Maxbialystock

Casas claims he'll be back in 9 weeks at the latest. However, it's also painful for him to breathe, so some significant healing is needed.

Ian Browne of mlb.com says all three will be back by 15 May.

I did watch the game--enough to see clearly it was a matter of one pitcher having good stuff and the other not. End of story. Except that Imanaga reminds a whole lot of Koji Uehara, especially in 2013. Uehara had just two pitches, a pretty nasty splitter and a kind of a nothing 4 seamer that rarely topped 88 mph. But he had great control and, even more important, confidence, and was unbelievably effective, especially in the postseason. This guy Imanaga relies heavily on the same two pitches, but his fastball is around 90-93 mph and his splitter is just as wicked as Koji's. So instead of 1 or 2 innings, he went 6.1. Plus he made that fantastic play on a truly excellent drag bunt by Duran--caught it backhanded and then made a perfect flip with his glove to beat the runner. I'm not sure I would have plunked down a ton of money for a two-pitch repertoire, but there was no doubt last night he had our guys in his hip pocket.

Sal Romano, good baseball name. Who cares that his cumulative WAR is negative?

This season it seems about the only thing the Sox can do safely, with minimal risk of injury, is breathing. Story is out for the season because he dove for a ground ball. Casas swung the bat too hard, tore a cartilage in his rib cage, and could be out for months. Pivetta, Whitlock, and Bello are on the IL because they threw baseballs. At least Devers and O'Neill can say they collided--heads, in fact. Giolito is missing the season because he too was foolish enough to throw a baseball in ST. And Dalbec, whose OPS is the lowest in the history of baseball--at any level--is a regular for the Sox because his defense is pretty decent and because he is healthy.

Guys like you. You write good stuff.

Agree I can be silly, boring, repetitive and don't forget long-winded. Simply stated, I think the Sox record, 14-12, is astounding given their injury list, abysmal fielding, so-so hitting and baserunning, and up and down bullpen. They could easily be 10-16 or worse--except that the original rotation of Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Whitlock, and Houck are/were so doggone good. The Sox still have the lowest ERA in the MLB. And lately the defense has looked better, to say nothing of the Sox being 2d in MLB in dingers (but 17th in OBP and 12th in runs scored).

Blaaaat!!!! Yoshida and Dalbec are from different dimensions and therefore never compete for innings/games. Dalbec right now is our best fielding first baseman and not half bad at 3b, but can't hit a lick. That's why he has played 17 games. The exception can of course be a righty reliever with the Sox behind, maybe men on base, 5th or later inning, and Dalbec coming to bat. Yoshida could pinch hit. Yoshida can't field at all, especially in comparison to the other outfielders available. So he has to DH or PH. Unfortunately, as DH he loses to Devers every time. If it's a lefty starter, he also loses to O'Neill, Duran, Wong, and McGuire, all of who have better OPS' vs lefties than Yoshida.

Cherry-picking, I see. There's skillful cherry-picking, and then there's yours. You cite the Mariners as "good" when they are 13-12, plus you've forgotten the Mariners and Sox so far are 2-2 in games. Of the other two good teams, I completely agree the Orioles pretty much dominated the Sox, 3 games to 0 at Fenway Park. But the Sox, now 2-5 vs the Guardians, played Cleveland tough in 3 of those 5 losses. Then there's the terrible awfuls, the Pirates, who just happen to be 13-13 right now, which is almost as good as the wonderful wonderful Mariners. I guess you assume that, if the Sox sweep a team, that team has to be the pits. But the numbers just don't agree with you. Agree the Angels and A's aren't so hot at 10-15 and 10-16, but both are ahead of the Astros, 7-19. And didn't the A's just finish a 4 game series @ the Yankees which they split, 2-2? I do agree with the talksox consensus, which is that the 2024 Sox are probably awful. But to me that is all the more reason to be amazed and even delighted that they are still 2 games above .500 despite now having lost 3 of their 5 initial rotation, plus Story, plus Casas, et al. Or this. DALBEC THE HORRIBLE has now played in 17 games, the same number as Wong and O'Neill and more games than Devers, Story, or Refsnyder. Valdez, whose WAR right now is -0.9, has played in 23 games, and Abreu, WAR +1.3, has played in 21.

I'm no expert, but I doubt that Cora can do anything whatsoever about the "atmosphere." When the Sox had that roughly 10 year run of max attendance (about 37-38K/game) at Fenway Park, the Sox always had plenty of stars to come see. Plus they were getting into the postseason and even winning an occasional WS. That stopped, interestingly, in 2013, the year the Sox won their 3d WS in the JH era, but averaged just 35K attendance. Because of the WS win, in 2014 it climbed back to 36K, but not to full attendance--and it stayed their through 2019, including 2018, the best season in Sox history. Then came covid--as well as JH's determination to spend less on players--and Sox attendance this year is just 31 K in the first 10 games. Interestingly, the Phillies can't keep their fans away and are currently ranked 3d in MLB attendance with 38K/game. Just 7 years ago they averaged 24K.

