Maxbialystock

Undoubtedly.

About going after another reliever. I'm not agin it, but would remind everyone the Sox already have 7 decent to good ones whose WAR's range from +.6 (Workman and Sawamura) to +1.4 (Whitlock and Barnes). In between are Ottavino (+1.0), Taylor (+.8), and Darwinzon Hernandez (+.8). In addition, Sale will soon join the rotation, freeing up a starter for the bullpen who can double as a backup starter. And, while I agree Dalbec/Santana/whoever at 1B ain't pulling his weight hitting-wise, with Arroyo back on the team that leaves only real weak spot. Believe me when I say the Sox badly need a weak spot somewhere because without one talksox will die from lack of oxygen to keep our competitive, whining egos fired up. We need Dalbec, although a combo of Dalbec and Cordero at 1b could maintain that weak spot as easily as Dalbec by himself. On that basis, I am now excited at the prospect of bringing Franchy back. Plus that name!!

You need to keep saying this. I do agree that July is the time to get some help for the stretch run in what has been an amazing season, but not at the cost of good prospects. I am going to repeat my insane idea of moving Bogie to 1b, where he will do no worse defensively than Dalbec and a whole lot better at bat. At the same time the Sox need to acquire an excellent SS with some range, which Bogey lacks, and who does not have to be a good hitter. An OPS of .600 or even .550 will do. I also think 1b (or 3b) is almost certainly in Bogie's future. The problem with that insane idea is doing it in midseason, which will not only make it much harder for Bogie, but could piss him off enough to guarantee he will never re-sign with the Sox.

They also say luck is the residue of hard work, and no one has worked harder than the Sox bullpen during these 11 excellent games with just 1 loss when Cora was forced to use Andriese in the 12th inning of a game the A's would have won in 9 but for those 2 unearned runs. The defense has also been better. In the first 3 games of what so far is 14 games without break, the Sox committed 5 errors in the Trop while losing 2 of 3. But in the 11 excellent games that followed that had just 4 errors in 4 different games, the only costly one being Pivetta's errant pickoff that led to 3 unearned runs in a game the Sox won. Devers has been excellent, and the outfield had a bunch of assists, all of them superb and some of them game-changing, by Renfroe (of course), Hernandez (getting to be of course), Verdugo (5 so far), JDM (3 so far), and even Santana (2 so far). Of note too is that in the 1st inning of ERod's latest start--in which he again showed he is capable of crawling out of the abyss of some earlier starts--Gonzalez at 3b made a crappy throw to 1st, but ERod would not let the A's score. Speaking of which, the starters have all shown toughness and hard work because they were hit by the Commish's "no foreign substances" dictum. And then there's the Sox lucky manager, Cora, whom Napoleon would have wanted as one of his generals. No manager is perfect, but Cora--despite sometimes betting against the Sox and sending his winnings to Puerto Rico --comes close. His biggest fault, resting his best players when everyone on talksox knows that is just stupid, is actually another strength. He did this repeatedly during the latest 11 games, causing a massive uproar on the game threads, and the only loss in those 11 games was when the lineup was Hernandez, Verdugo, JDM, Bogaerts, Devers, Renfroe, Vazquez, Dalbec, and Santana.

Then, as I said, talk away. No disagreement this team has flaws even though: 1) the rotation is definitely looking better; 2) the bullpen has 7 relievers with WAR's ranging from +.6 to +1.3; and 3) the offense is 2d in MLB in runs scored and 3d in OPS. But this is definitely the month to make a move or two, and 1b is as good as any slot to fix.

That was beyond doubt a uniquely Devers dinger off a 3-0 sinker nowhere near the center of the strike zone, low and inside in fact.

Good pitch on strike 3 to Dalbec.

Nice grab by Arroyo. After 3 innings, Perez 44 pitches and Suarez 75 pitches (and now out of the game).

Santana in for Gonzalez in LF while mlb.tv shows Gonzalez feeble play on that fly out which got Iglesias to 2b.

Sox 2 runs on 3 hits, Angels 1 run on 1 hit. Perez 1 K and 1 BB. Suarez 3 K's and 4 BB's.

Looks that way.

Lucky grab by Kiki.

Agree. I truly wonder why he has a reputation as a good defender. He also has a crappy arm at 3b and sometimes at SS.

Suarez throws 25 pitches in the 1st and 30 in the 2d. Neat.

Weak arm in Angels right field, thanks very much. Nice single and rbi for Devers!

Rike K's in 4 pitches.

Bottom of the Sox order: dinger, walk, single! Here's hoping the top of the order can do something useful.

Like I said, a big mistake to bring Arroyo back before he's ready. That shot barely got over the wall.

Solid 1st for Perez.

Good call on the corner strike.

Whoa, Nellie! K's Ohtani. Four sinkers, then 2 changeups.

Not, however, a good at bat by Renfroe. Ah, well. 2 quick K's and then suddenly, thanks to JDM and Bogie, a 25 pitch inning.

Maddon is so full of it.

The thing about calling a ball a strike early in the count is that it forces the batter to swing at more bad pitches. Like pitch #6 against Bogey.

Slider, fastball, and changeup all look pretty good. JDM had to battle to get that walk.