Maxbialystock

Strider is just nasty with that fastball and slider. And then Wong gets a single off a slider up in the zone!!!!

5 shutout innings for Bello, who could go 6 and possibly even 7. No game tomorrow, so Cora will likely use his bullpen as often as needed. Dugo's slump continues. His July OPS was .477 coming into this game.

Boy, is he ever. Granted, some hard hit balls were outs, but he has also had to contend with the Devers' problems at 3B (and at bat). Duvall continues to demonstrate that his first 8 games this season were just a flukishly lucky week+. The real Duvall, the one with half the Sox K's so far, is not even tradeable. In other words, I'm watching--thanks to ESPN--one heckuva ball game.

Could not agree more.

5 outs so far and Strider has basically gone with a slider and that fastball--and has our guys struggling. Six outs and no solid contact by any Sox hitter.

Agree. He is working the corners pretty well, but the Braves are fouling them off.

37 year old Justin Turner, on the other hand, is paying attention and making good plays. Plus he reduced those two extra batters to just one. I agree that grounder was a tailor made GIDP.

My opinion, which ain't worth much, is that Bello has so far faced two extra batters thanks to Raffie's misplays.

Hello, Raffie, there's a baseball game going on right now and you're in it. Two misplays so far, but just one error.

Sure does. Almost all 99 mph fastballs which the Sox so far can't handle. Plus he is trying to work the corners.

Well, it's certainly a controversial stat/topic, so you are entitled to that opinion. But that leads me to two contrarian points. First and foremost, it is hard for me to believe all catchers are basically equal in working with pitchers. You have to say that if you think CERA is bs. And my second point is strongly related. Who do you think the pitchers on the Sox prefer catching them--Wong or McGuire or Alfaro? Or, best of all, behind door #4: they just don't care because catchers are irrelevant to how well a pitcher pitches.

True, of course. The players and their very capable manager did find ways to win, which they did again last night against the current best team in MLB, the former Boston Braves. I'm less confident than you about the return of Sale, Kluber, Houck, and Whitlock. It it's good Sale, that will be huge. But I think Kluber's over the hill and Houck and Whitlock work best from the bullpen.

To remind: he filled a need because of all the infielders who ended up on the IL. I doubt that the Dodgers, who once again lead the NL West, expect great things from Kike, but they do see him filling a need. You and many others appear to think Kike regularly lost games for the Sox, but the evidence says that's not true. When he played, the Sox won more often than they lost, 44-41. When he didn't play, the Sox also won more than they lost, 8-6.

Good stuff on Wong, especially his framing technique. Thanks. I liked Vazquez in his early years and with that incredible arm and release. Later, not so much, for 2 reasons: 1) CERA, which I believe; 2) his stupid base-running. So last year I was fine with letting him go. Like you, I knew nothing about Wong. He doesn't have as good an arm as Vazquez, but he has a much better brain.

About "Cora just looks good," I agree the players do the heavy lifting, but this season Cora has been incredibly adept at managing a pitching staff that has four starters on the IL and one in the bullpen. He has also managed to avoid overworking the three official starters (Bello, Paxton, and Crawford) who are not on the IL--as well as the one in the bullpen. Same goes for the bullpen, which so far is also not overworked. As for Bloom, you and others keep forgetting that John Henry has put a damper on spending big, especially for starting pitching. The Sox payroll is now 15th in MLB, the lowest (relative to other teams' salaries) it's been in the JH era and probably the last 40 years. Top payrolls right now are the Mets, Yankees, Padres, and Phillies, and none of them has a better record than the Sox. Phillies are tied with the Sox and the other three are worse.

I loved Kyle and wished Bloom would have kept him. Right now, however, not so much. He's got those dingers and rbi's, but the Phillies offense stinks despite all the money DD has spent. They have the same W-L record (54-47) as the Sox--but in a much weaker division than the AL East and despite having the 4th highest payroll in MLB.

Agree on defending Bloom. Less sure of the near future because of the rotation. Bello has been excellent, but ain't no one behind him in the Sox system. Instead, we have Sale, Houck, Whitlock, and Kluber on the IL--and of those 4 only Sale has looked like a real starter. Kluber is over the hill, and Houck and Whitlock were more effective in the bullpen.

But in fact this very topic of "non-starting" Pivetta has already been examined thoroughly on game threads, on the rotation thread, and elsewhere. I haven't checked, but it's probably also been on the fire Cora thread.

This latest streak is only 3 games, but all of them have been huge. Yes, the days off have helped, but it still boggles the mind that Cora is getting by with 3 starters and a wakeup (Pivetta) while Sale, Kluber, Houck, and Whitlock remain on the IL--and will likely do so for 2 more weeks. If Bloom reads talksox and had to choose between keeping Splinter and keeping Cora, I think Cora would have to go. On the other hand, if word gets out to other blog sites, Splinter could bring in some pretty good prospects.

