Maxbialystock

Are you intentionally (and vastly) over-simplifying this. Of course there is room for both. Heck, right now you can make a good case for putting both in the lineup, as scary as that seems. I started this thread mostly to say that a good defensive catcher is more valuable than a good defensive centerfielder--especially on this team in this season. Ironically I was also forced to say that, because Vazquez is hitting so well and isn't terrible as a defensive catcher, JBJ is even more likely than Leon to be in the lineup for any given game.

Heck, I was skeptical. I have relentlessly attacked the notion of CERA in the past. But no more.

Thank you for saying that about winning the WS. I guess this means the Yankees should provide a footnote next to the 27 so people will know a lot of them were just good luck. In other words, I think your thesis is dead wrong. I am perfectly happy giving the Yankees full credit for the 27, but it wasn't bad luck that has held them to 1 WS since 2000. Nope. It's all those darn wild card teams plus the sheer quantity of teams making it to the postseason. Way back when 2 of 16 played in the WS, period. Now it's 10 of 30 playing in the wild card, the division series, the league series, and finally the world series. Can't disagree with the first paragraph because you could be right on all counts.

Short and sweet (a rarity for me), my vote is for Leon both ways because this year for the first time I can see the difference Leon makes with the rotation, which is huge. JBJ could be the greatest defensive CF is MLB history, which he certainly is not, and Leon would still be more valuable on defense because pitching is the dominant factor in any team's defense and gets tested roughly 120 times per game. And good catchers, as we have seen with Leon, make a difference on how effective those 120 pitches are (even though the lion's share of the work is by the pitchers). Centerfielders get tested--non-routine plays--maybe 2 or 3 times a game, if that. For JBJ to be worth more than Sandy, I think his OPS would have to be at least .800. The only complication to my thesis is that on this team Vazquez is still the #1 catcher because of his better hitting, and in my opinion JBJ is still the #1 centerfielder, despite his weak hitting.

I agree with a700hitter, assuming he isn't being facetious. Last year's Yankees were very good, and this year's are too despite the injuries. I'd say they are back, but of course I also don't think they will return to the kind of dominance that led to 5 straight WS wins, etc. John Henry has definitely made a difference, which is why under his ownership the Sox have won 4 WS (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018) to the Yankees 1 (2009).

All true. I might add that last night's 24 LOB is a tad misleading because Stroman was pretty effective those first 6 innings despite giving up 6 walks. He gave up the solo dinger to Moreland and 4 singles, and I'm guessing, because he induced a ton of ground balls, he benefited from at least 2 of the GIDP's the Sox hit into.

Plus to this fan the paradigm shift makes sense. Moreover, I think it was one more reason not to re-sign Kimbrel, who wanted the big bucks long term and didn't want to do windows (pitch anytime other than a clean 9th inning for a save).

Sox being very considerate tonight--to the home team and to us Sox fans who can get to bed at a decent hour in full confidence this game is over.

Changeups can be good anytime, just not all the time. Too many changeups tonight.

#3 and 4 batters both K with bases loaded. Stroman does not throw any straight pitches, and not many that are up in the zone. The Sox do not have a single pitcher who can keep the ball low in the zone.

As I understand the DH rules, if Vazquez has to switch to catcher--because Leon gets injured and has to leave the game--during a game in which he is the catcher, the pitchers then all bat for themselves. Or is the rule that the DH cannot switch to another position for any reason?

I had that impression, but did not know the numbers, so thanks. It just adds to my belief--which I have acquired grudgingly--that Leon should catch 40% of the games. moonslav has said countless times that CERA is a real, and we are seeing that happen on this team this year.

Koji was a wonder in 2013. As I said elsewhere, he had three great strengths: command of his pitches, a devastating splitter, and the guts of a cat burgler to keep throwing that slow fast ball of his. Plus, unlike 90% of all MLB pitchers, he was supremely joyful every single time he pitched well. It was contagious.

Well, of course that. And I still trust Cora. But to me our purpose on talksox is to discuss what we think makes sense. Thus to me it still makes sense to start JBJ in CF, but I'm starting to think Leon should catch 2 of every 5 games. The problem with that is that Vazquez is really hitting well. Plus playing both Leon and JBJ is a drag on the lineup.

