Maxbialystock

I agree WAR is separate from how well pitchers do with catchers. But I included it because it might justify staying with Vazquez tonight.

I figured.

Remember the Mendoza line? Six of the Sox 9 hitters last night have these batting averages: Verdugo .213, Enrique .168, Story .204, JBJ .195, Vazquez .215, and Cordero .222. When you add up their hits and divide by their at bats, their combined batting average is .199.

Eovaldi vs. Anderson, both righties. I expect the same lineup as last night with the only question being whether Plawecki goes in to catch ace Eovaldi. Plawecki caught Eovaldi in his last two outings, April 30 vs. the Orioles when Eovaldi pitched 7 scoreless innings and May 6 vs. the White Sox when Eovaldi went 5 innings giving up 3 runs. The Sox lost both games. I think Plawecki calls a better game, but Vazquez's WAR is +.2 and Plawecki's is -.7. Vazquez's OPS is a lousy .556, and Plawecki's is much worse, .290.

A Yankee fan. Must be my age that prevented me from seeing this earlier. I now understand why you are so belligerent. It must be rough to be a fan of the wealthiest team in MLB and the one with far and away the most WS wins--but which has lagged so badly behind the Sox during the two decades of the John Henry era. We, on the other hand, I have enjoyed those two decades, especially since some of us endured big chunks of the 86 year drought which really ended, not with the sweep of the Cardinals in the WS, but with coming from behind 0-3 in games to beat the Yankees in four straight games to win the 2004 ALCS. "A Realistic View" was started several seasons ago by moonslav, who has used it to provide the rest of us with an omnibus thread which allows a pretty good discussion of what is happening and will happen with the Sox in any given season. This is the first time I can remember someone else (mvp 78) starting the next part. I think mvp 78 jumped the gun, but do agree this season seems headed in the wrong direction. We've had at least one other Yankee fan on here--jacksonianmarch--who has actually been a good contributor. He's articulate and insightful and even criticizes the Yankees now and then. You, on the other hand, remind of that obnoxious Yankee fan at an airport bar depicted in the movie, "For Love of the Game," which is based on a novel by Michael Shaara, who also wrote a terrific novel, Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg.

I checked back a few pages and am fairly certain that no one stated the real significance of this game: ending a 5 game losing streak. That said, I always enjoy moonslav's stats because they do manage to explore what might be going on below the surface. On a more superficial the Sox "big three" (Devers, Bogey, and JDM) had 6 hits, 2 of which were the only extra base hits by the the Sox, and the other six so-called hitters had 5 singles. On the other hand, it is a fact that that huge 2d inning began after Bogey grounded out. Then Verdugo and Story singled, Cordero walked, Vazquez singled, JBJ walked, Hernandez grounded out, and Devers hit the the slam. In the 9th, the "big three" led off the inning with a walk, single, and single to load the bases. Then Verdugo walked to bring in 1 run and Story singled to bring in JDM and Bogey. Whitlock struggled from the get go, for which I blame Vazquez, but I certainly could be wrong. I believe he was a reliever for his first four games (April 8, 12, 16, and 19), during which he pitched a total of 9.2 innings, giving up 1 ER and throwing a max of 39 pitches (4 innings in relief vs the Tigers). In those 4 games, the Sox went 3-1 using Whitlock in relief. In his next 4 games--Apr 23 and 28 and May 4 and 10--Whitlock started four times, pitched a total of 15 innings, and gave up 5 earned runs (3 last night and 2 vs. the Angels on May 4). The Sox went 1-3 in those four games. I believe in Cora and therefore support his effort to make Whitlock, who has a terrific repertoire, a starter. But after 8 games--which is a small sample--it is abundantly clear Whitlock has been more effective as a reliever than a starter.

Whitlock vs. Wright--both righties Hernandez CF Devers 3B JDM DH Bogey SS Verdugo LF Story 2B Cordero 1B Vazquez C JBJ RF Lousy lineup--6 of the 9 can't hit spit--but about as good as the Sox can muster these days. The weak hitting--in my no doubt ill-informed view--is entirely on Bloom. I agree with Cora that Whitlock should be a starter.

I think managers are evaluated primarily on wins and losses vs. expectations by the front office. And I think Bloom, who, granted, as some specific guidance from owner John Henry, is also evaluated primarily on wins and losses vs expectations. But in Bloom's case those expectations are tied somewhat to the total payroll cost. According to Spotrac, the Sox payroll this year is $202M, 6th highest in MLB, and their W-L is 10-19, .345, 4th worst in MLB. That's pretty awful, although the $202M is slightly ameliorated by knowing that $42M of it is going to Price, Sale, and Paxton. Plus, of course, the Sox have played just 29 games with 133 still to be played. On the other hand, this Sox team is the worst hitting/scoring Sox team in the John Henry era by a pretty big margin. 2/3 of the batting order stinks, and that includes high-priced acquisition Story and two returning good-bats-gone-sour in Verdugo and Hernandez. Bobby Dalbec is a month short of 27 and seems no closer to figuring out MLB pitching. Opposing managers should fine any pitcher who walks Dalbec. JBJ is back with his "great field, no hit" routine. And this. The three good hitters on this team--JDM, Bogey, and Devers--could very well be gone next year if not sooner.

