Maxbialystock

Yep.

5-0 Yankees. This series has been a disaster--unless you are a Yankees fan.

Dalbec is the least of our problems. Any reason given on why he replaced Arroyo? Correction: I just read Arroyo hurt his leg.

I apologize for this OP, which was a lousy attempt at reverse mojo. The simple fact is that the weak hitting has lingered from last night and from before the ASG. Plus overall the Yankees do have pretty good pitching, especially the bullpen. Agree on comments about Devers hitting. I missed most of the game because I was at a family dinner, which was great fun.

Bellhorn04: I agree.

Perez (L) vs. Taillon ® Sox have no chance in this game because last night broke them and the Yankees are now resurgent. Also, look at this horrible lineup which is without talksox fav Dalbec: Hernandez 2b Verdugo LF JDM DH Bogey SS Devers 3B Renfroe RF Duran CF Vazquez C Arroyo 1B But then, hopeless causes are the only ones worth rooting for.

NYC has the 67th worst crime rate of the 100 biggest cities in the USA--as compiled by the FBI in 2017. This list does not include cities (like Boston) which simply didn't report any data to the FBI.

Agree on all, especially that 2011 was an outlier season for Ellsbury. It caused the Yankees to pay way too much for him because he never came anywhere near those numbers in the years that followed.

If you count them, you can see I named 17 teams, including the A's and Rays, who haven't won the WS in the last 20 years. That said, however, the now lengthy playoffs have made upsets more likely, which is why 13 different teams have won the WS in the last 20 years. To me that's huge! It should give hope to all kinds of teams. In 2019, for example, the Nationals were the first DC-based team to win the WS in the history of MLB because the old Washington Senators, all three iterations of them, never did. Even better, the Nationals won the WS after dumping Bryce Harper, now with the Phillies.

Absolutely.

If Duran can keep looking like last night, I expect Hernandez to replace Dalbec at 1b as soon as Bogey can return to SS. Hernandez is obviously a better centerfielder than Duran, but he is also almost certainly a better firstbaseman than Dalbec as well as a better hitter.

In the year he first came up (late in the 2007 season), Ellsbury was a better fielder than Duran, probably better on the basepaths, and had an OPS of over .900. Back then the Sox liked stealing bases, but no longer. Duran is very likely to have more power and will probably be a better overall hitter than Ellsbury, but I have my doubts about his range and arm in the outfield. Ellsbury had a crappy arm too, but became a pretty good outfielder. I do not see how it is even remotely possible Duran will be as injury prone as Ellsbury. So, yeah, better.

He looked pretty good scoring from 2b last night despite the rain.

Completely disagree. Bloom and Beane have both shown they can field winning teams with small budgets. They just can't win the WS. But guess what? The Yankees have won 27 WS, but, despite continuing to spend huge amounts for salaries, have won only 1 in the last 20 years, which is just 1 more than the A's, the Rays, the Jays, the Orioles, the Guardians, the Tigers, the Twins, the Mariners, the Rangers, the Mets, the Braves, the Marlins, the Rockies, the Padres, the Pirates, the Reds, and the Brewers.

Dalbec is 5th on the Sox in rbi's with the fewest at bats of any of the "regulars." He also, however, leads the Sox in K's, plus he's a lousy defensive firstbaseman. When Duran moved up to the Sox, I figured he would go to CF and Hernandez to 1b and Dalbec to the bench. But that hasn't happened. So, even though I too am not a Dalbec fan, Cora and Bloom aren't willing to send him back to Worcester--yet. If they want him in Boston, so do I.

Nope. 5 is kindergarten and 6 is 1st grade and 18 is 12th grade. How soon we forget.

