Maxbialystock

They matter, but not nearly as much as wins and losses. The Sox have 3 more wins than any other team in MLB. So me, I give this manager the benefit of the doubt on practically any decision he makes. Plus he has more information and more MLB experience than everyone on talksox combined. On pitching moves he can even check with both his pitching coach and his bench coach, both of whom also have more information and experience than any of us. I harbor a special resentment toward Kimbrel because more and more he looks to me like a prima donna. Nobody on base when he goes in. No 2 inning saves. No 4 run leads (and therefore no save). Rested. This would make more sense if the Sox weren't paying him $210K/inning and if Kelly, Velazquez, and Barnes weren't almost as good according to WAR ratings.

Pardon me, but I find the continued discussion about using Kimbrel last night (when the Sox were up 4) just plain laughable for these reasons: 1. We've now seen the follow-on game which the Sox won without Kimbrel, who should now be available. 2. Absolutely no one (except me) blames Kimbrel for what happened last night when he stunk. Nope. The fault was all on the manager for misuing this precious, precious asset who is only to be used for very specific situations--9th inning, save situation, nobody on base, hasn't pitched recently, won't be needed in the next game, etc. 3. Cora is a rookie manager, which means everyone on talksox knows this team, this pitcher, and how the game should be played and especially managed better than poor Alex. If he would just read talksox, he would wise up fast. 4. The results of the actual next game--a 5-1 win and sweep over the Orioles--are irrelevant because results don't matter. What matters is our expert opinion which is better than Cora's. 5. Kimbrel's Salary, $13M, is the 4th highest on the team and greater than the rest of bullpen combined, which is interesting because his WAR is 1.2, and Velazquez's is 1.3, Barnes is 1.1, and Kelly's is 1.0. And all those guys are willing to do windows when asked. Anybody else notice the other night that Kelly was sent out to get one out with the bases loaded? Is there any doubt in your mind that Kimbrel will never, ever be asked to do that? 6. Kimbel is not overworked. Johnson, Velazquez, Barnes, Kelly, and Hembree have all pitched more innings. Kimbrel has pitched in 30 games, Kelly 30, Barnes 29, and Hembree 29.

If you mean Beni, the critics of his baserunning are wrong.

JBJ isn't all the fast on the basepaths, but most think his baserunning is pretty good. Last year at least once he forgot the number of outs.

His lifetime OPS is under .700. I happen to be prejudiced in favor of hitters. I do like his versatility and understand that's why he is on the roster, but I don't see him as a regular.

Whoops. Wrong about the no-hitter. Still, he's a pain thru 2 innings.

Meh. This year I like him. Last year not so much. He is definitely versatile and literally can play 7 positions decently.

That rookie pitcher is moving his pitches around the zone and mixing his pitches and not walking anyone. No-hitter well into the 2d inning.

So much for a hot start against a rookie pitcher. Good thing Sale started with a good 1st.

Orioles attendance definitely hurt by the rebirth of a Washington team which is now competitive and outdrawing the Orioles. I used to go to Camden even thought it's over an hour's drive, parking is a pain, and getting home is maybe midnight. Camden Yards is an excellent ballpark. Not so Angelos the owner.

Given me a living, breathing ump over replays any time. Baseball is a game, not a scientific experiment, and it's played by humans. I agree umps miss calls, but am fine with that. Let the managers go back to throwing tantrums now and then. Ditto players.

In my opinion, a silly thread. Our depth is fine. Our hitting is 2d in MLB in OPS and runs scored. Our pitching is now 5th in ERA which will likely improve because Wright replaced POM. In fact, it is probably the 2d best rotation in MLB after the Astros. The Sox still have a winning record when Mookie is out. I honestly don't want to "fix" this team even though it has weaknesses--which everyone has, just not the same weaknesses. Did I mention the Sox have 3 more wins than any other team in MLB? I mean, how bad can we be?

Love the discussion about Kimbrel. He stubs his toe, and Cora gets blamed for sending him out there in the first place. We already know Kimbrel shouldn't be used when men are on base. Ditto the 8th inning. Now apparently it's consecutive games. Also with 4 run leads. That's the beauty of having an $11M reliever--finding that perfect niche for him and absolutely, positively not placing too many demands on him.

Not playing baseball for a MLB team is not nor ever has been "suffering." We still have racial ills and prejudices that do far more damage. Even little things in our everyday lives can do some small damage. We can do just fine without a "Yawkey Way," but I see no need to make him into a latter day Simon Legree.

He wasn't buying indulgences. He was just being philanthropic. Yawkey bought the Sox in 1933 when racism was rampant in America, including lynchings, lots of lynchings. His sin--not even a crime--was in not hiring the likes of Jackie Robinson to play baseball for the Boston Red Sox. If this was a grave sin--thus requiring the purchase of an indulgence--why in the wide, wide world of sports is Branch Rickey still celebrated for his courage and vision in making Jackie Robinson a Dodger in 1947, one year before Harry Truman integrated the Armed Services? More to the point, no African American MLB-caliber players suffered because of Yawkey's prejudice and shortsightedness because other teams quickly saw the value of raiding the Negro League which had tons of available talent. I believe I am correct that the Negro National League folded in 1948--1948!!!!!--because MLB and even MILB were happy to hire talented African American players. Yawkey's shortsightedness only hurt his team, but it did not deny employment to talented players. He spent a lot of money on players because he wanted to win, but held out for 12 years (until 1959) before signing Pumpsie Green. I am not defending Yawkey and am fine with renaming Yawkey Way, which is a rightful decision by the people and government of Boston. I am also not arguing Yawkey wasn't racist, but I am definitely saying there are degrees of racism which, by the way, is still with us today. Yawkey's racism was to me almost benign. If you listen to or read about Bill Russell, whose amazing NBA career, 1956-69, was entirely in Boston, he would tell you Boston fans were very racist, as indeed the city was.

