Maxbialystock

Davis had a changeup and simply wouldn't use it until the last batter, who grounded out. Some of that is on Plawecki. DAvis did throw a great changeup for a strike to the previous batter, so of course his next pitch was a freaking fastball right down the middle. The pitching on this team is just awful

Good grief. Winckowski threw just 2 pitches, a slider and a fastball sinker. You can't do that against a good hitting team. No curve and no changeup. A lamb led to slaughter.

Cordero should have been told to keep trying to bunt. What a miserable at bat.

Back to back clean hits, a double and a single by Arroyo and Kike and a run scored !!! Need more.

He's had some good years with the Sox--a good acquisition by DD because he made a huge difference with the 2018 lineup, his first year--everyone else improved on the year before and JDM's OPS was over 1.000.

Triple by Chapman. A double if a Sox player had hit it because most Sox players, if not all, like to watch the trajectory of their batted balls before, you know, actually heading out for first base. Especially a well hit ball in to center field.

Am I imagining things, or is Winckowski actually pitching more quickly than last time? I'm a firm believer a pitcher, especially a starter, should not dawdle on the mound. Dawdling only convinces the hitter you're scared of him, usually because it's true.

Game delay.

Stripling (righty) vs. Winckowski (righty)

The WAR numbers are the only means, albeit imperfect, of evaluating a player's overall value for a season and even for a career. As for Price, when his WAR's the past two seasons have been +0.6 and +0.6, dumping half of his salary on the Dodgers was freaking genius. Get out the duck boats, and let's have a parade honoring Chaim Bloom! He also avoided paying Mookie Betts $365M ($30M per year) for performing at less than half the level he played at when playing for the Sox.

Well goody for you. I'm disappointed this year, but, unlike you, I see how the pitching staff has been almost wiped out by injuries, which is why the team ERA is 14th of 15 AL teams. So, frankly, I'm amazed the Sox are only 2 games below .500. How can you call yourself "Old Red"--thereby suggesting you're a long-time Sox fan, and not be completely ecstatic with the John Henry era? I was a Sox fan from 1949 to 2003, 54 years of the 86 year WS drought, and am absolutely thrilled with the turnaround. You also studiously ignore last year, when the Sox got all the way to the ALCS--beating the Yankees in the wild card and taking 3 of 4 in the ALDS from the 100 win Rays before going down to the Astros, 4 games to 2. Why does 2021 have no relevance to this discussion?

Last year I thought Arroyo stunk--and thought that even more so this year. Your support of him puts you one up on me. Since you made up that conversation between Bloom and Cora, I can ignore it. That said, I would have kept Renfroe with his WAR of 2.4, his OPS of .816, his 31 dingers, his 96 rbi's and his 16 outfield assists and despite his clownish 12 errors. So probably a bad deal for JBJ and two pitchers. That said, the Sox this year are ranked 4th in runs scored and 5th in OPS. Last year they were also 4th in runs scored but 3d in team OPS. So I'm thinking that the drop off hasn't been that much and is as easily explained by Kike's poor season and injury as well as JDM's decline, and the recent slumps of Bogey and Raffy. I've already said it was not an unreasonable expectation for a quality infielder (which I think Arroyo is) should be able to play the outfield. Mookie and Kike have both done it with ease. But Arroyo clearly can't do that, and thank goodness he's had opportunities in the infield. Again, you had more faith in him than I.

I take it you believe the injuries to the pitching staff have no bearing on the team ERA which is next to worst in the AL and that ERA in turn has no bearing on being 2 games below .500? To remind--for the thousandth time--the Sox are paying Price, Sale, and Eovaldi $63M and all together they have contributed a combined WAR of 1.0 this season. About Price. His combined/total WAR in his so far six seasons @$30M/year = $180M is 11.0, which means the Sox and Dodgers have/are paid/paying him $16M for every 1 WAR of performance. How about Mookie, you ask? In his 5 1/3 seasons with the Sox he was paid $33M in return for which he delivered seasons of 2.3 WAR, 6.1 WAR, 9.5 WAR, 6.4 WAR, 10.7 WAR, and 7.3 WAR--a total of 42.3 WAR. The Sox paid him $33M for all 5 seasons. He's now on his 3d season @$30M per season ($365M for 12 seasons), and so far he's delivered a combined WAR of 2.6, 3.7, and 3.6--10 WAR total. So the Dodgers have paid him $90M to deliver a total WAR of 10. That's better than Price, but still woeful in comparison to what the Sox got for him. About your claim that Price is better than the Sox "bums." Last year and this year the Sox paid or are paying him $16M each year to deliver a WAR of +0.6 for last year and the .+0.6 this year. Among Sox starters this year, Wacha's WAR is 3.2, Pivetta's is 2.6, Whitlock's (yes, he was a starter) is 1.8, Houck's is 1.6, Eovaldi's is .9, Crawford's is .5, Hill's and Winckowski's are both .1, and Sale's is 0 (for which he is getting $30M). So, me, I'm thinking I'll take your bet. Oh, wait. You didn't bet anything.

