Maxbialystock

The Sox did get off to a bad start in 2019, but I think it was because the rotation wasn't ready after their truncated (fewer innings pitched than usual) ST. They did, however, have a winning record, 49-41, going into the ASG. After the ASG break, they went 35-37, which I think is when the wheels came off the rotation.

I think that's kind of endemic to most Sox hitters. They don't know how to "command" the strike zone, which I think means having a good eye/feel for what's a strike and what's a ball, as well as being prepared to swing at hittable pitches in the strike zone.

Weren't you the one screaming for the Sox to play the young guys in September? Last night's lineup included Rafaela (23), Abreu (24), Valdez (24), Dalbec (28), Wong (27), and Devers (26). Devers, Story, and Wong had the Sox 3 hits, all singles.

It is indeed. My son is an Orioles fan largely because we lived in W. Springfield, VA, 1981-84, when the Orioles were pretty good. Same thing happened to me at the same age, 14, when we lived in W. Springfield, MA and I listened to Curt Gowdy call the Sox games.

2019 was the year the Sox went easy on the starters in spring training under the assumption they were overused in the 2018 postseason and had insufficient time to recover. On that 11 game road trip the Sox have up 12, 6, 6, 10, 7, 1 (a loss), 3, 7, 15, 5, and 0 runs.

To me there have been a bunch of bright spots, starting with Casas and Duran, who surprised most of us with their new found ability to hit MLB pitching. Plus Duran is taking better routes on balls hit to the outfield, and his speed on the basepaths is amazing and productive. Both catchers, Wong and Wright, have been better than expected. So has 38 year old Turner. Bello--you already mentioned as well as Martin. Sale had not only his best season since 2019, but it has been better than 2020-22 (3 seasons) combined. I am not saying we shouldn't be skeptical about next season, but am saying we could be pleasantly surprised. As moonslav has pointed out, the Sox have several capable middle/long relievers in Whitlock, Pivetta, Houck, Crawford, and Winckowski. If the Sox acquire 2 or 3 reliable starters in the offseason, those 5 plus Martin and Jansen would be a pretty fair bullpen. Your dismay with this team this season is merited because the pitching and hitting overall have been subpar. Ditto the defense. Thus the losing record. However, as moonslav and many others have said, acquiring 2 or 3 good starters would make a huge difference, and the lineup for next year--with or without Duvall, Turner, Duran, and/or Verdugo--should be pretty decent. Three sniveling excuses for this season: 1) lots of injuries (Story, Duvall, Paxton, Houck, Whitlock, Sale, Duran, Casas, Reyes, etc; 2) killer schedule Aug 4-Sep 20 when the Sox played 48 games with just 3 days off; 3) team payroll was/is ranked 15th in MLB, the lowest team salary ranking in the John Henry era and probably in the last 40 years.

Kind of hard to get pompous on a blog site--especially one with so many acerbic wits.

Nicely said.

I like that last sentence. A lot.

Well, I sure can't blame you for getting pissed at those K's. They bugged me too. In fact, I think the Sox could benefit from a page from the Rays book, the one that teaches them how to "command" the strike zone. I interpret that to mean partly pitch/location recognition, but also being ready to swing at good pitches. Too often the Sox seem unable to avoid swinging at bad pitches, but also not going after fat pitches--or going after them and missing.

Energy guys? Balls out? Boy, do you have the wrong sport in mind. Baseball is all about hitting and pitching, neither of which is affected by how fast a batter can race to the batter's box or a pitcher to the freaking mound. Also, in case you've forgotten--which you obviously have--the Sox made two rookies, Casas and Duran, regulars and semi-regulars. However, both are now on the IL--maybe because they were too "balls out." The one truly old guy, Jason Turner, on the other hand, has played 1b, 3b, 2b, DH, etc in 142 games with 23 dingers and 96 rbi's. Long live old guys.

Of course it was the manager's choice. In fact, I insist on that characterization. It supports my point that Cora is a much better manager than you guys give him credit for being. Go back and look at the 2021 stats and you will see Barnes was the closer--24 saves--for the first half of the season and then went south after MLB started checking gloves, etc of the pitchers every freaking inning. Ottavino was a has been (ERA 4.21) in 2021. And Whitlock could never, ever be confused with a real closer. And let's not forget how lousy Kimbrel, a real closer in the regular season, was in the 2018 postseason with his freaking ERA of 5.91!

