Maxbialystock

I'm sorry, but that number is just downright laughable for a rookie catcher, who was converted to catcher by the Sox after they signed him in 2011 out of high school, to be 6 games better (wins above replacement) than the average MLB catcher for his defense alone. Absolutely laughable. As I have also pointed out, the team ERA was abysmal in 2015 with Swihart as the primary catcher.

Did you know that the 2015 team ERA for the Sox was 4.31, ranked 25th in MLB with Swihart as the primary catcher and that the team ERA improved in 2016 and again in 2017 when he wasn't catching at all?

I just looked up the catcher DWAR's in 2015, and Swihart was a -.4. Leon was a +.7. Swihart is unquestionably a good athlete and all around baseball player, but catcher is very much a specialty position requiring unique skills that take time to develop. On top of that, catchers have shorter careers, which is why Bryce Harper was converted from catcher to outfield the instant the Nationals picked him in the draft. Does anyone besides me remember Doug Mirabelli? He caught Tim Wakefield exclusively and was traded away or let go only to be brought back in a very dramatic way. I say again, catching is a specialized skill, and apparently the Sox don't see Swihart as having the requisite skills for full time duty unless or until, as happened in 2015, other guys go on the DL for extended periods. So I think tonight is an opportunity to again show Swihart's versatility--he can play the outfield, he can play the infield corners, he can catch, he can do it all--while also getting him some more at bats because in the end I think it is his bat which will secure him an MLB career.

I have never played fantasy baseball and consequently don't think in terms of trades even though I agree they have made a difference for the Sox, especially pitchers. Overall DD has done pretty well I think, but I see no compelling need for a trade right now. This particular group of players seems to have jelled despite individual weaknesses/failures.

Way over the top. Swihart has never shown that kind of potential. Not even close.

And he loves Donald Trump.

They were both on the 2015 Boston Red Sox when Swihart had 16 passed balls.

Exactly. Fenway Park is very photogenic but has lousy sight lines down the right side.

I don't think they are "something special," at least, not yet. But I do like the overall average of the five best--Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, and Wright. Pom has been worthless.

Swihart is, if anything, worse at catching the knuckler than Vazquez. He had 16 passed balls in 2015.

FWIW, Sox to date are 3-3 vs. the Yankees and 2-2 vs. the Astros. I'm fine with a rotation of Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, and Wright. Did you notice we beat the Astros ace of aces Saturday and their 2d best last night? Did you not know that in 2013 the Tigers ace of aces--same guy, Verlander--lost a pitching duel to John Lackey of the Sox in a key ALCS game?

Amazing all the notions about how to fix the lineup with Mookie out. He's one guy, not even a third of the order. The Sox are 8-4 when he misses a game or goes out early. How is that possible? Well, for one thing, the Sox dumped Hanley--addition by subtraction. That definitely helped. For another, other guys are rising to the occasion which is what moonslav predicted awhile ago before Mookie got hurt. Like everyone else, I want Mookie back ASAP, but meanwhile I kind of like what I am seeing.

Nobody ready, I suspect. He had thrown maybe 75 pitches after 6 and got the first guy out. Then the error by Nunez. Then the walk. As it was, we were lucky the HBP led to an injury delay and gave Barnes time to warm up.

To me our rotation is what it is. Like the little girl with a curl, when she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid. Last night we saw Porcello be both very good and horrid. On the other hand, the Sox just split four games at Houston against easily the best pitching staff and the best rotation in MLB. I give a ton of credit to the lineup, who really came thru, and even to the bullpen, but none of our starters--Pom, Sale, Price, and Porcello--was bombed the way starters as recently as last year were. By that I mean the "7 run rule," which Cora clearly does not believe in. Of all MLB pitchers, right now Sale is 7th in WAR, Porcello 15th, and Rodriguez 31st. And Price should get into the the top 30. I'll take that rotation any day of the week. I dislike Pom, but think Wright is the fix. 4th on the list is Verlander, the very same guy the Sox beat (well, he did leave with a 3-2 lead) last night. So to me it is inarguable that our starting pitching is not good enough or needs to be fixed.

