Maxbialystock

I pounce on ERod at every opportunity, but tonight that would be a big mistake. He's pitching well--as he in fact did in 3 of the 4 starts before tonight. He is good when he uses 3-4 pitches and has good command. Ramirez got that dinger, his 30th, and he got that single in the 1st, so clearly he sees ERod's pitches well. But none of the other Cleveland players are doing that well. You know what I like about tonight for ERod? Absolutely no K's. Except for that changeup down the middle to Ramirez, he is making the Guardians hit his pitches, which is also why he has only thrown 65 pitches in 5 innings.

Absolutely astounding how you guys jump all over ERod while the lineup, going against a guy with an awful record, has 1 hit, Dalbec's double, in 5 innings. Schwarber, Bogie, Devers, Verdugo, Vazquez, and Duran are hitless. I exempt Munoz and Arauz because we already know they stink.

Did you bother to watch the 3d inning when ERod got three outs on 3 groundouts and just 6 pitches? You also seem to be unaware that the Sox lineup so far stinks tonight although I personally think Allen is pitching pretty well.

Really? That must be Sale's problem too because he did exactly the same thing last night.

If there is blame, it belongs to the lineup.

Interesting. Last night everyone was lavish in their praise of how absolutely brilliant Sale was. I guess we were blinded by that immaculate inning. But the simple fact is that Sale too gave up a 2 run dinger--but against the last place Twins.

Interesting. The infield seems to want to test Shwarber's ability to handle lousy throws. So far, one by Arauz (uncatchable) and one by Bogie (barely catchable).

So much for lavishing praise on Ramirez's changeup. That's what Ramirez hit for a 2 run dinger. It's obvious he sees ERod's pitches well.

That first pitch fast ball was down the middle--the right pitch to do that on.

It has everything to do with control. It's precisely because Sale is confident he can throw his fastball, slider, or changeup where he needs to that he is able to be aggressive on K's. If ERod had Sale's command, he would be more aggressive. Tonight he has no K's, but needed just 30 pitches to get through the first 3 innings. He has thrown few pitches down the middle and has mixed them up.

Two terrible, rotten, worthless starters have together given up 3 hits and 0 runs in 3 innings. Someone forgot to tell them how truly awful they are, and the hitters would vehemently disagree with that characterization.

ERod is at least mixing up his pitches today and not throwing fastball after fastball after fastball. Plus he is trying not throw anything down the middle. 2 straight groundouts off that changeup, which is probably his best pitch. He also has that cutter, which works well on the corners as it just did for his 3d ground out. We just saw an ERod immaculate inning: 3 up, 3 down, all on grounders, and he only threw 6 pitches. That's good pitching!!!!

So what? Very few pitchers have had one. Better to say his control sucks, with which I heartily agree. Great to see these bit players get a chance to show what they can do, which, it seems, isn't much. Munoz an awful K, Arauz an error, a piss-poor one in fact.

He was so bad the Twins were walking Shwarber--4 times last night alone-- to get to JDM for the easy out.

Shwarber looked OK on that bad throw. ERod got two assists--very unusual for him.

Big hit. First five Sox batters looked helpless vs. Allen. Dalbec just might have a hot bat.

You're right, of course, but I don't put him on ignore. The trick is to read but not to respond.

I thought it was the perfect time because on 1 August this team was set in terms of deals. So why not starting looking ahead of a team that is clearly in transition? Plus I frankly don't see an excessive amount of overlap in comments. The 2022 thread talks a lot about offseason deals, and this thread is still focused on this year with sidebars on what might happen next--like the discussion on Schwarber. Right now, we're seeing what he can do for this team and then wondering what it would take to keep him. For at least 5 days I've been convinced Schwarber is our once and future firstbaseman, but suddenly Dalbec, who's 2 years younger, ain't look too shabby despite his glove work, so maybe Schwarber goes to DH. Thus I like the discussion about what Schwarber is worth vs. JDM, etc.

Dalbec's OPS is now .740, but his most surprising stat is that he lacks at bats compared to the other regulars but is nevertheless 5th in rbi's with 59. Vazquez has 39 rbi's with 374 at bats to Dalbec's 327. Verdugo has 439 at bats and 49 rbi's. Bogaerts has 441 at bats and 69 rbi's, so Dalbec actually drives in more runs per at bat than Bogaerts, who also enjoys a better spot in the lineup.

I am getting the impression that adding Schwarber this year is like adding JDM before the 2018 season--almost everyone else in the Sox lineup got better. He was billed as a home run threat, which no doubt he is, but he strikes me as simply a good hitter.

Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Logan Allen Both lefties. Amazingly enough, edge to ERod, but both bullpens are likely to be tested. Allen has started 7 games and pitched 22.2 innings, ERod 24 games and 119.2 innings. ERod stunk vs. the Rangers 6 days ago, going 3.2 and giving up 5 runs, but he was fine in his previous 3 starts: 6 innings and 0 runs vs. Orioles, 5.1 innings and 2 runs vs. the Rays and 5 innings and 0 runs vs. the Tigers. Cleveland is 7-3 in their last 10, .500 for the season, better (but not by a lot) at home than on the road, and 9 games back of the White Sox. Sox hitting just might be coming around, and I suspect some of that is due to the presence of Schwarber. Last night he was walked 4 times so that the Twins could get to JDM, who was 0 for 5. Dalbec just might start at 1b tonight. Bogie rested yesterday, so I assume he'll be back tonight. With Dalbec at 1b and Arroyo at 2b, Kike could go back to CF, Verdugo to LF, and Renfroe to RF--probably the best Sox defensive outfield. If that happens, just maybe Schwarber DH's and JDM gets a rest. Last night 33,760 fans made it to the Fens on a Thursday with the Sox playing a weak sister, the Twins. Sale probably had something to do with that number, and they were rewarded with that incredible, amazing immaculate inning (9 pitches, 9 strikes, 3 K's, inning over).

Shwarber was walked 4 times to get to JDM, who went 0 for 5.

Attendance 33,746 on a Thursday night vs last place Twins and with delta version lurking. Not too shabby. Some Sox fans remain hopeful and supportive.

Whitlock has only thrown 20 pitches.

JDM is turning into a one man wrecking crew. He just did the one thing that could derail a big rally. Fortunately, it wasn't a triple play and Devers jacked one out and the score up to 10-2.