Yes indeed, and I thought Cole pitched the better game. Do I need to remind you that before the game and indeed before Friday night's game (and after the COVID news was out), talksox contributors couldn't resist crowing over how bad the Yankees lineup would be. Thus the shutout Friday night. Indeed, season to date, the Yankees offense (runs scored) is ranked next to last in the AL. So a lousy offense lost 2 of their better hitters right before this series. Meanwhile, the Sox have the 2d (runs scored) or 5th (team OPS) best offense in the AL. But to me the real grabber was how Cole completely dominated Devers and JDM and made them look like untried rookies. First inning, for example: Hernandez leads off with a double, Verdugo flies out on a great play by the Yankees leftfielder, and then JDM strikes out on 3 pitches followed by Devers in, what, 4 pitches, with a man on 2b. Either they are awful or Cole is a terrific pitcher--which do you think is true? And then the same dadgum thing happens in the 3d inning when Verdugo gets a single, JDM K's, Verdugo steals 2b, and Devers K's. Eovaldi had almost a free ride going against a very weak Yankees lineup, but still managed to hit a couple guys and then give up that run in the 5th, which tied the game.

I suppose. My guess is the rain made security less vigilant. That plus the WEEI guys say the fans probably drank a lot during the 50 min no rain rain delay.

I guess you could say Cole had trouble in the 6th, but in fact he got 3 strikeouts, the first two batters, Verdugo and JDM (in their 3d at bats against him), and then Vazquez for the final out. Cole also had delays while he was pitching, so I think Sawamura simply had a tougher time dealing with the rain. Besides, two dingers back to back are pretty strong evidence the pitcher is struggling. Despite my emphasis on the box score, which says the better pitcher won, I agree it was a weird game. Fox cameramen did a good job showing us the puddles of water on the field, which, I hasten to add, did not have much effect on the game outcome. Dalbec's bad throw could have been caused by the rain, but Hernandez miraculously caught it and managed to touch 2b before the runner did. There were also no egregiously bad plays in the outfield and in fact no errors.

The WEEI guys at one point, maybe 9:30, opined there might be something like clear-rain-clear, but it never happened. Besides, it's really really hard to predict gaps when you are in the middle a lot of rain clouds. On the other hand, last night it sure looked to me as though Cole had absolutely no problem pitching in the rain, which was not true of Eovaldi (two HBP's and and a walk in 5 innings) and absolutely not true of Sawamura, who gave up 2 dingers in the 6th. So maybe the Yankees anticipated that and used their home team perogative on when the game started to ensure everyone pitched in the rain. If they did, it worked like a charm. Don't forget that, once the game starts, the umpires control any other delays. They are, however, under immense pressure from MLB to push playing in the rain to the limit.

Heck, if the bonafide Sale is back o/a August 1, I wouldn't trade for any pitching because the Sox will have six starters--Sale, Eovaldi, Pivetta, ERod, Perez, and Houck--to choose from and a pretty solid bullpen--Barnes, Ottavino, Whitlock, Sawamura, Taylor, Hernandez, Houck, and Workman. When you go after a good starter or a very good closer, the price is always high.

Garrett Richards is beyond question a big baby. 350 other MLB pitchers have dealt with the "no foreign substance" dictum without whining incessantly and moping around on the mound.

I don't doubt Eovaldi would be good as a set up man, but guess what? The Sox already have Ottavino, Whitlock, and, last night (when he gave up 2 dingers during a downpour at Yankee Stadium) notwithstanding, Sawamura. Plus Houck, I would think. Meanwhile, the rotation suffers because, unlike the relievers, they have to go through opposing lineups at least twice and often three times. So, me, I would give the rotation priority over the bullpen, especially because it's already pretty good. So, come August, my rotation would be, in order, Sale, Eovaldi, Pivetta, ERod, and Perez. And, because those 5 include 3 lefty starters, I just might stretch Houck and start him over Perez. As for Richards, I'd give him Andriese's old slot.

It certainly reads well. I myself am a big believer in having a splitter, which is a little like a changeup, but comes in faster and works against righty or left hitters. I think Eovaldi is throwing one for the first time this season.

According to the WEEI guys, who discussed it endlessly during the game, when the game started was/is the home team's call, and the Yankees wanted to time it to ensure that Cole didn't get out there, pitch a couple of innings, and then have a long delay, after which he couldn't pitch. As it turned out, he did get in 6 innings and pitched well enough to get a win, but the 50 minutes delay proved to have been stupid because it rained throughout the 6 innings played. Or, if you are a Yankees fan and your team won with your best starter--one of the best in MLB--getting the win, it was freaking brilliant.