Maxbialystock

Funny thing, but last year I hated those yellow and blue uniforms, and this year I like them. Chris Sale is such a professional. Last night he did not have his best stuff, but the did have good command and was able to mix both locations and pitches to hold the Orioles to 1 run in 5 innings. Against a lineup that was almost all righties, he used his changeup most, then his fastball, then his slider. This was also probably the best defense the Sox have had this year. Dalbec is now very comfortable at 1b, Iglesias is easily the best we've seen at 2b, Devers and Bogey were at their best--which isn't great, but is good enough--at 3b and SS, and the outfield was solid. I am not a Vazquez fan, but am happy to give him credit for his pitch calling throughout the 9 innings--a solid job. An addendum to the above is that Schwarber, a pretty good hitter in a mild slump, did not play at all. I think that is because the 9 guys in the lineup were/are the best combination the Sox currently have of good hitting and decent fielding. Someone else commented on this thread that the defense benefitted from how quickly Sale pitched, and I emphatically agree with this. If a pitcher is not getting good defensive support, part of his problem might be the interminable hours his defense spends standing around waiting for something to happen--6 days a week for 26 weeks. Sale almost nerve shakes off his catcher and simply focuses on execution, not only on his pitches, but also on playing defense after he releases the ball.

Three days and games with WEEI for me. The cost of my mlb.tv subscription is reasonable even though all games against the Braves, Orioles, and Nationals are blacked out. That said, I became a real Sox fan in the summers of 1953 and 1954 when living in West Springfield, MA and able to get the Sox and Curt Gowdy on radio. By the second summer, I was also into baseball cards (none of which I kept).

When he is on, he can be awfully good now that he's throwing more breaking stuff-especially that improved curve and the splitter--and fewer fastballs. Sale has better command, but Eovaldi has better stuff. That said, to me Chris Sale is the most professional pitcher I can remember pitching for the Sox because his focus is so good and because makes sure he is ready to play defense--the polar opposite of ERod.

I love it when the ump gives some of those outside or inside pitches to the pitchers. Back in the good old days when the best pitchers had great command, they would work those corners to expand the strike zone, which meant that the hitters had to adapt to the strike zone as called. I consider umpires to be a fundamental part of baseball and very much prefer that that their calls, right or wrong, be the final word. I am especially opposed to that rectangle superimposed on our screens which is as arbitrary as whatever strike zone the umpire is using. I have in fact seen rectangles that were incorrect, but with no comment by the people calling the game. That doesn't, however, prevent me from commenting on pitch calls by the umpires. In general, pitchers who show good command during a game are more likely to get close calls that pitchers who are all over the place because of lousy command.

Yep.

I'm talking about 1940-70.

Plus Schwarber has cooled off a tad.

A shout-out to splendidsplinter--named for one of the truly great defensive outfielders in Sox history--for two huge back-to-back wins!!!

You know, I'd really appreciate it if you would stop confusing me with facts. You are probably right about the pitching. As for the fielding, my memory is that the pre-Henry Sox did have some pretty darn good outfielders and infielders, but I can't be sure they had them every season or even most seasons. As for this season, I would argue that it demonstrates that good hitting and decent pitching are way more important than average or even good defense. That said, however, I think the Rays have shown you can have all three--hitting, pitching, and defense--on the same team in the same year. What they have never been able to do down Tampa way is figure out how to get some actual fans. If this is their year to finally win the WS, it could be embarrassing.

Great gets--no question about it--on Aug 1, 2004 when the Sox dumped Nomar whose defense and ability to just stay in the lineup were severely hampered by his achilles injury. The Sox had plenty of good bats that year and could not afford a weak-fielding, nonavailable SS. Nomar went downhill after he left Boston. Before 2004 he had seasonal WAR's of 6.6, 7.1, 6.6, 7.4, 6.8, and 6.1. Afterward, his highest was 2.5. Another complication in 2004 was that Nomar was in the last year of his contract and was pissed that in the previous offseason the Sox made a big plays for ARod, who ended up going to the Yankees. Funny thing about the redoubtable Cabrera is that he was gone after the 2004 season ended. Ditto Mientkiewicz.

Lest people think I dislike good defense, I complained loud and long when the Sox traded away Iglesias--the very same guy who yesterday made that brilliant backhand flip to start a DP, which no one else on this team is/was capable of doing--was traded away in 2013 in order to get Jake Peavy. And, like everyone else on talksox, I went nuts last week (Sep 8) when Renfroe beat the Rays with that incredible throw to prevent a guaranteed triple in the top of the 9th vs. the Rays. This was after he hit the gamewinning 2 run dinger in the bottom of the 8th and earlier nailed a Rays runner trying to stretch a single into a double.

Problem, shmoblem. No one, including me, is arguing the defense is good or even adequate this year. It might even be the worst Sox defense in 120 years. What your whining continues to ignore is that defense is not, repeat not, the sum of this team--not this year and not historically. Please take a quick look at the Sox won-lost record and you will be astounded to discover they have a winning record and in fact are very much in the hunt for the wild card game and exceeding our expectations from way back in April. Why is this so? Well, one reason is that those low-down, rotten, terrible fielders also come to bat now and then, and this team actually hits the ball pretty well and even scores some runs. Moreover, despite the porous defense that doesn't catch much or throw very well, the Sox rotation and bullpen now and then keep opposing teams from scoring as many runs in a given game as the Sox score. During the John Henry era, the most successful in Sox history, the FO has gone out of its way to acquire hitters over fielders.

Statistically, 4-2 is the right expectation. The Sox have won 56% of their games this year and the Orioles 32%. Head to head, the Sox have won 9 and lost 4 vs. the Orioles.

Right now I honestly think Eovaldi is our ace. In his last 7 starts--against Seattle, Tampa twice, Cleveland twice, Texas, and the Yankees--he has gone 42.2 innings while giving up 9 earned runs for an ERA of 1.92. The one fly in the ointment is that in his most recent outing vs. the Jays and at Toronto, Aug 6, Eovaldi pitched 4.2 innings while giving up 7 runs. 2 months earlier vs. the Jays at Fenway, he pitched shut out ball for 6.2 innings.

He's too busy chewing on that giant wad of tobacco.

That ball was in a tough place--right in his freaking glove.

A day game, so I understand why this is a short game thread. That said, it's been a heckuva game so far and, indeed, a heckuva season. I am not discounting the weak defense, but am saying these Sox have done enough good things to merit our approval. Plus I do think Cora has an uncanny touch with who to play and when.

Well, they certainly have the won-lost record to justify that title.

Bogaerts thought that was going to be a slider. Good pitching.

He was the starting SS with the Angels when they released him. I also like his approach at the plate. So, not only do I think the Sox should keep him, I think he keeps that job. No one else, not Kike and certainly not Arroyo, has done as well.

Looks like all three of us thought that was spectacular. So of course it was. I just saw the replay. It was better than spectacular.

Agree. We haven't seen that kind of flip to start a DP this season.

Between 2 stints with the Sox, Iglesias played for 4 other teams--Tigers, Reds, Orioles, and Angels.

Tough break. Verdugo hit that really hard, but straight at the leftfielder.

Certainly that applies to the Angels, who released him.