Maxbialystock

Whatever can be said about Bello--and I think it's pretty good--the real story is that the offense is coming through yet again.

5-2, Sox. Time to bring out the boobirds again to cheer for the Jays to score more runs against Bryan "I'm not really trying" Bello.

Thank you. That tells me that, by normalizing to 100, we have no idea what a player's real OPS is. Give me the actual OPS any time and every time. I want to know what the player actually did, not how normal he is.

You wouldn't know trying if it bit you in the ankle. He's gone 5 innings and given up 2 runs. If he goes one more inning and gives up 1 run, it will be a quality start. Toronto has 7 hits: 5 singles and 2 doubles. In the big 2 run rally in the 4th they had 4 ground ball singles. Bello has been struggling for just about all of May and June, so the very last thing that can be said about tonight is that he is "not trying." The other thing that bugs me about all this negativity is that the Sox are leading, 3-2 (now 4-2), and, if they win, it will be 5 straight. So why pick on Bello when he's already gone 5 innings while giving up 2 runs?

What is playing with fire? Are you saying he should strike out every batter? The three hits in this inning were all grounders. Game tied, 2-2, disaster. End of life as we know it. All because Bello has been "playing with fire," which I guess means he actually threw the freaking ball to home plate. Shame on him. He needs to learn how to get guys without actually throwing the ball.

Three in fact, all of whom hit grounders. The second was a terrific hit and run play with the batter hitting a slider well above the strike zone--right at the hole created by Valdez going to his right.

He absolutely is not freaking playing with fire. He's young and lately he's been awful, but tonight he is the opposite of playing with fire, which is what stupid kids and grownups do. He's trying his darndest to get guys out.

What's the difference between OPS and OPS+?

I know, I know. It's just awful he got those guys out. This game is just so unfair. Bello is now officially fair game and so far is dodging bullets.

2-0, Sox, but it's actually hopeless because Bello is, well, lucky. Comes the 4th, comes a reckoning. And, if not the 4th, certainly the 5th.

Fine. He's lucky. All our pitchers should be lucky.

I think that's an excellent standard. No baserunners. You know of course that's a perfect game. Are you nuts? The Sox have had several baserunners, including a man on 3b with 1 out--who didn't score. We have just 1 run.

I think you badly misread the first inning when he had 2 on and no one out. You simply ignored he got the next 3 guys out.

Compared to his recent starts, he looks fantastic. 5 K's and 0 runs in 3 innings.

Fair enough. Right now Breslow, regardless of what anyone says about the Sale/Giolito/Grissom moves, has to be happy. No one wanted this job for obvious reasons, and right now the Sox look awfully good despite those moves, the injuries, etc. If this keeps up over the next month, especially with Casas and Abreu returning, Breslow can look at trade options with a minimum of pressure.

Horrible Yoshida AB. Looked at two very hittable strike and swung at a pitch miles outside the strike zone.

Terrific comeback by Bello with 2 on and 0 outs. Maybe it helped McGuire was catching.

Could be. Both are big, been around the block, and spoke up.

This team is morphing right in front of us. They just took series from the Phillies and Yankees who have the best W-L records in MLB, and now they could sweep the Jays, who are right behind the Sox in the wild card race. The pitching continues to be way, way, way better than we had any right to expect, especially after Breslow not only gave away Chris Sale, but agreed to pay most ($17M) of his salary this season. This makes him a candidate for dumbest CBO in MLB--in my opinion. The hitting is coming around. The infield defense still stinks, but the baserunning slightly compensates. Plus it's possible the Jansen call to Cora to put him in the freaking game was a call to arms. Who knows?

Back in the very long winter of our discontent, it was called the June swoon. But right now the Sox are 10-6 in June and that includes taking 2 of 3 from both the Yankees and Phillies, who have the best W-L records in the American and National Leagues. To me this simple fact exemplifies the complete weirdness/wildness of this season. The Sox freaking gave away Chris Sale to the Braves and are even paying $17M of his salary. He is the Braves ace so far. And the Sox pitching staff, without Sale or Giolito or Whitlock, is the best it's been in years. Their team ERA is lower than the Sox ERA in 2018. Four of the five best lineup WAR's are bargain basement types: Duran, Abreu, Wong, and Rafaela. When you throw in O'Neill with his $6M salary, Casas, and Hamilton, you've got seven for a total salary of $11M. The current rotation of Houck, Crawford, Bello, Criswell, and Pivetta cost $11M in salary, less than the $16M for Jansen. So, yes, these guys could implode. But maybe Jansen phoning Cora to put him in the game is an example of why this Sox team won't fold.

Not that hard, I wouldn't think. They've got all the hitting stats, and his lifetime OPS was .940. As for the defense, you can pretty much give him a DWAR of 3 for most any season.

Yessir. He kind of said exactly that at his HOF ceremony, and I can remember thinking he was right. moonslav's stats are why I agree with you. Plus the 1954 grab (and throw) in the WS first game in the Polo Grounds. That was also Willie's only WS win.

Not sure I agree with the final sentiment, but do agree with your main point. Don't sell. See what this team can do, even with all the guys who are on the IL or underperformers or both. The pitching is excellent by Sox standards and in fact the team ERA is better than the 2018 Sox team ERA. How about that? The hitting sure seems to be coming around, and that's without Casas and Abreu, who are due back soon. The defense still stinks, but the baserunning helps to compensate. The Sox have just taken 2 of 3 from the Yankees and Phillies and Jays and are a mind-boggling 3 games above .500. What's not to like?

Announcers said so too--and I agree with all of you. Excellent win by the Sox. Increases their lead over the Jays, but we need the Twins to lose to gain a game on them. They are down, 5 -4, to the Rays, but delayed in the 5th inning. 12 hits to get those 4 runs--including 3 doubles and a dinger. Sox roster says they have 13 lineup players, and 12 of them played tonight. Wong was the odd man out.

He's intelligent, no question, but I'm less sure he is baseball smart. He brought in Giolito, and he let Sale go while also paying $17M of his 2024 salary--in return for Grissom. So, as of June 18, Giolito has yet to pitch to earn his $18M this year--stay tuned for next year. Grissom has been worthless. And Sale is the Braves ace. Not smart. Napoleon had it right. He had plenty of smart generals, but what he looked for was generals who were also lucky. It's still possible Breslow is lucky because he got the job--which few others wanted--and so far the Sox look pretty decent. Team ERA right now is 6th in MLB and lower than the Sox team ERA in 2018. That was completely unexpected and could be because someone, maybe Breslow, insisted the Sox change their pitching coach after last season. It also looks like the lineup is coming around--despite Mookie, Bogey, and JDM being long gone, Dugo now with the Yankees, Turner with the Jays, etc Plus Story is on the IL for the season, Casas on the IL for over two months, and Abreu for 2 weeks. The Sox still lead MLB in errors with 53, 4 more than 29th Miami. Something Breslow can work on, but not at the expense of hitting.