed (his WAR is -0.7 for the few games he played). It's good to have Mayer up and at 3b, but he is struggling at the plate. While the pitching isn't terrible, it is inconsistent.

Good point on the extra outs--one that moonslav always makes. However, I do not agree this Sox team is one of the worst defensive teams in MLB. That's why I cited the DWAR's of Bregman, Narvaez, Abreu, and Rafaela. As I said, half the defense has been pretty good (and that now includes Mayer at 3b). Also, don't forget that a double play saves pitchers big time, and the Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in double plays per game. Tonight the Angels turned 3 double plays, which went a long way to make up their pitchers issuing 7 walks. Finally, I must insist that far and away the biggest difference makers in games and for teams are hitting and pitching. Not defense. Not bonehead plays. Not baserunning. Not bad calls by the third base coach. Not bad calls by the homeplate umpire.

I have no idea what the Sox hitting strategy is, but I hope it's not the one you describe. I agree it's stupid. As for the 17 one run game losses, a big part of that are all those K's with RISP, which we saw again tonight. The Sox also rank 3d in MLB in total K's, regardless of RISP. I also think Bregman's absence has hurt. Since his last game, a 19-5 win on May 23, the Sox are 3-8 and have averaged 27/11 = 2.45 runs per game. Another factor is one you cited--some of the real talent is young and/or inexperienced and others are just not that talented.

And that would be really stupid. Best thing after a game like this is to put it behind you. Save the fundamentals for the next day's pregame practices which are endless already. Also, as I said, the two fundamentals that are more important than all the others are hitting and pitching. Our pitching was pretty good and gave up just 3 earned runs in 10 innings. Our hitting stunk. The Sox lead MLB in K's with RISP by a pretty big margin. Now that's a fundamental worth working on.

I'm sure all you wrote is true, but I think mastering all kinds of fundamentals is not easy--and they can get harder in big/close games. Rafaela has a terrific arm which we've all seen in action. But tonight he launched a rocket headed for the moon. Gonzalez did not have a tough throw to the pitcher running to 1b, but he too threw way too high. There are just two crucial fundamentals in MLB--pitching and hitting. If you stink at those two, the other fundamentals are of little use in winning games. I thought our pitching was pretty good tonight, but our hitting definitely lagged. It turns out the Sox lead MLB--by a wide margin--in K's with RISP. The Sox had 3 errors tonight and none of them led to an unearned run.

One more time, just for you. The Sox fielding percentage is 98%. The best fielding percentage in MLB is 99%. That 1% difference is almost insignificant. To assess a defense, you have to look at the individual players' DWAR's. Right now Navaez has the highest DWAR among MLB catchers, as do Rafaela in CF and Abreu in RF. Bregman was ranked 3d in DWAR at 3b, and so far Mayer is +0.1 in 8 games. So that's half the Sox defense that's actually pretty competent. Plus I like Story's steadiness (DWAR 0.0) at SS. Even Duran (DWAR -0.1) is not the disaster in LF that Campbell is at 2b and all of our firstbasemen have been. The Sox defense did not cost a run tonight. The only unearned run was in the 10th inning--the ghostrunner at 2b scored.

Amen. Moreover, it is not normal to bring him back to pitch the 10th with the ghostrunner on 2b.

Lousy at bat by Devers, swinging at 2 pitches inside. Plus of course he hit both of them poorly--lefty vs lefty. Close call on that 4th pitch to Ref. He definitely swung at it but got the call. Now he gets ball 4 on a pitch in the zone. Angels know they got screwed by the ump.

That was not a double play ball, so the Angels still score 5 in the first. To Cora's credit, he didn't send him back out for the 2d and brought Dobbins in instead. He then pitched 5 IP so far with 1 ER. And the Sox are down just 7-5 in the 6th. Great move by Cora because I thought this game was winnable after the 1st inning. Bottom line: great managing by Cora.

A prescient point. It's that lousy lineup that enabled the Angels to jump out to a 6-0 lead in the top half of the 1st inning. This fixation on lineups is just stupid.

