Maxbialystock

I understand the case for trading great prospects for starters. The problem is, I can't remember the last time the Sox did that well. Most recently, Breslow dumped Sale for Giolito, which cost the Sox $56M with nothing to show for it (so far). I give him credit for Bailey, the pitching coach, and, honestly, for bringing back Paxton.

Devers and Yoshida have the two hottest bats on the Sox. As for mixing and matching, Cora is already doing that, and it's working very well without Mayer or Anthony, neither of whom has even one MLB hit to his credit.

The Natural batted from the left side because Redford is a lefty. He wore #9 because he was/is a big Ted Williams fan--as you probably already know. Witt is just another righty bat with a measly .976 OPS.

Indeed.

That Jansen can still do that, including K'ing Witt for the last out, continues to astound me.

A 4 out save!!!!!~!!!!~!!!~

I had to do some chores, and come back to a very tight ballgame. I spoke too soon about the bullpen coming around. One more out by Jansen, and another big win.

A heckuva game, I must say. I believe I have said repeatedly the Sox have the worst bullpen in the entire history of baseball, not just MLB. But lately they haven't been half bad. Booser just pitched a clean 7th, including Massey and Witt. Bernardino got the last out in the 5th and Kelly pitched a clean 6th.

An excellent description. Wish I'd written it. It helped that the Sox got smart and brought his family to Boston.

My snide remarks above should be ignored or attacked, take your pick. My real belief is that this Sox team--the no-names--are playing terrific baseball. The lineup has been unreal, and the pitching just good enough. And Cora is always right--even when one suspects he isn't completely right.

Interesting. Yoshida The Horrible One gets a clean single off a lefty reliever with 2 on and 2 out. Then Devers The Great comes up with 2 on and 2 out and dribbles one to the pitcher for an easy out. Most Talksoxers want Yoshida gone, whatever the cost.

I agree also, but in this case, Smith lost a second because he wasn't going home because he couldn't see the ball. Then Rafaela waved Smith home. Sox back up, 6-3. Looks like both managers left their starters in too long. 2 more rbi's by some guy named Yoshida. The Royals walked Ref to get to Yoshida.

I can't resist this. Day before yesterday the Sox were leading 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning, and Pivetta already had 2 outs, but Cora pulled him in part because the next batter would be facing Pivetta for the third time. Plus the batter was a lefty. Led by SPLENDIDSPLINTER, almost everyone declared Cora pulled Pivetta as punishment for something he'd done earlier (I think a reaction to a dinger). I was the only one defending Cora. The Sox won that game because the bullpen pitched 4.1 scoreless innings. Tonight the Sox were leading 3-1 with 2 outs and no one on in the--wait for it--5th inning with Bello on the mound. He got the first two outs easily. Then came the top of the Royals order, and the game is now tied in part because Cora left Bello in the game. I hasten to add that in both cases, 2 days ago and tonight, I agreed with Cora. This time it seems clear Bello, like Pivetta, could not be trusted the 3d time through the Royals order. There are tons of stats around that argue that 3d time through the order is hazardous for pitchers.

It helps to have 27-88 White Sox in their division.

Yes he is. I also ran across an article that says Rafaela is in the hunt for ROY, in part because he leads or is close to the top in several hitting categories.

Could not agree more. Plus every season is different and every Sox team is different. I like this team, which has been a complete surprise to most or all of us. But right now it's hard to see the 92 wins the 2021 team had.

Understand your "sheesh." However, my point is that historically the Sox have preferred good bats all around the outfield. Also the infield. So to me the sure things in the outfield are the good bats--Duran, Abreu, Ref, and O'Neill. Next year the infield competition could be fierce with Story back and possibly Mayer promoted to Boston. Plus Casas at 1b and Devers at 3b. Plus competition from Grissom, Gonzalez, Hamilton, and even Sogard. Rafaela is hands down the most versatile Sox defender because he's good at the two toughest positions, CF and SS. But he is not yet a plus hitter.

2021 Sox were ranked 5th in MLB in runs scored. So are the 2024 Sox. 2021 Sox were ranked 15th in MLB in team ERA. 2024 Sox are 13th. 2021 Sox had the 2d most errors in MLB. 2024 Sox have the most.

It's 2024, and the AL East still has the best W-L record of the six MLB divisions. Only the Jays have a losing record, and it's 51-61, .455. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Orioles are both 67-46. Sox are 1.5 behind the Royals for the 3d wild card and 3 behind the Twins for the 2d wild card. Here are Sox OPS's vs righty pitchers: Devers 1.134; Jansen 1.000 (6 AB's); Duran .936; Abreu .910; Sogard .855 (10 AB's); Yoshida .803; Ref .769; Wong .743; Hamilton .726; Smith .718; Rafaela .702; Gonzalez .593. Lefty bats against Lugo have cumulative OPS of .629. Righty bats .573. On July 13 in Boston Lugo went 5 IP and gave up 10 hits, 5 runs, and one dinger (Devers). Lineup was Duran, Hamilton, Yoshida, Devers, Ref, Abreu, Smith, McGuire, and Rafaela.

Completely agree.

Another terrific win. Great start by Paxton and great hitting by the Sox. Plus a neat play by Hamilton on the grounder and a terrific grab by Rafaela off the wall in CF.

Meh.

8-4. Not Criswell's night.

21 pitches, 11 strikes by Criswell.

Dumb throw by Duran. Now another runner on 2b.