Maxbialystock

Great to see those 2 runs scored and especially Raffie's dinger to LF. Sale's fastball is way to hittable. He needs to keep using the cut fastball, which looks pretty effective to me. His slider is only OK, and his changeup, today anyway, seems not to be working. He did get screwed on two calls/pitches that definitely hit the corners.

Ace means big bucks, and JH ain't paying no big bucks for no pitcher, period. Bloom has no say in this, but probably agrees with JH.

Sox offense looks helpless/hopeless for the 4th straight game. I'm of course excluding the first inning of the Pirates series.

Nice summary and stats. 6 games in and the Sox need to make a stand.

Absolutely true. But a small sample is all we've got. Speaking of which, in 3 of 6 starts to date, Houck, Pivetta, and Klubar were all decent. Whitlock and Bello rejoin soon. Sale could pull a Klubar and allay our concerns. The pitching could be decent this year.

True, but right now the hitting is suspect. And the defense stinks.

Honestly? I see nothing "fine." The hitting tailed off badly vs. the Pirates after the first inning of the first game--which was followed by 3 runs in 26 innings. The pitching remains suspect. And the defense is not suspect; it's just plain lousy. I commend you for polling that the Sox would have a winning record this season, and I definitely hope you're right and I'm as wrong as wrong can be.

Exactly. These Sox just might have mastered the fine art of scoring and giving up runs in exactly the right proportion to lose. They took 2 of 3 vs. the Orioles by scoring 9, 9, and 9 runs. Against the Pirates, their run total was 8 runs in 3 games. More precisely, in the first inning of this series the Sox scored 5 runs. In the next 8 + 9 + 9 = 26 innings they have scored 3 runs. Right now it's hard to see a Sox strength. Lousy defense, so-so pitching, and now so-so hitting.

By all means, do so.

After just 5 games--with the Sox now 2-3--the pessimists have the floor. The rotation stinks--Kluber, Sale, and Crawford, anyway--and so does the defense. Devers missing a pop up he absolutely should have caught but didn't even get a glove on it (thus no error!!!) cost 3 runs and one loss, 7-6 to Pittsburgh. In the next game, McGuire mishandled a swing and miss third strike (in the strike zone!), which would have been the 3d out, but instead cost a baserunner and then 2 runs when the next better hit a dinger. So, in two games out of five played, abysmal defense was center stage. Bullpen has been pretty decent. After 5 games, the Sox ace is Winckowski with 6 innings and 1 run (ERA 1.50).

Excellent post.

I finally got around to watching the replay of the passed ball, which was definitely in the strike zone. I think the PB by McGuire, which I still consider to be egregious, was caused by two things, a very good breaking curve and a swing by the batter. Result: 2 unearned runs. So far--and we are talking about a very small, almost infinitesimal sample--the defense, starting pitching, and baserunning are suspect. The bullpen seems OK, and so does the hitting, despite now going 17 straight innings while scoring 2 runs.

It was definitely above the knees. I'm not sure whether it was outside the strike zone. In any case, McGuire did not have to lunge for the ball.

True. The Orioles had 10 I think. Or 11.

I left out baserunning, which this year is egregiously bad. Everybody steals bases right and left on our pitchers, but our baserunners are terrified of stealing.

I left out baserunning, which this year is egregiously bad. Everybody steals bases right and left on our pitchers, but our baserunners are terrified of stealing.

This first week is like a nightmare on bald mountain: it has exposed all the Sox weaknesses. Tonight it's both lousy hitting and an egregious passed ball on a pitch in the strike zone, swung on and missed for strike three, which then became a man on first with two outs, which then became a 2 run dinger--both runs unearned. Last night it was a missed pop fly--very catchable--by Devers which led to what are now called 3 earned runs because Devers's ineptitude was so gross he never even touched that pop up. Later, he almost missed another pop up--this one in foul territory. And both nights have also hinted that maybe the magic in the bats was short lived. Since that terrific 5 run first inning last night, the Sox have scored 2 runs in 15 freaking innings. Isn't that something? I just saw the Pirates SS make exactly the same popup--same spot and everything, that made Devers look like an idiot last night--look easy. Our first two starters in the rotation stunk in games 1 and 2. I mean awful. So was Crawford in game 4. And the two guys, Houck and Pivetta, I figured would get hit hard have each pitched 5 innings and given up 3 earned runs (by Houck) and 1 by Pivetta tonight. So those two, along with the bullpen, give us a smidgen of hope. But, frankly, this team so far seems hell bent on fulfilling our direst predictions. Definitely a weak defense, even without the game-costing misplays by Devers last night and McGuire tonight--absolutely no range and no arms in the outfield. Almost decent infield, but don't expect really good plays. Hitting that started out great but now looks ordinary. And a very suspect rotation.

Don’t forget Devers last night.

2 straight games in which the Sox defense gives away runs. Can no one on this team play this game?

Agree completely. I also think Klubar and especially Chris Sale have simply been unprofessional.

Since this is the "fire Bloom" thread, I will advance my theory one more time. The Sox payroll this season is 14th highest/biggest in MLB, which is unprecedented in the John Henry era. It's just silly not to believe that John Henry is the driver on what gets spent. He decided to keep Devers and let Bogey go. More than that, I think John Henry has decided to stop spending big on pitchers and wants Bloom to build a system for finding and developing good pitchers, which is what Bloom did at Tampa. To remind: as recently as last season John Henry was paying big bucks for David Price and Chris Sale, neither of whom did squat for the Sox. All that said, I also think Klubar, Sale, and Crawford simply failed to use spring training to prepare for the regular season. Specifically, Houck, who I think does not have a good repertoire for a starter, pitched 5 innings and gave up 3 runs--compared to Kluber's 3.1 innings and 5 runs, Sale's 3 innings and 7 runs, and Crawford's 4 innings and 7 runs. It gets worse. Ort has pitched 4 innings and given up 2 ER's, Kelly 3.2 innings and 1 ER, Martin 3 innings and 0 runs, Winckowski 3 innings and 0 runs, and Schreiber 2 innings and 0 runs. So my thought is you can't blame the catchers for the failures of Klubar, Sale, and Crawford. I think it is beyond question the starters wasted spring training--and the bullpen didn't. Irony of ironies is that Ryan Brasier, universally regarded as the absolutely pit in relief pitchers, has given up 3 runs in 2 innings. So his abysmal ERA of 13.50 is no worse than Kluber's 13.50 and better than Crawford's 15.75 and Sale's 21.00. Of course, we're just talking about 4 games in a 162 game season, but, still, those 4 games tend to confirm what we were afraid would happen.

Those new rules have definitely provided new challenges for catchers--so add that to simply learning what pitches work best with what pitchers.

Based on what the Astros did last fall and the Twins have done early this season, you have a point.

Good points.

To remind-- The Sox payroll (according to spotrac) is currently ranked 14th in MLB, which is unprecedented in the John Henry era. He kept Devers, but let Bogey go to the Padres. I think he is convinced he ain't buying no more "great pitchers" because his experience is that they don't last long--and Sale is just the latest example.