I defer to no one in being critical of JBJ. I've even said--heresy of heresies--that great defense in CF is overrated. That said, benching JBJ right now poses real problems because JDM is basically the Sox 4th outfielder--or at least 4th outfielder with a decent bat. Reportedly, both Nunez and Pearce can play in the OF, but they are also hitting poorly this year. And I think we can all agree that an OF of Beni, JBJ, and Mookie is pretty good defensively--with JDM as the DH. Interestingly, I think a somewhat similar situation is developing at catcher. More and more it appears as though Leon is actually a ton better behind the plate than Vazquez, but Vazquez has a stunning OPS of .898, which means Cora should want him in the lineup a lot. What to do?

This from the Boston Herald May 17 (the bullpen session mentioned would be today)under the headline "Eovaldi Making Rapid Recovery": But soon enough their World Series hero could be back on the mound. He said he’s been throwing for three or four days. “My arm feels great,” Eovaldi said. “We’re just trying to take it slow with everything and just make sure we build up the right way.” On Tuesday, he’ll throw his first bullpen session since surgery. Because he was able to prepare himself for the season and stretch his arm out to 104 pitches before the surgery, Eovaldi feels like he won’t need much time to get back into game shape. “We didn’t really lose much,” he said. “We were able to keep my arm and mobilities, things like that, weight, exercises. Arm still feels good and strong and I’m coming out to play catch, just making sure we’re not doing too much.” Trying to keep him from throwing 100 mph too quickly will be a difficult task for manager Alex Cora. Eovaldi has a tendency to let it rip at full strength whenever he throws.

You do know, I hope, that last year's team played postseason teams 45 times last year, 28% of all games. And so far this year 14 of 47 is 30%. And let's not forget that road trip from hell to kick off the season--not just 11 games, but 11 games in 11 days, which exacerbated the ST situation we have all discussed ad nauseum. A month ago I would have said the Sox were dead meat. But they are definitely playing better ball right now--losing 2 of 3 to the Astros at Fenway notwithstanding. The hitting is back despite so far lesser seasons by Betts, Benintendi, and JDM. But Chavis is hitting tons better than Kinsler last year, Bogie's, Vazquez's, Moreland's, and Devers's numbers are up. And the rotation and bullpen--as moonslav has just shown us--are also doing well over the past 4 weeks. Bottom line: a repeat of last year is very unlikely, but getting to the postseason is a pretty good bet.

Am I wrong, or does Price throw four pitches--fast ball, cut fastball, slider, and changeup? Yesterday I had the distinct impression Sale was trying to get away with two pitches, fast ball and slider.

Season to date, Chavis has 24 rbi's and only Moreland, Bogie, and JDM have more. Devers also has 24.

Both runs unearned thanks to Chavis, although station 13 is right about that pitch for the dinger--very fat.

Call me moonslav so I can then tell you that current stats are meaningless and that career stats are everything. So think OPS .770 for Pearce and .716 for Nunez and cheer up.

Price tonight. Leon is back. I'm thinking they both play tonight, which asks the question--will Cora try to jam Vazquez into the lineup? He would be a big improvement over Nunez as the DH, but, as the second catcher, that entails risks if Leon is injured. My guess is that Vazquez gets a rest, and Cora goes with his defensive OF (Beni, JBJ, Mookie) and accepts a weak bottom of the order. He will still have 7 pretty good bats: Beni (slight slump, granted), Betts, JDM, Moreland, Bogaerts, Chavis, and Devers.

Uehara had three things going for him--a great splitter, terrific control, and the guts of a cat burglar because his fastball, which he used fairly often, did not normally go over 90 mph.

This just in. Sox played 3 at home vs. probably the best team in MLB right now, and, it has to be said, the Sox did not impress. Except in one area, the bullpen, which actually did pretty darn well, especially in comparison to the rotation. Porcello did pitch well in game 1--2 runs in 7 innings. The bullpen gave up 0 earned runs in 2 innings. In game 2 Velazquez gave up 5 runs in .1 inning, the bullpen 2 in 8.2. In game 3 the not so great Chris Sale gave up 3 runs in 5.1 innings, the bullpen 0 runs in 3.2 innings. The lineup meanwhile just rolled over in the first two games and in the 3d game finally came thru--against Wade Miley. But just barely. Big defensive edge to the Astros in this series. Same goes for baserunning. I don't know which was worse in game 3, Devers getting picked off by a mile or Pearce not taking a good lead on a popup that sent the firstbaseman out into RF. Both players were simply brain dead.

Third game in a row in which the Astros look like contenders and the look like second division. Sale is off, and Bazquez should have caught that wild pitch. Devers so dumb, but also the coaching staff.