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Maxbialystock

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Everything posted by Maxbialystock

  1. Maxbialystock
    I do like what I've seen of Swihart this season. Justifies keeping him on the roster as the 3d catcher. But Kimmi is right: Leon is way better behind the plate, and that's what counts for catchers. Offense is gravy. And in our case we already have the best offense in MLB--or at least have scored the most runs and have the highest OPS. Have you not read at least two stories that Chris Sale, who is having an enormous year, has still not rejected a single pitch call from Sandy Leon? Now that's not all the result of Sandy's genius because Sale correctly prefers to focus entirely on executing pitches rather than trying to figure out what to throw.
  2. Maxbialystock
    That Indian hit a low and almost outside slider cleanly and to the opposite field, something our guys can't seem to be able to do.
  3. Maxbialystock
    Just two games, of course, but also a harbinger for the playoffs. Thru one game and five innings, the Guardians simply look like a better team. Sox have 1 hit to the Guardians 7.
  4. Maxbialystock
    Not ridiculous, but definitely good and a play Nunez would not have made.
  5. Maxbialystock
    I missed the first 3 innings. Right now it sure looks as if both hitting and pitching are problematical.
  6. Maxbialystock
    Bogey is also 2d on the team in rbi's with 77 even though Betts and Beni both have more games and more at bats. My first five hitters--in whatever order--would be Betts, Beni, Pearce, JDM, and Bogey.
  7. Maxbialystock
    A fair comment, and I agree: Francona's 2 run lead made it easy to bring in the bullpen. Cora had a tie game, not so easy to take Porcello out. But. Cora had already seen Porcello, who had a solid start, begin to unravel in the 5th and even more so in the 6th. It seems to me that, based on that alone, he should have been less patient with Porcello in the 7th. As it turns out, a good bullpen--not guaranteed--could have won that game because the Sox scored in the 9th. But Cora waited to long to bring them in. Also. Kluber had a slow start, but was doing fine in the 5th and 6th innings and got the first guy out in the 7th. Yes, he had thrown 108 pitches, but Francona might have left him in--but did not.
  8. Maxbialystock
    The game was won and lost by the two managers in the 7th inning. Going into the 7th the game was tied at 3 all. Cora left Porcello in to pitch the entire 7th, including the game-winning 2 run dinger. Francona, who stayed with Kluber after he gave up the three early runs, let him get Mookie out to start the 7th, then immediately pulled him. He then used 4 relievers to get the next 8 outs. Clearly, Francona trust his bullpen more than Cora trusts his.
  9. Maxbialystock
    What the heck was Porcello doing pitching the 7th? I only saw the bottom of the 9th, but the box says Porcello gave up 1 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th to tie the game.
  10. Maxbialystock
    You realize, I hope, that we have had our share of starters give up early runs. I honestly can't see why a decent reliever can't get safely thru inning 1 and maybe all or part of inning 2. As for the long reliever who gets inserted, he only has to go to 3 or 4 innings, depending. I entirely agree that you would need a bunch of healthy arms on the pitching staff, but even that is mitigated by having a minimum of 12 arms and the ability to rotate one or more them from the big club to AAA and back as needed. Most if not all MLB clubs do that a lot already. However, yesterday Tampa used 4 pitchers, including the one guy who went 4 innings. I don't see how you can do that consistently with just 12 pitchers even with the availability of AAA help now and then. Nevertheless, Cash has apparently made that work for just about all of this season. Brilliant.
  11. Maxbialystock
    The Ray manager has done a lot of that this season and it carries two big advantages without, as far as I can tell, any downside. 1. He forces opposing managers to commit to a lineup that can't be lefty or righty heavy--or can be at that manager's peril (unless he has a lot of switch hitters). 2. By also using several pitchers but having one of them for 3 or 4 innings, he also denies opposing lineups the opportunity to face the same pitcher three or more times and sometimes even twice. I don't think I've seen this done before, and it does seem to be working.
  12. Maxbialystock
    Really disagree. I loved leaving Pom in because it exposed--reconfirmed--his weaknesses. He has basically two pitches, a decent knuckle curve and a weakish fastball, and not very good control. But he is still on the active roster because of that insane salary. HanRam played a lot right before they dumped him. If nothing else, Cora was sending a message to DD: we do not need this guy on the postseason roster.
