Maxbialystock

My points are so-so, but I like yours--that all Sox LF's had to play half their games in other ballparks. I forgot that. Nevertheless, the beauty of the Green Monster is that it justifies playing guys there who are great hitters, but not so great on defense. Now, amazingly, it's Duran, the speed merchant, and he's starting to hit. Rafaela has CF covered, and O'Neill is the right guy for RF.

It's common knowledge, so no need to go into specifics. Verily, it is written: when a team loses, it's always because of something the manager did or failed to do or both.

Thank you for speaking up!!! Now I know the Sox will get to the postseason this year.

Right you are! I have a reading deficiency. Two years in Boston and two in LA do not change my opinion. Grady Little was not MLB managerial material. Word is that the players liked him.

These days it's a struggle to be high on Bello. Last time I checked, being young is not a skill. If anything, it's an impediment except for the most gifted of baseball players.

Sox Prospects says look for Mayer in 2025 at the earliest.

Agree on last sentence. As for the rest, Sox need to be tough.

Back to Realistic View of 2024, Part II. I have no realistic view of this season. None. I'm thrilled with the 5-2 record and the terrific pitching, best right now in MLB. Defense is good. Baserunning's good. Cora's good. Hitting sucks, but will hopefully get better. If it does, this could be an unbelievable season after finishing last in the AL East (best Div in MLB, however) the last two.

Farrell was fired after the 2017 season in which the Sox won the AL East but again bombed in the ALDS. No one hired him after he left the Sox--except as a scout. That's a pretty big demotion. Francona was fired after the 2011 season--actually, I think his contract wasn't renewed--but went on to great success with the Guardians. Farrell lasted 8 seasons with the Sox and about 11 with the Guardians. That's a good manager. JH fired Grady Little after the 2003 season and especially the ALCS. He had just one season as Sox manager. Later he managed the Dodgers, also for one season. Now he's a "senior advisor" with the Pirates. Cora's in his 6th season with the Sox. I think he's good and will stay with the Sox, but who knows? Managers are hired to be fired--with some exceptions.

In my opinion, yours are pretty good--but not always. Your comments on Sox leftfielders are spot on although you neglected to mention why so many were so bad. The green monster was and is the great equalizer. Putting a great outfielder in LF at Fenway is a waste. I gave JBJ the edge only because I saw him in action many times. But I absolutely do not count myself as an expert on center fielders. Except, of course, for Willie Mays. When he spoke at his HOF ceremony, he said he never saw a better player (than himself). I'm inclined to agree with him.

I could not agree more. It's not just the different eras, it's that every player is a unique individual.

It's still early right now, April 4, 2024. And it will stay early as long as there is hope. In the old days, that happened with the Sox infamous "June swoon."

weren't, not wasn't. And the A's scored how many runs from all those Sox errors?

About KC. It's in the Great Plains. I lived there for 5 years, intermittently from 1948 to 1990, about 35 miles from KC and can assure you the winters are cold and snowy and July and August pretty doggone hot. April was a mixed bag a lot like the Robert Frost poem: "The sun was warm, but the wind was chill./You know how is with an April day/When the sun is out and the wind is still,/You're one month on in the middle of May./But if you so much as dare to speak,/A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,/A wind comes off a frozen peak/and you're two months back in the middle of March."

Gold gloves sometimes go to the undeserving. Me, I'm just happy with the fielding I've seen so far, granted, in just 7 games. I believe moonslav's theory that good defense gives pitchers a psychological boost over and above whatever runs they may prevent--just as bad defense undercuts pitchers' confidence. A possible sign of that psychological boost this season is that the five starters have pitched 38 innings to date while giving up just 3 freaking walks.

Sox team ERA is the lowest in MLB. That hasn't happened very often, even if for just 6 games. Team OPS was 19th before today's game. Probably still is.

Really? They looked just awful in game 1, but not half bad in games 2 and 3 in which the Heels won each by 1 run.

Mr Peepers was weak, but not Wally Cox.

Yes, AC might have a future. In fact, he's kind of a litmus test for which talksoxers don't know spit from shinola about managing. In game 3, for example, a whole bunch attacked Cora for not using Jansen. Not one asked the question, "why wasn't Jansen used?" They just assumed Cora was stupid.

I can hardly remember a season when one or more starters haven't dropped out because of injury, illness, or lousy pitching. That's why moonslav is predicting how many of the current 5 will throw 150 innings each. So, while I agree lack of depth is going to be a problem, I also think it's endemic to the Sox "system." Of more importance is that this pitching staff has been incredible for the first six games and have the lowest ERA in MLB.

Fascinating OP. Right now, very early days, of course, the Sox are 4-2 and 1 game behind the 1st place Yankees because the Sox team ERA, 1.79, is ranked #1 in all of MLB. The Sox team OPS, on the other hand, is .667, ranked 19th. The hitting stinks, but not completely. And, as moonslav predicted, the Sox defense is above average, never more so than when Rafaela made that incredible grab last night in extra innings. Also worth noting: all 13 position players either batted or fielded or both last night; and 5 of the 8 relievers pitched. You think Cora wanted to win this game? That included at least two fascinating moves. One was replacing starting catcher Wong with "back-up" catcher Wright. Part of that was bringing in a lefty bat, but I think maybe Cora was also deliberately balancing the IP by both catchers. We'll see. The other rather stunning move was to move Casas from DH to 1B to replace Dalbec, which meant giving up the DH for the rest of the game. Abreu pinch hit for Dalbec in the 6th inning and played RF with O'Neill moving to LF.

Bello has now given up more earned runs than the other 4 starters combined.

Dalbec stinks.

Devers hit a decent GIDP grounder, but the secondbaseman was too far from 2B to get the toss and then throw Devers out at 1B.

Duran LF O'Neill RF Devers 3B Story SS Reyes 2B Casas DH Rafaela CF Dalbec 1B Wong C Six righty bats for the Sox--all but Duran, Devers, and Casas. Against lefty starter Wood. Story moved up to batting 2d.