Maxbialystock

Right now I do like Rafaela, Duran, and O'Neill in the OF. I also like Wong and McGuire behind the plate. The problems are in the infield, which right now does not have one good glove.

I certainly thought our defense had improved this year--and said so, mostly because the pitching has been spectacularly good, the best in MLB after just 10 games. But guess what? 9 of the 22 runs scored against the Sox were unearned. That to me bespeaks lousy defense--and the fact that Story played excellent defense at SS could not prevent the bungles by the likes of Rafaela, Abreu, Reyes, Casas, Devers, and Valdez. Of those errors, to me the most forgivable one was by Devers, who had to deal with one of those in between high-hoppers, which he tried to grab while going backwards. Rafaela's error was on a dead easy fly he decided to go casual on. Same goes for Abreu on an easy grounder single he let get through his legs. Same for Casas--of course Casas--on another easy grounder. Same for Valdez on a throw to 2b, which he dropped. Also, let's not forget that, while I think we can all agree Trevor Story is superb on defense, at 2b or SS, he can't stay healthy. I hasten to add he's getting paid $22M/year primarily for hitting, which he has yet to do. Speaking of hitting, I don't see a whole lot of them in next year's hypothetical all-defensive team. I think I see 3: Devers, Casas, and Duran--and the latter two are probables, not certainties.

It’s way early, but perhaps not too early to discuss two new faces--CBO Craig Breslow and pitching coach Dave Bush--in the Sox management hierarchy since last season. And just maybe those two have made a difference--with a nod of the head as well to manager Alex Cora. This was an excellent West Coast trip to start the season--7-3 against the 4-6 Mariners, 3-7 A's, and 5-4 Angels. And the pitching--yes, just 10 games--is beyond excellent with an insane ERA of 1.49, best in MLB, and WHIP, 0.96, also best in MLB. I cannot remember a better rotation at the start of any Sox season since 1949. It gets better because all five are a bunch of no-names whose total salary, approx. $14M, is less than closer Jansen's $16M. So we probably need to acknowledge a 4th influencer, owner John Henry. We should also note that the previous CBO, Chaim Bloom, whom I defended endlessly, gets credit for bringing in Trevor Story ($22.5M/year) and Masataka Yoshida ($18M/year), neither of whom has earned even half of his salary. So far Yoshida can’t field or hit (OPS .775). Story is an excellent fielder at SS or 2B, but has yet to hit (OPS under .700) and has played a total of 137 games in his first two seasons and appears to be out for a big chunk of this one. Compare those two to Breslow’s pickup of Tyler O’Neill who has the Sox highest WAR (just 10 games) of 0.8. Of course I fundamentally agree with jacksonianmarch--not that the Sox will fold, but that 10 games is infinitesimal, 1/16th of a season. On the other hand, looking at how the Yankees have failed season after season despite one of the biggest--and sometimes the biggest--payrolls in MLB. George's boys have managed to elevate John Henry to semi-genius level among MLB owners.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. A Yankees fan who recognizes that their current record of 8-2, at immense cost to the Steinbrenners, is chimerical and that their almost quarter century of postseason failure (one WS since 2000) is likely to continue. Your honesty is a credit to all Yankees fans, although I suspect very few will thank you for it.

Couldn't have said it better. "That's baseball."

Given all my negative nattering since last night's loss, I now take complete credit for today's great hitting, great pitching and so far errorless fielding. Why? Because I was using my famous reverse mojo. In other words, I don't know jack and am delighted to admit it. 7-0 plus a dinger by Hamilton of all people! And Houck headed for 6 shutout innings! Way to go, Houck! Way to go, Sox!

Excuse me. You had to deaf, blind, and ignorant not to know that JH was cutting salaries. That's why he fired DD in 2019, 5 years ago. In 2019 the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB, but to begin the process of saving $$ David Price was sent to LA with the Sox paying a big chunk of his salary for several years. Sox also paid major dollars for Sale, who stayed in Boston but missed a whole bunch of starts for the next 4 years. Why else was Chaim Bloom hired in 2019 if not to imitate the Rays success with a low budget payroll? I hasten to add that this year the pitching, basically low budget, is fantastic. Also worth noting is that the three biggest salaries this year belong to Devers, Story, and Yoshida--and to date none has earned his pay (this year). Story and Yoshida never have. Devers has earned most of his salary.

Interesting. As I posted elsewhere, there are only two things Hamilton doesn't do well: fielding and hitting. And he is inserted at a time/moment when the Sox defense and hitting are both suspect.

Blah! Both of those guys are paid for their hitting, and their defense is secondary. Devers hits. Yoshida doesn't. The Sox right now have plenty of good defensive outfielders and at least two, O'Neill and Duran, who are also hitting. These are the six Sox positions player with positive WAR's: O'Neill 0.6, Duran 0.6, Devers 0.3, McGuire 0.2, Wong 0.1, Story 0.1. Yoshida and Rafaela are both 0.0. Abreu is -0.1, Dalbec -0.1, Casas -0.1, Reyes -0.2, and Valdez -0.3.

Raffy cost us last night, agreed. But he ain't the only defensive problem. Rafaela and Valdez combined for 4 unearned runs the night before--on easy-peasy plays. Casas has cost us. In game 3 errors by Reyes and Abreu led to two unearned runs.

