Maxbialystock

Through the first 19 games the Sox were an astonishing--no other word for it--17-2. Through the last 7 games the Sox are 2-5 and by the end of today will have lost two of three series. Beat the Jays at Toronto and lost to the Athletics at Oakland and the Rays at Fenway, where a sweep is now possible. Oakland beat us with pitching, and the Rays with hitting, lots and lots of hitting. The Sox have lost exactly one game this season by 4 or more runs, and last night was the game and Price was on the mound for the first half of it. To me all of the above is fodder for moonslav's thread on a realistic view of 2018, part deux. What's the Bette Davis line? "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night." We done been bumped.

Bad day in black rock. We need Spencer Tracy, and I sure as heck ain't him.

Price vs Chririnos Betts Beni HanRam JD Bogie Devers Nunez JBJ Vazquez Price rights the ship.

I just don’t like Pom’s dependence on a lousy fastball. Plus he is a lefty without a decent change up. To me his bad pitches are inevitable, not bad luck as you seem to think. A pretty good curve, that’s it. The reality is that he is a 5 inning guy because he cannot afford to challenge hitters with his weak stuff. You could be right and Pom could turn into a 7 or even 8 inning stud. Me, I’m skeptical. Plus I honestly think Velazquez has better stuff.

I just don’t like Pom’s dependence on a lousy fastball. Plus he is a lefty without a decent change up. To me his bad pitches are inevitable, not bad luck as you seem to think. A pretty good curve, that’s it.

Vazquez's OPS last year was .735, better than Swihart's when he started over half the games in 2015. To me that's good enough. As for his pitch-calling this year, I'm pretty sure the calls are coming from the bench. I'm far from a scout, but the Sox have tons of them and they just re-signed Vazquez to a longer term contract because they think he's a keeper.

I watched the at bat more closely than you did, it seems. The 3d strike was a great pitch and an even bet Beni would have missed it had he swung. Just as important, it was on a 3-2 count with Devers on deck and Betts behind him. Your over-reaction made it seem as though that was the only play in the entire game worth noticing--you know, with the giant print/font and all.

Some missed opportunities, but also some excellent pitching by Velazquez and even Hembree. Great to see Bogie back. This one is all on Pomeranz, who right now looks like the worthless piece of s*** I thought he was. He loves his 88 mph fastball, but not as much as the hitters do. He does have a changeup, which is good, but it's a lousy changeup and therefore worthless. One guy on here kept ranting about how terrible Vazquez was/is, but he threw out two basestealers, got a double, and scored our first run.

Right. Blame it all on Beni. Had you watched the game, you would know this one was entirely on Pomeranz. That was a great fastball on the outside corner. Too bad Pomeranz's great fastballs are nonexistent.

You're wrong, simple as that. In 2015 he was the starting catcher for over half the games and was terrible. 16 passed balls. Lousy at throwing guys out at 2b. OPS .711. That's why they've used someone else ever since. That's why they keep using him as a DH or LF or 3B this year. Good athlete. Maybe a good hitter, but sure hasn't shown it yet. But the Sox have better players at the positions he can play, especially catcher.

Who gives a s*** whether he gets an at bat? He's got no position for which he is better qualified than the guy already playing it.

Swihart is definitely the man. Great hitter. Well, he didn't K, anyway. He's our man when we need a very weak fly to right field.

Vazquez lined out. Nobody in the lineup has a hit, and 5 of the 9 have K'd. And you want to pick on Vazquez?

The contrast between Pom and Snell, both lefties, is stark. Pom is lucky to have held the Rays to 3, and Snell so far looks unhittable. Plus he is throwing a lot of strike and not needing a lot of pitches.

Absolutely true. But this thread has 54 pages and moonslav's "A Realistic View of 2018," which is an invitation to discuss all manner of things about this team this year, only has 74 pages. This thread started March 29, that one March 25. Then again, to confirm your point, the thread on trading JBJ has 63 pages. \ The game thread for April 11--Sox lost to Yankees, 10-7, Holt got spiked, the perp got hit, etc--is 50 pages. What do we find boring and not worth discussing? An easy win. Ho hum.

54 pages and going strong--this thread definitely has legs, and it was begun largely to show up FNG Cora, the rookie manager who makes rookie mistakes and isn't nearly as smart or as knowledgeable as we fans are. You would think things would slow down with the 9 game winning streak followed quickly by the 8 game winning streak, but no sireee. This is beantown, and we don't cut any slack for managers who lose games, which Cora has already done 5 times. He has a lot to answer for: Kelly/Smith in game 1, entirely Cora's fault; ditto Nunez trying to score from 2b on that single in Toronto; ditto Beni any time he is on the basepaths; ditto Vazquez/Leon who ain't hitting; ditto any starter who stays in too long or is pulled when he is going well; ditto any time JD plays the outfield; ditto bad lineups which happen about half the time judging by the game threads. Yes, there are some who like that 19-5 record and think Cora is actually a plus. I'm one of them. But 54 pages say the won-lost record will only get you so far around here. When the Sox lose one, someone has to be answerable.

I am the original anti-Holt, and I would not send him down right now because his hitting is amazingly good. You gotta keep a hot bat.

Tough win. That huge 3 run dinger by JD started with the 2 out single by Beni, who also drove in a run earlier. JD also made a nice grab in right center. This team continues to surprise. Including Carson Smith, sadly.

Well, goodie for you. I'll take Beni as is, thank you very much.

Sale's problem is obvious. he has a changeup, but doesn't trust it. Plus tonight he is also making mistakes--fat pitches--and the Jays are capitalizing.

If you were dragged into court before a judge and the charge was holding your tongue, the judge would throw the case out for lack of evidence.

If you mean the 23 games played this year, it's the only sample size we have. And if you don't think the great pitching is one of the keys to being 18-5, you haven't been paying attention. I happen to like Swihart a lot, but I can also understand why Cora doesn't want to put him behind the plate.

Give me Beni all day long and twice on Sundays. He will come around. His OPS is .706 and Swihart's is .458 and Beni is a much better fielder and baserunner.

The Sox currently have an ERA of 2.85, maybe the lowest in 40 years for all I know. Why jeopardize that with Swihart? He caught over half the games in 2015 when the Sox had the 25th best ERA of 4.31. Oh, and his OPS that year was .711. Vazquez OPS last year was .734.

No. Farrell did a decent job and the Sox won the WS in 2013 and 93 games two years in a row, 2016-17. But I also feel the FO gets to decide on whether the team under performed. I defended his in game decisions and, near the end of the season, the fact that the Sox had a relatively low run differential--lower than the Yankees, for example--but still won the AL East. When he was let go, I was fine with that. Ditto Francona in 2011. Managers are hired to be fired. Now we have a new manager, and so far, so good. Plus I'm normally inclined to support any manager.