Maxbialystock

As recently as a week ago, when we were still 2/3 of the way through the season, the Sox were ranked 4th in runs scored and 2d in team OPS. I do not think the Sox hitting is broken or derelict. Just a tad disappointed tonight.

I think it was yesterday I read a longish article in the NYTimes about the transformation of MLB pitching. Smart teams and pitchers are going for K's by relying on their best pitches, which almost always means nasty breaking balls and not fast ball. The Sox tonight so far have 3 K's in 6 outs by swinging and missing at fastballs.

Devers K'd on 3 four seamers coming in at 92 mph. What is going on?

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm clearly an idiot.

If it is in fact "part of his daily vocabulary," then maybe he needs some kind of appropriate punishment or re-education or whatever.

Criswell's WAR today is 0.0. Giolito's is also 0.0. Sale's is 3.8, and he's the one pitching for the Braves while the Sox pay $17M of his salary. Giolito and Sale were huge misjudgments by Breslow, and Criswell cannot make them go away. Breslow gets credit for bringing in Bailey as the pitching coach, but has been a disaster in finding and/or keeping good arms. Yes, I would prefer that JH spend a lot more on players, especially pitchers. On the other hand, there is a wealth of evidence that his CBO's and others in the front office are clueless on how to spend that money intelligently. Thus do I cite--yet again--the example of David Dombrowski, who has repeatedly demonstrated he knows how to acquire talented players and to produce successful MLB teams--see Miami, Detroit, Boston, and now Philadelphia. However, I also believe that all came crashing down in 2019 when the Sox, still with DD at the helm, had the biggest payroll in MLB, did not even make the postseason, and were in need of a whole lot more cash to keep Mookie out of the clutches of the wealthier Dodgers. They also needed to continue paying Sale and Price big bucks even though both were done, and to find and pay big bucks for their replacements in the Sox rotation.

Paxton vs Brown Devers not playing. Valdez @ 2b and Sogard @ 3b. Paxton vs Brown

Actually, he's pretty balanced, but with a bias in favor of the the team/players/manager. I see nothing wrong with that. Back in May-June we were--I was--bragging about the unbelievable turnaround in the rotation, which we/I credited to the new pitching coach, Bailey, whom Breslow had insisted upon. The Sox had the best team ERA in MLB. The hitting--total runs scored and team OPS--was mired around 12th or so. Since the ASG break, the pitching seems to be in free fall. The team ERA, about 5th before the ASG, is now a panic-inducing 17th. What the starters don't give up, the bullpen is more than happy to make up for. Friday night Houck pitched a 6 inning, 4 hit, 1 ER gem, and the bullpen rushed in to rescue the Astros by giving up 8 runs in 3 innings. Meanwhile, the no-name lineup is now ranked a decent 5th in runs scored and 3d in team OPS. This is terrific and absolutely no credit for it belongs to the new CBO, Breslow. A former pitcher and Yale grad, Breslow has understandably focused on the pitching. While I give him lots of credit for bringing in Bailey, I think he has done little to bring in good arms. Most notably, in the offseason he dumped Sale and picked up Giolito, 2 moves which now live in infamy. Oh, and he picked up Grissom, currently playing for Worcester. You could be right that the 2024 Sox are seeking and finding their level of mediocrity. I, however, remain fascinated by the ups and downs of a team with the lowest payroll (by ranking) in the JH era, 2003 to 2024. Almost as fascinating are the moves Cora makes, game to game and inning by inning, to compensate for all the mistakes by Breslow, his predecessors, and others in the FO as well as by the owner himself.

Twice tonight Devers has K'd with a man on 3d base.

Can't walk Devers with the bases full. Time to earn that big paycheck.

And here comes Valdez to hit for Jansen.

Not sure I would go with Jansen to hit for Yoshida. Sure enough, here comes a righty reliefer to replace lefty Ferguson.

Duran comes through with a terrific single off a low pitch.

Sox lineup has 4 hits in 6 innings. Astros had 5 hits (and 4 runs) in just the top of the 7th inning.

Kelly gets lucky. Cutter right down the middle turns into a miraculous GIDP.

The bullpen stinks yet again. Houck deserves better. So does Cora. So does SPLENDIDSPLINTER.

