Maxbialystock

Thanks. Only Arroyo and Hernandez mean much, and right now I think Hernandez is more important than Arroyo, who can't stay off the IL. I know you like Arroyo at 2b, where he is pretty decent and a good bat--and lets Kike can stay in CF. I like Kike in CF too, but the Sox have a surplus of good bats besides his who can't play in the infield: Verdugo, Renfroe, JDM, and Schwarber. Plus Duran (whose WAR, however, is -.4).

Devers was actually at +.3 DWAR a few weeks ago, so it has dropped a little. He has range, pretty good hands, and a strong arm that sometimes betrays him. He and Bogaerts both have a habit of of half-throwing a couple of times before finally delivering. Bottom line: I don't think the Sox are going to move him to 1b next year or the year after.

Agree. I've tended to blame the Sox pitching, but agree the defense is suspect, which your numbers confirm. Right now the Sox have three players with good DWAR's: Hernandez (1.4), Vazquez (.9), and Arroyo (.6). Wong is .1, and so is Arauz. The not so good DWAR's belong to: Dalbec (-1.1), JDM (-.6), Plawecki (-.4), Bogie (-.4), and Duran (-.2) Devers, Verdugo, and Renfroe (with his 14 outfield assists) all have DWAR's of 0.0 and have taken the hippocratic oath: first do no harm.

I like Rios/Valdez and am hopeful Richards and Perez can be useful in relief. Indeed, against the Orioles the Sox bullpen pitched 10 innings, giving up 1 run with notable contributions from Richards (3 innings/0 runs), Sawamura (2/0), Robles (1/0), Davis (1/0), Whitlock (1.2/0) and Perez (1/0). Ottavino, on the other hand was .1/1, and Barnes was 1/0 while giving up a double and a single. We'll know a lot more after Tues/Wed and 3 at Yankee Stadium.

One more time. The Sox are just 3 games behind the Rays for the AL East and are 2.5 games ahead of the Yankees for a wild card slot and 4.5 games ahead of the Jays. So "A Realistic View At 2021" says the Sox are very much in the hunt with 42 games to go. Unfortunately, the Sox pitching (4.28)--defined for my purposes as team ERA--lags well behind the pitching of the Astros (3.62), Athletics (3.64), White Sox (3.65), Yankees (3.71), Rays (3.78), and Jays (3.88). It cannot be a coincidence that all six of those teams are also in the hunt for the playoffs and that the Astros, White Sox, and Rays all lead their divisions. On the other hand, I would be dishonest not to say that the Sox hitting--defined as runs scored--is 3d best in the AL and that Astros (627), Rays (608), Jays (604) and the White Sox (585) are in the top five AL teams in hitting (runs scored). My concern is that good pitching usually beats good hitting. And my other concern is that good pitching means a good rotation and a good bullpen. With Sale back and Eovaldi, Pivetta, and ERod looking pretty good (and not just against the Orioles), the Sox rotation might be as good as it's been all season. However, I say again, the Sox stalwart and crucial bullpen has depended heavily on Barnes, Ottavino, Whitlock, Sawamura, Taylor, Hernandez. But right now Taylor is on the COVID list and Hernandez on the IL. Barnes and Ottavino, our two closers, currently seem to be on the "let's give them some rest, like a couple of weeks or more" list. If you doubt me on that, look at the game thread for yesterday in which there was an uproar because poor, vastly overworked, and exhausted Barnes was on the mound with just five days rest and having to go against the Orioles murderous lineup!! Nevertheless, Sawamura and Whitlock right now seem to be the two most reliable arms in the bullpen. And that ain't enough for a team whose rotation through 120 games has averaged 4.1 innings per start. I read somewhere that "hope is not a method," but right now I'm hoping that Richards and Perez will be better in the bullpen than as starters, that Valdez can pick up some of the slack, and that the vastly overworked Ottavino and Barnes can bounce back after another week or two of rest (and when Taylor gets over COVID and Hernandez his injury). The beauty of MLB and this season is that tomorrow and Wednesday we get a good test of my incessant whining because the Sox play 3 vs. the oncoming Yankees. If the Sox win 2 out of 3, I'm an idiot. If the Yankees sweep, my worries will continue.

I do appreciate moonslav's numbers on where the Sox are now and the teams/series for the remaining 42 games. My very simple take is that pitching is going to make the difference for better or for worse. Right now the new rotation of Eovaldi, Pivetta, Sale, ERod, and Houck looks pretty good to me, but the bullpen is frightening. Ottavino and Barnes to me are suspect, and those two have pitched in the 8th and 9th innings in close games, especially when the Sox had a lead. Taylor has been pretty good too, and he is on the COVID IL. Same goes for Hernandez--right oblique strain, out until September. So who's left left who's been effective? Sawamura and Whitlock. I am exaggerating (above para) of course, but I am worried because the bullpen has been a vital strength this season.

