Maxbialystock

But they weren't going good--unless you think the Jays 5 runs in the 8th were good for the Sox. How about the 2 errors by the Sox, also good? But I do agree it's been rare this season for the Sox to absolutely blow a lead and come back like this. Sox win on back to back singles by Rafaela and Duran!!!

You read it here first. When a Sox hitter steps out of the box, it's a sure sign he's about to do something stupid. Almost no exceptions to this rule.

6-4 thanks the Hamilton's deep dinger to RF.

You haven't heard about the dud liberation movement. You want guys on the active roster who never actually go out onto the playing field to show what they can do--or can't do. Cora doesn't work that way. Campbell will soon be liberated. And let's not forget that McGuire didn't help by putting a man on 1b via catcher interference. Likewise Hamilton on the horrible throw. McGuire also got the GIDP.

6.2 innings by Houck and 2 runs, assuming Campbell doesn't screw up.

Hit and run moved the runner on the groundout. Good for us. Whoops. Not good. First pitch hard single brings the runner home.

Great. What we needed, catcher interference by McGuire.

Houck with 85 pitches in 6 innings and Bassitt with 82, but Houck struggled in the 6th. Given yesterday's 9 innings by the bullpen, it makes sense for Houck to start the 7th.

Ball park temp is 77 degrees according to mlb.com.

Duran saved a run by playing that long double perfectly off the CF wall. And he saved an earlier run with that great grab high off the CF wall. Rafaela gets better reads, I'm sure, but Duran is an asset in CF because of his speed and athleticism. Two hard hit balls by the Sox and two easy outs in the 6th. Dinger by Devers was huge.

Interesting. I think this means you're crossing Casas off your list. He can't run, and he's barely played this year.

When Yoshida was signed, the Sox were losing both JDM and Bogey and Story had just played his first season (94 games) with the Sox. Story's WAR's in 2022, 2023, and 2024 were 2.5, .8, and .2. Yoshida's in 2023 and 2024 have been 1.4 and -0.2. I would say both have been disappointing.

Lively and interesting discussion on ballparks, players, raising kids, etc. Keep it up.

It sure is, and for the life of me I can't figure out why he's so effective. He throws 2 pitches that are far from spectacular and maybe not even that different. But he has pretty good command and confidence he can get guys out. When Barnes was good in 2021, it was because he had a good 95 mph+ fastball and a great curve. When Koji Uehara was incredible in 2013, he had an awful fast ball (88 mph) and a terrific splitter and terrific control--and, just like Jansen, complete confidence he could get guys out.

See above my lengthy piece on the Nationals and Phillies and the significance of Bryce Harper. We on Talksox may love a team of no-names, but they don't put butts in seats. Attendance is down from last year.

I am basically clueless in Seattle. Obviously, the farm system delivered, but I'm not sure who gets the credit for that. If Breslow was the guy who insisted on changing pitching coaches and brought in the new guy, he gets a ton of credit. The rotation has been astounding this year, especially given the absence of both Sale and Giolito. Plus, obviously, Cora. He has been masterful with the pitching staff, but also with the lineup and what I call his "dud liberation movement." If you are on the active roster, which includes just 13 lineup players, you are going out onto that playing field to show what you can do--or not freaking do. Take Grissom--please. Take Yoshida too.

Yes, but I think attendance would continue to languish. To get butts in seats, you need names on the field. In 2018 Washington attendance was 11th, 31,620 and Philadelphia's was 27,318, 17th. In 2019 Washington attendance dropped to 27,898, 16th, and Philadelphia's jumped up to 33,671, 10th. And the amazing thing about those two years and two teams is that Washington was just 82-80 in 2018 and improved to 93-69 in 2019! Meanwhile, Philly stagnated: 80-82 in 2018 and 81-81 in 2019. However, in 2018 Bryce Harper played for Washington, and in 2019 he played for Philly.

I just hate $16M for so few innings, but you are right. Forget the saves. I think his call to Cora to put him in in the 8th inning against the Yankees with the score 6-4, Sox, Yankees on 1st and 3d, and 2 outs sent a huge message to the team.

