Maxbialystock

Pretty close to my own philosophy, which means you are a traditionalist. I say that while also believing that the very rare occurrence of bringing in an outfielder to be a 5th infielder is pretty neat. What I dislike about those shifts is they are utterly mechanical and driven by stats. Indeed, the commentators now regularly spout more and more new stats about how hard a home run was hit, etc which mostly bore me. And this is coming from someone who actually likes stats and is always looking for a new statistical angle.

Something we have in common. I too was a huge Williams fan and followed his games/seasons intensely. But I never saw him in person--in the ballpark or otherwise, and rarely got to see him on TV.

I'm fairly pessimistic right now because I think this version of the Sox lacks confidence. But I could not be more pleased with the optimistic drumbeat from kimmi and from moonslav. I did not object to DD's decision not to invest heavily in the bullpen, and think they would have been fine were it not for the horrible start by the rotation which, combined with very few off days, put a heavy load on the bullpen. But right now, while I feel no compulsion to get Kimbrel back, I am envious of the Yankees bullpen. I think it is their biggest strength and gives the rest of the team confidence. Thus they are winning lots of games despite many injuries to the lineup. I do think the Sox have the hitting and the rotation to gain ground as long as the bullpen doesn't repeat what happened vs. the Guardians in games 2 and 3.

I have always said that the manager is responsible for wins and losses in the aggregate and whether they met the GM's expectations with the talent on that team. Right now it seems clear this team is under performing, so that's on Cora. I just have a problem second-guessing specific decisions because I think the manager has way more insight and stats and counsel from his coaches than we have. What he decides may not turn out well, but it is well-informed. Last year it was clear that those early win streaks became contagious. Well, so does losing become contagious. April was bad enough, but in May the Sox won 5 straight and were looking good. Then they went 7-10 or something before finally salvaging last night's win. The hitting is good. Not great or as good as last year, but good. The pitching is not good. Price is, and so are 2 or 3 guys in the bullpen. But Sale is a far cry from Sale, ERod's ERA is over 5 (it was under 4 last year with no ST, and this year he was the only starter he had a regular ST with 15 innings), Porcello is still Porcello, and Eovaldi has yet to appear. Plus Price missed several starts with the IL thing and then the flu.

Gotta go with Bellhorn04. Assume nothing vs. the Yankees lineup, especially when you are trying to salvage 1 game of 3.

Meh. Not much interested in the individual assessments. As for the Sox as a whole, right now they are scoring 5.33 runs/game vs. 5.41 runs/game last year when they led the MLB. The Sox have scored 315 runs to date, and the Yankees 310 (in 1 less game), but the Yankees are way, way ahead of us because their pitching is better.

They are in fact away games for Boston because during the American Revolution the Continental Army--largely, Massachusetts militia--kicked the British out of Boston in March 1776, and they never returned. The Howe brothers--general and admiral--attacked NYC in late June 1776 and the British owned it by October 1776 and until the end of the American Revolution in 1783.

Vehemently, I mean vehemently disagree with both points. First and foremost, the Sox starters do not routinely go more than 6 innings, which means the bullpen needs to handle 3 innings per game, not 1. What makes the Yankees bullpen so good this year isn't Soriano, but the other guys who precede him. Last night they shut the Sox down for 4 innings before the "lock down closer" even made an appearance. Secondly, we need Sale to start and eat some innings, not show up in the 9th in hopes that the bullpen, now under extra stress with Sale no longer starting, has somehow managed to hold the Sox lead. Yes, absolutely, the two losses to the Guardians were because the bullpen failed, and in the second game it was because Brasier who couldn't hold that 3 run lead in the 9th. But guess what? when you look at the box score, you see Walden had an uncommonly bad 8th, which forced Cora to use Barnes to keep the Sox ahead for the 9th. And Barnes did in fact stop the bleeding with 2 outs and no more runs. I suspect Barnes would have pitched the 9th too if the Sox hadn't scored 2 more in the 8th to get that 3 run lead. I might add that the rotation's regular failures to go at least 6 innings have put extra pressure on the bullpen. That started in March, but hasn't really gone away. Before the rainout Thursday at Yankee stadium, the Sox had played 13 games without a break, and in two of those games Price and Velazquez, botgh starters, combined for one stinking inning, 3 outs.

FWIW, you keep making sense, at least to me. Last year I think we can agree giving guys periodic rests, which runs completely counter to traditional views of what players should do during a 162 game season, sure didn't hurt and probably helped. It was the best season, especially the postseason, in Red Sox history, so the rest might have helped. So Cora tried to use rest for his starters in ST this year. Plus, as you say, starters throw a lot of innings and pitches and one in particular, Sale, burned out in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. That's beyond question when you compare his April-July ERA's with his August-October ERA's. Another point in favor of extra rest for starters in ST. That said, I do think April, for whatever reasons it went so badly, did create a confidence problem from which the Sox have not recovered. I suppose you can start with the rotation being so lousy in the early games, add in an 11 game west coast trip with no break which caused losses and overworked the bullpen, and suddenly the Sox are playing catch-up, the exact opposite of a year ago. The 5 game winning streak ending May 12 should have created a burst of confidence, but since then the Sox have gone 7-10 since then and are in danger of going below .500 today. During that 7-10 run the Sox played 13 games without a break, including two starts (by Price and Velazquez) then last 2 outs and 1 out, respectively, which maybe why the bullpen collapsed vs. the Guardians. Right now I think that Yankees bullpen is like the feather in Dumbo's trunk for the rest of the team--rotation and lineup--because they're thinking, "no biggie if we fall behind because the bullpen will shut them down and we can win later." Or, "all we need is a small lead that the bullpen can maintain forever." I say that because our rotation and hitting are about as good as the Yankees, but so far this season they are beating our brains out. Despite multiple injuries to their lineup and rotation.