I think Story was a bad deal, but would love to be proven wrong.

Baloney. The ideal closer is a basically a 2 pitch wonder--3 pitches at the most. That is not Whitlock, who has the best repertoire on the team and should pitch more innings than a closer does. I am inclined to agree with jad that the problem with this bunch of losers--and that's what they are--is far more the creation of Bloom and Henry than Cora. Besides, the real problem is with the hitting, and that is entirely on Bloom and Henry. They dumped two guys, Schwarber and Iglesias, who helped the Sox get to the postseason last year, in order to bring in--drumroll, please--Trevor Story with his OPS of .545 and WAR of freaking -0.5. Oh, and they brought back JBJ, a brilliant right fielder, but with an OPS of .561. This is the worst hitting/scoring Sox team in the John Henry era. Indeed, throughout those two decades the one thing Sox fans could be sure of was good hitting. Now, with you leading the pack, we complain when the pitching staff can't hold onto a 1-0 lead. I also disagree with moonslav that Houck is a good pitcher.

The other throw, the earlier one that simply had no chance, was just as good.

Classic David vs. Goliath if you define David as small, older than dirt, and with a really small repertoire. Ohtani, on the other hand, has a huge repertoire, a great fast ball, a really nasty splitter, etc. And so far it's a shutout against both lineups.

I am enjoying the heck out of this game and thank mvp 78 for starting the game thread. I even forgive JBJ for botching that shot to CF--sun got him.

It think it was a pretty good fastball for Barnes. The problem was that he telegraphed it big time. Right before throwing it, he demonstrably and vigorously shook his head at a signal that was almost certainly calling for another knuckle curve. It was just like that scene in Bull Durham. On another topic I have noticed that the game threads are consistently longer when the Sox lose this season, so maybe they are therapeutic.

In 2018 the Sox ran off a big early win streak and then kept winning but by June the Yankees had almost caught them. Any way you look at it, last night was a very good win. Also, as moonslav has suggested, Plawecki does seem to bring out the best in the Sox pitching staff. In Plawecki's 7 games the Sox are 5-2 and the pitching staff has given up 0, 1, 1, 6, 1, 3, and 3 earned runs.

sure is

Who cares about the freaking Celtics? I remember becoming a fan in the 1950's before Bill Russell, and they were decent. Russell beyond question made them great, which they stopped being the day he left the Celtics. Auerbach was probably why Russell stuck around because it sure as heck wasn't because of the rotten Celtic fans, who continue not to deserve a championship team.

A win is a win, but this one does not inspire confidence.

Oh, knock it off. Bellhorn04 has plenty of good reasons to defend Cora. I personally am mad about last night's loss and the very weak lineup that caused it. Let's not forget that the Jays only run was off sub Arroyo's error and therefore unearned. So I think this loss is on Cora. But no way, no how have I lost confidence in him. Last night only underscores how tenuous the hitting on this team is. Shaw was the DH (lefty bat going against righty starter) and is hitless in 7 games and 19 at bats. Story (OPS .601) so far is an expensive bust--on offense and defense. Dalbec (OPS .457) is once again off to a very slow start. So is JBJ (OPS .486). So is Arroyo (OPS .384). So is Hernandez (OPS .610). About 2018. Yes, certainly, a good hitting team, most runs scored and highest team OPS in MLB. JDM was a great acquisition and his first year he seemed to make everyone else hit better. That said, the Sox run differential that season was + 229, better than the Yankees +182, but not as good as the Astros +263. The Sox ERA that year was a decent but hardly dominant 3.75, 8th best in MLB. To me Cora really earned his pay in the postseason because his very highly paid closer Kimbrel absolutely stunk (ERA 5.91!!!!). By October ace Chris Sale was fading, and started just 3 games and pitched just 15.1 innings in the postseason. Price and Eovaldi, however, were pretty good, combining for 8 starts (5 quality starts) and ERA's of 3.45 and 1.61.

This is what I wrote on page 2, so obviously I blame this loss on Alex Cora.

The best part of today's Sox lineup? Our DH is hitless for the season.

Slowest double play combo in the history of MLB. That one was tailor made.

The cumulative WAR for today's starting Sox lineup is -.7. Whitlock has his work cut out for him.

Cora is a smart manager and has certainly demonstrated that fact beyond any shadow of a doubt. He also likes to rest guys. In this case, Bogey has played 13 straight games, plus it's a day game after a night game. The other, rarely mentioned benefit--at least on talksox--of these "rest days" is putting lesser guys in the lineup to show what they can do. Today, however, Cora is outdoing himself because this has to be the most putrid lineup I've ever seen. So, while I am a huge supporter of and believer in Alex Cora, I will blame him for this loss if such proves to be the case. It's not just a crappy lineup, it's a signal to the pitching staff that Cora has no intention of winning, no matter how well they pitch.

Cora knows what he is doing.