Do you have any evidence to support that other than not giving Bogey and Devers whatever salary they could possibly want or conceive of?

What nonsense. DD inherited a ton of talent. The 2016 team already had Mookie (WAR 9+), Pedey (WAR 5+), JBJ (WAR 5+), Ortiz (WAR 5+), Bogey (WAR 3+), HanRam (WAR 3+ despite lousy fielding), Leon (WAR 2+), Shaw (2+), etc. So all he had to do was go out and buy Price ($30M/year) and Kimbrel for 2016, then Sale for 2017, then JDM for 2018, and Eovaldi for late 2018. And he got fired because not only did the Sox sink form 108 wins in 2018 to 84 wins in 2019, but the Sox still had the highest freaking payroll in MLB. Furthermore, it was obvious by then that Price and Sale were crapping out (and continue to do so to this day) despite having huge contracts. It was beyond question time for a fundamental change because DD is all about spending large to get results. And, at the same time, Mookie was coming up for his first contract and got it--with the Dodgers and for $365, which was well over what John Henry was willing to spend when he already had pitching problems and the highest payroll (2019) in MLB. So John Henry decided to go with Chaim Bloom, one of the architects of the Tampa Bay Rays excellent system for finding and developing talent within a restricted budget necessitated by a small fan base kept small by their horror of a ballpark. While it is fair to say John Henry will spend a lot more than the Rays ownership, it's also clear he wants to build a good system somewhat like theirs, and that takes time. With Price and Sale on the payroll for big bucks (but not contributing much in 2019) and Mookie about to get megabucks, Bloom's first task was to shed Price and Mookie and hope to get something in return. Then came the pandemic and with it what I regard as the meaningless season of 2020. So Bloom's first season was really 2021, last year, and the Sox not only won 92 games, but made it to the ALCS--after beating the Yankees and the 100 win Rays. And they did that, I hasten to add, without Price, Kimbrel, and Mookie and with very little of Chris Sale (and even less from him this year)--the very guys who made 2018 so successful. Heck, forget 2018 and look at 2017 when DD and the Sox had Mookie, Price and Sale when they were good, Kimbrel, Beni, Bogey, Moreland, JBJ, etc--and those guys were awful in the postseason, a bunch of incompetent quitters. Despite the above, I do think the jury is still out on Bloom because he's now with a team that can spend more, but not as much as, say, the Dodgers and Yankees. Plus his boss wants him to rebuild, preferably from the ground up, which takes time. I like Bloom based on what he's done, but I don't know for sure he can make his system work with this team. On the other hand, too few carping critics recognize the effect of all those injuries to the pitching staff this season--which have resulted in this team's ERA of 4.42 being the second worst (14th out of 15) in the American League. Sale, whose recovery from Tommy John ended successfully last season, has pitched 7.2 innings this year. Eovaldi @$22M, has a WAR of 1 and was on the IL for over a month and is now day to day. Price @$16M doesn't belong to the Sox. Wacha, Hill, Whitlock, Houck, Paxton (recovering from tommy john has also had a setback), Danish, Bello, Taylor, Barnes, et al have all been or are on the IL. That the Sox are just 2 games under .500 with such wretched, wretched pitching is a minor miracle. And let's not forget that Story, a terrific 2d basemen who is 2d on the team in rbi's, is still on the IL (since July 12). Plus Devers, Bogey, and especially JDM are all in slumps of varying lengths.