The nattering nabobs of negativism will always have a field day on game threads which are kind of like a free fire zone. Almost anything goes. I will myself get po'd with certain plays, pitches, at bats, whatever, but in the general scheme of this season, I'm a pretty happy camper. I like this team including its failings which sometimes are numerous. I see five pretty good hitters in Betts, Beni, Bogie, JDM, and Moreland and the real possibility that Devers will join them. I see five good starters in Price, Sale, Porcello, ERod, and Wright. I see a good bullpen. I see a good outfield defense and OK infield and catching--with special mention to Vazquez for catching Wright. Last night was kind of vintage ERod, who has very good stuff, but not very good command. When he has both, he is pretty much on a par with Sale and Price and better than Porcello in my view. Note to mvp78: dead right on what motivates Kimbrel.

See, that's the problem with you. I'm serious. You're always doing your homework.

Actually, my quarrel is with the phrase, "terrible job by rookie manager Cora." That's strong stuff and invites disagreement. To me you can't say that and then say how he managed everything else is irrelevant. I agree Holt is a better fielding 2B than Nunez because it's obvious and sometimes infuriating. But, unlike you, I look at everything Cora does as a manager and grant him any lineup he wants. At one point, for example, the Sox were 11-4 without Mookie--a small sample, but suggestive that Cora might know what he is doing. Ditto the rest days which I've never seen before, at least this early in a season. And let's not forget that way back in March plenty of us would have been happy to dump Holt, but Cora kept him and used him. My goodness, he even uses Swihart who has yet to show he has any value other than as a backup backup catcher and very occasional RF/DH. The problem, I gather, is that DD can't send Swihart to Pawtucket. So not using Holt at 2b last night was not an oversight but a deliberate choice and one I respect despite my dislike of Nunez whom I liked a lot last year.

Slightly better infield tonight, but a dropoff in RF, JDM for Mookie.

Good for you--laughing about it. Nunez leading off, especially after how you excoriated him last night, is indeed a surprise. But doing that stabilizes the rest of the lineup and adds a lefty bat, Holt. I'm also surprised Vazquez is catching again tonight given he went extra innings last night (but not all 12).

He was pulled only as a precaution according to Cora after the game. He had not played a game in 2 weeks and was pulled in the 11th. I thought Mookie looked fine in RF and at bat and am surprised he isn't in there tonight. But I have no problem with Cora being cautious. It just makes tonight's game a little tougher.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Wonderful assertion about Cora's inability to manage to your satisfaction. Better still, you leave no margin of error on Nunez vs. Holt: Cora was completely, irretrievably wrong; and you're completely right. And that, frankly, is just nuts because you massively overstate the importance of one player in a lineup. Not too long ago I pointed out that the Sox had gone 11-4 without Mookie in the lineup, and he is only having a career year with and OPS around 1.100. I like Holt this year--I haven't in the past--for the reasons most of us do. He's a versatile as ever, but this year has an astounding OPS that's over .800. Zowie. But he is still just one guy, and any reasonable observer would give Cora the benefit of any doubt we might have. As it turned out, the two guys who hurt us the most last night were JDM and Moreland who between them had 0 hits and 6 K's and left 8 guys on base. Might I add the Cora's handling of his starter and of the bullpen was nothing more than masterful last night. He left Wright in as long as possible and then brought in the perfect guy to get him out of a jam. Of course, most of the credit goes to the pitchers--Wright, Kelly, Johnson, Hembree, and Kimbrel--but Cora always seemed to know just when to use someone and, in the case of Kimbrel, when to wait.

Good matchup: Hess is only 2-2 in five starts, but his ERA is 3.07 and .96 for his most recent 3 starts and 18.2 innings. ERod is coming into his own this season and is 7-1 with an ERA of 3.68 (2.75 at Camden Yards). But you gotta like our lineup now that Mookie and JDM are back because it's the second best in MLB--despite the great job Bundy did last night. Will fatigue be an issue after a 12 inning game? I don't think so if only because the Sox are pretty young. Nunez is 30 and Moreland 32. JDM is 30 but was the DH last night. Leon will catch, so no problem there. Plus it's the Orioles who right now have the fewest wins, 19, in MLB and are missing Machado.

Back to A Realistic View at 2018, Part II. After last night's 12 inning, 2-0 win over the Orioles, I remain the same pollyanna I was maybe 3 pages ago. The Sox now have Mookie and JDM back, which means we have an excellent lineup--the second best in MLB in OPS and runs scored. Heck, right now I even like the defense which looked pretty darn good to me last night: tie game, no mistakes, and some pretty good plays. But the best part is the pitching now that Pom is on the DL. Five solid starters and a pretty good bullpen. Oh, and "tied" with the Yankees even though they have the better winning percentage. Right now the Sox have 45 wins, three more than any other MLB team. Not too shabby.

I agree with bellhorn04 and don't at all recall Adrian Gonzalez being vilified when he played here. He not only had a great year in 2011--the best of his career--but he taught Ortiz how to hit to the opposite field. He was always slow as molasses, but he was a very good hitter and a skillful first baseman. I frankly thought he was traded to the Dodgers as a sweetener to overcome the bitter flavor of their also taking Beckett and Carl Crawford off our hands. As for the racist claim, I agree with oldtimer and think we should ease up on claiming others are racist. Racism certainly exists in our country and I'm sure in Boston (where I don't live), but I just don't see it on talksox.