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Maxbialystock

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Everything posted by Maxbialystock

  1. Maxbialystock
    To me Devers latest at bat defines this lineup this season. Two men on (1st and 3d), he's facing a righty pitcher, and the 7th pitch he sees is a fast ball in the geometric freaking center of the strike zone, and he swings and misses. I don't want to be told about his 3 dingers when all of them were with no one on base. Next up for Devers is an error to bring in one or more unearned runs. This is his 8th freaking MLB season with the Sox, and it's hard to see a real improvement.
  2. Maxbialystock
    Plenty to gripe about because this is the third straight season in which the postseason seems out of reach. Everyone wants to blame JH for not spending enough, but I'm inclined to blame management for getting the wrong players. As I've already said, the Sox are not alone in failing to get the right players.
  3. Maxbialystock
    Fair enough. I've side with management on Whitlock for two reasons. First and foremost, they know way more about him and about the Sox needs they any of us do. Second, I think Whitlock has way too big a repertoire for a reliever. I think the best ones rely on no more than 3 pitches, but they must be 3 good pitches. Whitlock normally goes with 5 pitches--fastball, changeup, curve, slider, and cutter. I cannot make an informed judgment about Whitlock's durability, which I realize is a big issue. So of course I fall back on the expertise of the Sox management.
  4. Maxbialystock
    Perhaps. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence out there that spending big bucks on players doesn't guarantee success. Mets are 20-24 with the biggest payroll of $308M. Astros are 20-25 with 3d biggest ($250M). Rangers are 23-23 with 5th biggest, $233M. And, speaking of the Rays, their payroll is 27th, $100M, and they are 24-22. Cleveland's payroll is 26th, $100M, and they are 28-17. Milwaukee's is 22d, $107M, and they are 26-18. So, if we dragged John Henry into a court of law and charged him with uncaring malfeasance, his defense counsel might point to the Sox 11th biggest payroll, $182M, which includes paying $17M (or some of it) to Chris Sale, who is pitching (and pitching well) for the Atlanta Braves, ditto Turner, $7M, who is elsewhere, ditto Giolito, $18M, who is out for the whole season, ditto Story, $22.5M, also out for the season. Also Kelsey Jansen, who's getting $16M and so far has pitched 15.2 innings, which translates (for a whole season) to something like $250K per inning. Jansen currently relies basically on one pitch, a cutter, and got hit hard his last time out.
  5. Maxbialystock
    Whitlock's health and/or whether he starts or relieves is a very minor issue. The problems with this team are primarily in the lineup which leads MLB in errors and unearned runs and can't drive in runs.
  6. Maxbialystock
    Sadly, I agree.
  7. Maxbialystock
    Great dinger by Devers--thank goodness no one on base. Otherwise it wouldn't have been a dinger.
  8. Maxbialystock
    Bello's sinker is a big fat stinker. So far, 2 dingers and a double off it.
  9. Maxbialystock
    Left that big curve a little high and Hamilton nailed it for a triple. I almost fell out of my chair. Huge, huge hit--if Bello can start pitching.
  10. Maxbialystock
    Now Grissom does exactly the same thing.
  11. Maxbialystock
    Really stupid at bat by Cooper, swinging and missing at two straight sweepers in the dirt. With men on 1st and 2d and no one out (until he K'd).
  12. Maxbialystock
    Looks like the Cardinals love Bello's sinker almost as much as he does.
  13. Maxbialystock
    Bello, a fellow Dominican, takes the heat off Devers by getting pounded by a double and then a 2 run home run.
  14. Maxbialystock
    It is incredibly dismaying to see the Sox highest paid player to make errors that cost games and, as we just saw, GIDP with 2 men on. If you're a Sox ticket holder who regularly goes to games at Fenway, it would make sense not to go when the Sox marquee player consistently contributes to losses.
