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Maxbialystock

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Everything posted by Maxbialystock

  1. Maxbialystock
    Exactly right, especially your last sentence. I was dead wrong in my pessimism after the first two games, but still cling to this part of it: don't underestimate the Yankees based on last night's game. They still have great hitting and one of the best bullpens around. Our two wins were both led by great starting pitching against a very hot Yankees lineup.
  2. Maxbialystock
    Amen. If we have learned nothing else this year, we should have learned how important the catcher is for the overall defense because of his effect on the pitching. Swihart is easily the best athlete of the three and probably the best hitter, but Leon and Vazquez are better at the essential task of defensive catching. They both have positive DWAR's and his is negative. More than that, it is more and more apparent that the pitching staff is more comfortable with the other two behind the plate. I agreed with bosoxmal in the OP--that it was time to give Holt and Devers a shot. I would have done so vs. Tanaka, but also think Cora knows a lot more than I. Last night showed that Vazquez can catch a pretty good game and maybe get a hit now and then which Leon seems increasingly unable to do. That's why Vazquez was the regular catcher before his injury.
  3. Maxbialystock
    Sorry, but to me it's hard to blame a score of 16-1 on the manager. This was in fact the third straight game in this ALDS in which the team with the better starter won, pure and simple. It also ignores the effectiveness of Eovaldo in shutting down the Yankees lineup. These are the guys who set the MLB record for dingers in a season and who were playing in the most hitter-friendly park in MLB. Boone might have kept things closer, but this was a debacle from the beginning.
  4. Maxbialystock
    Definitely.
  5. Maxbialystock
    Gotta hit the sack. What an amazing win.
  6. Maxbialystock
    Really?
  7. Maxbialystock
    This ump is easily the worst I can remember. At least he is bad for both sides, but that don’t make it right.
  8. Maxbialystock
    Eovaldi vs. Severino Both righties, edge to Severino, but on August 4 and Sep 18 Eovaldi went 14 innings and gave up 0 runs--and the latter game was in the Bronx. Severino is back, no question--he was terrific in the wild card game. But I expect our pitching to be pretty good, including the bullpen. The starters won/lost the first two games and that could well be the case tonight. Betts RF Benintendi LF Martinez DH Bogaerts SS Devers 3b Pearce 1B Holt 2B Vazquez C Bradley CF Cora rolls the dice with three new faces--Holt @ 2B (long overdue), Devers @ 3B (a gamble made easier by Nunez horrible defense in game 2), and Vazquez at C. I like this lineup and I even like the bullpen after Saturday's game. Time to win one for a pretty darn good fan base, especially the ones on this site. Max
  9. Maxbialystock
    And it almost perfectly describes my perspective. I became a Sox fan in 1949 and so endured 55 years of the 86 year curse, so I claim to come by my pessimism honestly and am all the more delighted when I am wrong. That said, the more recent discussion on this thread is a heckuva more interesting than my moaning and groaning. In fact, you said something especially apt--this is now a 3 game series, pure and simple.
  10. Maxbialystock
    No need to apologize for a knuckleballer because the darn thing works. Wright can in fact throw a fast ball in the 80's and has a big sweeping knuckle curve. But he sticks to the knuckler almost exclusively because it works. If you throw out just one game, that horrendous start in June when he gave up 10 runs in 3 innings and promptly went on the DL, Wright went 50 innings and 19 games this year and gave up 6 runs for an ERA of 1.08. In September he gave up 1 ER on 13 innings. But clearly the knee is a problem.
  11. Maxbialystock
    Agree on the talent. Five tool player, sort of. Great arm and skill in playing right field. Hit and hit with power. Baserunning only OK. But I never liked him because he never played enough.
  12. Maxbialystock
    Speaking for the pessimists, I have to say I like the very strong rebuttals by the optimists here and on the game thread. Well done. It's just one game. Sox will sweep in Yankee Stadium when we bring out our righty starters. This is the same team that won 108 games, most in Sox history. We lost the ALDS in 2016 and 2017 because of Farrell, no one else, and now we have Cora. The only thing missing is that hit song from Damn Yankees--You Gotta Have Heart (all you really need is heart).
