Thanks, Joe, very much. You have given the Sox top of the order new life because, no doubt, your computer told you to never, ever let a pitcher go thru the order 3 times.
Joe Maddon ties it up with a 3 run dinger by Devers!!!!!
So, 1 out, 1 on, and we are back to the execrable top of the Sox order--so far, anyway.
Me, I would have left Quintana in, but the all-seeing, all-knowing Joe Maddon is bringing in a fresh arm, who promptly got screwed on the sinker.
Today we are seeing the old Chavis, the one who deserved not to start the season in Boston.
That said, I think Quintana has pitched well despite the hits by Gonzalez, Plawecki, and Arauz.
Meanwhile, Quintana looks every bit of a MLB starter. He doesn't have Eovaldi's heat, but he has what Eovaldi doesn't have: good breaking stuff and command.
Absolutely not. Set up or closer, you need 2 good pitches, and Eovaldi doesn't even have 1. I am exaggerating of course because some days he does have good stuff.
Gotta go with you on this issue. When jacksonianmarch says the Sox are in dire need of an ace, he is thinking like a Yankee fan who loves ownership spending tons and tons of money. As moonslav reminds us, the rotation is doing their share in both innings pitched and results. The bullpen, except for Barnes and probably Ottavino, is a little dicey.
Statistically, I think your strong conviction is on firm ground. There's a well known college basketball statistician named Ken Pomeroy, and he includes a stat called "luck" to explain why a team does or does not win close games that season.
Sale still doesn't have a changeup, but I think he is the most professional pitcher I've seen throw for the Red Sox. He has great stuff, good command, and does a great job fielding his position, going to 1b on the grounders to the right, etc. ERod used to be notorious for not covering first on time.
Funny thing about the pressure of leading off. I agree it's real and daunting. But you can really only lead off once in a game--in the first inning. Thereafter, almost anyone can lead off the next inning.
I cite the A's only as an example of the quirkiness of baseball and my semi-conviction that the A's know how to win close games despite a so-so offense (17th in MLB in runs scored) and so-so pitching (15th best ERA in MLB).
When the Sox started losing while the bullpen, which early on had been solid, was giving up runs, someone said they were being overworked. I bow to your stats because the numbers argue that so far no one is overworked.
About Brice. His ERA in 8 appearances and 7.2 innings in April was 3.52. In 4 appearances and 4 innings in May his ERA is 13.50 when he gave up 4 runs in the win over the Tigers, 2 in the win over the Orioles, and 0 runs in the lost to Oakland and the win over the Angels.
I recite those stats because right now everyone is saying to dump Brice on the dung heap of history but to have faith in Andriese. But to these old eyes Andriese and Brice are two peas in a pod: good enough in April, pretty awful in May.