Maxbialystock

Good golly miss molly. The Sox 8th and 9th batters go double then dinger, and now Duran singles. And I'm the guy who said Birdsong had our guys mesmerized.

Oh, stuff it. The Sox defense is actually pretty good. Whoa!!! Dinger by Hamilton!!!

Dobbins gets a big break with the DP. Dobbins keep finding new ways to screw this game up. So far this is the kind of pitching moonslav warned us of. Dobbins can be good, but not very often.

Dobbins gets a big break with the DP. Dobbins keep finding new ways to screw this game up. So far this is the kind of pitching moonslav warned us of. Dobbins can't

Dobbins gets a big break with the DP. Dobbins keep finding new ways to screw this game up.

Not sure the Sox care that much, especially if they know Breslow screwed Raffy first by lying to him, then, after he became a big success at DH, telling him he had to play 1b. I think Devers days with the Sox were numbered the day Bregman was announced as the new 3d baseman. Raffy loved playing 3b and had done so for 8 years. That said, 1b does make sense for him when the Giants 3d baseman is this good. Plus he has to be happy to be away from Breslow. Sox look helpless against Birdsong's breaking stuff. Helpless. Dobbins, meanwhile is jacking around out there when he has an 0-2 count and throws 4 straight balls.

That's what I remember. Drove me nuts.

You have some awfully good insights.

He's thrown the 2d most innings on this team. His ERA, 3.49, is also 2d best among the starters. He has 5 quality starts, also 2d best in just 11 starts. But you're right. He has 28 BB's in 59 IP.

My goodness, I forgot they moved temporarily. Thanks.

I'm almost always on mute. On games I can't get because of blackouts, I like the NESN crew.

Duran LF Narvaez C Anthony DH (!!) Toro 1b Abreu RF Story SS Mayer 3b Rafaela CF Hamilton 2b Pretty good defense. Six lefty bats against righty starter. Birdsong, age 23, has 48.1 innings, but just 5 starts in 16 games. ERA 2.79. He was a long reliever early on. His only quality start, 6 IP and 3 ER, was his latest game-- @ Colorado. Interestingly, Birdsong also pitched in 16 games last season, but all 16 were starts. ERA 4.75.

Game time is just around the corner--3 hours and change. Where the heck is everybody?

Woof is right!!!!! Thank goodness it's on a Friday night. Agree. May I add that my fix for Whitlock was to reduce his repertoire, and I'm pretty sure he didn't do that. What we see now is why they wanted him to start, but I think it's just about unanimous, fans and coaches alike, he needs to be a great reliever if can.

Astounding.

I think Casas is injury prone. Of course he's better than Toro or whoever, but last season he played just 63 games because he foolishly swung a baseball bat and this season 29 games because he unwisely ran to 1b. Agree Bregman is key. He was checked yesterday, but we don't know the results. If it means August, I agree that's a big problem. We agree on postseason chances, Agree the 8 wins in the last 10 games, primarily because of great pitching, is very small sample. But these were starts, not relief appearances, that won those games. When was the last time that happened for the Sox (I'm repeating myself)? I agree nothing is guaranteed with the pitching, but at least there is some hope. I didn't say the pitching was great because Devers left, I said it was great and we won games even without Devers hitting--also after he left. Do I need to add that Bregman and Abreu also missed all 10 games? So I'm hopeful the hitting will get better, maybe not good as when Raffy batted 2d and Bregman 3d. To me the question marks are; 1) how soon does Bregman return? 2) How do Mayer and Anthony do? 3) When does Yoshida return to DH along with Ref?

Meh. It's all on Campbell and not Cora or Breslow. He's got talent and a long term contract. As others have said, watching Campbell has become painful, so it's possible it's been painful for him too. With the security of that contract, he should be eager to work on his hitting at Worcester. Hamilton wasn't/isn't "getting reps." He's at 2b because his fielding is better. If he ever gets on base, he's also a good baserunner. He's a lefty bat in a righty pitcher universe--so it's remotely possible he might get a hit now and then.

Well said.

Both great points. I let his defense, which I like, blind me to the fact that he was signed for his bat. The best we can say about Story is that he's not Breslow's fault. Nor is Yoshida. Breslow is better than Bloom, plus he seems to have more money to work with.

Given your consistent optimism in the past, the above just doesn't jibe. For example, when was our 5th starter ever not a mess or near-mess? The team ERA is ranked 20th, so our 5th starter has absolutely no right to be decent. Story at 2b base fixes that problem. I don't care about Toro: 1) because he's still better than Casas was when he was hurt; 2) if he crashes, fill in with Gonzalez. Heck, if Campbell gets his swing back, move him to 1b. Right now I like the team we have, especially with Abreu back tonight and maybe Bregman before the ASG. Of course we miss Raffy, but you make a great case for Ref/Yoshida filling in. Those 8 of 10 wins were entirely because of the pitching, especially the rotation. When was the last time we saw that? 2018? So, yeah, a good 2d starter would be great, but I think chancy. As you and others have pointed out, no less than 6,428 AL teams are in the hunt for the wild card. Fine with me. Since 2021, the Sox really haven't been. On top of that, this team has grown on me. I even like he defense, the rookies, and the possibility, only that, that the pitching has turned around. You're to blame for my presumed giddiness. You laid down a lineup I like, especially Yoshida/Ref at DH.

Pretty good framework to start with. I agree it's important to include the salaries, but I wish you hadn't told me Story is getting $22M, $2M more than I thought he was getting.

espn, which of course makes me suspect.

Story has grown on me this season. I think his steadiness at SS has really helped. I remember one play when it think Toro was playing 3b and lost an easy pop fly. Story realized it and moved way over to get it. Plus I like him on the double plays. And maybe his hitting is getting better. He's still not worth his salary, but he's worth some of it. Thanks to your point about Yoshida/Ref at DH, I know understand better why Breslow was such a jerk about Raffy at DH with 1b open. He didn't need to save 1b. He needed to get more for paying Raffy and Yoshida $48M to be the DH. And, oh by the way, both Story and Yoshida are on Chaim Bloom. Breslow might a ruthless, uncaring maniac, but he's our maniac--and, as General Westmoreland famously said, I see light at the end of the tunnel.

That took awhile. Neither the infield or outfield will miss him--nor the lineup. Meanwhile, we now have four outfielders, all of whom have a claim on a spot--Abreu, Duran, Rafaela, and Anthony. Rafaela is hitting and defending better than Anthony, but Anthony ist der wunderkind.

Dead on. This team was and is a mystery. I like the lineup despite the loss of Devers--because Abreu, Bregman, and Yoshida should make up for him--and I definitely like the pitching. But based on first half, hitting or pitching or both could go down the drain. Devers, I hasten to add, was a perfect fit at DH and hitting before Bregman. Cora did that. But he couldn't fix the pitching.