  13. Maxbialystock
    Wow. I have to ask just why you are so optimistic when the Sox are playing exactly the way they played in the last two ALDS's, when Price once again got hammered in the postseason (where he is now 0-10), when the Yankees bullpen remains so dominant, and when their lineup is so relentless? As the OP says, forget last night, it happens. The scary game was Friday night when we won after Sale had a great start--his longest since July 27--and JDM hit a 3 run dinger and the Sox should have been off to the races. Nope. Enter our woebegone bullpen and the Yankees lineup which had us Sox fans on the edge or our seats until the last out in a 5-4 win. Now we are headed for Yankee Stadium where the Sox are 3-6 for the year. I agree it's not over. Not in baseball. Not after being down 0-3 to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and 1-3 to the Guardians in the 2007 ALCS. There is always hope. But let me tell you something loud and clear. If you aren't worried, you aren't paying attention.
  14. Maxbialystock
    Not much to say. The Yankees just look like the better team. Their hitting and their bullpen for sure--way, way better then ours. And we knew all of this last month. Plus even their defense looks better than ours. To add insult to injury, Tanaka completely outpitched Price last night. Friday night was the harbinger. Sale pitched a gem, JD Martinez got the huge 3 run dinger, and the Sox barely won because our bullpen stinks, the Yankees' doesn't, and the Yankees hitters are relentless. I think most or all of this falls on DD. He spent like a drunken sailor on starting pitching and for guys like Price, Porcello, and the late, great Pomeranz. But, except for Kimbrel, he didn't do much about the bullpen. He did fix the lineup however with JD Martinez. That's how come the 108 wins--the Sox also scored the most runs in MLB (but only barely because the Yankees were gaining on us).
  15. Maxbialystock
    OK, OK. Good no-sub for Nunez.
  16. Maxbialystock
    I don't want pinch hitters for Nunez and Kinsler. I want Devers and Holt to sub for them. Pinch hit for Leon only if someone's on.
  17. Maxbialystock
    Judge is actually a gazelle out there. He has great speed, good hands, excellent timing, and a very good arm. Darn it.
  18. Maxbialystock
    OK, it is now a fact that Tanaka is getting more calls than our guys. Probably because he stays pretty close to the strike zone.
  19. Maxbialystock
    The Yankees only have a 3 run lead. Leon gets partial credit for Price's debacle, but also partial credit for Kelly's sterling 2 innings in relief. Leaving Leon in is mild insurance the Sox bullpen can keep it close. I seriously doubt a pinch hitter in the 3d would have made a difference. Tanaka is working our guys over pretty good. So far I think Cora is managing this game just fine.
  20. Maxbialystock
    I would too. After last night, I raved about Leon's catching. But tonight he gets partial credit for Price stinking up the joint. Still, it's only the 3d inning.
  21. Maxbialystock
    Kinsler can't hit spit this year. His Offensive WAR for the season is .1. But Cora loves his veterans. Nunez has no business out there either but in his case Cora's worried about Devers defense at 3b. Holts OWAR is 1.6 and Devers is 1.2.
  22. Maxbialystock
    You confidence could be misplaced. He has never won a postseason game in 9 starts. He looked s***** tonight. Most of us hope he won't start again, but guess what? The Sox might not get out of the ALDS alive.
  23. Maxbialystock
    Why not? Price gave up his 3 in 1.2 innings. Tanaka has got our guys under control. And our bullpen has demonstrated they can't get the Yankees out.
  24. Maxbialystock
    Sale needed 24 pitches to get out of the 1st. Had he followed Wright, I contend he would have breezed thru the 3d inning on 12 pitches. What would have been oh so nice last night was 2 innings from Wright, 6 from Sale, and 1 from Kimbrel.
  25. Maxbialystock
    Either the Yankees can see Price's pitches awfully well or they are stealing signs. On a 2-2 count that changeup was close, but clearly Gardner could see it was a changeup that would miss.
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