Maxbialystock

Bullpen looked pretty darn good today/tonight, 0 runs in 3.2 innings and 4 different guys. Price looked pretty good too. So did ERod and Pom in their most recent starts, both against the Yankees. Now, if Porcello and Sale will just come around, we might have a rotation.

What the heck is Velazquez doing out there? Horrible choice. We need a guy who will strike everyone out, not somebody who gets ground outs, for crying out loud.

I saw no lost run. I did see Beni K and Hanley pop up. Did I miss something?

Terrible move by Vaz, but, given when the next two guys did, I'm not sure it made much difference. Don't think that came from the bench or Mookie would have gone too.

Time to back Thunder for a win and another streak. Betts RF Beni LF Hanley 1B JDM DH Bogaerts SS Devers SS Nunez 2B Vazquez C The guys are rested. Price is rested and the numbness is gone. JBJ is back!!!!! Moreland needed a rest: 2 for his last 12 plus his OPS today is barely over 1.000.

That last is sad but true. What we know is that he is a good athlete and somewhat versatile. But I honestly don't see a fit for him on this Sox team. I believe the people most against him catching are the pitchers. His I think two starts were as DH, which speaks volumes. On top of which, his manager is a guy who loves to use his bench to the degree that many talksoxer's have complained he does that way too much.

Yes, indeed. I remember it well.

My fault. I just like that stuff.

About last night and the 4-2 loss in 12 innings to the Jays. I would not have sent out Sale to pitch the 9th and end up throwing 116 pitches even though he did a good job. And here's my cockamamie theory on why not. The lesser reason is the 116 pitches. The major reason is that I would have sent Johnson in to do what Johnson does best--blow it. Why? Because our guys were off last night. Mookie struck out twice and he has struck out just 17 times in 34 games this year and twice in the eight games before last night. One of our three runs was the result of a swung on wild pitch third strike that allowed the hitter Leon to get all the way to 3b and someone else to score. Our last run scored was in the 4th inning. If on the other hand, Johnson came thru, I would have kept him in the game for at least 60 pitches and maybe more to save the rest of the bullpen.

Some pretty good stuff in there. Thanks, illinoisredsox.

About right on all points. I don't know if they were exhausted, but they weren't "right." How do we know? Mookie has struck out 17 times in 34 games and last night struck twice. He struck out a total of two times in the 8 games immediately before last night.

Sox are tied for the best record on MLB--and you know better than Cora?

Sox are tied for the best record in MLB, and Cora is an idiot for not rescuing them by using Swihart? Give me a break.

Really? Pretty neat, actually. Thanks. I like Hanley when he is hitting, but I hate it when he doesn't hustle. Unfortunately, right now we do need his bat. It helps that he can play a decent 1B as well as DH and that JDM can DH or play RF or LF. Right now the Sox have seven pretty good bats: Betts, Beni, Hanley, JDM, Bogie, Devers, and Moreland. When JBJ plays CF, that number goes to six.

How bad is our lineup right now? I'll tell you how bad. The Sox currently are 29th out of 30 MLB teams for worst offense. If Cora doesn't do what jacksonianmarch recommends, the Sox could quickly find themselves mired in 30th place--and free jacksonianmarch's Yankees from that never to be endured cellar. Oh the shame of it. All those runs scored. Awful.

All Bill James says is that WAR isn't a perfect stat, and everybody knew that. The article does point out that the MVP lately, since 2012, has the highest WAR from fangraphs. I like WAR, but I don't think it's perfect and would never follow it slavishly as the MVP voters seem to be doing. And what I like about WAR is that it at least tries to combine all the attributes--offense and defense and baserunning--of a lineup player. I also like Ken Pomeroy's NCAA basketball statistics because they are pretty good. But Pomeroy is always tinkering with them based on new information and insights. One hopes that fangraphs has the same approach because combining attributes is tricky business. On talksox, for example, we have a strong contingent of folks who believe that defense, especially "up the middle defense," which basically means catcher, 2b, SS, and CF, is so important that offensive skills at those positions are secondary if the defensive skills are roughly gold glove (or what gold glove should be). Me, I'm pretty much the opposite. I think "weak bat, good glove" is automatically a utility guy, with the possible exception of catcher. I say that, not so much because Leon and Vazquez ain't hitting much these days, but because Saltamacchia was the polar opposite--good bat, weak glove. He was our starting catcher in the wildly successful 2013 season, and the Sox flat let him go the next year by not making him a qualifying offer.

Wha does that mean?

To remind: Hanley took away one run when he failed to take off on that two out double. As it turned out, that would have been the winning run. He is not a professional despite that salary he gets.

Almost merciful ending because our offense just didn’t have it tonight. Our last run was appropriately unearned.

I honestly don’t remember those comparisons and agree they would have been out of line.

Exactly. Holt with the single! Credit to you.

You don't do yourself justice. You are not only the most negative Redsox fan here, but the one most often dead wrong. For example, the Red Sox currently have the best record in MLB. But, judging by your usual commentary, they have one of the worst teams in MLB.

What overblown? I have never read anything on talksox suggesting that he is great or even near great. I think most of us would be happy with good, maybe very good. As I said earlier, he's only 23 and last year, his rookie year, he was second on the team in rbi's and total bases. If we have a great player on this team, it's Mookie Betts and no one else.

Are you really unaware that this offense is the 2d best in MLB and way better than last year? You are making it sound as though no one can hit. At all. Ever. Lighten up, francis.

He's 23 and last year as a rookie he was 2d on the team in rbi's and total bases--oh, and stolen bases. This year with a much better lineup--2d best in MLB--he is only 5th in total bases and 6th in rbi's, but is 2d in runs scored and leads in stolen bases. Tonight he has been terrific on the basepaths--getting extra bases and even stealing one. He is a pretty fair leftfielder who can also play CF. The coaches all say he has a good swing. He is not only playing for about $500K a year, but is under Sox control for years to come.