Maxbialystock

Thanks. Better than my laydown. And a devastating stat on Rafaela. He plays 2b against righty starters so Anthony, Duran, and Abreu can play in the outfield and Yoshida can DH.

Before Bregman returned in mid July, right before the ASG, I figured he would play 3b again, Story stay at SS, and Mayer would move to 2b with his good glove and hopefully good bat. That lasted exactly 5 games until his injury on July 23 when he actually played 3b for Bregman. I guess my point is that the Sox have played Campbell, Gonzalez, Hamilton, Mayer, Rafaela, and I think Toro at 2b. Of those 6, onlyh Campbell had the negative overall WAR, -0.9. All others have positive WAR's.

Romy Gonzalez WAR is 1.6--not too shabby for 63 games. Kristian Campbell's WAR in 66 games was -0.9. Casas was -0.9 for 29 games.

What a great example, Mark Bellhorn!

Top 3 hitters in the Sox lineup go hitless for the entire game. Plus Anthony K'd 3 times and Duran twice. Sox score 21 runs in a 3 game series and lose 2 of them.

Narvaez is the one who hit into the double play. Our top 3 hitters in the lineup--Anthony, Bregman, and Duran--are hitless. Story scored the only Sox run and Rafaela drove him in. 4-1 in the bottom of the 6th. Could be curtains.

Pitching coach to mound kind of early--but needed.

Same from me.

I think you can, but the trend seems to favor the high-priced teams.

He was great last night, but the Sox definitely need to see more.

Not buying an instant fix--just 40 games--at Worcester. Connor Wong's OPS at Worcester was 1.156. Let Campbell compete next spring. Garcia, on the other hand, looks awfully good, but the Sox already have 4 good outfielders. My guess is an outfielder gets traded this winter.

Well, I liked it--just as I like this year's Sox even though the known universe has chastised them for not making any big July acquisitions--ditto for sending Devers to the Giants. I agree Breslow has made bad moves, but overall I like what the 2025 version looks like.

Great point!!

Every game at the ballpark has its moments.

Agree it was great! Tonight sounds like a ton of fun and should be repeated every time the Sox are in town.

Meh. Nobody's perfect. Nunez played a lot of 2b in 2018 with an overall WAR of -1.1. He couldn't hit and sure as heck couldn't field. But the Sox won 108 games that season. It's also true that the Sox won two WS with Pedey at 2b--2007 and 2013. In 2013 he had the highest WAR on the Sox, 6.5.

This whole discussion about Hamilton at 2b is utter nonsense. Hamilton had a total of 20 at bats in July and August, so his lousy hitting was a miniscule factor. Meanwhile, as everyone agrees, he was a useful late inning defensive replacement and a good pinch runner. I don't disagree with bringing up catcher Sanchez because Cora has to be worried about Narvaez's health. But no way, no how does adding Sanchez and deleting Hamilton improve the Sox hitting. I would hasten to add, however, that the Sox offense can afford a Hamilton or a Sanchez because right now the Sox have scored just 10 fewer runs than the MLB leader Dodgers. The best hitting Sox second baseman is Gonzalez, OPS .891. However, he's a lot better against lefties, OPS 1.081, than righties, .698. Mayer, a lefty bat and good fielder, would be a good fit at 2b should he return to active status. He can also back up at 3b and SS. If he is activated, one of the 3 catchers has to go. I see no compelling need for Campbell, a righty bat who may or may not be able to play 1b.

Meh. He kept the guys Cora wanted to keep. He brought in May, who stunk his first time out and looked pretty darn good @ Houston last night with 6 IP, 0 ER, and 8 K's--a whole lot better than Crochet Monday night. Houston has a good pitching staff and the Sox scored 6 and 14 runs in the first two games. I don't like Toro either, but when and if Mayer or even Campbell returns, Cora will have options. The heart of the lineup are the four outfielders, Bregman, Story, Narvaez, Gonzalez--plus Ref and Yoshida. The first seven are also good fielders. Four Sox have each stolen 17 or more bases. Right now the Sox are ranked 2d in runs scored, just 8 behind #1 the Dodgers (who have played 1 less game than the Sox). The giant caveat to that is the 14 runs last night skewed things because the Sox didn't need 12 of those runs. They have had at least ten big margin wins like that this season. Nevertheless . .. The Sox ERA, 3.74, is ranked 8th in MLB. All those positive points notwithstanding, the AL East is a dogfight with Toronto 4.5 ahead of the Sox, who right now have the 2d wild card slot. Absolutely nothing is guaranteed for this Sox team, but it's been a pretty good ride so far.

😊 It's why you gotta watch the games.

Deadline is slipping into the past.

Only baseball can have this kind of turnaround. After our best starter gets beaten, our worst starter keeps the Astros bats quiet while the Sox score 7 freaking runs against a very good Astros pitching staff. With 6 runs in game 1 and 7 so far tonight, it's remotely possible the hitting is back.

Agree. But until the 3d it kept his pitch count down.

Nice GIDP for May. I really liked that he didn't give up a run after Story's error.

After 3 innings no Sox hitters have K'd. Amazing.