Maxbialystock

Pujols K's again, but the announcers still love him and his 21 years of MLB experience.

TBS is broadcasting the game, and their headquarters is in Atlanta. Lala Land uber alles.

Thanks for the confirmation. 5-2 Braves in the 6th, heading for 3-0 in games. If the Sox win tonight, which is far from a sure thing, both teams could win their 4th tomorrow. Sox won 92 games this year, the Braves 88.

Braves now up 4-2 in the bottom of the 4th in LA. Buehler disintegrated in the top of the 4th when the Dodgers had a 2-0 lead. Announcers talking exclusively about the Dodgers--Mookie's at bat--almost as if the Braves aren't there. Braves starter Morton at 85 pitches in the 4th inning.

So what does the Dodgers starter Buehler do? He walks the next guy to make the score 4-2 Braves.

With the bases loaded and 1 out, the Braves starting pitcher was sent up to bat with instructions not to swing. Sort of a first--an intentional K. Brave now up 3-2.

4 pitch BB, so bases now loaded in 4th with one out and the score tied.

4th inning in LA, and the Braves are rallying. Down 2-0, they've tied it up and still have 2 on and 1 out.

But, in case there is interest in the ALCS--one can't image why--the Sox hitting is the big story, but the defense and even the pitching have been better than I expected. Especially ERod's 6 innings yesterday, but even Sale's 2.2 innings and 1 run in game 1--the best he has pitched this month--was a plus. That game was winnable. Whitlock, Ottavino, Brasier, and Taylor all have low postseason ERA's. Even the presumed worthless Perez has gone 1.2 scoreless innings. Houck not so good so far against the Astros, but the key to the game 2 win in the ALDS. Pivetta starting tonight has been excellent in relief.

We maybe need to rename this thread because long ago it stopped being about the 2021 ALCS.

You can almost make the case that Ellsbury himself didn't have that season. He was never remotely that good before or after the 2013 season. It was a complete fluke.

5 K's in 11 postseason at bats doesn't sound like good swings to me unless you mean he is getting some exercise.

Great OP, by the way.

Not me. These days I think of him as bobby d because he's 0 for 11 in the postseason with 5 K's. And no how, no way do I want to seem him bump Schwarber off of 1b.

When JDM is batting 6th, which he did last night, then Greinke has to worry about six Sox hitters. Renfroe, 7th, is struggling, but Vazquez is looking OK, and Arroyo is pretty good for the 9th hitter.

You got me there, pard. If it's between those two, it's a tough choice. I like Schwarber way, way more than ERod, but pitching is the biggest need, especially if one is nervous about Sale, as I am. However, I thought your comment about Perez was related to the postseason roster, not next year's roster.

It is beyond question Correa was showboating well beyond the norm for MLB players. ERod reacted, I think justifiably, but I agree with Cora it's better not to. Correa is having an unbelievable season and postseason, so it's kind of hard for me to see him ramping up even more.

If so, then I still think you are wrong. I'm not claiming the Sox are knee deep in good pitchers. Far from it. What I am saying is that they have a dearth of usable position players, which is exacerbated by having right now an amazing lineup and no need to freaking platoon. So 4 subs is about right. One good pinch hitter, Shaw. One versatile guy who can run the bases, Santana. One backup catcher, Plawecki, who also catches Eovaldi. And one spare first baseman, Bobby Dalbec, who is hitless in the postseason and has a DWAR of -1.3 but still comes in for Schwarber when the Sox have a late lead. To me Bobby D makes the case for only needing 12 position players, except that one can argue another spare could come in handy. The pitching, meanwhile, is spotty. Houck was great vs. the Nats and especially in game 2 of the ALDS, but has given up 3 runs in his last 2 innings, 2 of which led directly to the ALCS game 1 loss. Pivetta has been terrific, but he is still Pivetta. Robles ERA 5.79. Sale ERA 14.73. Brasier ERA 5.40. Sawamura 6.75. D.Hernandez 27.00. Given the above, Whitlock, ERA 1.42, Ottavino 0.00, Taylor, 0.00, and even Perez, the 13th pitcher, whose ERA is 0.00 in 1.2 innings, become especially valuable.

Love the argument between mvp 78 and moonslav because they both agree Sale is fundamentally a good pitcher with a great work ethic--with which I too agree. The disagreement is over what is going on now, which is absolutely worth an argument, even a lengthy one, because I think we are going to see him again this postseason, very possibly even as a starter. If that does happen, I like jacksonianmarch's observation that Sale needs to focus on command rather than velocity. Better still would be a return of his changeup, but that seems unlikely. I will add that my version of good command is the ability to work the ball low in the strike zone or just below it. Other teams have pitchers who can do that, but not the Sox. "A Realistic View of 2021" is that Sale is back and healthy but not yet Sale.

I'm not sure I agree with "when we all know better." The fact is that the Sox have a pretty fair outfield when Kike is in CF where his DWAR is +2.1. Verdugo's DWAR is -.2 and Renfroe's is -.5 because of all those errors, but he also led MLB with 16 outfield assists. As for the infield, Bogey, +.3, and Arroyo, +.7 both have positive DWAR's despite Bogey's lack of range. That leaves Devers, -.9, and Schwarber, -.5, both of whom have defended well in the post season. Devers actually has pretty good range at 3b. His problem is primarily throwing errors. The Sox have played 8 postseason games and committed 1 error--Schwarber's awful underhanded toss. Oh, and Vazquez's DWAR is +1.3.

Good analysis. Schwarber also hit well with the going nowhere Nats this year. In fact, 2021 is his best WAR year, 3.1. I just think he is a great fit for the Sox lineup.

I don't care about SS that much. What I see are three good bats--JDM, Bogey, and Schwarber--the Sox should want to keep next year along with Kike, Devers, and Verdugo. So by all means keep them. Come 2023, assuming Schwarber gets a long term but not too long term contract this winter with the Sox, it's really Bogaerts vs JDM, and I think that's an easy decision.

You have a point about Schwarber, but he reminds me of David Ortiz, who didn't do squat for the Twins but blossomed with the Sox because it was a better lineup, which he made even better, especially in the postseasons of 2004, 2007, and 2013.

Seriously? Wow. That's more than he's made in his entire Sox career.

Forget the massive slam. Schwarber's real value is that, as JDM did in 2018, he makes the whole lineup better, which is something neither Dalbec nor Casas can do. If neither of them is valuable as trade bait, keep them and wait a year because then the Sox have the option on keeping or not keeping JDM.