Maxbialystock

I actually think Devers continues to be a good discussion topic. He was hitting .905 in the Sox lineup, and his first base defense can't be all that bad compared to Toro/Gonzalez. Plus right now Yoshida/Ref stink as the DH. On the other hand, I see no real weaknesses in this Sox team. The lineup is good at the plate and in the field. Baserunning is good. Starting pitching is the best in years now that Ferris has stopped taking all those days off. In 4 starts this month he pitched 22.2 innings with a 3.57 ERA. The Sox are 4th in MLB in quality starts. Bullpen is not solid, but does have some pretty good pieces. Whitlock has pitched in 10 games (9.1 IP) In July with an ERA of 0.96. Of course I would love to see Breslow get a good arm--starter or reliever--but not a "loaner." I would like to see one more lefty bat, but would be fine if Mayer's wrist got better. And let's not forget that 4 rookies have started for the Sox this season. Narvaez and Anthony are standouts. Mayer is my preference for 2b. And Campbell is back at Worcester.

Like that last line. No Bregman today, also no Narvaez. First 3 Sox batters are Anthony, Toro (at 3b), and Duran.

I think we all like Mayer, but he does seem injury prone. And on this one, which sounds minor, they can't tell him how long he'll be out.

I still like the current Sox who have no significant weaknesses. Hitting, pitching, defense, and baserunning are all pretty good. We can always use another good arm or two, and right now I'd go for relievers over starters. Our 4th starter, Buehler pitched 22.1 innings in July with an ERA of 3.59 and two quality starts. I'd like another lefty bat, preferably at 2b, and I know who. Mayer. His OPS vs righties is .739 and he's a good fielder.

I think 1b is not the problem. Yes, I'd rather have Devers at 1b, but that's water under the bridge. Also, FWIW, there are two other positions, DH and 2b, who hit worse than Toro/Gonzalez at 1b. Yoshida stinks, and Ref is off his feed. Hamilton makes them both look good. And right now I think the bullpen needs more help than the rotation. The Sox 4th starter, Buehler, pitched 22.2 innings in July (4 starts) with an ERA of 3.57. 2 of those starts were quality starts. Against the Phillies he went 7 IP with 1 ER. Fitts is fitful, but when was the 5th starter not?

I saw a ton of grit last night given that Fitts started. They had it won until Hicks came out and did his imitation of Alcala tonight. Whitlock''s ERA in July is 1.08--8.1 IP, 1 ER.

Thanks more to Yoshida, who now officially stinks, than to Rafaela's superb defense. Tonight the lefty DH was Anthony, who is a ton better than Yoshida, so the outfield was Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu. With Rafaela in CF, Hamilton was at 2b. Sox OPS's vs. righty pitchers: Anthony .945, Bregman .897, Duran .868, Abreu .842, Toro .763, Rafaela .756, Mayer .739, Narvaez .724, Story .680, Ref .669, Gonzalez .659, Hamilton .500, Yoshida .457, and Wong .377.

Agree on the tanking for draft picks as a losing venture.

You sure did. I did not watch the bottom of the 9th, but did look at his pitches on mlb.com. He actually looked pretty good against the first Twins batter, throwing 6 strikes in 8 pitches. But Kiersey fouled off a bunch until he hammered pitch #8, a 98.4 mph fastball on the inside corner. Then came the 2 HBP's, maybe because he was frustrated. Then came the groundout with the bases loaded. Finally, the game winning single on an 0-2 count and off a fastball up and away and outside the strike zone.

Darn.

Agree.

Cora did not jerk Devers around. In fact, he got him to embrace DH, where he excelled. Devers OPS with the Sox was .905. With the Giants so far his OPS is .729. With Devers gone, the Sox are making a run for the postseason. With Devers, the Giants are losing and now just 2 games over .500. I think Breslow had no choice but to trade Devers after he publicly refused to play 1b. I don't think Campbell was jerked around at all.

Omigosh!! I forgot the game could be called. Thanks!!!

Just a reminder that, even though everyone of us is familiar with all kinds of stats, baseball can build tension like you wouldn't believe. In it's purest form it's hitter vs pitcher although I think the Sox benefitted from better defense than the Twins. Ain't it something how Duran plays CF like he belongs there? Of course I prefer Rafaela, but he's also pretty good at 2b and allows Cora to put 3 lefty bats in the outfield. Anthony, Duran, and Abreu has 6 of the Sox 10 hits tonight. Duran and Abreu had the only Sox doubles. And Anthony came through like champ in the 9th. Just 6 days ago Anthony struck out 4 times against the Phillies.

Looks like Whitlock for the save.

A fair comment.

I thought so too.

Well, yes, you can. Chariots of Fire. Of course I agree with you.

My goodness, gracious is Anthony finding his way. Duran's ERA is 1.86 (or something higher now).

Now we know why Hamilton was brought back up. Good golly, miss molly.

Toro walks. Come on, guys. Reliever Duran is really tough.

Bullpen has been terrific tonight--4 IP, 1 ER.

Not a bad description. Tonight I thought he was telegraphing his pitches.

Could be.

The Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in quality starts (6 IP, no more than 3 ER) with 47, 41 of which were thrown by the current rotation: Crochet 14, Bello 10, Giolito 9. Buehler 6, and Fitts 2. The 2021 Sox had 39 quality starts for the entire season.