Maxbialystock

So I'd definitely put Refsnyder and Dalbec in--probably for JBJ and Cordero. According to espn, Verdugo has a couple of hits off Skubal and JBJ doesn't. Duran gets to stay because he could be the future--despite his weak arm and circuitous routes to the ball--and currently has an OPS of .863. However, Duran is also 0 for 6 vs. lefties this year and JBJ is 6/37 (OPS .495). Vazquez will be catching his 4th straight game, so Plawecki could start. However, Vazquez caught Wacha last time when he went 5.1 innings while giving up 1 run vs. the good-hitting Cardinals.

Despite scaring us, the bullpen did a good job tonight. Nice win. One game at a time.

I'm not sold on Duran, period. On the other hand, the sucker is hitting the ball right now while the other outfielders, especially Kike, aren't hitting. So, while I'm also not sold on trading Kike, I would keep Duran in the lineup as long as he keeps hitting and getting on base.

I think clutch applies more to pitchers than hitters.

Again with the five lefty bats--fine with me. Also with lefty Hill.

Amazing. Taylor can help. I'm less sanguine about Arroyo.

Some truth in that. I've read you are less likely to get COVID if you are vaccinated. But the real value of the vaccinations and boosters is in making covid/omicron, if contracted, significantly milder and less lethal. Thus my point about the United States having a relatively high mortality rate despite developing the first vaccines here and having a good system for getting people vaccinated. Masks and social distancing were/are the best helpers in preventing the spread of covid. My apologies to notin.

While I disagree with Houck's weak excuse for not being vaccinated, I think it's a closed issue. FWIW, he could miss the same Jay series if his wife were having a baby. I don't disagree that these days his vaccination has/would have less effect than earlier. We are roughly 27 months into this pandemic, and there can be no question that for big chucks of that period vaccinations, masking, and social distancing were key to preventing the spread and with it deaths and serious illnesses. The science of that is unassailable. By the way, I was wrong saying the USA has the most deaths per capita from COVID. That dubious honor goes to Peru. However, we are in the top 20% despite the fact that the effective vaccines were developed here and were free--to say nothing of the fact that we are an advanced, industrialized nation, etc. I do not think this is a political issue nearly as much as it is a reflection of who we are as a people. Just as Tanner Houck did, we each made our individual decisions about what we wanted to do and not necessarily about what might be good for us as a whole. And why not? We've been doing that for our entire history. The first American flag said, "don't tread on me," but a big chunk of us remained loyalists during the American Revolution. Our bloodiest war was a civil war. Our Constitution guarantees not only individuals' rights, but the rights of the minority. And boy do we love protests. IAW notin's request, this will be my post on the pandemic. At least for now.

Agree. Plus I compared the Sox starters vs relievers numbers with the Yankees starters vs. relievers numbers and saw about the same ratio even though I expected to see great WAR's for their relievers. But, yes, it was the weak hitting that killed us early on.

Probably, although I would hesitate to bet on any baseball game.

Utility player by definition is a part-timer, a sub, and not a regular. Kike playing 140, 145, and 130 games for the Dodgers, 2017-2019, was not a part-timer. I do agree utility players are not shmucks. JD Drew played 5 seasons for the Sox with these games each season: 140, 109, 137, 139, and 81. Was he also a utility player? How about Jacoby Ellsbury with the Yankees?

I do apologize for the AR 15 comment. By the way, I fired one in Vietnam after it morphed into the M16. But you are right: I was out of line. But my comments on COVID are completely apolitical. To me combatting an epidemic is all about the science of vaccinations and other means of limiting the spread of the disease. I even used the example of the US Army vis a vis vaccinations. How is that political? I also have some very specific knowledge about how the US Army today has dealt with COVID, and it's very undemocratic. No voting on vaccinations. I also said Houck's right not to be vaccinated is semi-supported by whatever rules MLB has. End of story.

Bad analogy. When it's an epidemic, the only way to deal with it is through collective action. Rampant individualism undercuts that, which is why we Americans lead the world, proportionately, in deaths from COVID. Are you also in favor in unrestricted ownership and use of AR 15's?

