Maxbialystock

Indeed. Time to lower the mound or go with slow pitch baseball.

Here's hoping SPLENDIDSPLINTER joins us tonight. I was pretty argumentative--as well as longwinded and repetitive as I usually am-- last night and regret it.

I thought that could happen, not only because Abreu struggles against lefties, but also because Yoshida has been hitting better in the last 12 games. So tonight it's-- Duran CF Ref LF O'Neill RF Devers 3b Wong C Gonzalez 1b Yoshida DH Westbrook 2b Rafaela SS

Probably what we will see tonight--Ref at DH instead of Yoshida. But the funny thing is that really good righty bats can also hit righty pitchers. My own pet theory on why the Sox have a losing record at home this season is not enough good righty bats to take advantage of the green monster.

Ein gutefrage. If we are talking about this season, I think the infield, thus the DeJonge notion could have merit. Thus have Garciaparra and Bogaerts had the longest tenure as Sox SS's in the last 30 years.

6 righty bats. I like it!

Brilliantly done. You completely ignored that the 2004 Sox scored 52 more runs than anyone else and had an insane team OPS of .832. Still, I stand corrected on Mueller batting 9th. Let me restate my position. As bad as the Sox defense is--they currently have 6 more errors and bunch more unearned runs than anyone else--I believe the Sox hitting is more important to winning games and the pitching is more important than the hitting. So screw the 8th/9th inning glove and get a good arm and a good righty bat. You guys all forget that the Sox have just 13 lineup players, which means just 4 subs, one of whom is the essential backup catcher. Right now that's all Wong and McGuire do is cover that one position. So the other 11 players provide 8 of the 9 hitters and 1b, 2b, SS, 3b, LF, RF, CF, and DH. Moreover, lately Cora has gone to using his bench to replace lefty bats with righty bats and vice versa, depending on whether the opposing pitcher on the mound is a lefty or righty. Rafaela plays both CF and SS precisely because that gives Cora some flexibility on getting his two best righty bats, O'Neill and Ref, into the lineup when lefties are on the mound. Not that it means anything, but impression I get from soxprospects is that the best SS glove the Sox can readily get their hands on is someone named Marcelo Mayer.

DeJong's name was not on this page (42) until you mentioned it. So all my stats are on Nick Ahmed. Now that I know you are offering DeJong up, I do like the righty power (16 dingers). However, his WAR after 86 games is only +0.3. Hamilton's is +1.4 and Rafaela's is +1.2. Plus, quite frankly, I have to wonder about those 16 dingers, which remind me suspiciously of Jacoby Ellsbury's 32 dingers in 2011--fool's gold.

FYI, Pokey Reese played in 96 games as the Sox SS in 2004. That team was knee deep in great bats and could afford a no-hit SS like Pokey. If memory serves, Bill Mueller, OPS .811, batted 9th on the 2004 Sox, who led MLB in runs scored with 52 more than the 2d place team and whose team OPS was .832. The 2024 Sox are a far cry from the 2004 Sox.

A SS who can't hit (OPS below .600), is struggling on defense this year, is 34, and has been DFA'd by a team with a losing record. Sounds perfect to me.

I'm not faulting Cora, whose judgment has been uncanny. But few Sox starters this season have thrown 105 pitches in one game. I believe Bello is also penciled in to start Sunday, the last game before the ASG break.

Pivetta ® vs. Sears (L) Sox OPS's vs lefties: O'Neill 1.162; Westbrook .994 (21 AB's); Wong .912; Refsnyder .899; Gonzalez .833; Smith .798; Rafaela .736; Devers .721; McGuire .679; Duran .626; Hamilton .459; Abreu .442; Yoshida .416

More bad news--now that we are finally recognizing how awful this Sox team really is despite being @ 50-40 and .551-- Everyone in the lineup got a hit. Of 13 hits, 4 were doubles, 1 triple (Rafaela), and 2 dingers (Abreu, Smith). 6/16 with RISP. Devers 3 rbi's and Abreu 4. Yoshida was 2/3 and is now 15/44 in his last 12 games--including that completely insane, glorious 2 out, 2 strike dinger in the 9th to tie the Yankees in their ballpark.