Exactly. And let it be noted by all citizens of talksox that our own moonslav attended both wins in person and with his family.

I think the carping critics never, ever give credit to the guys when they are aggressive and it pays off. And when there is an out, it’s back to the woodshed time—even for Mookie.

Ok. He hit it hard. Can’t ask for more.

Thank goodness you ain’t Cora. Bogie knows he screwed up.

Now if only Cora would let Swihart get some at bats. What a guy!

I don’t know this Porcello, but sure am happy he pitches for us.

Less Hanley, more Moreland. Ain’t it great?

I am the anti-Porcello, but that little sequence blew me away. Masterful.

Benintendi LF Bogaerts SS JD Martinez DH Moreland 1B Nunez 3B Bradley CF Holt 2B Swihart RF Leon C Against righty Morton, lefty Devers is out and Nunez in, but Sox still have six lefty bats, including the 6 thru 9 hitters. JBJ batting 6th.

Devers is a 21 year old project whose OPS has dropped from .821 in 2017 to .681 in 2018 and has made a lot of errors at 3B. He's the same guy who struck out on 96 mph fastballs near the center of the strike zone last night but who hit a dinger off a 103 mph fast ball by a Yankee closer last season. I back him because Cora does and because I see his potential, including as a third baseman. Last year he thrived near the bottom of the order. Maybe he needs to return there. Whatever. As for jacksonianmarch, of course he is a Yankee fan on a Sox site, but I don't consider him to be a troll. He loves what Cash has done in reducing the payroll while producing a great lineup, finally, and thinks this year's version is maybe on a par with the Yankees of 1949-53--five WS in a row. But I think he also acknowledges that the John Henry era has brought parity between two very different cities, NY and Boston, but now somewhat similar franchises. I consider him to be more balanced than many so-called Sox fans on talksox, but that doesn't mean that now and then he won't irritate me too. I am confident YOTN has no intention of banning jacksonianmarch who is a good addition to our discussions, even on his bad days.

Huge win against maybe the best starter in the AL, Verlander. Yes, Price had a quality start, but this one was won by the lineup which is missing Mookie Betts. Some said--on a game thread I think--that of course the Astros would be tough because we would be missing the best player on the team if not the best player in the history of MLB. But guess what? The Sox are now 7-3 without Mookie in the lineup. This does not mean he isn't enormously valuable to this team, but does mean that one lineup player can only do so much. I think moonslav pointed out that, should Betts and JDM OPS's come down from their astronomical highs, other players would likely get better, and that is what has happened with Mookie out. Beni is up. JDM has stayed up. JBJ has come alive. Leon/Vazquez have contributed. We won last night mostly on those two dingers (Vazquez to tie, Beni to win the game) and neither was by two of the best dinger-hitters in MLB this year to date. The downside is that our pitching has not risen to the occasion (defined as this series in Houston so well attended by the estimable moonslav). Pom was to be expected, but not Sale, who moonslave defends but not I. Yes, the first two runs were cheapies, but Sale needed 34 pitches to get thru the 1st, and you can't blame that all on bad luck. Moreover, he gave up 2 more in the 3d for 4 against a team with the best ERA in MLB. Last night Price was decent, granted, but he was going against the best starter in MLB whose ERA is 1.24 (thanks to the 2 runs the Sox scored off him in 6 innings) and left the game behind 3-2. The lineup won last night's game, pure and simple, with some help from Price and of course Kimbrel who got 2 k's and 3 outs on 11 pitches. Could we have an encore please for all the Swihart fans who have been enraged at Cora for not playing him more often? Take a bow, guys, because your man is now play more regularly and sinking fast with the team's lowest average and of course OPS. One supposes his mission these days is to make us like the other guys for what they have done. I would call out the Cora doubters, but suspect they are getting fewer in number although he does regularly get pinged on game threads whenever a player fails to hit or make an error--why is that guy playing? And I would be remiss if I didn't call out one maxbialystock who originally predicted 2-2 in this series, but early on this thread said basically that all is lost and this Sox ship is going down in Hurricane Astrodome. Good call, Max.