Maxbialystock

Anderson, a lefty, is currently riding a 34 consecutive shutout innings streak. Could be a tough afternoon, but maybe the sunlight will help.

Last year the Swihart fan club was pretty active on talksox, which is the real reason why he made the cut this year. Cora and DD are always lurking around here.

Last year the Sox went 17-2 out of the gate. This year it's 1-5 so far plus the worst run differential in MLB at -18. After the starters butchered their first round of starts, the lineup was shut out in back to back games. The Sox won it all in 2013 and finished dead last the next year. I think this Sox team is too good to miss the playoffs this year, but have my doubts about more than 95 wins. Of course, I also hope to come back to this thread in a week or a month from now and recant everything I just said. Oh, and I come by my doubts honestly: I was a Sox fan for 55 of the 86 years of the curse. There can be no question John Henry has been the best Sox owner ever, but old habits/doubts die hard.

No, the problem is not the rotation. The problem is that the Sox have the highest payroll and by far the worst run differential, -18, in MLB. Yes, absolutely, we're only 6 games into a 162 game season and have barely started. And this is pretty close to the same bunch of guys who won 108 last year before winning 8 of 11 in the ALDS, ALCS, and WS. But one of the reasons 2018 was so successful was that the Sox were 17-2 after 19 games and were able to withstand a win streak by the Yankees early in the season. Now they're 1-5 and every starter is at least mildly suspect. Oh, and the lineup just got shut out twice by the A's. The Rays are in our division and have the best ERA in MLB.

And I don't agree because I think DD made the right decisions on Kelly and Kimbrel. My view is that you can't have everything, and Kelly and Kimbrel were/are allowed to go elsewhere because of their cost. This also, however, allows DD to keep the heart of what won for us last year, and I buy his argument--and Cora's--the bullpen will be fine without those two. By putting Leon on waivers, they also kept him available even though he isn't on the 25 man roster. But absolutely nothing makes sense unless and until the rotation starts pitching like they can--and I refuse to buy the argument that the catchers are causing all those bad pitches. More likely, it was the short work in ST that kept them from getting in the groove. I disagree with doing that, but also have the utmost respect for the wisdom of Cora.

Least of our worries right now is a closer, which Barnes has handled perfectly for his one save opportunity. Bullpen help, maybe, but the bullpen so far is way, way, way, way better than the rotation. If Swihart had started in more than 1 game, then maybe blame him for the utter ineptitude of the rotation, but most of us think it was the short ST that created this rotation problem. The neat thing about Leon is he is available if needed.

All good points.

Me, I think the salaries for the top players and some others are absolutely insane, but I also think it's a business decision which can sometimes be dumb because you are paying for baseball players who are notoriously unreliable performers if only because of the risk of injury. You've got Ellsbury (and others before him), but we've had our share--like Sandoval and HanRam (and others). I never resented the Yankees spending because I was sure they had more money--they are sitting on a gold mine, the largest city in the country at 8.6 million people--to say nothing of those 27 championships. But my question for Yankees fans is how they can be happy with owners who can't seem to convert that huge population gold mine into being competitive--since John Henry took over in 2002--with the Boston Red Sox, whose city has a population of 685K. Every year the Yankees outdraw the Sox, but guess which team has the four World Series wins since 2002 and which team has one? Also, Moonslav in particular never lets us forget, especially on this thread, what the cost of players is now and will be in the near future. Indeed, the back and forth on that topic alone sometimes takes over this thread. As I said, I hate the high cost of players, but I can also see that those salaries do sometimes get results--like 108 regular wins and taking 11 of 14 postseason games (including the 104 win Astros and 100 win Yankees).

A fair point--agreed. But I enjoyed the rallies. Plus we had plenty of hard hit balls that were right at someone.

I said 5-6 before the season for two reasons: west coast against good teams; and a sorry spring training.