Agree, which is the point of the OP. No quick fixes for the pitching. So of course we bring Anthony up. I would prefer him at 1b, but if that's not possible I would keep Rafaela in CF, put Anthony in LF, and use Duran when situations permit. Duran's WAR is .8 compared to Rafaela's 1.9 and Abreu's 1.9. Both Abreu and Rafaela lead MLB in DWAR for their positions (RF and CF). I think the OP stole some of my stuff. I was the first one to point out the hitting stopped the day after Bregman took himself out of the game. I also recommended Gonzalez be first choice at 1b. I was also the first to remind everyone that Devers led MLB in rbi's and has the highest OPS of his career. Breslow trying to move Devers to 1b was just stupid. I vehemently disagree with the OP's assertion that we miss Casas as much as Bregman because there was no Casas to miss, at least not this season. Toro's OPS, .845, is over 250 points higher than Casas' was. I also disagree with moonslav's assertion that the defense is a big problem because he bases that on the number of errors. So one more time. The Sox team fielding percentage is 98 freaking percent and the best team fielding percentage is 1 per cent higher, 99%. Fielding percentages are meaningless. Better are the individual players' DWAR's, and right now Narvaez, Rafaela, and Abreu all have the highest DWAR's at their positions. Before he went down, Bregman's was a solid +0.8. Since pitchers normally don't have DWAR's, that means that half of this team's defenders were/are well above average. Story has lost some range, but he has been steady at SS with a DWAR of -0.1. I think Toro is an improvement (over Casas) at 1b. 2b is clearly a problem with Campbell, but Mayer already has a +0.1 DWAR at 3b.

Pretty good laydown, all in all. Last paragraph/sentence is a doozy. Best rationale yet for bringing up Anthony now. I also like putting him at 1b. Interesting take on pitching coach's preference for breaking balls. I agree with that prefence, but of course they have to be good breaking balls. But I also like the notion of using heat more often. Uehara never had "heat," not when his fastest was about 88 mph. Nevertheless he mixed that slow 4-seamer with the splitter and was devastating. One of my favorites.

You want to fire Cora because of the freaking batting orders? You must be nuts. For starters, the pitching is what's ranked 17th in MLB in team ERA while hitting is ranked 6th in MLB in runs scored. Then there's the fact that Devers, batting 2d, is tied for the MLB lead in rbi's and has the best OPS of his career as the DH. As for those 1 run games, I think it's simply a matter of opposing teams rising to the occasion more often than our guys. Forget late in the game, others have pointed out that we stink with RISP early and late. Plus we are ranked 3d in strikeouts (by our hitters). And this. Our recent 5 game losing streak was caused in part by the injury to Bregman. I like Mayer a lot, but he sure ain't no Bregman. At least not yet. While I don't fully agree with the OP, I do think one of our issues right now is inexperienced. In today's game, for example, Cora started just two real veterans, Story and Devers, Story's OPS, season to date, is .603. The OP makes an interesting case about the pitching staff's preference for breaking balls--as dictated by the pitching. To be honest, I favor breaking balls too, but the radio announcers keep reminding me that too often the breaking balls are in the middle of the zone and not breaking sharply. In a completely different sport, NCAA mens basketball, Ken Pomeroy has developed an off the wall stat he labels "luck." It refers to close games of 1 or 2 points and a team with good "luck" wins those games more often and with bad "luck" loses them more often. That's kind of the way I see those 1 run games. Some of it to me is luck. But I agree some of it is malfeasance by our hitters and/or pitchers. And some of that malfeasance is because of inexperience.

Agree.

Ahem. We've already seen how difficult it has been for Mayer to adjust to MLB pitching. The simple fact is that the hitting was hurt bad by the Bregman injury. I'm still in favor of bringing Anthony up, but I'm less sure than you he can fix the hitting this season.

Afraid so.

Can't get the game, so have reverted to NESN radio, which is pretty good. What's happening is not so good.

Love line 2.