Maxbialystock

This lineup is a disaster of the first order, and Cora is an idiot. Noted. But read on. So far this year the Sox have scored 547 runs, which leads MLB. If they keep up this pace, they will score 913 runs for the season. The last time a MLB team scored more than 913 runs in a season was 2009, when the Yankees scored 915. And, of course, the 2004 Red Sox scored 949 runs. Think you might want to amend your post just a little bit?

Interesting sidebar. The Sox have now played 7 games out of 34 games in 34 days--in the hottest part of the summer. As if those ain't fun enough, after 3 games in Baltimore, the Sox play 14 straight against the Yankees and Rays.

That is exactly the way I see Chris Sale.

Good point. My concern is that this year Sale needs more pitches per inning, which means fewer innings.

No, we need more. But, if this is real, it will have an excellent psychological effect as well. Last year I thought JDM was like the reincarnation of Ortiz and just made everyone (well, not everyone) in the lineup better. From what little I saw, Sale was using three pitches--slider, fast ball, and changeup--and those should be enough for him.

Followed the game, sort of. No pictures. Pretty amazing by Sale and the bullpen, and the hitting was good too. As I said earlier on the thread, just maybe Leon does bring value to the pitching. Certainly with Sale. Interesting that Vazquez at DH moved JDM to RF, Mookie to CF and JBJ to the bench. He didn't look so good last night.

Maybe Leon is good for Sale. I argued the opposite recently, but today Sale looks awfully good in the box score.

Meh. Devers could replace anyone in the lineup except Bogie and get similar results. Beni's heavy legs are 2d on the team in SB's. The much bigger hole in the lineup is wherever JDM is. Beni's OPS has dropped 50 points from last year, but JDM's has dropped 150 points. Today Beni has already been walked once, maybe because Travis and Leon follow him and are dog doodoo.

I have to say I'm getting pretty sick of the "can't lose to cupcakes" thesis. This ain't the NFL or the NBA. The Jays right now win 37% of the time and the Sox 54%, which means the Jays would normally take at least 1 game in a 3 or 4 games series. We've just taken 2 of 3 in this series, which is actually good--not terrible as you imply. We should now have a good but not great statistical shot at winning the 4th game. In actuality, however, we have Sale going against a call-up lefty with an ERA of 6.18. So I think our chances are good for taking 3 of 4 vs. the Jays, which should be cause for a modicum of joy on talksox. But it likely won't be because of the irrational idea that a team winning 54% of its games should sweep all 4 of its games against a team winning 37% of its games. A reality check also tells us that this Sox team, while hitting up a storm (most runs in MLB), ain't so good on the mound because of an inconsistent rotation and a so-so bullpen. That's why the Jays killed us in game 2 of this series and why weaker teams can continue to spoil our season.

You lost me until the last, short part on the keepers, with which I pretty much agree. That said, you only list 9 keepers, and not all of them are solid, so call it 7 keepers. So my question is, where are the other 18 players coming from? There isn't a single outfielder among the keepers and, last I heard, not a whole bunch of good ones in the farm system. I assume 1B and 2B could be covered by, say, Chavis and Hernandez, and the backup C can be almost anyone decent. Right now, the Sox use 13 pitchers and you only want to keep maybe 3 or 4 for sure.

A disheartening loss. OUr new starter was lousy, but I'm not sure he's as bad as he looked last night although giving up that dinger right after the home team scored 3 to tie the score was definitely not good timing. Sox team ERA of 4.64 is 18th best in MLB. Sox are also ranked 18th in quality starts with 34, tied with the Yankees, but rumor has it their bullpen is a tad better than ours. Interestingly, the Guardians have exactly 0 quality starts this year, but a team ERA of 3.88, 4th best in MLB. Could it be that DD spending $88M/year for our rotation (Price, Sale, Eovaldi, Erod, and Porcello) was not the best move long term?

The "pampered in ST" thesis is grossly exaggerated. ERod pitched a regular ST this year and his ERA is higher than last year when he had no ST, which I would interpret as maximum pampering. Price was also pampered in ST this year, but his ERA is down from 2018, thus again suggesting that pampering is good. Porcello pitched just 12 innings this year vs. 16 in 2018, which to me ain't that big a deal. But no question he is having a bad year, ERA 5.37 vs. 4.28 last year. Sale threw 6 innings this year vs. 15 last year, and no question his ERA has shot up from 2.11 last year to 4.27 this year. However, we also know that he flat ran out of gas last year and in 2017 with great numbers thru June-July and lousy numbers afterward. Plus, as Cora said, everyone pitched extra last year while winning the ALDS, ALCS, and WS--a total of 14 additional games and 26 additional innings for Price, 15, for Porcello, 15 for Sale, and 10 for ERod. We also know for a fact that Sale's fast ball isn't as fast as last year, which I seriously doubt can be charged to a truncated ST. No question, however, that our rotation is been at best inconsistent and way too much like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. At the same time it's worth noting that John Henry is paying Price, Sale, Porcello, ERod, and Eovaldi a combined total of $88M this year. Caveat Emptor.