Barnes was pitching on 5 days rest today. My guess, only that, is that both he and the pitching coach wanted him to pitch to keep from getting rusty and to see how he was doing before the Yankees series. He could well be tired, but he has pitched 47 innings in the 120 games the Sox have played this season, so theoretically he is headed toward 63 innings. He pitched 66 in 2016, 69 in 2017, 61 in 2018, and 64 in 2019. Plus last year was easy on his arm--just 23 innings. Whitlock has thrown 53 innings this season. My no doubt uninformed opinion is that he doesn't have have that great knuckle curve he had before he had to quit putting stuff on the ball and is now having to throw too many fastballs. Lately he has even thrown some changeups, which he barely threw for most on this season. Barnes had 25 k's in April, 16 in May, 18 in June, and just 7 in July (a shorter month because of the ASG break, which got him a 10 day break between relief appearances.

Love the three wins and especially how they stopped the Sox bleeding and gave them a new lease on life. But the Orioles right now are just awful, coming up are the Yankees, and they are now a big deal.

Hitting and pitching both looked good in a necessary Orioles sweep. And the rotation wasn't that bad vs. the Rays or even way back vs. the Yankees, July 22-25. Looks like Eovaldi, Houck, and Pivetta vs. the Yankees. I remain concerned about the bullpen, specifically Ottavino and Barnes. If Taylor tested positive, that's a blow.

Nice win. And a very timely sweep courtesy of mvp 78!

No problems with Barnes. He murdered that very, very good Orioles lineup. I mean, what's a double and a single among friends? And K's are so passe.

Absolutely agree on the rest part. But Ottavino stunk today and to me Barnes is still a question mark, and those two habitually pitched the 8th and 9th innings. Sawamura seems OK, ditto Taylor. The Yankees series will provide big clues on how our bullpen is.

Agree Whitlock is the better pitcher. But is he a starter?

Whitlock looks back on the beam with three good pitches--fastball, changeup, and slider--and pretty good command. He gets 5 straight outs, 3 of them K's, vs. the first five in the Orioles order.

Sox rotation pitched well against the Orioles--not that great a feat--and weren't that bad vs. the Rays (without Sale). The question is whether the bullpen can get back on track. Barnes was awful vs. the Rays. Ottavino is struggling and may have an injured shoulder.

Fastball down the middle to get out of the top of the 7th. Still, Whitlock got 2 outs and ended that Orioles rally--thanks mostly to Ottavino's rotten pitching.

Ottavino still struggling. HBP, wild pitches, walk, and a single. Pretty terrible. So now in comes Whitlock who also struggled his last time out.

With Sale starting, Attendance yesterday was over 33,000, pretty close to high for the season.

Schwarber continues not to hit and not to play in the field, but everybody else around him is hitting and fielding.

Agree with dgalehouse and notin: this long list of prospects, with the notable exception of Moncada, doesn't amount to much. And we knew Moncada was good when he traded, but we also we really needed Sale. So, as moonslav has already said, maybe Dombrowski wasn't so dumb after all. I still like Bloom and am glad none of the top prospects were traded away last month.

Hats off to MVP 78 for two straight wins even though the poor Orioles are in a 10 game losing streak.

Actually, since we are looking at a sample of 1 game this season for Sale, it's worth noting in their last starts the other four Sox starters went-- ERod, 5.1 innings, 2 ER's vs. the tough Rays Eovaldi, 7 innings 1 ER vs. the tough Rays Houck, 5 innings, 3 ER's vs. the tough Rays Pivetta, 6 innings, 1 ER vs. the lousy Orioles So Sale's 5 innings, 2 ER's today vs. the lousy Orioles is only better than Houck's outing vs. the Rays. Last night Richard in relief held the Orioles scoreless for 3 innings. So right now I'm encouraged by the starters, nervous about the bullpen, delighted (for now) with the hitting, and OK with the defense and baserunning. If the starters are indeed back on the beam, especially with a good start by Sale today, then just maybe Bloom was right not to denude the farm system and/or spend big for good starter.

Not too hard to legit look better than all our starters, depending on the game.

Last night's 3 innings by Richards--of all people--netted him a save. Who woulda thunk? I honestly don't believe that good teams routinely beat lousy teams, but this Orioles team seems special.

I can't watch the game, but it's obvious Sale is throwing slower than before TJ surgery and doesn't have the same command as before. That said, pretty good work after a 2 year lay-off: 2 runs in 5 innings, 8 K's, no walks, 89 pitches.