I was happy to see Vazquez go. I would not be happy to see Paxton go unless what Bloom got back were high value prospects. To me this year's Sox are definitely better than last year's, especially given the massive injuries to the rotation, Story, et al. Duran and Casas have come on. Yoshida was a terrific acquisition, and I'd definitely rather have Turner than JDM. Wong has been excellent. Duvall has only been OK. Dugo may or may not be fading after a terrific start. If Story and Sale return to their better selves in August, the Sox will be tough. Bullpen is way better than last year, but the defense is subpar.

Actually, Cora's doing that right now. The standard rest between starts is 5 days. Bello's last start was July 19, so tonight he is going on 7 days rest. He started on 14 July, so 19 July was the standard 5 days. The last three starts before the ASG were July 5, June 29 (6 days), and June 23 (6 days). And so on. I checked Paxton's game log, and found 2 starts out of 12 with just 5 days rest. Crawford, on the other hand, has had mostly 5 days rest between starts. I think of Verlander as a horse, but even he gets a lot of 6 days breaks between starts. The Sox started the season with 8 starters--Kluber, Paxton, Sale, Houck, Whitlock, Crawford, Pivetta, and Bello--although not all were healthy or even in Boston. Right now 4 of the 8 are on the IL. So resting starters more would seem to make sense.

I do not think this topic merits a whole new thread. Plus this idea was/is not new. The Rays have been doing this successfully for years, including against the Sox. There may indeed be a psychological dimension to allowing Pivetta to avoid the first inning, but there are also two practical explanations. The first is the math. Using a reliever to start does not strain the bullpen because these days very few starters go 7 innings, let alone 9. So it should not matter that one of those innings pitched by the bullpen is the 1st. The second is the effect on the opposing team's lineup. Pivetta is a righty, so when Bernardino, a lefty, starts a game in which Pivetta is expected to pitch 5 or more innings, the opposing manager is less likely to load his lineup with with lefty bats (assuming he has that option).

Right now Yoshida's DWAR on espn stats is -1.0, and I think he's better than that. When the Sox beat the Mets 8-6, Yoshida made the final out (with a man on base) on one of the toughest catches in MLB--running toward/into that left field wall (along the 3d base line) which is almost in fair territory. We have had plenty of leftfielders who couldn't make that catch, and in this case it was huge.

I think I posted elsewhere, I love the pitching staff you designed if Bloom picks up a couple of fairly decent starters (you cited one from the White Sox and one from the Cubs)-- Sale, Paxton, Bello, + 2 good starters from Chicago Houck, Whitlock, Pivetta, and Crawford as long relievers Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, and Bernardino as late inning guys But what if Bloom doesn't even get one decent starter? I think there is compelling evidence that Cora's improvisations--especially since Sale, Houck, Whitlock, and Kluber went on the freaking IL (and remain there)--have worked wonders. Improvisation isn't quite the right word because the Rays have been using relievers to start for years--as you pointed out. Plus the math is on Cora's side. We know the bullpen is going to pitch in almost every game, so what difference--in terms of bullpen usage--does it make whether a reliever starts or comes in later in the game? Last night we did see that not every reliever is ready to pitch the first inning. Schreiber, one of the Sox best relievers, was lucky to escape the 1st inning giving up just 1 run. A weird double play saved him. Bernardino, on the other hand, seems to thrive on "false" starts and can even go 2 innings. Maybe it helps that he is a lefty and Pivetta is a righty, so opposing managers are less likely to load their lineups with lefty bats. And this. Right now I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Whitlock, Houck, or Kluber as starters, so their returns might not help the rotation much. If the good Sale returns, that's four good/decent starters plus one good/decent false starter.

I think I posted elsewhere, I love the pitching staff you designed if Bloom picks up a couple of fairly decent starters (you cited one from the White Sox and one from the Cubs)-- Sale, Paxton, Bello, + 2 good starters from Chicago Houck, Whitlock, Pivetta, and Crawford as long relievers Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, and Bernardino as late inning guys But what if Bloom doesn't even get one decent starter? I think there is compelling evidence that Cora's improvisations--especially since Sale, Houck, Whitlock, and Kluber went on the freaking IL (and remain there--have worked wonders. Improvisation isn't quite the right word because the Rays have been using relievers to start for years--as you pointed out. Plus the math is on Cora's side. We know the bullpen is going to pitch in almost every game, so what difference--in terms of bullpen usage--does it make whether a reliever starts or comes in later in the game? Last night we did see that not every reliever is ready to pitch the first inning. Schreiber, one of the Sox best relievers, was lucky to escape the 1st inning giving up just 1 run. A weird double play saved him. Bernardino, on the other hand, seems to thrive on "false" starts and can even go 2 innings. Maybe it helps that he is a lefty and Pivetta is a righty, so opposing managers are less likely to load their lineups with lefty bats. And this. Right now I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Whitlock, Houck, or Kluber as starters, so their returns might not help the rotation much. If the good Sale returns, that's four good starters plus--and I can't resist saying this--one good false starter.