  15. Maxbialystock
    Bello ® vs. Gibson ® Edge to Bello, but who knows these days with a defense that leads MLB in giving up unearned runs (36 in 44 games, almost 1 per game)? That same lineup is also a "leader" in failing to drive in runs, except of course, that one glorious game in which they scored 17 vs the Cubs. And now closer Kelsey Jansen is looking vulnerable by relying almost exclusively on his cutter. Despite the above, the Sox are still @ .500, primarily because the pitching has been incredibly good. The Sox ERA of 2.91 is ridiculously low and still the best in MLB. 220 years ago Lewis and Clark set out from St Louis (pop. 5000) with their Corps of Discovery. 107 years ago Branch Rickey became the club president and business manager of the Cardinals--and stayed there for 25 years while creating the first ever farm system, the gashouse gang, etc. 65 years ago Bob Gibson, one of the greatest MLB pitchers ever, having tired of playing with the Harlem Globetrotters and joined the Cardinals minor league system, debuted (as a reliever) with the Cardinals against the Dodgers.
  16. Maxbialystock
    All good stuff. Thanks.
  17. Maxbialystock
    Ahem. Duran leads the team in AB's with 180--vs Rafaela's 149. Also, Devers, our $30M/season superstar, has 125 AB's and 16 rbi's to Rafaela's 23. So Devers with his .902 OPS gets one rbi every 7.8 AB's and Rafaela with his .595 OPS gets one rbi every 6.5 at bats. But nice try. The simple fact is that this team can't hit when it counts. And, sadly, they do make errors when those count.
  18. Maxbialystock
    One more time on Kenley Jansen. He's been an effective closer for a very long time, including this season. However, for most of this season he has relied heavily on his cutter and only occasionally uses his slider. He does move that cutter around in the strike zone, but last night it was obvious the Rays knew exactly what to expect from Jansen and capitalized on it. Other teams should be able to do the same because I can think of few other closers who were effective with just one pitch.
  19. Maxbialystock
    Actually, no. Here are six decent OPS's Cora can call on: Duran .784; Abreu .830; Wong .900; Devers .902; O'Neill .924; Refsnyder .964. Rafaela, batting 9th with his .595 OPS, leads the team in rbi's with 23. So that's 7 semi-decent bats. The problem with this team is that they simply can't score/drive in runs. And, since we're talking about the lineup, it's worth adding that the Sox defense has given up 36 unearned runs. The Yankees have the 2d best ERA (2.91) and have given up just 19 unearned runs. In short, while the Sox lineup can sort of, kind of hit, they can't drive in runs and they give up way too many unearned runs.
  20. Maxbialystock
    Enough on Sale v. Grissom. I'm looking at the MLB standings and can see the Sox run differential is +29. That's pretty good, but it's misleading. The Rays run differential is -28, and they just took 3 of 4 at the Fens and are now 1/2 game ahead of the Sox in the AL East. To me nothing could be clearer than that this Sox team, whose pitching staff leads MLB in team ERA, simply doesn't know how to win games as reflected in their abysmal defense and weak hitting. They are ranked 16th in MLB in runs scored, which is really lousy for a Sox team that plays home games at the Fens. Plus, as I persist in reminding people, those 188 runs scored are juiced by the 17 scored against the Cubs last month when they used an infielder to pitch the 9th inning and gave up 6 more runs. One telltale--we all know about this--is that Rafaela, who bats 9th and has an OPS of .595, leads the team in rbi's with 23. That's 6 more than Duran, 7 more than Devers or O'Neill, and 8 more than Wong or Abreu. Duran's OPS is .784, Devers .902, O'Neill .924, Wong .900, and Abreu .830.
  21. Maxbialystock
    One giant caveat by me is that the Sox rotation this year has been fantastic without Sale. Plus the biggest need is infielders who can field and hit, which theoretically Grissom has the potential to do. That said, the Sox are paying Sale's $17M salary this year, and so far he is headed for a WAR (for the season) of over 4. If he accomplishes that, it will be pretty close to his cumulative WAR, 2019-2023, for the Sox. I find that galling even though, as I said, the Sox rotation has been excellent.
  22. Maxbialystock
    Fair enough. Whoever said O'Neill is flaming out just might have a point. Sox lose 7-5 while give up 2 unearned runs. Tonight it was Rafaela with his 8th error. The kid has range, but . . .
  23. Maxbialystock
    Apparently, Cora wanted to force the Rays to change pitchers. Is that right?
  24. Maxbialystock
    What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on? Are they discussing Cora's complaint with MLB headquarters? This is just crazy.
  25. Maxbialystock
    Good. Cora did make an issue about that pitcher or the manager or somebody. I'm a good lip reader and I think it was about "too many different pitches." Finally, maybe we can get a level playing field. Jansen only uses one pitch, so the other side should too.
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