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Maxbialystock

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Everything posted by Maxbialystock

  1. Maxbialystock
    That's at least the second time Bleier's done that this season--come in with a man on first, facing a lefty hitter (advantage to the pitcher), and given up a 2 run dinger. Or is it the 3d time?
  2. Maxbialystock
    Bloom let Wacha go and signed Kluber. It's possible he picked the wrong one. I mean it takes a kind of artistry to give up 4 runs on just one hit.
  3. Maxbialystock
    Definitely. However, this winning streak began with Pivetta starting. He's now in the bullpen.
  4. Maxbialystock
    A much better assessment than mine.
  5. Maxbialystock
    I love the concept of WAR, an attempt to assess the whole player. And I love defense because great plays are the poetry of baseball. But hitting and pitching are the prose and the center of baseball. The truth about Red Sox baseball is that hitting has always been the most essential ingredient for winning. Then comes pitching. And defense is a distant 3d. As an example, I think JDM was a huge addition to the roster in 2018 because he simply made the entire lineup better--they realized their potential and had the best Sox season ever. And JDM pretty much sucked at defense when he wasn't the DH. Here are some DWAR's from the 2018 Sox--probably the greatest Sox team ever--Nunez (-1.5); JDM (-1.4); Bogey (-1.0); Devers (-0.9); Benintendi (-0.6); Moreland (-0.5); Pearce (-0.4); Holt (-0.1). What's that Bill Murray chant? "It just doesn't matter; it just doesn't matter; it just doesn't matter." So I frankly don't care what Yoshida's DWAR is. If he hits, he contributes plenty.
  6. Maxbialystock
    Lucky you. The good ones are, well, boring. Watching Kluber is like watching sisyphus pushing that big rock up the hill, except every now and then he gets it there. Today we get to watch a reenactment of David and Goliath--with the special twist that we let Wacha go and went out and grabbed Kluber instead.
  7. Maxbialystock
    The "realism" began with the preseason survey when three of you said the Sox would have a winning record and when I joined 9 others agreeing the Sox would be losers. And by realism I mean simply a better overall assessment. There have definitely been a bunch of surprises already this season-- Sale, Paxton, and Bello; the bullpen; Dugo; Duran; Casas (maybe); Duvall for 8 games; Kike moving to the infield/SS because of the injuries to Story, Mondesi and then Chang; Yoshida; both catchers, Wong and McGuire.
  8. Maxbialystock
    So allow me to offer a contrarian view. The Sox have never cared about defense at SS. When they get a good one, they get rid of him ASAP. By that standard Kike is quite adequate. I assume you made up this crap about a friendship with Cora because I think Cora is great at handling his players but won't hesitate to juggle his lineups based on necessity and opportunity and not "friendship." Kike's who we have because Mondesi, Story, and Chang have been, are, and will continue to be on the IL.
  9. Maxbialystock
    Kluber vs. Wacha, both righties. Huge advantage to the Padres. Wacha has been terrific in May: 19 IP, 1 freaking ER, 18 K's and 6 BB's. Kluber continues to establish his credentials in the "over the hill gang" with 15.1 IP in May, 10 ER, 4 dingers, 7 BB's, and 13 K's. Against Wacha, Cora is going pretty much--except McGuire in for Wong--with last night's lineup: Verdugo RF Yoshida DH Casas 1B Devers 3B Duran CF Tapia LF Kike SS Valdez 2B McGuire C That's 8 lefty bats plus Kike Hernandez.
  10. Maxbialystock
    Excellent overview, as always. Somewhere on posted on Talksox that, with the emergence of not only Sale, but Paxton and Bello (who needs better command), the Sox have three pretty good starters and are backed up by more so-so starters and a pretty good bullpen. So I think the immediate future of Sox pitching looks pretty good--and with it the immediate future of the team.
  11. Maxbialystock
    Good on the game and Sale. I long ago decided not to challenge Cora's lineups. Casas's OBP in May is .365 and his OPS is .864. Tapia is the the 5th outfielder after Dugo, Duran, Yoshida, and Refsnyder.
  12. Maxbialystock
    Ugly, but a save.
  13. Maxbialystock
    Need the good bullpen tonight.
  14. Maxbialystock
    Yep. 6 innings, 2 runs.
  15. Maxbialystock
    Wong good behind the plate. Actually, Wong great behind the plate. Whoever called the 3 straight sliders, all out of the strike zone, is a genius.
  16. Maxbialystock
    A different Sale tonight.
  17. Maxbialystock
    Verdugo RF Yoshida DH Casas 1b Devers 3b Duran CF Tapia LF Kike Hernandez SS Valdez 2b Wong C
  18. Maxbialystock
    Sale vs Musgrove, lefty vs. righty. Hate to say it, but the pitching edge has to go to Sale and the Sox, so that means the Padres are going to win tonight. You read it here first. Sox looked really good last night--Paxton, Winck, the deeply flawed Devers who swings at way too many pitches but somehow hit two dingers and drove in 4 runs, Dugo with that terrific dive and grab of a liner hit to his left, Duran taking decent routes in the outfield despite his deeply flawed instincts, etc. I think the key factor in the win may have been having our very own Thunder at Petco Park. Our Thunder stole theirs. The Sox winning percentage is now .556. Over 162 games that would mean 90 wins, so the Sox are definitely in the hunt for a wild card. Plus I think their best baseball is ahead of them because the pitching is starting to look pretty decent despite a team ERA ranked 26th in MLB.
  19. Maxbialystock
    Sale is back, period. The issue might still be his durability, even with the new elbow. What makes me optimistic is something you've already mentioned. The Sox right now seem to have three pretty good starters in Sale, Paxton, and Bello (who has good stuff but not yet good command). Plus the bullpen. Plus some choices for the other two starter jobs: Houck, Kluber, Crawford, Whitlock, and even Pivetta. We'll see what happens--as always--but right now I'm impressed with the depth of the Sox pitching.
  20. Maxbialystock
    Could not agree more. Winck was pitching well and able to go 3 innings in relief--so use him to seal the deal on a great start by Paxton. Crawford is back and last pitched Tuesday, and he too can pitch 2 or more innings in relief.
  21. Maxbialystock
    Good reply
  22. Maxbialystock
    You and Nick are both right.
  23. Maxbialystock
    Great point--and I'd forgotten.
  24. Maxbialystock
    Really good win despite the fact that Devers needs to fix his hitting and not swing so much, Valdez should be starting against lefties even though his OPS against lefties is .111, and the seemingly good pitching by the Sox wasn't really that good because somebody walked a .200 hitter from the Padres.
  25. Maxbialystock
    No, he shouldn't have. The Padres starter Snell is a lefty and Valdez's OPS against lefties is .111.
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