Maxbialystock

You ready to start today's game thread or are you using your own special formula?

It's "telling" because you like where the Sox are and that ERod is sort of back after his health took a nosedive last year. Last night I loved the result, but not how he struggled and how he was helped by the boneheaded baserunning by Mullins in the 1st, to say nothing of the 4 unearned runs in the 4th.

Congrats to moonslav59 on the back to back wins. Please, please keep it up. Richards today: 21.2 innings and 6 ER's in his last 4 starts (@ Texas, @ NY Mets, Toronto, @ Minnesota). ERA of 2.55 by my calculations

Yep. I think the book has affected other Sox players as well. The "book" sound erudite, bookish, but in fact it's just a freaking computer. It is my hope, my fervent wish that over time players adapt and learn how to reduce what is becoming the complete domination of MLB by computers. Actually, I know for a fact that college teams, using volunteers majoring in computer science, rely on computer programs to position players, pitch to hitters, etc. Next up: Little League Baseball. What did Vince Lombardi say? "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

Yankee Stadium was "the house that Ruth built," so of course it was going to be friendly to the Babe. Also Gehrig. To me Fenway Park is probably the most photogenic ballpark in MLB and "friendly" to no one, player or fan.

I just looked up the list of all-time high OPS's. Gehrig was 3d with 1.080, Manny Ramirez (yes, Manny) was 9th with .996 and higher than Mantle, Dimaggio, Musial, and Cobb. Mike Trout is 8th at 1.005 and of course currently leading MLB at 1.235. Mays, my personal favorite, is 24th. Ortiz is 32d. Miguel Cabrera is 40th (.928). ARod was 35th (.930).

Perhaps. But there's a photo of Ted Williams at absolutely his most exuberant. He just hit a game-winning dinger in the All-Star game and is running and jumping for joy as he rounds the bases. He was an incredible hitter who batted .388 (in 547 plate appearances) when he was 39 freaking years old. He lived to hit and was very analytical about it. But I'm pretty sure he never came close to that sheer joy after hitting a single, double, or the rare triple. I'm sort of anti-homer, but the simple fact is that dingers have a lot of potential to be game-changers, as Dalbec showed last night. And the other fact is that, your 5.000 notwithstanding, 1.200 is a fantastically high OPS, and it's less that 1/4th of 5.000. So, yeah, a dinger provides a great high, but accumulating at bats brings most players back to earth. Williams lifetime OPS was 1.116 and Ruth's was 1.164--the two highest in MLB history.

All true and well said.

You toss off the last sentence as though those 2 games are a piece of cake. Yes, you're only making a statistical point, but reality says "2 more games like his" won't be easy, even if the player were Devers or Bogie or JDM. That said, Dalbec's 3 run dinger was huge and a kind of neat irony coming against these Orioles. Back when they were good and winning WS's, Earl Weaver was the manager, and his credo was great pitching and the 3 run dinger.

Whitlock is/was not a find but a real gamble by Bloom. The Yankees drafted him in 2017 and liked him, but he had TJ surgery in 2019 and obviously didn't pitch last year. Chaim Bloom drafted him last December under Rule 5, which was designed to prevent MLB teams from hiding/protecting talent in the minors. Rule 5 says you can draft another team's talented player who hasn't played in the Majors, but you must keep him on your active MLB roster the entire first season after you draft him. That's a pretty big gamble, but as of today he has pitched 17.1 innings and has the 3d best WAR (.7) on the Sox pitching staff.

Lucky Eddie. Winning percentage is one of the last important pitching stats.

ERod got some help from the Orioles and Dalbec's near-miraculous 3 run dinger. He was better in April. In his last 2 starts, 7 K's and 4 BB's. In April, 26 K's and 2 BB's.

Dalbec just redeemed his entire season to date with a much needed 3 run dinger in Orioles Park at Camden Yards.

That was huge. Gigantic. And I get to eat some mighty tasty crow.

Renfro is just stupid in RF. He throws to 3b when he has no hope of beating the runner and to 3b when the DP is at 2b.

Your IF needs to be bigger. If memory serves, Sale is a lefty without a changeup.

Oh, you're good.

Interesting. Peter Angelos probably skimped on those.

The NOAA map says that's optimistic, so I sure hope you're right.

Interesting. However, I would argue that Valdez on the bench is more valuable to the Sox than Dalbec when he is in the lineup. His WAR is -1.1 and he actually makes the Sox worse when he comes to bat or plays 1B. His lousy hitting makes him a rally-killer, and his lousy defense keeps opposing teams rallies alive.

Right again.

Agree completely. Being a fan is no longer enough on blog sites. You gotta be a GM and/or President of Baseball Operations. It's not about winning and losing as much as it is making a deal--and not a DD deal, but a smart deal that lowers the total salary of the Sox. So, even though the Sox have the best winning percentage and the most wins in MLB, Talksox is replete with discussions about preparing for the worst, dumping good players deemed no long affordable, etc. So far this year the Sox hitting is the best in MLB, the rotation is almost decent, and the bullpen is bringing up the rear. A "save" these days has a bad odor, but this year Barnes has saved the Sox ass repeatedly. JD Martinez's OPS is 1.127 with 10 dingers and 31 rbis. His War is 2.0. Barnes's WAR is .9, tied for highest on the Sox pitching staff. So to me it's so simple. Plan on keeping Barnes because he's doing a great job and actually helping to win games. I will admit an age bias on this point. I frankly am less interested in the 2022 season or, heaven forbid, the ones after. About Barnes. I think the key to his success is relying on just two pitches, a terrific knuckle curve and a decent fast (95 mph) fastball. He doesn't need any other pitches because those two together keep hitters off balance and he can focus on hitting his spots. Uehara did exactly the same thing with the slowest fastball in the history of organized baseball, a devilish splitter, the control of a knife thrower you only see in movies, and the guts of a high-wire artist. The only difference is that Uehara actually had a personality.

Not that it's relevant, but last night I took a peak at some numbers. As of now, the Sox lead MLB in winning percentage and total wins, also runs scored and team OPS. So, yes, Dalbec, Cordero, and one or two others are a drag on the economy, but the Sox offense can hardly be termed depressed. MLB offense may be depressed, but not the Sox. The Sox team ERA is 15th--vs. not long ago when it was 9th. So that's the issue as Detroit made very apparent. Based on what I've seen in the games and what moonslav59 has reported, the bigger problem appears to be in the bullpen. The rotation probably averages about 5 innings per start, maybe less, but none of them regularly bombs and must be pulled early. So that means the bullpen needs to pitch on average 4 innings per game. The above seems to me to make an ironclad case for the Sox to have at least 14 pitchers on their active roster.

Messy, but still a very needed win. Ottavino's slider/curve looks pretty good to me. On to Baltimore, but a warning. In 1814 the British navy and army romped and stomped in Alexandria and DC and burnt the Capitol and the White House, but the Baltimore militia stopped them cold, plus a local yokel wrote some pretty good lyrics. WEEI announcers talked a lot about Willie Mays today, and I have to admit I agree with what I think Willie said when he was inducted into the HOF: "I have to be honest and say I never saw anyone play the game better." He was beyond a five tool player and did it all with joy and enthusiasm. Mike Trout is doing a lot of the same things except the baserunning.

One of the least and most memorable games of the season. If Ottavino can hang in there, a much needed win and series win combined with Yankees loss.