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Maxbialystock

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Everything posted by Maxbialystock

  1. Maxbialystock
    Just read a neat piece on why Sale tonight instead of against the Yankees. Reason #1: a start tonight gives Sale two more starts this season, but waiting two days for the Yankees makes his next start, Sep 29 vs. the Orioles, his last. Reason #2: maybe Sale isn't ready for the all those righty Yankee bats. In his latest start vs. the Orioles he had just 1 K and had to rely on pitching to contact. His fastball is in the low 90's. Reason #3: a win tonight is still a dadgum win for the home team.
  2. Maxbialystock
    You're right, of course. My addled brain keeps thinking it's still possible to catch the Rays. I will be amazed if the Jays pull this game out.
  3. Maxbialystock
    Yep. My error. Others have made the case, a good one, that Dalbec should be in the lineup regardless. His August and September OPS's are more than 200 points higher than JDM's August and September OPS's.
  4. Maxbialystock
    For the season, JDM is better vs. righty or lefty pitcher. For August and September, Dalbec is better.
  5. Maxbialystock
    It figures. We're the same way. All hail to splendidsplinter!!
  6. Maxbialystock
    Last time out, 5 days ago against the Orioles, Sale only had 1 K, but he also only gave up the 1 run in 5 innings. His fastball was in the low 90's.
  7. Maxbialystock
    Interesting. Schwarber at 1b instead of Dalbec and against a lefty starter.
  8. Maxbialystock
    Catching Sale is the easiest thing in the world. He normally has good stuff, excellent command, and almost never shakes off his catcher. Plus he only throws 3 pitches--slider, changeup, and curve.
  9. Maxbialystock
    Salary, OPS (above average for a catcher), and DWAR. Plus he knows the staff, especially those who were here last year. The obverse also applies. Why, if starting catcher Vazquez has been catching 70% of the games this year, is he suddenly and deliberately not catching our best starter who, in the absence of Vazquez, is having his best month in the heat of a pennant race in September?
  10. Maxbialystock
    Salary, OPS (above average for a catcher), and DWAR. Plus he knows the staff, especially those who were here last year.
  11. Maxbialystock
    The winner!!
  12. Maxbialystock
    And I think it's real if only because catching--especially, calling pitches--is not easy so it's silly to assume all catchers are equal. I am happy to concede that pitchers are rarely consistent from game to game regardless of who is catching. Nevertheless, to me the evidence of Cora using Plawecki and no one else to catch our ace in September is pretty damning evidence for Vazquez. I might add that Eovaldi loves his fastball but has developed a good splitter and a good knuckle curve to go with his fastball, cutter, and slider--so calling pitches for him ain't easy. Plawecki to me has done a very good job of restraining Eovaldi's enthusiasm for throwing heat.
  13. Maxbialystock
    This is a fair assessment even though 2019 was a pretty good year for ERod. Dead on about conditioning. He also could care less about defending his position. His follow thru puts him in an awkward position for defense--the polar opposite of how Sale finishes his pitches.
  14. Maxbialystock
    I hated them last year and like them this year. I also believe these uniforms were extended because of the winning streak.
  15. Maxbialystock
    Microscopically better in September. Pivetta definitely has the better season long ERA, but to me ERod has been more consistent the last 2 months and has the better overall track record as a MLB pitcher.
  16. Maxbialystock
    I think fangraphs is wrong, but I also prefer Bogaerts who hits very well and he takes his defense very seriously. Thus just 8 errors this year which is about normal for him. He lacks range, especially on grounders, but is consistent.
  17. Maxbialystock
    Season to date, yes. In fact, Pivetta has the better WAR, 2.4 to 1.4. But ERod has been better in August (ERA 3.33) and September (ERA 4.05) than Pivetta (Aug ERA 5.27, Sep ERA 4.00). Pivetta peaked in April, ERA 2.81. I think Pivetta might better stuff, but has never had as good a season as ERod in 2019 (WAR 6.0, ERA 3.81, 203.1 innings).