Let's review your specific points on why Bloom and Cora are imbeciles who have ruined this season by doing the following-- Letting Kike lead off from day one. That's exactly what he did last year with a freaking WAR of 4.9, and OBP of .337 and an OPS of .786. So of course the smart move by Cora would have been to bat him 9th or bench him. Bloom's "less than genius" offers to Raffy and Bogey in the offseason. It doesn't take a genius to offer them whatever they asked for. Anyone can do that. Unfortunately, what they wanted was clearly more than John Henry was willing to pay, and John Henry probably dictated what they should be offered. The same thing happened with Mookie--and I have previously shown that Mookie's cumulative WAR and average WAR per year was way, way better for the Sox than for the Dodgers, who are paying him 5 times as much per season. No plan for the bullpen, specifically the closer. The plan was to give Robles and Barnes, both experienced closers, a shot. At the same time, Whitlock and Houck, neither of whom closed last year and both of whom pitched multiple innings as relievers (plus Houck as a starter), were slotted to do pretty much what they did last year very successfully. Whitlock's 2021 WAR as a non-closer was 2.9, 2d highest on the team, in 2021, and Houck's WAR as a non-closer and starter was 1.6, 5th highest on the team. Both started and were semi-long relievers this year, and Whitlock's WAR is 1.8, 3d best on the team, and Houck's is 1.6, 5th best. Eventually, Houck took over as closer, and is now on the IL with a bad back/disc issue, so maybe closing did that. As I've already said, the Sox, who are 2 games below .500 overall, are 18-11 in games in which Houck has pitched in any capacity, and the Sox are 15-9 in games in which Whitlock has pitched. So to me it's impossible to claim they have been misused by Cora. Cordero wasn't the plan for 1b, lefty bat Shaw and righty bat Dalbec were. Last year Shaw's OPS was .863 and Dalbec's was .792. So to me that was a good plan which didn't work because Shaw and Dalbec both stunk this year, and you of course are blaming Cora for that--also Bloom. Agree Arroyo was bad fit in RF, but most infielders don't have a problem going to the outfield. Mookie Betts was a 2d baseman right before they quickly moved him to the outfield because he was hitting and Pedey owned 2b. Kike goes back and forth between SS/2B and CF with ease. When Story arrived, there was no room for Arroyo at 3b (Devers), SS (Bogey), or 2b (Story). But now he is flourishing at 2b. You have also once again ignored last year because it turned out pretty well which kind of doesn't fit your thesis that Cora and Bloom are clueless. They beat the Yankees in the wild car, the 100 win Rays in the ALDS, 3 games to 1, and lost to the Astros 4 games to 2 in the ALCS. Also, I have to repeat my favorite point about the Sox's great postseason success in 2021: they had no freaking closer and never got a save and their only blown save was by Houck in the 6th inning of game 1 of the ALCS when Sale started and only lasted 2.2 innings. My point remains: both Bloom and Cora did a pretty good job last year, but this year they have suddenly become incompetent. I'm disappointed this year too, but at least I recognize that the pitching staff was hit hard by injuries--Sale, Eovaldi, Whitlock, Houck, Wacha, Hill, Barnes, Paxton, Bello, Danish, and a couple of others I can't remember. Thus is the team ERA 14th of 15 teams in the American League, a fact which you studiously ignore. I would be dishonest if I didn't admit I too am unhappy with the baserunning and fielding (especially the outfield and 1b) this year. As for the hitting, it comes and goes. But guess what? This year the Sox are 5th in the AL in runs scored and 5th in team OPS. Last year they were 4th in runs scored and 3d in team OPS. So, despite the slumps by Devers, Bogey, and JDM, not a big difference.

Give me a break. The Sox were 51-52 with Vaz and have been 9-10 without him. The Astros were 67-36 without Vaz and have been 11-9 with him.

Interesting rhetoric, but dead wrong on the facts. The Orioles have been beating the Sox since April 29-May1, when they took 2 of 3, and a little later took 3 of 5. So taking 2 of 3 this time was about as expected. Schreiber has the 4th best WAR, 1.7, on the entire pitching staff, including starters, and this game was winnable. Yes, he pitched the night before, but he is far from overworked. His previous two outings were Aug 16 and Aug 13. Indeed, he has pitched just 49 innings while Brasier, Davis, and Sawamura--who have not been anywhere near as reliable--have pitched 47, 50, and 47 innings to Schreiber's 49 innings. If anything, Cora and his pitching coach, no doubt thrilled with how well Schreiber has pitched this year, have been careful not to overwork him. Yes, the Orioles were horrible last season, but even a blind man can see how much better they are this year.

Another game lost because we don't have a good closer.

Also, this is the only game in this series I can watch because the other two were blackout restricted by those MLB contracts with "providers."

Agree. I'm just happy Pivetta came back after the 1st. I use great excessively and obsessively. Like, what a great game this is so far even though the Sox are down (but only by 1).

Hold the phone! Is Strahm about to do his job? No. At least not yet. He just walked a lefty batter hitting .203. Of course, I have learned on these threads that what happens in the 6th inning isn't nearly as important as what happens in the 9th inning. That's where the games are won or lost. But, ingenue that I am, I get excited about what happens in the earlier innings. And lo and behold Strahm suckers Mateo into an easy-peasy fly out to deep center field. And no, I haven't forgotten that recently Barnes has demonstrated he might still have a save or two in him.

Fantastic job. I admire a pitcher more when he has a rough first inning and then settles down to keep his team in the game.

I'm getting madder and madder at the Sox not hitting, which means I'm ignoring the fact that Pivetta has battled beautifully since the 1st inning. Plus it's freaking 2-1 game. Of course, the Orioles have the better bullpen, especially with Schreiber and Whitlock throwing 19 and 25 pitches last night. So, it's never too late to say, "Go Sox!"

I've seen other opposing teams do something very similar, take an HBP that won't injure you. The Sox don't do that. I think it's smart baseball, depending of course on how well the batter can judge that the pitch won't injure him.