Maxbialystock

Agree. DH can work either way--just one guy or several.

Yup.

Sox do not have as many good righty bats as they do lefty bats. Plus I thought Sears pitched a heckuva 5.2 innings. He gave up 1 run and so did their bullpen. And Pivetta gave up 4 runs in 6.2 innings.

I like these Sox, whom I consistently call the no-names because a bunch of them have just 1 or 2 years at the MLB level: Casas, Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Wong, Bello, Hamilton, Gonzalez. I love the fact that they've taken 2 of 3 from the Phillies and 4 of 6 from the Yankees, that before this game they were 50-40, that the pitching has been way, way better than anyone expected, especially after Breslow dealt Sale away and brought in Mr. Nothing Giolito. But, unlike you, I recognize that the very nature of MLB makes it a great leveler in any given game or series. That's why the Sox were able to take 2/3 from the winningest team in MLB (Phillies), why the White Sox took 2 of 4 from us, and why the A's could very easily take this series. Interestingly, the Orioles, just like the Rays in years past, have 25th biggest payroll, $101M, and are leading the vaunted AL East and the 2d biggest payroll ($308M) Yankees. Our payroll is $182M and they've taken 5 of 6 from the Sox.

No problem. We got these guys because vegasbob keeps saying they are nowhere near our level of superb baseball. We're the real deal, and the A's are just AAAA. Most of their players belong in AAA and all of ours are the REAL DEAL. And just ignore that Winck came in and loaded the bases in the 8th with no one out.

The real eye-opener for me is not that the A's can hit, but that the Sox can't hit lefties. That was actually a good pitch Ref golfed over the monster--he just got lucky. So far in 16 innings, the A's have scored 13 runs and the Sox 13 runs. And vegasbob keeps insisting that the A's are a AAAA team, ybworthy to be on the same field of play with the Sox.

AAAA is a stupid and unfair label. The worst team by far this year is the White Sox, and they split 4 with the Red Sox. Last night the A's scored 9 runs in that loss--against what we all thought was a pretty decent Sox pitching staff. Tonight the A's are leading, 3-1, in the 7th and they definitely look like a MLB team whereas the Sox definitely do not. Whoops, there goes another rubber tree plant. Now the the A's are up 4-1.

Now a single by Wong. Too bad O'Neill K'd his 3d time up. Sears struck out 8 Sox players--each of them once--but not Westbrook, whose speed on the basepaths was not in tune with the Sox 3d base coach signals.

3d time thru the Sox order and Ref gets the dinger. Auspicious, we can hope.

And against a AAA team, too. Don't forget that.

Why? Do you think Big Papi was a failure? How about Ohtani this season? Perhaps you've read my quote about Jimmy Piersall, who said he wanted his salary doubled because he had to cover CF and LF when Ted Williams was in the Sox left field. So, in a way, Ted Williams was a semi-DH. So too Babe Ruth in RF for the Yankees.

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?