Maxbialystock

Whoops! Now 3 runs in the 2d inning without Devers or Duran. Also, as I pointed out earlier, righties hit Pfaadt almost as well as lefties. Two of the three doubles thus far were by righty bats Turner and Wong. Cora knows baseball.

Devers has stunk the last 5 games. So has Duran. So Turner goes to 3b and gets a double. And Casas stays at 1b and also gets a double--and an rbi. Put Devers in today's lineup, and the Sox don't score in the 2d inning, period. Same goes for Duran. When the whole freaking team stops hitting, it's not a bad managerial move to shake things up.

Sale looks good, and the lineup continues to stink.

Tapia CF Verdugo RF Turner 3B Yoshida DH Refsnyder LF Casas 1B Kike Hernandez SS Valdez 2B Wong C 5 lefties, 4 righties, no Devers, no Duran Season to date, righties have hit (OPS .958) Pfaadt almost as well as lefties (OPS 1.003)

Back to a Realistic View of 2023, Part II-- Boston, who I figured for a losing season, is still very much in the hunt for a wild card, even with the current 4 game losing streak driven mostly by a lack of hitting--4 runs scored in 4 games. So tonight it's Sale vs Pfaadt, a 24 year old rookie with 4 starts, an ERA of 7.65--but who wasn't half bad his last two starts in which he gave up 1 run in 5 innings to the Giants and 3 runs in 5.1 innings to the Pirates. The Diamondbacks won both games. In a 162 game season, it's folly to claim the 51st game is a big deal. On the other hand, Sale is our ace--in three May starts he's pitched 21 innings while giving up 6 ER's-- and the Sox do need a win. So we need that Sale tonight, plus a lineup that finally scores some runs, and a reliable bullpen.

Oh, come off it. moonslav's signature post is a ton of stats, which are invariably interesting and helpful. Other posters do the same, but not as often or as voluminous. I rarely think of moonslav as completely right or completely wrong because I think his real value is adding to the discussion, not ending it as you seem to suggest. I also value MVP 78's contributions, especially when he disagrees with me. Speaking of whom, if you want a volunteer who will admit he is regularly "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," I'm your guy. Somebody asked where Worcester is and I provided a paragraph on Henry Knox.

I think that's a pretty fair description of aces--although giving "the entire bullpen the night off" is a rarity these days. And yes, there are still aces out there. The problem is that "true ace" contracts are for enormous sums of money, all of it guaranteed while said "ace" is getting a new elbow and is out for two seasons. Or whatever. The Sox have in fact brought in aces (or semi-aces) successfully, proven by their contributions to WS wins in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018. But when the 2019 Sox collapsed, I think JH said, "no more aces, thank you." He also decided Mookie Betts next contract would be too pricey (it is) and the same for Bogey's (it also is). Devers $331M is also a gamble, but at least he's young, 26, so he might actually earn some of it.

Aces are pitchers the Sox primarily buy (vice develop) who help them win the WS, which in the JH era amount to 4. Examples: Curt Schilling--bloody sock guy who beat the Yankees and then Cardinals to end the 86 year curse. Pedro Martinez--who helped him. Josh Beckett--like Schilling, but in 2007 against Cleveland and Colorado. Jon Lester and John Lackey--not as good as the above, but useful in winning the 2013 WS Chris Sale--2018 regular season. Also David Price, Chris Porcello, Nate Eovaldi, and Craig Kimbrel. John Henry pays the bills and fired DD in 2019 after the wondrous 2018 team fell completely apart, but were still paid the biggest team salary in MLB. Since then, JH has sought to avoid big and long contracts for "aces" because of the humungous financial risk involved.

I posted almost nothing last winter (November-March). Nevertheless, my view is that the hot stove league exists for people to be as hopeful or as pessimistic as they think/feel--without fear of retribution. It's just talk. Had I talked, I probably would have been pessimistic because I was that way in March when the survey was taken. Right now I remain mildly astounded the Sox are competitive for a wild card despite being in the toughest Division in the history of MLB Divisions. About the so-called miracle of 2013. Wasn't that GM fired? Some say DD wrought the even greater miracle of 2018--and he was fired the next year. Me, I thought the 2021 postseason was a minor miracle--and I notice that GM is still here. But who knows?

Yes, he stinks. But he was useful in his past two seasons. I mean, if you think pitching the final four innings against the Rays, whom Pivetta held scoreless in 3d game of the 2021 ALDS to allow the Sox to win the game in 13 innings was useful. Or how about last month at the Trop where he pitched 5 scoreless innings against the red hot Rays? There are times--way too often--when Pivetta is so bad I think he is tipping his pitches. And there are other times when he is effective. I'm glad the Sox have not DFA'd him even though I'm not at all sure he will turn things around. Right now he is useful in the bullpen--in games in which the Sox are not expecting to win. By not starting he is in compliance with the hippocratic oath: first do no harm.