I griped plenty during the game but right now feel strangely sanguine. Yes, absolutely, the rotation stinks and is a real concern: the Sox have to have close to the worst ERA (27th) in MLB after 4 games and have given up 11 dingers, 2d most in MLB. Fielding: the Sox are 2d in MLB in committing errors and have the 2d worst fielding percentage. That said, I see some positives. The guys are hitting and rallied 3 times in 4 games, one of which won the game. The bullpen is much better than I expected. And the Yankees--playing at home and against the lowly Orioles--are 1-2, which puts them 1/2 game ahead of the Sox. Now it's 4 at Oakland with Price, Sale, Eovaldi, and ERod starting.

Way to go, bats!!!!

If the rotation maintains this dubious standard, they can rest in October. This team looks exactly like the one we just saw in spring training, only these count.

against a lefty— Betts Devers JDM Bogaerts Travis Moreland Nunez Vazquez JBJ 6 righty bats

Meh. You're right of course, but so is Notin because most people think the closer is a vital part of the pen. In any case, this is a great thread because it's all about Topic A this early in the season. With Kimbrel and Kelly gone and no pricey additions, most of us have identified the pen as the potentially fatal weakness in the 2019 Sox roster. Lineup looks fine and probably better than last year's. Rotation ditto. But the pen????? Cora, of course, has gone on record as saying the pen will be fine. So far it looks like our brilliant manager is right once again--even though 2 games are a ridiculously small set of data.

A movie I like but most don't is Alan J Pakula's Comes a Horseman, starring Jane Fonda and James Caan, who plays the cowboy (in Montana, after World War II) and Army veteran who turns out to be the horseman in the title who helps her save her ranch. His character keeps saying, "I figure," until Fonda's finally says, "you sure do like to figure, don't you?" That's Cora. Always figuring. He may be be young, but he sees and knows things the rest of us don't. Last night was just one more example of how his moves have worked, especially pinch-hitting for both Travis, who had 2 hits, and Vazquez, who had a homer, in the 9th inning. Plus no qualms about letting Swihart catch Barnes for the 9th inning save. Cora also is the one who said he is fine with his bullpen although right now he is going with 8 instead of the usual 7. So after 2 games, who has done better, our high-priced rotation or are much-maligned (I'm one of the doubters) bullpen? Last night they went 4 innings, got 7 K's, and gave up no walks, no hits, and no runs. After 2 games Cora has used 11 of 12 position players (all except Holt), 2 of 5 starters, and 7 of 8 relievers (in itself an unusual number because most teams go with 7). I don't think Brasier has pitched yet and almost certainly because Cora has something definite in mind for him.

After 2 games, pen looks mightier than rotation (which has been used by Mariners for batting practice).

Wrong. It's-- Beni Betts JDM Bogaerts Nunez Devers Travis Bradley Vazquez six righty bats.

Another Seattle lefty, so my guess is the lineup will be similar to last night: Beni, Betts, Devers, JDM, Bogie, Moreland,Nunez, Bradley, and Vazquez. Kikuchi gave up 2 (1 earned) in 5 a week ago against Oakland--in Tokyo. Sox righties got 8 of the 11 hits last night and all three doubles. But no dingers--while the Mariners got 5.

Yup. This year the Sox are playing with house money. Actually, a whole lot of house money because I think they have the highest payroll--again.

The hero of that movie plays for the old Washington Senators, back when the saying was, "Washington, first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."

Agree, good movie. i don't think the father is contrived. He seems not to grasp what is obvious to us--that his son has a realizable dream--but he is more right than his son. Becoming a MLB pitcher was a pipe dream for Jim Morris. Heck, he never even played high school baseball because Brownwood H.S. didn't have a team, so he played on the football team and was very good. Morris started playing baseball when his 3--probably with his dad's help. When he tried out after high school and didn't get selected, it should have been over, but that increase in arm strength in his 30's was freakish and gave him I think 2 years in professional baseball, including the majors. Then it really was over. The real Jim Morris divorced his first wife, the one who bore his children and supported his dream (in the movie, anyway).

Absolutely right about Ken Burns Baseball.

Perfect throwaway game. Sale stunk, also bullpen. Sox had 11 hits and 4 runs but no dingers. Seattle had 12 runs on 12 hits, 5 of them dingers. Nunez and Devers had errors. Hit it, Scarlett! Tomorrow is another day.

Yeah, last year's Rafi might be back.