Oh my goodness, it happened again! Sox have a man on 3b with 2 outs and Devers coming to bat, lefty vs righty. Plus of course he's the best hitter in MLB and will not be denied. Do the Astros wisely give him an intentional BB? Of course not. They simply strike him out--as impossible as that seems to some contributors to talksox.

Bello will be back for his regular turn Monday. Criswell should have masked, but in fact nobody does these days. Plus Houck, of course, is on the anti-vac bus. O'Neill has a leg infection? How do you get one of those?

He was right. 2020 was a nonseason. But thanks for the info.

Those 6 IP and 0 ER do not count because I overlooked them.

Sox have been better on the road all season long: 34-24 vs 27-28. What's neat is that, following a horrible start to the post-ASG season when the Sox went 2-7 against the Dodgers, Rockies, and Yankees, they have now gone 6-3 while winning series vs the Mariners, Rangers, and Royals. And, just as you say, the pitching--rotation and bullpen--has nosedived since the ASG and is now ranked 16th in MLB in team ERA. Plus you have to tack on a bunch of unearned runs, which I believe the Sox have more of than anyone else. For maybe the first two months the Sox team ERA was 1st in MLB. On the other hand--as you also point out--the no-names in the lineup (except Devers and Duran, both on the AL All-Star team) have blossomed to the degree that the Sox are 4th in MLB in runs scored and tied for 1st in team OPS. We are already at the point where every game seems to count more than all the games before. We are in August and moonslav keeps reminding us how our near competitors did that day/night. And I keep reminding everyone that the AL East still has easily the best W-L record of the 6 MLB divisions. That gives the Twins and the Royals an edge on us. FWIW, these are the WAR's and ERA's of the 13 pitchers on the current roster: Houck, 2.6 and 3.09; Crawford, 1.6 and 4.11; Kelly, 1.4 and 2.49; Jansen, 1.3 and 2.95; Pivetta, 1.2 and 4.44; Booser, 1.0 and 2.77; Bernardino, 1.0 and 3.03 Winckowski, 0.6 and 3.44 Martin, 0.4 and 3.29 Bello, 0.1 and 5.16 Criswell, 0.0 and 4.02 Garcia, 0.0 and 6.00 Paxton, -0.1 and 4.35. What's misleading about the above is that Houck and Crawford have both been terrible since the ASG: Houck, 3 starts, 17 IP, 13 ER; Crawford, 3 starts, 13.2 IP, 16 ER. Pivetta was awful his first post-ASG game, 2.2 IP and 7 ER, but decent in his next two: 6.2 IP and 3 ER; 4.2 IP and 2 ER. Bello has been decent since the ASG: 5 IP, 3 ER; 6.1 IP, 2 ER; 4.2 IP, 3 ER. So has Paxton: 4.1 IP, 3 ER; 6.0 IP, 2 ER. Winck and Criswell have stayed in the bullpen since the ASG.

Terrific 3 wins, however. Back to Boston.

Sorry if my last, lengthy post stopped the thread. Or maybe it's just as well. 2/3 in KC is fine with me even if not as good as 3/3. As I said earlier, Crawford was fantastic his last 3 starts before the ASG: 20 IP, 1 ER. Now he's in a deep hole, averaging 4.2 IP and 5.5 ER in 4 starts. Something's gotta change.

The great DD brought in David Price with a huge contract, and he lasted 3 good seasons and went sour in 2019 and was never the same again. But the Sox kept paying him (playing for the Dodgers) in 2020, 2021, and 2022. He brought in Chris Sale and then signed him long term, and Chris lasted two good seasons, 2017 and 2018--and the Sox have been paying him, 2019-2024 inclusive. My point is that Sox CBO's have not done a good job of signing excellent starters who didn't go south on them. Pedro was terrific, 1998-2004. Schilling were pretty good in 2004, but not in 2005--but better in 2006 and so-so in 2007. Beckett was up and down all 7 years (but was excellent in 2007). Lackey had one good season, 2013, out of 5. Thus, I have to say, one more time, dumping Sale before this season and signing Giolito is pretty close to par for Sox CBO's.

What a crock. This was the same old Crawford in his 4th straight starting disaster. Plus, when Bernardino came in, he gave up a dinger. In his first 3 starts since the ASG he went 4.2, 5.1, and 5.1 innings and gave up 6, 5, and 5 ER's. Tonight he went 4.2 innings and gave up 6 runs.