Agree the Rays have not missed Bloom. They probably have the best system--people--in MLB for identifying and developing talent. The Orioles might have a good system, but one excellent season is insufficient proof. At the end of the day, I think postseason success, which the Sox have definitely had in the John Henry era, also requires spending some money. But even that requires some smarts--see the non-success this year of the Mets, Yankees, and Padres.

Agree on all. I believe JH's intent with Bloom was to do both, except that he was and may still be gun shy about spending big bucks on starters.

I'm sure he is, and he certainly has the record for it. That said, however, the key to the Rays success is their system for identifying and developing talent. They just lost their best player, Wander Franco, who might be gone for good, and they are still playing solid ball. Same goes for the Dodgers, who spend a lot more but also seem pretty good at identifying and developing and going after (Mookie) talent. As for Cora, let's not forget he's got a WS title and Cash doesn't. In fact, 2018 was the best Sox team ever, in large part thanks to DD and the CBO he replaced. Also, just 2 seasons ago the 2021 Sox had lost Sale (who pitched 42 innings in 2021), Price, Kimbrel, Mookie, Beni, JBJ, Moreland, et al from the 2018 team. And Cora managed them into the postseason, in which they played without a closer and still beat the Yankees and the 100 win Rays to get to the ALCS.

You two are being just silly--or bitter or both. Cash has the pitching, 5th best team ERA in MLB, and Cora definitely does not, 21st best ERA. And 7 runs has been pretty standard for several decades for a starting pitcher who doesn't have it that game. That's especially true for a team with an over-used bullpen. But even with those issues the Sox bullpen gave up just 2 freaking runs in 6 freaking innings. Do you guys know even the first thing about MLB?

You refer of course to the 86 years of the curse of the bambino--mostly with Tom Yawkey as the owner. About those purse strings. The Mets, Yankees, and Padres have the top 3 payrolls in MLB and will not make it to the postseason. The two best won-lost records in the AL belong to the Orioles (98-59) and Rays (96-62), and their payrolls are ranked 28th and 27th.

I was in my ironic mode. I think Cora has had 2 terrific seasons--2018 when the Sox were loaded and 2021 when they weren't--and two subpar seasons, 2021 and 2022, mostly because of JH's change in direction as administered by Chaim Bloom.

So you remembered he was suspended that year--good.

Don't ignore 2021, a season when the Sox made it to the ALCS despite having lost Mookie, JBJ, Moreland, Beni, Price, Sale, Kimbrel, et al.

2018 was much better than 2017 at the plate because bringing in JDM made the whole lineup better. Plus it helped the 2018 team when Eovaldi was brought in o/1 August 1. And what happened in 2019 was that the starting pitching collapsed. They went from 85 quality starts in 2018 to 55 in 2019. The Sox team ERA in 2018 was ranked 8th in MLB, which for the Sox is excellent, but in 2019 it was 19th. 2018 was, as you say, the outlier because everything clicked that season.

I can't imagine why. Sox stunk this year and last year--also in 2019 and 2020.

Exactly: Pivetta was really good tonight. Defense wasn't half bad either. But RISP disease (0 for 10 with RISP) reappeared and blew the Sox away. Thanks to splendidsplinter for last night's win and almost 2 in a row.

Interesting. Did you check the box score for last night's "meaningless game?" Attendance was 37,000, pretty close to a full house, and they saw Sale K seven guys while giving up 0 runs in 5 innings despite not having his hard fastball. He did get good use of his nasty slider and changeup, and the Sox won 3-2 with a lineup of regulars plus Rafaela and Dalbec (in for Casas who is on the IL). As for me I watched the game online and definitely enjoyed it even though the lineup once again was disappointing (but not completely so).

I didn't watch all of last night's win, but enough to think Sale just might be an asset next year. Same goes for Bello, Crawford, and maybe even Houck and Pivetta. I'm not saying the Sox shouldn't be looking for good starters because they should. Unfortunately, good starters are pricey--moonslav says $25M/year for 5-7 years--and injury-prone, a horrible combination.