Maxbialystock

Great play, Vazquez and Story! 19 pitches to get thru the 1st, however.

Lotta empty seats at Fenway.

Those yellow and blue uniforms have grown on me.

Enrique is coming around, so is JBJ. Not so much Bogey, Story, or Vazquez. Dalbec in between. Devers, JDM, and Verdugo solid.

OK. With Houck on the mound, I'll take this shot for all the good thread starters. Against righty Gray, ERA 3.86, Cora is staying with 6 righty and 3 lefty bats-- Enrique CF Raffie 3B Bogey SS JDM DH Verdugo LF Story 2B Dalbec 1B JBJ RF Vazquez C It's been 4 days since Whitlock needed just 39 pitches to go 4 innings to beat the Tigers, so he could be available.

And what an incredible streak it's been, bringing the Sox up from the depths of .250 to the dry land of .500 with the mighty peak of .625 just two more giant steps ahead. Bunyanesque, I would say.

Why should he? He only gave up 2 earned runs. Isn't that ERA rule just wonderful? One little error wipes away all those doubles, etc.

Well, well, well. The Sox finally realized about the fastballs and have now scored 6 runs in 3.2 innings off ERod. 72 pitches, a good time to bring in the bullpen.

Lower than Eovaldi's after three. What astounds me is how successful he's been throwing fastballs. Very few changeups or curves (which he doesn't have). Some cut fastballs that break a little but are also around 93 mph.

My impression is that, while starting is certainly an option, Cora likes Whitlock in the bullpen. I also think he and Eovaldi have by far the best assortment of pitches on the team.

True. But last year his long relieving seemed to work pretty well. It helps, of course, if you have an offense that can keep you in games.

His role right now can be more valuable than a starter.

So far he sure is. It’s a long, long season.

Whitlock made 2 good defensive plays ERod normally would not even deign to make.

Reverse mojo. Works every time. Just call for Max.

61 degrees and sunny at Commerica

And so far Arroyo can't hit a lick either.

Maybe Devers can get something started because I would love to be wrong.

Ball game. All the damage done off that 88 mph fastball. I apologize for saying this in the 3d inning, but this Sox team ain't in a hitting mood.

Hill may be old at 42, but I like his numbers. Alexander's aren't too shabby either. First starts for both, so 80 pitch limit is likely, which means bullpens should be a factor. The Sox bullpen has been a big factor in all 4 games this season. The rotation has given up 11 ER's in 18.1 innings and the bullpen has given up 3 ER's in 17.2 innings. Missing are the 2 unearned runs in extra innings vs the Yankees. The Sox ERA of 3.60 is 12th best in MLB. The Sox OPS of .552 is ranked 28th in MLB. Time for moonslav to remind us the Sox still have 158 games to play.

Why so? He's 1 for freaking 8. Oh, wait. Hernandez, Arauz, Arroyo, JBJ, Plawecki, and Shaw are all hitless in April. So maybe you have a point.

A lot of good discussion, far more than I expected. So, thanks, everyone. About the Pirates. MLB is a big business, and the Pirates, however much their ownership may fail to even try to field to a contender, fulfill a vital function. They are one of 30 MLB teams and one of the oldest, going back to the 19th century. Even in last place seasons, they win roughly 4 of 10 games, so not even teams headed for 100 wins (and thereby win 6 of 10 games) can be sure of a sweep in a 3 or 4 game series. Thus, as a small market club (in the 68th largest city in the USA), do they get the residue of the luxury tax paid by the teams which can afford or simply prefer to spend large to get the best players money can buy. Speaking of spending large, I see the Phillies, now headed by Dave Dombrowski, have the 4th biggest payroll at $234M. I never liked Dombrowski, but don't remember griping too much about his spendthrift ways when the Sox ran away with the 2018 season and WS. In between the Pirates and the Phillies (and Yankees and Mets and Dodgers), is Chaim Bloom, who comes from a highly successful small market club (the intrepid Rays) and is now working for John Henry, who has supported big spending, but with some limits some times. I therefore love the discussion on another thread about Bloom's extension of Whitlock because several of you have pointed out that's the way Bloom prefers to acquire/keep players. I don't share George Will's politics, but I like his writing and believe he does truly love baseball. Plus I too have railed against robo-ump, against the dramatic and effective repositioning of fielders for each batter based on computer analysis, and against the unending kabuki movements of pitchers and hitters.

Interesting. I say that because there have been times when I thought just such a pitcher was needed. And tonight just might have been such a game because the Sox couldn't hit spit. So why prolong the agony? Send in Brasier to end it.

I watched all four games and think so far its's imply good pitching shutting down what should be good hitting. But I like the lineup and so far am reasonably happy with the pitching. I thought our staff pitched well today, but their staff was better. Same goes for the Yankees series.

Credit where it's due. I think Vazquez has caught/called one heckuva game today.