Maxbialystock

Both good points. We know Devers was excellent as the DH, OPS .905, and not missing a single game. My suspicion is that Cora was fine with that arrangement. As you say, the time to move him to 1b was after this season, not during it. I agree with Old Red that Devers bat would have been useful to the Sox, especially in Sept and the postseason. Breslow now says one thing he needs to get this offseason is a good bat. That said, it's also clear that Yoshida and Ref were both used primarily as DH's this season because Cora already had 3 good outfielders in Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu and then added a fourth, Anthony. If you are Breslow, it's intolerable to be paying three guys to DH. So, when Casas was injured, he made a big deal about moving Devers to 1b. Devers reacted badly, but he was right that he had been jacked around from 3b to DH to 1b in just 3 months. Plus this tidbit. Devers value to the Sox is basically his WAR for each season. In 9 seasons with the Sox his highest WAR for a season was 4.4 in 2022. In just 73 games as a DH for the Sox this year, his WAR was 2.3. Had he sustained that for the remaining 89 games, his WAR for the season--as solely a DH--would have been his best ever. And don't forget that WAR subtracts points for DH's because they contribute nothing to the defense. And another tidbit. Like everyone else, I could not praise Bregman enough as the new gold glove 3d baseman, a righty bat (think green monster) with a career OPS of .846. Plus he was a positive influence in the dugout and the locker room. Worth every bit of $40M--sign him up for 3 more years. His WAR this year was 3.5, which almost makes Devers $35M--for a WAR of maybe 4.7--look almost like a bargain. I hasten to add that the real strength of the Sox this season was the pitching, with or without Bregman or Devers or Anthony or whoever.

Duran's was the only catchable that wasn't caught, and the official scorer called it a single. As for Eaton's not scoring from 2b on Yoshida's single, it was an infield single and Eaton was just rounding 3b when the throw arrived at 1b where it could easily have been caught. If it had, Eaton was a dead man if he tried for home plate. The Sox 3b coach had his eyes on that throw and signaled stop when he saw the throw was bouncing to 1b and therefore catchable. That said, I agree game 2 was winnable. On the other hand, you have to like how the Sox actually made it to the postseason. Their clinching game was against Detroit, who beat Cleveland in the wild car and yesterday beat Seattle in game 1 of the ALDS. Harrison, the Giants reject, started that game,

Completely agree. My suspicion is that the OP is simply trying to provoke because his arguments are shallow. Point 1. The Yankees should have been heavily favored to win Game 2. Bello was starting against the best lineup in MLB. Rodon with his 4.6 WAR, 18-9 record, and 3.09 ERA was going against a throw-together Sox lineup. Thus did the Yankees score 2 runs in the first freaking inning against Bello, who lasted 2.1 IP, after which Cora used 6 relievers with Slaten giving up a 3d run in the 5th inning. However, the Sox tied the game in the 6th inning at 3-3. Point 2. Whitlock came came in for the 7th, it was one inning earlier than usual, but not unreasonable. He was throwing on 5 days rest and should have been good for 2 IP. His ERA in September was 0.0 in 8 appearances. Point 3. Whitlock got 5 outs, including the first two (Rice and Stanton) batters in the bottom of in the 8th, on 23 pitches. So of course Cora wanted him to finish the 8th. Then came the first real glitch--walking Chisholm on 7 pitches, pitch count now 30. Point 4. The next Yankee batter "singled" and drove Chisholm all the way home from 1b. score now 4-3, which is how the game ended. So the real issue is whether Tolle or Whitlock should have pitched to Wells, a lefty bat. It turns out lefty hitters have a .938 OPS against Tolle, who came into the game with an ERA of 7.06. So, who's a better choice against Wells, Whitlock with 30 pitches and a 0.0 ERA in September, or rookie Tolle? Point 5. After Wells single, Whitlock gave up a single to Volpe and a walk to McMahon, but nobody scored before Tolle came in for the last out. He threw 7 straight fast balls, all about 97 mph. The 7th was right down the middle, but Grisham grounded out, Sogard to Lowe. Point 6. Game 1, which the Sox won, 3-1. In that game Crochet, who was fantastic, threw 117 pitches, the most in his career ,and made it through 7.2 innings, when Chapman took over. How many other times this season did Cora ask Chapman to get 4 outs? Once. Moreover, he left Chapman in there in the 9th with the bases loaded and no one out. I believe Cora managed game 1 that way so that he could use the rest of his bullpen in game 2 to fill in for those innings Bello was unlikely to pitch. If necessary the could do the same in game 3. However, the Sox never scored any runs in game 3, so Sox pitching was irrelevant.

