Maxbialystock

Wacha's changeup is absolutely lethal because it looks like his fastball and has a sharp break for a changeup.

Devers leads off with worked-for BB.

WEEI guys reminding us they are calling this game from Fenway.

Wacha is throwing a whole lot of fastballs with impunity.

Pivetta looks better than Wacha and, really, better than Pivetta. Good command, excellent fastball, very good curve, and good slider.

Richards, take note of Pivetta's hard-breaking knuckle curve.

Sox get one BB and 3 K's in top of 1st. An inauspicious start. I thought Wacha did throw smart pitches. When he can throw his fastball and changeup low in the zone (or just below it), it can be tough on the hitters.

A walk after an 0-2 count. Verdugo gets it, and Chavis could have.

WEEI guys: high fastball is Chavis's achilles heel.

Nothing like a little sarcasm before the game starts. I'm starting to like Kimmi's lineup. Good hitters get to cut in line: Verdugo, Bogey, JDM, Devers, Renfroe, 2b, Hernandez, Vazquez, Dalbec.

I need to admit that maybe "cheater" is a little strong when most pitchers have been doing it. So, yeah, Richards may be a whiner, but everyone reacts differently. He obviously needs that great curveball and now can't trust it. I'd probably whine too.

Pivetta vs. Wacha Sox got this. Chavis 2b Verdugo LF JDM DH Bogey SS Devers 3B Renfroe RF Rike Hernandez CF Vazquez C Dalbec 1B

Our winner!!!

Agree with you and with Kimmi: Verdugo, Bogey, JDM, Devers, Renfroe, Arroyo, Hernandez, Vazquez, Dalbec should work better than any Sox lineup so far this season.

I think all four points are valid even though 1 and 2 are in conflict with 3 and 4. My own ridiculous notion is that this year no Sox player wants to or is able to lead off. They all crave the "protection" of a spot further down in the order when expectations (for 7th, 8th, or 9th hitters) are lower. Kimmi's point, demonstrated statistically, is that who is in the lineup is far more important than where they hit in the batting order.

Romo did what comes naturally--or used to--to some MLB pitchers. Spaceman Bill Lee comes to mind. Also Dizzy Dean and Al Schacht.

Sounds facetious, but I think that's exactly how most MLB (and minor league) pitchers have felt. Plus the cheating was definitely tolerated.

Agree with both points. I think ERod very possibly wasn't using the sticky stuff, or, if he was, he wasn't using it right.

I think it's most, including most of the Sox pitchers, all of whom seem to be adjusting. Richards has also adjusted, but to little effect and apparently with the belief that this enforcement of an old rule is unfair. For $10M and future considerations, I would expect more effort and less whining.

Great stuff, thanks. That said, your points 1 and 2 seem diametrically opposed to points 3 and 4. If who is indeed far more important than where, why worry about the #1 and #3 slots? If, however, OBP is indeed king, then this lineup might make sense: Verdugo, Bogaerts, JD Martinez, Devers, Renfroe, Arroyo, Hernandez, Vazquez, Dalbec. If nothing else, the Sox 6 best hitters (OBP and OPS) get the most at bats.

Yup.

The "optics of enforcing the rule have not been good" only because MLB is actually enforcing it. That requires umpires to check the pitchers on the field of play. Unseemly, perhaps, but necessary. The really bad optics occurred largely because Joe Girardi was determined to make a fool of himself.

I disagree. I loved it. Why? Because Girardi was absolutely certain Scherzer was cheating and insisted on that third (or was it the fourth?) check of Sherzer's cap, belt, whatever. Scherzer may very well have used illegal substances to doctor up the ball in the past, but apparently has found a way not to do so and still pitch effectively enough to make Girardi look foolish and get tossed from the game. I will agree that that the Commissioner's edict is somewhat draconian, but think it is called for. And so far it sure looks as though the pitchers--despite the ridiculous claims that 1) you can't throw a baseball accurately without doctoring it up and thus might hit the batter in the head, that 2) not using illegal substances will do damage to your arm, and that 3) not using illegal substances to doctor the baseball is tantamount to allowing hitters to hit off a T--are actually adjusting to an old rule that is finally being enforced.

Why is Manfred the bad guy in all this? The pitchers have been breaking a longstanding MLB rule with impunity and with the result that batting averages are the lowest in 50 years. Even though those computerized defensive formations have been a contributing factor, pitchers have in fact been cheating, and the Commissioner took action. We're just 3 days into actual implementation, but so far what I've seen is good pitchers adjusting and lousy ones like Garrett Richards moaning and groaning about the unfairness of it all. And last night's game, Sox @ Rays, is a perfect example. Richards stunk. No other pitcher in that game--and there were 9 of them--seemed to be in shock as Richards clearly was. Andriese, it's true, gave up that 3 run dinger, but it was simply a bad pitch--a fat slider that didn't break much--to a good hitter. But even Andriese went 2 innings and managed to strike out 5 guys. Hill, the Rays starter, went 5, giving up 1 run, and their bullpen went 4, giving up another. And the Sox' Workman, Rios, and Taylor pitched 4.1 innings while giving up 0 runs. All MLB pitchers are adjusting to the new implementation of a very old MLB rule. Some are adjusting better than others. Kershaw, who was checked 3 or 4 times by the ump in his well-pitched game vs. the Phillies, apparently adjusted so well that it drove Joe Girardi completely nuts. The ump finally had to toss him.

Right. My bad. I saw $14M somewhere--I think--and now can't find it.