  13. Maxbialystock
    It very definitely helps, and thanks for the update. Slasher9 says a healthy and competent ERod could be huge, and I entirely agree. He has an excellent repertoire which is very effective when he has command of his pitches.
  14. Maxbialystock
    This game was fascinating because once again the Rays started a reliever who didn't last long and who was followed by another reliever who went 4 followed by 3 more relievers who completed the shut out. Only that 4 inning reliever faced our lineup more than once, and I think that is a key to their success. Most hitters do better the second time around against the starter and even better than that the third time around. I think the Rays manager has used that advantage--preventing opposing lineups from facing the starter 2 or more times-- for the better part of this season. Plus he does another thing. If he starts a lefty, that often means the primary reliever (3 or more innings) will be a righty and vice versa if a righty starts. Thus the opposing manager doesn't know whether to use a righty-heavy or lefty-heavy lineup. The starters--actually, short term relievers-- under this system appear to be used to get the other teams' managers to commit on their lineups. This then allows the Rays manager to pick the most advantageous "primary" reliever to go 3 or 4 innings.
  15. Maxbialystock
    Good Sox pitching all around, just what was needed along with the sneaky 4 run rally to kick things off. Sox had just 3 hits, but those, some breaks, and Price, Brasier, and Kimbrel made them stand up.
  16. Maxbialystock
    Nobody has ever said the bullpen is perfect. Whose is? Also, we all know that, given the playoff format, nothing is guaranteed. Most of us just enjoy watching this team play because, faulty bullpen or not, they are winning a lot. You appear to be unable to do that--despite your disclaimer--because you prefer to anticipate disappointment.
  17. Maxbialystock
    Agree Porcello was amazing. He has a pretty good repertoire--even without the big fastball-- and is tough when he has control of them.
  18. Maxbialystock
    Hembree gets a lot of negativity on talksox, but, when he is right he can be effective.
  19. Maxbialystock
    Betts CF Beni LF Moreland 1b JDM RF Bogey SS Devers 3b Nunez 2b Leon C Porcello P
  20. Maxbialystock
    NOAA map show now clouds or rain in Philly
  21. Maxbialystock
    Before WAR, JDM would have been a shoo-in. He will still get some votes, but will not get MVP because he is, in the end, a DH. As big a difference as I think JDM has made and even considering he is willing to play in the outfield, I think no DH should be MVP. To me part of winning the MVP has to be not sitting in the dugout when your team takes the field.
  22. Maxbialystock
    I watched this game at the beach, but also the PGA, so no time to contribute to the thread. I was really mad when Cora replaced Sale after 5 innings and just 68 pitches because the score was just 2-0 and our bullpen was/is suspect. But they came thru and Cora is now being congratulated for his wisdom in not letting Sale throw too many innings/pitches. Plus, and I do give him credit here, he probably figured our lineup would get to their bullpen, which they did in the 9th.
  23. Maxbialystock
    This might not be so bad. Today the Sox are headed for a doubleheader having used six relievers last night: Workman, Pom, Hembree, Brasier, Barnes, and Kelly. Workman threw 24 pitches, Pom 20, Hembree 27, Brasier 8, Barnes 14, and Kelly 16. To make matters more interesting, the night before last Porcello only went 4 innings while giving up 8 runs. Then Workman threw 10 pitches, Velazquez 25, and Thornburg 24. The bullpen could use a rainy day in August.
  24. Maxbialystock
    Last night was a pretty wild game proving once again that baseball is unpredictable. I was so sure Bogaerts put the game in the bag with the 1st inning dinger, then later was just as sure the Orioles were in the driver's seat. Porcello and Eovaldi were horrible in back to back starts after both coming off fantastic back to back starts. Scary. And what the heck is going on with that CF near the bottom of the order? Down there is the well of despair, but in this case it's opposing pitchers who are now despairing. JBJ is hitting the ball hard and going to the opposite field when appropriate. My goodness gracious. Sox now have the biggest MLB margin between runs scored and runs given up, are well in front of the Yankees in total runs scored, appear to be able to hit the long ball down and then, and have a team OPS of .804. Unfortunately, sometimes they need all of that to pull one out.
  25. Maxbialystock
    I honestly enjoy listening to good radio broadcasts of games and almost never have the sound on when watching a game on TV. When the Sox are at Baltimore and I am enroute, I enjoy the Orioles announcers. The WEEI (I think) crew are fine when the Sox are in boston or elsewhere and I am enroute and can pick them up via mlb.com audio.
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