The White Sox are much worse with a "winning" percentage of 28%--and they were good enough to split 4 games with the Red Sox. So, if the A's @ .370 and Florida @ .356 are dog doo-doo, what are the White and Red Sox? Pond scum?

He was fine, innings 2-5, after which he was sent back out to pitch the 6th having already thrown 91 pitches. Plus it was his 3d time through the A's order. No question Bello's problem is command. But tonight those 11 K's remind us that, when he does have command, he can be effective with all four of his pitches: fastball, cutter, slider, and changeup.

Amazingly enough, we in fact got 4 shutout innings from Bello. But, because he was sent out to pitch the 6th with 91 pitches under his belt--and gave up 3 more runs--he gets clobbered by the talksox unfaithful.

Completely agree it's over 5 and not good, but what I wrote is absolutely true. If Cora pulls him after 5, he has had a good start with just 2 ER and 11 K's. Plus, in this day and age, starting a new inning after having thrown 91 pitches is unusual. And why should I bother to defend Bello? Well, amazingly, because he's a Red Sox starter and this was almost his second straight good start at a time when there's a lot on the line and Bello has the potential to help this team.

Reading this thread with all the gloom and doom, one can almost believe the Sox lost--and to a AAA team too.

On the pitching front, Bello was pretty good for his first 91 pitches and 5 innings.

Good game to have scored 12 runs--10 of which were absolutely needed. If Cora pulls Bello after 5 innings and 91 pitches--that's right, 91 freaking pitches--Bello has a pretty decent start with just 2 ER's plus 11 K's and 2 BB's in 5 innings. Bello struggled in the 1st, but was pretty decent in innings 2 thru 5. But, because he went back out to pitch the 6th he is branded on talksox as worthless and a loser and anything else you guys can think of. Shame on you.

Oakland has been winning 37% of their games, swept the Angels last week, and took 1/3 against the Orioles, the same team that has won 5 of 6 against the Sox. In one game the A's scored 19 vs the Orioles. As for Bello, he ran out of gas and/or into a buzz saw his 3d time through the A's lineup. As recently as last year Houck had the same problem. Bello gave up 2 in the 1st and then pitched 4 straight shutout innings. His 11 K's do indicate that, when his command is good, he can be effective. The worst team in MLB right now are the White Sox, and the split 4 games with our Sox. Meanwhile the AAA Oakland A's have now scored 9 runs off the Sox.

Looks like I got everyone right although Hamilton did get the nod @ 2b. I also looked at OPS's at Fenway, and there too Valdez has the edge: .878 vs .609. On the other hand, Hamilton's DWAR is 0.0 to Valdez's -0.5.

I'm sure you're right, but the point remains Sale got what he wanted, the Braves got what they wanted, and the Sox got what they wanted. Giolito was supposed to be a younger Sale--and he kind of is in that he underwent almost-TJ surgery without pitching a single inning this season.

I hear you, and definitely agree about the mojo. However, it sure looks as though both the players and the manager would love to see another good bat and another good arm added by July 31.

I wish we still had Sale, but you could not be more right about how amazing the Sox have been this season. With Sale in Atlanta and Giolito on the IL the entire season, this is still the Sox best pitching staff in a long time. Breslow blew it on Sale and Giolito, but totally redeemed himself with pitching coach Bailey. Meanwhile, our no-name lineup (albeit with both Devers and Duran in the ASG) stinks at infield defense, but is good in the outfield and good at hitting the ball--and hopefully improving at scoring runs. Taking 2/3 @ Yankee stadium last weekend was a very encouraging sign, even with that horrible, terrible, rotten, stinking throw by Valdez Friday to enable the Yankees to score 3 (officially just 2) unearned runs.