Maxbialystock

To me a tantrum usually means shouting and a rampage adds the dimension of hitting/throwing stuff. Either way, a bad scene. He is nevertheless a complete professional on the field of play. He rarely shakes off a catcher because he wants to stay focused on technique and execution vs. tactics (the catcher's job). He fields his position well and with enthusiasm. He is extremely competitive in terms of wanting to contribute/win, which is compounded by knowing that the Sox rotation has been decimated by injuries. But he is also in a difficult situation. His last good season was 2018, and even in that season he faded late. He returned last year after tommy john, and was not the old Chris Sale. The rib injury has caused him to miss another 1/2 season, and his upper 90's fastball is probably a thing of the past. And now control/command has become an issue he hasn't had to worry about in the past. If he isn't frustrated, he isn't paying attention. Nevertheless, I look forward to his start on Tuesday.

Meh. Wacha was supposed to start tonight and was scratched, so it's Seabold. And, as you say, Bello is likely to start Monday for the simple reason that Sale, Eovaldi, Whitlock, Wacha (newly on the IL), and Hill are on the DL. On top of that, the Sox are in the middle of 17 games without a break during which they play the Rays and Yankees 7 times each. Sale, who did not have a good game last night at the AAA level--thus his rampage in the locker room--will nevertheless start Tuesday in Tampa because the Sox are desperate for starters. Winckowski is far and away the best of the rookie starters, and last night the Yankees blasted him for 6 freaking runs. Meanwhile the Sox lineup continues its lethargy except for the brilliance of Devers. The defense also continues to suck (despite Story's brilliance and Bogey's consistency). The much maligned bullpen has the Sox most recent win by pitching all 9 innings. In the game before that, they pitched 7 innings, giving up 1 run, in another win. In the now 3 straight losses to the Rays and Yankees, the starters, including Pivetta have all stunk. So, thank you for expertise about Bello starting on Monday, but, frankly, I don't think it matters much. If Plawecki starts, now that would be news.

Last night Cole's fastball was very effective against us--except for the low ones (and changeup) vs. Devers. Duran was destroyed by fastballs last night. Bello's slider comes and goes, and at this point that's a problem for someone who wants to pitch at this level. Fastball and changeup won't do it. Apparently, he also doesn't have a curve/knucklecurve. On the plus side is that he keeps improving each year.

Yes, which is why we all think Bogey is leaving.

The rest was dictated by "day to day" injury. Before the rest, Devers had been struggling at the plate with one dinger and 4 doubles in 16 games.

Judge's agent will insist on $300M or more for 10 years, and he is already 30. Diminishing returns after 35, and there is always the risk of injury.

Story with another great play.

JBJ is becoming a joke. When a drive is clearly a dinger, he puts on a big show of how hard he tried. When a drive is catchable, he is clueless.

It was below the zone. I mean, still hittable by Devers, but not a strike.

That's what I saw/thought as well. Afraid to throw strikes, then throws them down the middle. Cole, on the other hand, has also thrown some down the middle, but the Sox can't handle the heat. Cole does have much better command, however.

Once upon a time, the rbi leader in either League was in the hunt for MVP. Now it's the WAR leader. Right now the Yankees lead the AL in run production (runs scored) with 421. After them, the 2d , 3d, 4th runs leaders are the Twins, Jays, and Sox with 386, 386, and 383--and the Sox have played just 82 games to 83 for the Jays and 85 for the Twins. So, while I too am disappointed in their rbi's, I think it is also true that the Sox are somehow managing to be among the AL leaders in runs production. Last year when Bogey, Kike, Devers, JDM, Renfroe, Verdugo, and Arroyo had pretty good seasons, the Sox finished 4th in the AL in runs production.

Excellent analysis. But, why then, did you give Yankees just a 25-30% chance of winning the WS this year? I was the one, a week or two ago, who said it had to be 50% despite the plethora of teams.

Mistakes must be pounced upon. Did you know you misspelled perceives? You started your sentence with a conjunction.

Kirk (WAR 3.2), Trevino (WAR 2.0), Heim (WAR 2.0), and Raleigh (WAR 1.4) are all better than Vazquez (WAR 1.0).

You're saying 2021 was a bad year for Cora and the Sox?

You're being sarcastic, of course, so it might interest you to know that in these two games, last night and tonight, the Rays pitchers have given up 3 BB's and the Sox pitchers 14. Plus of course the Sox hitting continues to stink. Ultimately, of course, the manager owns all the wins and losses as compared to the expectations of his bosses. But right now, I doubt that Bloom or John Henry wants to dump Cora as badly as you do.

This ain't on Cora, not by a long shot. The lineup is scoreless. Bello didn't have it in his first MLB start. And Sawamura came into this game having given up 2 runs in the past month and 12.1 innings pitched. His WAR coming into tonight was +. 6. Were those 4 BB's gawdawful? Absolutely. But, if he was due for a bad night, this was the best game for it because the Sox can't hit spit.

JDM with his patented GIDP grounder, but he didn't hit it hard enough. Fans at the game tonight should get a refund.

Kluber has thrown a bunch of pitches right down the middle and not paid the price.

Oh, and the one really solid defensive play by the Sox? Bello who grabbed a grounder, turned 180 degrees, and threw a strike to 2b to start the GIDP. He also wisely didn't trust Cordero on that soft grounder to the right and touched 1b himself.

Yes, Bello is getting tagged, but this is also one very weak Sox defensive team. Verdugo and Duran have negative DWAR's, and JBJ's is a flat 0. Arroyo at 3b bears little resemblance to Arroyo @ SS. It's also continuing it's nonproductivity at the plate.

His strike % is under 60%.

Chubby Choi scores from 1b on a double off the green monster. Weak play by the outfield and infield getting the ball home.

The rookie starter is showing a lot more gumption than the woebegone lineup that already has an error and a popup with men on 2d and 3d and 2 out.

Not just Story in the 9th. Sox had tons of opportunities last night and ended up 2 for 12 with RISP. After 2 runs in the 1st inning, and 1 in the 2d, the Sox scored 1 run in the next 7 innings. Rays pitching was solid when needed. As for Story, after the solo dinger in the 2d inning, he went 0 for 4 with 3 K's and was probably happy with that popup to end the game.