I agree completely with moonslav, but sadly believe we are both being unrealistic. The rules are the rules until they are changed. Let me hasten to add that refusing to get vaccinated is the product of all the bs on the internet combined with the worst aspects of American individualism. I grew up an Army brat and then served 31 years, and shots and vaccinations were completely automatic and gratefully received by my parents and then by me and then by our kids. The science supporting vaccinations is absolutely unassailable. Moreover, not getting vaccinated puts others at risk besides the one not getting vaccinated. Just as not masking puts others at risk. George Washington and others were more than happy to be vaccinated for smallpox over two centuries ago. If there had been a good flu vaccine in 1918, it would have saved millions of lives. Measles and smallpox, killers of millions, have been almost eradicated because of vaccines. Polio is rare today, but a nightmare when I was growing up. We pay too much for health care in this country, but one thing we have been good at is developing new medical techniques. Dr Fauci saw the threat in January 2020 and immediately convened a conference of both government and pharmaceutical company experts and scientists, with the result that pretty good vaccines were created in record time (six months?), only to be spurned by huge chunks (so Houck is not alone) of the American people.

At 23, he has every reason to be 9th or 10th--thus his 4 runs in 3 innings in his first start. Since then, however, 2 ER's in 11.2 innings--and just 2 BB's. It did help that those two starts were against probably the two worst hitting/scoring teams in MLB: the A's and Tigers.

Sox just moved past the Rays and, if the White Sox keep that lead, are getting real close to the Jays. Cleveland has a .004 lead on the Sox.

The Tigers did get that clean single and another hard hit ball for an out, but I have to say I like Houck pretty much staying with three pitches: slider, fastball, and splitter. Not a hard save, but a good one. But let's not forget that the Sox MVP pitcher in this game was once again the starter, in this case Winckowski. Yesterday it was Pivetta, and on Friday it was Wacha. The rotation is doing good work and just needs a decent bullpen as long as the lineup continues to score runs. And who is that masked man in CF, the one with >.400 OBP? One game at a time.

Yep.

Ahem. Kike's 2018 WAR with the Dodgers was 3.2 with an OPS of .806 (lifetime .737). Also, he played in 140 games for the Dodgers in 2017, 145 in 2018, and 130 in 2019--the same three seasons when the Dodgers finished 1st all three times in the AL West. So maybe you could ease up on characterizing him as a shmuck. Last year his WAR was 4.9 and his OPS.786. His lifetime OPS is .737, and if he can get back just to that level, he will be a good addition to the lineup. I don't see Kike as the savior of western civilization as we know it, but I do see an underperforming Sox outfield: JBJ's WAR is +.2, Cordero's + .1, Duran's -.1, Verdugo's -.3, Arroyo's -.8. Oh, and Kike's having a lousy year so far, but his WAR is nevertheless +.3. Sheesh.

Monstrous.

Meh. Only the Royals (.354) and Athletics (.338) can truly be called soft spots. And only the Yankees (.742) and maybe the Astros (.621) can be called hard spots. In between those extremes (two good and two bad teams) are a dozen AL teams, including our Sox, who can fairly be said to be competitive with each other. Yes, of course the Sox stunk it up April 8 thru May 8 when they went 10-19 and lost series to the Yankees, Jays (twice), and Rays, but they also lost that series to the Orioles (currently at .441, 30-38). Since May 8th the Sox have gone 26-12 while playing the A's 6 times (winning 5) and the NL's Reds (.348) twice. The other 30 games were against competitive teams, reasonably defined as any team at .400 or better. Thus have the Orioles at .441 won 5 of 8 vs. the Sox to date. In the 36 games from June 24 to Aug, the Sox do play the Yankees 7 times and the Astros 3 times. They've already taken 2 of 3 from the Astros, so of those 10 games, I would hope the Sox can win 3. And be competitive in the other 26 games. I expect the Sox to have an overall winning record in those 36 games. It would be nice, for example, if there were no more key injuries and Whitlock, Eovaldi, and Sale could somehow manage to come off the IL--oh, and Kike too. Of course, this is baseball, especially MLB, and anything can happen.

Winckowski was lousy May 28 vs the Orioles and good Jun 15 vs. the A's. He's gone 8 innings total with 4 ER's, 4 BB's, and 7 K's. Not too shabby for 23 yrs old. Once more into the breach with 5 lefty bats vs. righty Faedo.

Look at those two IP numbers (260 for the bullpen and 339 for the starters) and then compare them to the combined WAR's of bullpen (+1.7) and rotation (+6.1). They are not proportional. Plus, as I said, relievers don't go through lineups 2 or 3 times like starters do.

I like what it means, but not the name itself.

It's absolutely about options--and salaries.