Enough caterwauling about the wild card series at Yankees Stadium. This was a terrific season with plenty of ups and downs and the Sox finally returning to the postseason by beating the Tigers, who just made it to the ALDS and are 1-0 vs the Mariners. When the Sox began that wild card series, we already knew the lineup was suspect. We also knew or suspected we had 1 good starter left, Crochet. The Yankees meanwhile have the best lineup in MLB and three good starters. Nevertheless, the Sox won game 1 with a great start by Crochet and a clutch single by Yoshida and almost won game 2 despite a rotten start by Bello and Duran not catching that liner by Judge which yet again popped out of his glove. I am not panicky about next year because Crochet, Bello, Dobbins, Early, Crawford, Fitts, and Harrison are all returning in addition Chapman, Whitlock, et al in the bullpen. Another good starter this winter would be dandy. When the lineup is healthy, I see a pretty good array of hitters and fielders in Bregman, Story, Gonzalez/Mayer, Yoshida, Abreu, Anthony, Casas, Narvaez, Rafaela, Duran, et al. If Breslow thinks as I do that Casas will again be injury prone, a good hitting first baseman would be a good acquisition. Lurking in the background are Campbell and Garcia. Plus Wong is a good backup catcher.

You're probably right about Campbell, but how hard can 1b be? I ask because, pending any trades, the outfield looks pretty full.

I'm sure all those comments are valid and on target, but the simple fact--ABOVE ALL OTHERS IN SIGNIFICANCE--is that Schlittler went 8 IP giving up 0 runs. 1 or 2 runs would have been plenty. I do not consider last night's game "brutal." It was in fact overdue because the Sox, with just one good starter, Crochet, vs the Yankees 3 good starters and the best lineup in MLB were always a long shot. Despite that, Crochet was amazing in game 1 and the Sox got those 2 crucial runs off Yoshida's single which followed Sogard stretching a single into a double putting runners on 2d and 3d. Wednesday night the Sox had a shot despite Bello's miserable start (2.1IP and 2 ER) and going again against a pretty good Yankees starter. If Duran catches that Judge liner, which popped out of his glove (yet again) in the 5th, the score stays a 2-2 with the Sox scoring 1 more run and the Yankees as well.

Too true.

This "horse crap" made it to the postseason despite significant injuries. And with Crochet on the mound they won game 1 two night ago. With Bello lasting just 2.1 lousy innings, they had a chance to win last night. Tonight Schlittler has dominated the Sox weak hitting.

Agree. He simply wasn't ready. Bregman also didn't have a rehab before returning, but he hit well for his first month back.

Good job, Slaten!

What point? The Sox have a crappy lineup and one good starter (although I liked Early's effort tonight) against the best hitting team in MLB with 3 good starters. To get to the postseason the Sox had to beat the Tigers (who are going to the ALDS) in their final series of the season. It was that close.

Game is over. Finally, a fly ball Abreu can catch. 4 runs on a very weak double, a walk, and a whole bunch of singles. Early deserved better. He was certainly let down by his teammates who have been exposed in front of a pretty big TV audience. Viewers from wherever have to be wondering how the heck the Sox got to the postseason with this motley crew.

Oh, stop it. They sure haven't done much in the postseason, but did a lot during the season.

In this series he has no glove and no bat, but he's out there. Hamilton would have had that any maybe the pop fly double which Gonzalez might no effort to catch.

Abreu throws the ball 10 feet over Narvaez's glove. Abreu stinks--tonight, anyway,

Exactly right.

The only guy on this team who deserves no criticism tonight is Early.

In addition to being lousy hitters, Gonzalez and Abreu are crap in the field. The Sox lineup is just awful tonight.

Two one pitch outs for Schlittler. Once again Yoshida is the only hitter on this team.

Yeah. What a rotten guy. Cora should never have started him. His name is Early, by the way.

Are you kidding? In 3 innings the Sox have 1 single and 5 K's. The whole lineup is the problem. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen--and right now that's what our guys want to do. Maybe Cora should be allowed to call an intentional K when his guys come to bat.

So far Abreu and Gonzalez are true to form, but gotta give some credit to Schlittler. So far his heat has the Sox terrified. Early is the real deal. My goodness gracious.

Stranger things have happened, but this ain't the twilight zone.

😁😁😁

ESPN has always been pro-Yankees. Great point on those postseason series in 03, 04, 18, 21, and now 25.