Mookie, Beni, JDM, and Devers all look like they have regressed to t ball tonight, except the pitcher is actually throwing the ball.

Meh. Bottom of the order was an endless complaint last year, and the Sox led MLB in runs and OPS. It's less good right now because Betts, JDM, Beni, etc are well below their 2018 numbers. But they are scoring as much as the Yankees. Rotation is not solid, that's for sure, but it has delivered more quality starts than the Yankees. But the Yankees team ERA is lower and their pitching is more reliable because they have a much better bullpen. And there's something else, I think. Last year the AL East was highly competitive--Sox, Yankees, and Rays were all well over .500--despite the fast start by the Sox. I think that carried over to this season for the Yankees and Rays, who could only be encouraged--as the Sox were discouraged--by the Sox bad start. There is an undeniable psychological dimension to winning games. If nothing else, it builds confidence, which right now the Yankees have oodles of and so do the Rays. Looking at the games won and lost to date, I saw something just down right scary. On May 12 the Sox took their 3d straight from the Mariners--a great revenge series--after taking 2 straight from the Orioles. A 5 game winning streak, exactly what the head doctor would have ordered. Since then, however, the Sox are 7 and 9. They took 3 of 4 from the Jays, but lost 4 of 6 to the Astros, split 2 with the Rockies, lost 2 of 3 to the Guardians, and now could lose 2 or 3 of 3 to the Yankees. This season could be over awfully soon.

The Sox didn't lose because of the umpires, but because Happ was a better pitcher than Sale last night. Or the Yankee hitters were better. Take your pick. Nunez getting picked off 2B was incredibly stupid, but hardly the signature play of the game. Nosiree. I think there was however a signature stat, the ever-popular RISP with which we usually, after a loss, like to hammer the Sox. Last night the Sox were 0 for 1 with RISP, which to me speaks volumes about the effectiveness of Happ on the mound. Last night was so simple. We saw exactly why one team is headed toward 106 or more wins and the other team is fighting to stay above .500. And, not to put to fine a point on it, last night the Sox were going with their ace, the redoubtable Chris Sale, who in fact got 10 K's.

I swear the Sox look like they know they can't win.

JDM swung, but got a break.

I'm thinking the same thing.

That was a 92 mph fastball right down the middle by Sale.

Sox are really showing their ass tonight. Sale ain't Sale, that's for sure. Top 4 in the lineup are hitless and JDM looks helpless against Happ. Leon has an incredibly stupid at bat in which Happ tries his darndest to walk him and he just keeps swinging away. Plus he isn't asking for that changeup very much. Honestly, they just look stupid to me. As if Casey Stengal were standing in front of the dugout, asking, "can't anyone out here play this game?" And no one answers.

Sox top four are hitless, so I don’t understand why Nunez, who hit a hard grounder, is being attacked. JDM looks helpless and Mookie not much better.

Sale is still heavily dependent on K’s, whereas Happ loves contact which usually means a ground out.

He needs to get that changeup working, plus he really isn’t much at keeping the ball low, which is exactly what Happ thrives on.

One more time-- Porcello's ERA is about the same as last year even though he pitched fewer innings in ST than in 2018. ERod pitched 15 innings in ST, which is almost what Porcello pitched (16 innings) last year in ST. His ERA is much worse than last year. Price pitched fewer ST innings than last year, and his ERA has gone down and so far is his best since 2015. Sale is the one guy who fits this theory that fewer innings in ST destroyed the rotation. He only threw 9 innings, and his ERA doubled from last year. However, there are two mitigating factors on Sale. One is that we know for a fact that he ran out of gas in 2017 and again last year--both times in August thru October. The other is that we know Sale still doesn't have that blazing fastball he had the last two years. It is possible he is simply holding back on Cora's instructions, but I doubt it. In other words, hard evidence, stats, on three of our four starters do not support the pontifications of Jim Palmer, John Smoltz, and others. You included. But maybe my stats are wrong or wrong-headed. If so, tell me how they are wrong.

Nothing hard-nosed about the decision. Just common sense. How else explain that nobody else in MLB has made an offer to Kimbrel? The other loss was Kelly, who has been a disaster for the Dodgers so far. These last two games were horrible, granted, but they came at the tail end of a no-break 13 game streak that included one starter who lasted 1 out, another who lasted 2 outs, and a 13 inning game. If your a reliever, that gets old awfully fast. Earlier in the season, the bullpen was pretty good.

Interesting. Based on what you said on that other thread, I would have thought you would go for the obvious remedy: fire Cora.

You sound like Billy Beane in Moneyball.

Since he joined the Sox, Chavis has not played in just 2 games, and the Sox won both of them.