  18. Maxbialystock
    moonslav relies heavily on stats, which you are more than willing to disparage, even to saying there is zero statistical evidence that CERA is real. So let's try this. The best pitcher on this team beyond question is Eovaldi, but in Eovaldi's four starts in this crucial month of September, Vazquez has not caught him once. Plawecki has caught him in all four games. Vazquez has however caught Eovaldi earlier in the season--as recently as last month, in fact. To me that is pretty damning evidence that Cora, not Eovaldi, does not trust Vazquez with his best pitcher when every game is crucial. Eovaldi is also having his best month of the season with an ERA of 2.70. Not that it's all that relevant, but I'm of the opinion that a good catcher, in the words of the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, needs a brain. Watching Vazquez on the basepaths this year has convinced me he doesn't have one--or much of one.
  19. Maxbialystock
    Interesting, but you left something important out. Williams, Yaz, and Rice--and a bunch of others I'm sure--were all part of the 86 year Curse of the Bambino. Betts is the only one from the John Henry era, and he was on just one of the four John Henry teams that won the World Series. Betts was and is a great talent, but, frankly, I like rooting for a team that can win it all. The Sox didn't need Mookie to win the WS in 2004, 2007, and 2013. And, frankly, I doubt that he would have made that much of a difference last year or this year for the Sox--the Dodgers are/were, of course, another story.
  20. Maxbialystock
    If this is a referendum on DD, I'm glad he's gone and much prefer Bloom. That said, I thought Eovaldi and Sale both earned their pay in that incredible season of 2018. Eovaldi was terrific in the postseason. He's been a little up and down since then, but this year I think he simply has a better repertoire, especially the addition of the splitter and the knuckle curve. Chris Sale is the most professional pitcher I've ever seen on a Sox team. That said, I have doubts about his durability vis a vis his long term contract.
  21. Maxbialystock
    Not to change the subject--again--but, while I am not much of a Brasier fan, I thought he looked excellent last night and exactly what the Sox needed in the 5th inning with Mets runners on 2d and 3d and just one out. I could be wrong, but I believe Cora these days is less patient with his starters--although he did leave ERod in in the 4th with 2 on and just 1 out and with 2 Mets runs already in--but apparently willing to give almost anyone a shot at relieving. Last night he used 5 relievers--including Brasier and Davis when the game was still close--to cover 4.2 innings.
  22. Maxbialystock
    I agree ERod is worth defending. I don't know whether he will be worth a long-term contract, but right now, Sep 22, he is very much needed because he is demonstrably our 3d best starter. In 4 September starts, he has had one bad one, giving up 6 to the Rays, but also went 6 shutout innings vs the Rays, 6 with just 1 earned run vs. the Mariners, and last night 4.1 innings while giving up just 2 runs when he didn't have his good changeup. Indeed, the 4th inning last night should have been cataclysmic. ERod gave up 3 walks and 2 singles and 2 runs, but was saved by that great throw by Kike to nail that guy going home on a single. That gave ERod his first out and nobody on 3b. After that, with men still on 1st and 2d, he got the last 2 outs on an easy fly to CF and a grounder to Dalbec. Pretty gritty in my book.
  23. Maxbialystock
    Absolutely.
  24. Maxbialystock
    ERod does not have a great repertoire, which is why he can't "attack the strike zone" the way folks want him to. He does not have a great curve or slider, so he relies a lot on fastballs and cut fastballs and hitting the corners--and that changeup, which can be really good when it is working. Last night it clearly was not. Thus the scene in the dugout after he gave up 2 runs in the top of the 4th on 2 singles and 3 walks--which actually could have been a lot worse without that great play by Kike--where he is shaking his head while talking to Cora.
  25. Maxbialystock
    He's made a lot of good moves all season long, especially with the bullpen. Last night his timing with ERod and Brasier was exquisite--and greatly helped by that terrific throw and outfield assist by Kike. He's also been pretty good with his lineups, substitutions, and pinch-hitters. His lineups have been tested by the simple fact that his best hitting lineups have not been all that great on defense, which has in turn undercut the pitching. Right now with Kike in CF (where he belongs) and Iglesias at 2b and a very much improved Dalbec at 1b, he has probably the best defense he's had all season.
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