Hamilton has been called up. Here's what Sox Prospects say about him-- "Potential average hit tool against right-handed pitchers, but below-average against left-handers." "Inconsistent footwork and fringy range at shortstop. Can make the routine play, but there are concerns about how he would adjust to the speed of the major league game there. Has shown a tendency to rush plays and has trouble fielding the ball on the run." So I'd have to say I was dead wrong claiming it shouldn't be hard to find a good glove to fill in for Story. If Hamilton is the first choice, the Sox are in big trouble.

Fascinating discussion about SS, Story, possible replacements, etc. I would, however, like to make the following points. 1. Yes, Story was acquired for his glove, but also for his bat. I think the idea was to get a better Bogaerts for less money. In any case, what the Sox are paying for is a good defensive SS, period, and one who has missed a lot of games. So, given what Story has been to date--good field, no hit, not much play--replacing him shouldn't be that hard. 2. Last year moonslav made a big deal about the importance of good defense because it's good for the pitching. This year it sure looked as though moonslav was/is prescient. Indeed, right now the Sox pitching is the best in MLB. They lead MLB in ERA (1.44 to 2d place Cleveland's 2.28) and WHIP (0.93). 3. However, in just 9 freaking games the defense, despite the good play of Story and a couple others, has been a disaster. Out of 22 runs scored against the Sox, 9 of them--that's 41%--have been unearned. At least three times the defense has done all it could to give away games, but only succeeded, finally, last night when both runs in a 2-1 loss were unfreakingearned. In the very first game (@ Seattle), the defense gave up 2 unearned runs. 4. Therefore to me all this discussion about replacing Story is just silly. Yes, absolutely, he is way better than Reyes or whoever, including anyone brought up (like Mayer). But the real problem--based on those 41% unearned runs--is the overall Sox defense. 5. And right after the defense continually giving up runs has to be the moribund Sox offense, and that begins with Devers, but includes Story (now gone), Casas, Yoshida, Rafaela, Reyes, Abreu, Valdez--in fact, everyone but O'Neill, Duran, and the two catchers. 6. Despite the gloom and doom of the first 5 points, the pitching should give all of us hope--to say nothing of the fact that the Sox are 6-3 and just 1 game back of the Yankees. 7. On the other hand, the fact that we are just 9 games into the season could mean that the pitching will collapse before the hitting and defense improve.

6 unearned runs

The Angels pitcher is a badass with good stuff. Kind of the polar opposite of Whitlock, who nevertheless has pitched 4 scoreless innings--and he only threw 647 pitches to do it.

I honestly think he doesn't like throwing strikes.

True.

As always, an OP which strays and fascinates--and freaking wins! Last night Crawford struggled, but gave up exactly 1 ER in 4.2 innings. And the Sox pitching staff gave up 2 ER's in 9 innings. It was the two youngsters, Rafaela in CF and Valdez @ 2B, who were guilty of opening the floodgates for the Angels. Their two errors led to the grand slam and 4 unearned runs. Agree Detmers is the Angels best starter, but, as you say, Whitlock is also off to a good start. To date the Sox have hit lefties about as well as righties. Story's injury hurts the Sox defense far more than the offense.

Marcelo Mayer is one of the call-ups I had in mind, but I absolutely agree with you that now is too soon.

It is a delight to read "A Realistic View of 2024, Part II" this morning. Lots of good stuff on the Sox overall and especially on options when/if Story goes on the IL for an extended period. I still think moonslav was/is right to say it's better this year than last year despite those two absolutely unforgivable errors--leading to 4 stinking unearned runs and a 5-5 tie--last night by Rafaela and Valdez. Because of what moonslav said before the season started, I now think the defense has been good for the pitching, which has been spectacularly good--for 8 games, anyway. The Sox have traditionally favored hitting over defense--and for the most part it has paid off. Of the 2004, 2007, 2013, or 2018 WS winners, only the 2007 Sox did not lead MLB in runs scored. Even with Manny and Big Papi and Mike Lowell, the 2007 Sox languished in 4th place (in MLB) in runs scored. It helped that the 2007 Sox team ERA was ranked 2d in MLB. So maybe this year the Sox can survive or even thrive on good pitching backed up by above average fielding--and hitting that's mid-range. Right now the Sox team OPS, .720, is mid-range, ranked 14th. I hasten to add that there were few signs--granted, in just 8 games--that Story was about to emerge as a serious offensive threat. But we already know there are some good hitters--Devers, Casas, maybe Yoshida, both catchers, O'Neill, and Duran--who can maybe produce enough runs to put the Sox in the upper third of MLB in hitting/scoring.

Good discussion on SS and the likely loss of Story, whose OPS is .617. As you two seem to agree, his strength this year is his defense, so why not look for the best defensive SS's in the system?

I must admit, candidly, that you and a few others, while you may now and then incorrectly second guess Alex Cora, definitely have the goods on what the GM/CBO should or should not do or have done. I mean you have the specifics nailed down. Me, I'm kind of a big picture guy and right now cannot believe how well these Sox are playing--on the West Coast and without the traditional big bats. My take is one big bat, O'Neill's, and two good bats, Duran's and McGuire's. So far--6-2 with 2 more games in Anaheim/LA--it's all about the pitching. Right before the season started I scoffed at the rotation and jumped right on the "this team is going nowhere" anti-bandwagon.

The pitching has been insanely good. This staff is simply unrecognizable because they all wear Red Sox uniforms.

Wasn't he amazing? Just two days ago I was reading right here on talksox that all he does is walk people. We are nothing if not over-reactors. Me too of course.

No. All 4 are unearned because there should have 3 outs before the grand slam.

Rafaela and Valdez errors on routine easy plays cost 4 unearned runs and absolutely screwed a good reliever. Very unprofessional. Casual, even.