Maxbialystock

Mays is the right guy to compare. About the same size, too, at 5'10". Five tools. 338 SB's and 660 dingers, but maybe better defensively. When he entered the HOF he said he never saw anyone better, and I agree with that. Kinda neat that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 so Mays could make it to the Giants in 1951 at age 20 on May 24, just 18 days past his 20th birthday. He was 23 when he made that amazing catch in a very deep Polo Grounds centerfield against Vic Wertz in the 1954 WS. Same year he was NL MVP and won Hickok--and his one and only WS. Before that 2 years in the Army, missing 266 games.

If he was offered one, you can bet it was advantageous to the FO and not to Mookie. He was right not to sign an extension.

Good grief. I didn’t see that game coming up. Go Astros!!

I watched big chunks of the Yankees winning 2 of 3 vs. the Astros, which is what drove my somewhat intemperate statement that they are better. All along I have thought we have the edge in pitching, but the Yankees staff gave up exactly 1 run in 3 games in Houston. Last night Severino completely dominated them for 9 innings. Most surprising was the 2d game when Montgomery started and only went 1 inning. The Yankees bullpen then held the Astros scoreless for 8 more innings to get the shutout. We know the Yankees have hitting, but the pitching is a shocker--to me anyway. I certainly hope all the naysayers are right, that the Yankees are just lucky right now and will quickly fade away--like June swoon.

Should Cora play Moreland more and JBJ less? I ask because right now the bottom third of the order is pretty weak. When that happens, Moreland goes to 1B, HanRam to DH, JD to LF, and Beni to CF, which diminishes the outfield defense. The above is an honest question driven by the simple fact that JBJ's OPS is .567 and Moreland's is .984. Small samples, of course.

Yankees just took 2 of 3 at Houston, including two shutouts, which I think nicely balances us taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees.

I love it!

That's good enough for me.

In line with a realistic view of 2018, I will state the obvious and say that, even though the Sox lead the Yankees by 2.5 games and have a better run differential, the Yankees are already the better team. I base that on 2 things. The most important is that the Yankees have a terrific won-lost record despite a slow start--they are right behind us. The other is that they have played the tougher schedule to date--14 of 28 games vs winning teams vs. our 9 of 29 games vs winning teams. We have played 8 games against the three MLB bottom feeders (Baltimore, KC, and Detroit) and the Yankees have played them 4 times. I don't see the above as incontestible, but it's what I think. . ..... .

He ain't worth the price, that's for sure. But he is still a viable starter. Three good starts (0 runs, 0 runs, 1 run) out of 6 ain't bad.

Love how Kimbrel came back for the save today. Nice.

Great win thanks to the mojo of Station 13 and A700hitter. Thanks, guys. Fascinating baseball game. Pom starts out horrible, gets a quality start. Kelly looks OK, but not Barnes, and Kimbrel comes right back out and gets a very nice save. Mookie unreal, just unreal. Plus JD made a very good swing on that 2 run dinger. Go, Astros! If moonslav reads this, I would like his thoughts on CERA with respect to Leon and Vazquez.

good golly, miss molly, but I think Pom now has a quality start. Who woulda thunk it?

OK, credit is now due Pomeranz. I have hammered him repeatedly and not just on this game thread. But Cora stuck with him, and he now has 3 scoreless innings after giving up 3 runs in the first 2. Also, the umpire has definitely squeezed him, especially on low pitches.

Is OB the announcer? If so, I agree with you.

Not that bad a pitch, but a sweet swing by JD.

. . . and going down.

Bottom of the order coming up.

The contrast with Duffy is revealing. So far Duffy has been very effective against a good lineup with three good pitches--slider, fastball, changeup--which he mixes very well. Pom throws that dumb fastball and the sometimes decent curve almost exclusively, and the so-so hitting Royals are hitting and scoring with ease.

KC has 4 hits and 3 runs in 2 innings. Pomeranz is awful again today. Three starts and an ERA of 8.44.

True. And today once again he is throwing just two pitches, the knuckle curve and the so-so fastball.

I didn't see Pom throw any pitches, but notices Duffy has three decent pitches: slide, changeup, and fast ball. And he used the all in the first inning and only needed 11.

Absolutely go with this one.

On the bats? The Sox scored 6, which is slightly better than their average runs per game this year, which is the 2d best in MLB. The game was on the bullpen.

Just because I enjoy a good discussion, allow me to point out that so far Kimbrel has 5 saves in 1 run games and 1 loss and 1 blown save. I'd call that 5-2, and the team is 21-8. He has an ERA of 1.42, which is excellent, but it's for 12 innings. Velazquez has pitched 22 innings with a 2.05 ERA, Sale 42 innings with a 2.14, Porcello 40.1 with a 2.23 ERA, etc. Those numbers tell me Kimbrel is the guy for the 9th, but the team needs a whole lot of help in the other 8 innings, to say nothing of the guys driving in and scoring the runs. The starting pitchers, I hasten to add, normally go thru a lineup at least twice and usually three or four times, but not Kimbrel. On the other hand, he must be ready for that one inning and can't afford to have it be a bad one. In the end, I probably go by WAR, as clumsy as that is. Right now Kimbrel's is .9, Velazquez 1.0, Sale 1.9, Porcello 2.0, and Price .8. Key lineup player WAR's are: Betts 1.7, Martinez 1.2, Bogie .8 (less than half the games). The only salary bargain among the above is Velazquez. Sale, Porcello, and Price are all pricey, and so is Martinez. Betts and Bogie will be.