Could be right. He's being trying for the corners and not missing by much, especially on low pitches.

Time to celebrate. Mookie just took away the Jays shot at a third straight GIDP. Is this game great or what?

Another thing I dislike about nesn. Everytime a Sox hitter comes up, they show him hitting his last dinger as in "hint, hint." Then, just as Vazquez just did, the hitter strikes out.

It always amazes me how everyone but everyone on talksox loves NESN coverage even though they spend at least 1/3 of each game with a variety of visitors in the broadcast booth who want to talk about anything but what is going on in the game. I think the announcers, including Remy, are pretty good, but I think that policy stinks.

Two GIDP's in 2 innings by the vaunted Sox offense.

Actually, I think Porcello is better than this guy. A 2-pitch wonder.

Like another Porcello, except with a faster fastball and no curve and no slider.

Do it on paper. No jinx. I had to go to bed before that 4 run 8th by the Jays. Yes, I hope our new starter will go at least 6, but the key stat is that the Sox lead MLB in runs scored. The best defense is a good offense. As George C. Scott said about a year after we landed on the moon, "We're going to hold onto him by the nose, and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're gonna kick the hell out of him all the time, and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose!' Believe it or not, Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for that movie (and got an oscar for it). As it turns out, our best hitting lineup will play tonight-- Betts RF Devers 3B Bogaerts SS Martinez DH Benintendi LF Vazquez C Bradley CF Chavis 1B Holt 2B

You do realize, I hope, that Cora benched JBJ several times earlier this season because of his weak hitting, which was definitely a problem. What save him was/is that JDM is actually the 4th outfielder, but is best used as the DH. Here are the current Wins Against Replacement for the top eight Sox-- Betts 3.7 Devers 3.4 Bogie 3.1 Vazquez 1.8 JDM 1.5 Beni 1.1 Chavis 1.1 JBJ .9 The top two second basemen (now that Chavis is at 1B) are Holt, .6, and Hernandez, .5. I have my doubts about JBJ, would rather have him in CF than Jacoby Ellsbury--who actually isn't in anybody's CF these days. I would also rather have JBJ in CF than anyone else on the Sox. The latest WAR ratings have his .9 as tied for 16th best CF in MLB.

The rotation this year is a problem--no exceptions. Price has easily the best ERA, 3.16, but averages 5 innings per start. The other three--Sale, ERod, and Porcello--have pitched 23, 21, and 17 more innings than Price, but have ERA's of 4.27, 4.43, and 5.37. We are paying those guys a lot of money--$88M this year, including Eovaldi who hasn't pitched an inning--and what they are mostly doing is putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen to make up for their lousy starts. Thus I usually defend the bullpen because collectively they are paid less than 1/10 of what the rotation is being paid.

Meh. We know for a fact that Cora ain't afraid to have Hernandez bunt because he did it in the 9th--to no avail. Your personal preference was/is to bunt again, but I'm fine with Cora saying he wanted 3 shots to drive JBJ home from 2B. And let's not forget that Hernandez could have grounded to the right side which would also have moved JBJ to 3B. As it was, both Mookie and Bogie were pitched to. Mookie flied out harmlessly, and Bogie singled, but off the SS's glove, who quickly retrieved the ball and prevented JBJ from scoring.

Bad call by the Sox 3d base coach. It was obvious that Devers had no chance as a rounded 3b. Single hit too hard and right to the leftfielder, who also has a good arm.

Gotta go with thunder on this. I don't think these guys, including the gal Mendoza, are that bad and are certainly tolerable. Besides, we're watching the game and frankly I really don't need announcers to interpret what is happening on the field. The story of the game so far is very simple, Kyu got through a tough 1st inning and has shut the Sox down since, and the Dodgers got 3 on a semi-lucky dinger in the 1st aided by Bogie's error. Oh, and our ace Price was just magnificent, going 5 huge innings and only giving up the 1 earned run.