1. My comments were/are primarily about this year, not the future. Right now John Henry is laughing because of the numbers I presented and because it's obvious to me his front office, including DD, ain't so great. DD had the highest payroll in MLB in 2019 when the Sox couldn't make the postseason and DD needed a whole bunch more money to re-sign Mookie and replace Price and Sale. Yes, the guys coming up through the Sox system were selected by DD and CB, but I'm sure they had a lot of help. 2. I'm not sure I agree about how hard it is to replace Pivetta, Martin, O'Neill, and even Jansen. Pivetta first. Are you unaware we lost both pricey Sale and pricey Giolito before the season started and this is the best Sox rotation in at least 10 freaking years? And right now Pivetta's ERA is 4.06 (team ERA is 3.45, 5th best in MLB) and his WAR 1.0. Jansen, agreed, is impossible to replace, but the 2021 Sox made it to the postseason and the ALCS without a closer. Martin's WAR is 0.1--give me a break. O'Neill has good numbers, but, as you have pointed out, the Sox are knee deep in good outfielders and DH's. 3. You are no doubt right about spending big bucks to be legitimately among the top 3-4 players. But where oh where do you find the CBO smart enough to do that? In my no doubt ill-informed opinion, Breslow has already bombed badly on Sale, Giolito, and Grissom. However, if he's the guy who found the new pitching coach, that's a big plus, but not the same as spending "large and long on one or two players." 4. Lurking in the back of my tiny little brain is the notion that spending big on names does help with attendance, if not always with wins. Right now the Sox have pretty good performance from Duran, et al, but no real names, and attendance is down from last year despite a better won-lost record.

Forget Kennedy and the front office. This thread is all about John Henry, and right now he has to be laughing his ass off because it's the low-cost no-names who have the Sox in the postseason hunt. Specifically, they "own" (temporarily) the 3d wild card lost with a measly .5 game lead over the Royals and are 1 game behind the Twins for the 2d place wild card slot. Jansen @ $16M is over paid, but right now worth it, both because of his saves and because of the phone call to Cora to put him in. Devers @ $30M is also sort of worth it. But the other 12 pitchers and other 12 positions players are the ones making by far the biggest contributions--and that's without Story ($22.5M), Giolito ($18M), Whitlock ($3.2M), Sale ($17M), Turner ($7M), and, really, Yoshida ($18M). That's $86M out of a total salary base of $182M basically down the drain this season. This is actually a $96M team and $45M of that goes to one closer and one third baseman. One might even argue that the other 24 players are a $51M team currently with a .538 winning percentage and a shot at the postseason. That's not fair because Jansen and Devers have both contributed, but it's not far off the mark.

I completely agree they play and we watch one game at a time, and every game has a story of its own. But it's mindless not to see each game in the context of the season. Specifically, there are pretty big differences between being 10 games below .500, exactly at .500 and 10 games above .500 midway thru the season. In the last 12 games the Sox took 2/3 from Yankees, who have the best won-lost record in the AL, 2/3 from the Phillies, who have the best won-lost record in MLB, 3/3 from the Jays, who used to be ahead of the Sox in the AL wild card race, and 2/3 from the Reds, who are still just 2.5 games out of a wild card slot in the NL. It is not projecting to be hopeful instead of pessimistic. I think your obvious pessimism is because these Sox are, except for Devers and Jansen, pretty much a bunch of no-names. For at least 17 seasons and 4 WS wins John Henry espoused big payrolls and big names, but no longer. Instead this year the combined salaries of all 6 starters--Houck, Crawford, Pivetta, Bello, Whitlock, and Criswell so far--are less than the $16M Jansen is getting and less than the $17M the Sox are paying Sale to pitch for Atlanta. But those no-names are why the Sox ERA is ranked 5th, which is the best it's been in a very long time. And no-name Houck has the lowest ERA, 2.14, among AL starters and 12 quality starts out of 15 total. And the rest of the no-name Sox lineup--Duran, Rafaela, Wong, O'Neill, Abreu, Hamilton, Refsnyder, Gonzalez, and Smith--are getting paid less than 1/2 of what Devers is paid. And now just maybe that cheap charlie lineup, appalling as it is to real Sox fans, is starting to hit with some consistency.

Three days ago, before the series in Cincy, I was the only one saying the Sox were/are in the hunt for the postseason. And right now--and I agree there are bound to be more ups and downs--the Sox are ahead of the Royals for the 3d wild card and 1/2 game behind the Twins for the 2d wild card. It's primarily the no-name pitching, which, as you say, lately is getting some support from the no-name lineup. And the bad-name defense is slightly mitigated by the no-name base-running. What might have turned the tide was 8 days ago when Jansen called Cora from the bullpen and said "put me in" against the Yankees in the 8th inning when the score was 6-4 Sox and the Yankees had 2 on and 2 out. Cora did put him in, and he got 4 outs. That was real leadership by Jansen and the message was simple: we're here to win games--and we can!

This is beginning to look like a prophecy that just might turn out to be true. And I believe I'm the first one to have written it out loud right here on talksox.

Terrific, come from behind win, which I missed (the 8th inning, not the game). About tomorrow. Sox had Thursday off and will have this Thursday off, so I guess Cora can go with a quasi-bullpen start tomorrow because Houck is listed as starting Monday @ Fenway against the Jays.

Both his athleticism and his alertness. Man on 3b had a choice and decided, after a pause, to go home.