This is hands down the most sensible presentation of pertinent facts about Sox (John Henry) spending--the most important of which is we don't know exactly what number he or his brain trust has in mind. As you hint, others have been profligate in their spending, without a lot to show for it. As you have also said unequivocally, DD spent a lot when he was CBO--and definitely got results with the best Sox team, 2018, in Sox history--108 wins plus 11-3 in the postseason, beating three excellent teams (Yankees, Astros, Dodgers). Two late acquisitions--JDM before the 2018 season and Eovaldi during the 2018 season--were especially useful. I personally think JDM was the key to how strong the 2018 lineup was--despite the fact that he was a sucker for a slider away by a righty pitcher. The point is, that was JH's 4th WS win and all of them were in part because he was willing to spend to get the right hitters/pitchers. However, I'm convinced that the 2019 Sox convinced JH there was absolutely no limit to the amount DD would insist he needed to keep the Sox competitive. They already had the biggest payroll in MLB, and up ahead were big contracts for Mookie, Bogey, Raffy, and new arms to replace Price and Sale. In that regard, let's not forget the scene in the movie Moneyball when Billy Beane meets John Henry at Fenway Park and is told JH wants to make him the highest paid GM in all sports, not just MLB, because Billy understands the value of sabermetrics. JH recites the cost per game won by the A's vs the cost per game won by the Yankees. Let's also not forget that JH amassed his fortune in futures trading by employing a "trend-reversal" method.

True.

JH is going "cheap" this season, but to the tune of $180M, 11th biggest payroll on MLB. And way too much of that $180M is not delivering on the field of play. DD was good, I finally agree, but only as long as JH was willing to pay for the highest payroll in MLB even when in 2019 that highest payroll finished 84-78.

He's spending $180M this season and not getting much for it.

Their closer looked pretty tough to me.

Sure the heck was.

Wrong! You were right to compliment the defense, which has in fact been pretty good, even today despite the abysmal throws, passed ball, etc by McGuire. The killer was the grand slam dished up by Anderson. Nevertheless, the Sox came back and got it to 5-4. I was impressed by Cleveland's bunting. Plus they loved having McGuire behind the plate.

There was nothing to say that would "make Sox fans feel a whole lot better."

That is the exact point about this season--live in the moment(s)which so far have been way, way better than expected despite a plethora of injuries, errors, running into outs, etc. The Guardians, at least for now, are one of the best teams in MLB. Their run differential, + 47, is the highest in MLB, and their team ERA is 4th best. They beat the Sox @ Fenway, 3 games to 1, but 2 of the losses were highly contested. And now last night's win, which showed a distinct absence of Sox lousy hitting, lousy fielding, and lousy baserunning along the way to an 8-0 shutout. Today the Sox have a shot at winning this series because the lineup does look pretty decent, as does the fielding, and the pitching continues to amaze, especially now with 3/5 of the opening day rotation on the IL and other significant injuries. With a win, the Sox would be 12-4 on the road and 3-7 at Fenway Park. Hmmmmm.

One arm does not a bullpen make. And don't forget both Houck and Crawford came from the bullpen.

Defense was fine tonight. Houck was pretty good--2 runs in 6 innings. The hitting, the bullpen, and the baserunning all stunk.

Well, tonight he was also the Guardians kind of guy. They loved him.

I have always loved the name, "Dodgers," maybe the best MLB name there is. Trolley-Dodgers, not quite as much. Dodgers are an old, old franchise that deserves respect, and their move to the West Coast does too. Agree completely on Vin Scully--of course. Your story reminds me of Doris Kearns Goodwin, who started as a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan and switched to the Sox only after moving to Boston to get her PhD. I thought she was pretty good on Ken Burns' Baseball series.

All true. That said, this team so far has been nothing less than astonishing despite the awful defense, the absence of the big bats, the occasional idiocy on the basepaths, the occasional bullpen lapses--and both Pivetta and Whitlock on the IL. No way, no how should the Sox have swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh with what amounted to a pick-up team. No way, no how should a rotation (Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Whitlock, and Houck) costing $14M in salaries enable the Sox to go 7-3 on a West Coast trip when 5 years ago a much, much better Sox team--who won 108 games the season before and went 11-3 in the postseason--went 3-8 on the West Coast. I am by no means defending JH, but I am unabashedly enjoying this season to date.

And the only thing that makes me a little nervous about what you just wrote is that, if John Henry spends large--as the bulk of talksoxers want him too--the prices at Fenway will go up and up and up. This won't affect me one bit, but it will those attending fans who are in fact part of the experience for us stay at home viewers. Also, don't forget what you've written about the randomness of who wins the playoffs and World Series. I remember both the 1954 World Series--in which the juggernaut Cleveland Guardians with their incredible pitching were swept by the NY Giants--and the 1955 WS when the Dodgers finally, finally beat the Yankees, 4 games to 3 with Johnny Podres getting 3 wins.