Meh. You could well be right. But this is the right thread in which to discuss the schedule ahead. And all they are saying is that in spots it will be easier than the schedule behind us. Also, a quick peek at the MLB standings suggests that in the American League the only two teams who don't seem to have a shot at the playoffs are the Royals and Athletics.

As always, good stuff--and some of them are surprises to me.

Ohtani is dead simple to evaluate. He wants and is likely to get way more than he will be worth. I say worth in terms of wins and losses. He might be worth that contract in terms of boosting attendance, depending on where he ends up.

Yep

Worcester, which is primarily west (not south) of Boston, was on the road/trail Henry Knox used in 1775-76 to drag/boat/carry 60 tons of British guns 300 miles from Ticonderoga to Boston--first going straight south, mostly on water and then going basically east on land--in the dead of winter. Knox needed the snow and sleds to move those heavy guns, which were then used to drive the British Army and the British Navy out of Boston in March 1776. The 2d Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia never screws their courage to the sticking point of writing and signing the Declaration without that crucial victory in Boston first. As for your analysis of the lineup, you are way off base. Bloom/Henry kept Devers primarily because he's still young and can actually deliver on part of that huge package ($330M) he got and because he's a fan fav in Boston. As with the pitching, Bloom/Henry are trying to find ways to do more on the field of play with less in terms of big contracts to players. Right now the Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 13th in dingers. The 2018 Sox were 1st in runs scored and 9th in dingers. The 2007 Sox were 9th in runs scored in MLB and 10th in dingers. The current batting slump notwithstanding, the Sox hitting has been one of the pleasant surprises this season, especially given the absences of not only Mookie, Bogey, JDM, Beni, et al, but also Story and Duvall (who has played in just 8 games out of 50).

Bad call on the 3d strike against Duran, but it was also merciful.

He certainly hasn't lost his touch. As for the Sox, this slump could last awhile.

Funny thing, but I think Whitlock has an excellent repertoire--exactly what's needed to start. But in 2+ seasons his relieving has been way better than his starting. Maybe he is not physically strong enough to start, say, 30 games in a season.

Good correction on my strident post. Your numbers are better than my opinion. That said, Jansen did blow back to back saves badly with multiple runs given up in both games. And his one save since then included two BB's. Winck looks back on track, but the time before was pretty awful. Crawford blew a 1-1 game night before last. Them's my excuses for being strident. I do agree the hitting is the issue now. Ironically, it comes at a time when the rotation (except for Kluber and Pivetta) has looked particularly good. Also this. McGuire looked pretty good catching Bello last night. I like Wong, but I want McGuire to be good too.

Agree. DD is praised almost endlessly on talksox because he delivered the 2018 Sox, probably the best Sox team ever. But, as notin has made clear, the cost was not just considerable, it was franchise-changing. You gotta give credit to the MLBPA, which I think was the first truly successful professional athletes union. These days good players can expect everything to be guaranteed, even when the amount is insane. ARod started it with $250M guaranteed--when he was a youngster. My own (no doubt prejudiced) view is that the media love those big contracts and write about them endlessly and almost always in a positive vein. To them the LA Dodgers got a complete bargain with the Mookie Betts contract. Now they are hoping Ohtani will sign for half a billion dollars.

I've lived in Texas, but briefly, and am not a fan. Too big. But Texans can be awfully loyal to Texas, even with all those big cities that keep growing bigger. So I think you are right about Eovaldi--and good for him.

Right now the rotation is Sale, Paxton, Bello, Houck--all of whom pitched well last time out--and Kluber, who ain't worth $10M and may or may not be replaced by Whitlock. The bullpen is Jansen, Winck, Martin, Crawford, Pivetta, Garcia, and the two lefties, Rodriguez and Bernardino; and lately they look pretty unreliable.

Right now the Sox sure like like they have four decent starters in Sale, Paxton, Bello, and Houck. However, the bullpen seems to be springing leaks, and the "no name" lineup is, well, offensive to the nostrils. They stink.

Not me. I said he was "great in May" before anyone else did:o. But of course I didn't make the cut for the intelligentsia.

It started with Jansen blowing 2 straight saves against the Cardinals. Since then the bullpen has been mostly lousy. Even Jansen gave up 2 BB's in his one save vs. Seattle. Winck looked good for 3 innings scoreless innings. The good thing about Rodriguez stinking it up tonight is that the Sox hitting has disappeared for 3 straight games: 1 run scored in 26 innings (soon to be 27). The bad thing is that maybe the offense really is this bad.