Maxbialystock

Oh, stuff it. Forget Yoshida and look at the freaking team numbers. These Sox this season are the "no name offense." We got Devers, period. Everybody else is pretty much unknown or, as is the case with Yoshida, a presumed failure. Despite that, the Sox are currently 3d in MLB in runs scored. They just hammered the 6th best pitching staff (ERA 3.47) in MLB--who were the 2d best before the Sox came to town. Before the Brewers, they hammered the Twins excellent pitching staff. You don't like "ping-pong" with the infield, but what I see is Cora making necessary adjustments. The only real adjustment is replacing Kike with Chang at SS, and that sure looks like a smart move. Kike is now at 2b and hitting, and Duran is in CF hitting even better. This "no-name" Sox offense is scoring runs, and don't you forget it.

The AL East were also dominant last year and the year before. The big surprise this year is the Orioles.

Watch out for the Orioles because they are red hot!!! They just took 3 straight from the 7-13 Detroit Tigers, before that 2/2 from the 7-14 Washington Nationals, before that 2/3 from the 7-15 White Sox, and before that 3/4 from the 4-18 Oakland A's.

I'm not against another good start by Sale. Far from it. We have seen potential in the rotation, but the grim truth is that as of today, April 23, the Sox team ERA is 5.10 and ranked 26th in MLB. This is mostly because of bad outings by the rotation. On the other hand, the whole team--the Boston freaking Red Sox--have just taken 2 of 3 against the Brewers, who had been tied for the best W-L record in the National League, 2 of 3 from the Twins, who had been leading the AL Central, and 3 of 4 from the high-priced Angels, who are just 1 game back of the Astros in the AL West. The Sox are now ranked 3d in MLB in runs scored, and they are doing it with what I would call a "no name offense." They got Devers, period. Dugo has no name, nor does Turner. Indeed, when Verdugo came east to Boston, the big story was how the idiotic Sox--JH and Bloom--let Mookie Betts go. And Mookie, as we all know, is worth every cent of his $365M contract. Yoshida is known only in Japan--well, except for two dingers in the 8th inning of last night's game. Before last night, Yoshida was known to Sox fans as "Bloom's folly." Maybe he still is, right along with our IL denizens, Story and Duvall.

Meh. Yoshida seems to be coming around. Besides, while I agree 1b and LF should hit, the point has been that somebody seems to be hitting in each game except that terrible series at the Trop--and even in that one the Sox got some runs.

Sadly, that didn't happen, so don't watch the horrible 8th in which the Sox scored about a thousand runs, thereby making Ort's horrible appearance irrelevant. The guy to blame is Ort, not Cora. The guys to applaud for the big rally are the guys who did it. Cora just watched. I do think Cora's doing a good job this season.

Ort is a completely worthless piece of crap. He let that guy take 2b after walking him--just ignored him. Now the WP, which bounced way in front of the play--with a man on 3b. Milwaukee scored easily--with just one guy out on a sac bunt--without getting a hit. Ort stinks.

Like I said, Casas's best swing is when he checks it--and by that I mean a bonafide check the ump recognizes as a non-swing.

Excellent call by A Red Sox fan named Hugh.

Excellent 2d inning by Bello! Hang in there, kid.

I just watched the replay. Wong was lost out there. He kept running back to 2d base, then toward 3b, then back, then toward 3b.

Good play by the Brewers in cutting off the throw home.

That sucked, but the Sox still scored 2 more. Sure wish Bello were reliable. But he's quite capable of giving back those 3 and a couple more.

That's it for Wong. He's off the team and back to the minors--for successfully bunting.

The best part of Casas swing is when he checks it. As bad a hitter as he is, I remain astounded at how often he walks.

Finally, the third out. At 20-something pitcher per inning, Bello can go 3 or 4. Funny the reluctance to use the slider, which seemed to be working.

And that's the difference between the Rays system and the Sox system. The Rays make sure their pitchers have command.

Bello lacks command of his pitches. It's that simple.

It's a blog site. What's the point of always agreeing? I picked the Sox to be below .500 this season and now have real hope I was wrong.

Bello stinks--unless you believe in one game at a time, which I do believe in. Despite the lack of star power and relying on a lot of no names, these Sox can be fun to watch. Duvall and Story are out. Kluber stinks. Arroyo has forgotten how to hit. Kike can't play SS like we thought. Chang might be OK at SS. Casas remains the worst of the worst at 1b--when will this long national nightmare end? Yoshida is the great mystery and underperformer from the Far East. But they are nevertheless competitive.

While I genuinely enjoy disagreeing with you, I do think your optimism has merit. I too have hopes for the rotation, and the bullpen is already an asset. On paper the lineup looks terrible, but they score freaking runs and against good pitching too. Most of all, as you say, they have played a tough schedule, are in far and away the toughest division, and are holding their own. I voted for the Sox having a losing record this season and hope to be proven dead wrong.

By all means defend McGuire. He's on our team, the Red Sox, for crying out loud. I'm just being a pissant because not catching that third strike--in the strike zone, yet--really torqued me. On the other hand, I'm happy to overlook catcher interference by Wong. You have rightfully pointed to 2b, SS, and CF as bigger problems than whether McGuire is as good as Wong. Actually, Kluber is the leader on my latest s__t list. A $10M wrecking machine. Interesting that Crawford remains in the bullpen. If nothing else, he could be a long reliever. Last night would likely have turned out better if Crawford pitched the 4th-6th innings or longer.

Meh. Before this series Milwaukee was 14-5, which was tied for the best record in the National freaking League. That said, yeah, we saw the not so great Whitlock tonight. On the other hand Milwaukee's team ERA is 3.07, 2d best in MLB, and the Sox scored 4 tonight and 5 last night. Also on the other hand, the bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings. Also on the other hand, the Sox have played their 15th straight game tonight without a break.

Sox are now 11-10 after taking 2 of 3 vs the Twins, who lead the AL Central, and last night beating the Brewers, who lead the NL Central with a 14-6 record. When you look at the Sox lineup these days, there is cause for concern. Like Dalbec at SS. But they are scoring runs and not screwing up the defense too often. Dugo is hitting, but so is Duran of all people. Yoshida might be getting ready to. Devers is still Devers. In fact, the Sox are now tied for 2d in MLB in runs scored with 116 (helped by having played 21 games). How about them apples? And, true to moonslav's prediction, not only is the rotation starting to come around (excluding Kluber plus jury still out on Bello), but the bullpen already looks pretty decent.

Since this thread is about the rotation, I hereby declare Wong and McGuire together to be adequate to the task of catching our starters--and that I continue to believe Kluber should be the odd man out. I think I read that right now the Sox are going with a six man rotation and that that could/should change by the end of the month. So I'm guessing Kluber has one more shot at proving he isn't the odd man out. Of course, Cora and Bloom never consult me, so Kluber could get the go ahead to start a bunch more games if only because he's being paid $10M, plus he's won two Cy Young awards. And, who knows, maybe he's kind to strangers too.