Maxbialystock

I didn't see it as a lapse. Close play on a perfect throw right to the bag without a bounce.

I hope so too.

Interesting. Thanks.

He went 7 last time out and gave up 1 earned run. As I remember it, that was the Sox four error game: 2 by Vazquez, 1 each by Devers and Bogie. Hard for me to find fault with Sale.

Does Cora stay with the hot bat today or give JBJ another shot? My guess is the latter.

True. I tend to underwrite most baserunning "mistakes" that are not blatant obtuseness like last year when JBJ couldn't remember how many outs there were.

Moreland stinks! DFA him! There, I did it for you.

Or so you hope. I'm worried about the Sox rotation right now, but do not consider them a lost cause by any means. Price, I agree, is a huge question mark right now, but I think the speed of his fast ball is less important than his ability to use other pitchers. I don't like Pom, but he does in fact have a changeup as well as the curve and over-used fast ball, and he has been effective, especially last year. ERod right now looks pretty good to me despite those gopher balls last night. Backing them up is a pretty darn good long reliever, Velazquez. And backing them up is a bullpen that is starting to jell, to say nothing of a lineup that is way better than last year's. Three games upcoming at Yankee Stadium: Pom/Price/Porcello vs. Severino/Tanaka/Sabathia. Right now I do give the Yankees the edge on starting pitching. However, tomorrow is an off day for us, so Cora could skip Pom and have ERod pitch the third game. He also has Velazquez for long relief, but he can only use him once.

Finally, a sensible approach. I do understand that trades are a key aspect of MLB, but it bugs me to see a 75 page thread whose title is about trading JBJ. To me the key question about any player is whether to play him and, relatedly, at what position and where in the batting order. It may be early in the season, but the Sox are off to a great start and neck and neck with the Yankees, so it's kind of silly to worry about when and whether to trade JBJ. Of course, this is a discussion board, which means almost any Sox related topic is grist for the mill. Right now the Sox are paying him $6M, which is a strong argument for playing him in CF, where he is very good defensively. This is why he has played in 31 games to date, 2d only to Devers with 32 games. However, the Sox currently have an abysmal bottom third of the batting order with Nunez not hitting, JBJ worse, and Vazquez/Leon worser. This explain why JBJ was a defensive replacement late in three of the 31 games he played in--as was the case last night. I also like the argument that JBJ could get his swing back. The hitting coach claims he is close. Meanwhile, however, I do like Cora occasionally benching him to help the hitting.

Pretty neat observation.

Sox currently have 7 bullpen arms, of which the worst is clearly Johnson, who is also the only lefty. This is unusual for a major league team, but might be explained by having 4 lefty starters.

High today in Arlington is supposed to be 88.

Good point in the OP: I forgot how fast Fister works. My memory is he doesn't have great stuff but hits his spots well and mixes his pitches. Moreland for JBJ worked last night, so Cora might do it again. Sale and Fister are both tall. Right now is almost like a pennant race with the Sox and Yankees neck and neck. Way early, but both were picked in the preseason to get to the postseason, have excellent hitting, and have above average pitching. Funny thing that Hamels last night and Fister today are both 34 and rely on mixing up their stuff and keeping the ball low. Sox hit righties a whole lot better than lefties so far this year.

It was a great idea earlier in the season. Hanley was pushing toward a .900 OPS. Lately, he has regressed however.

This was Hanley's 5th rbi in 18 games. The great move was starting Moreland and benching JBJ. I agreed with sending Hembree back out for the 8th, but it was almost a disaster. Still, Cora left him in there to get the K. Then an IBB, then in comes Kelly for two K's.

Great win. Still 1 game up on the Yankees. This is almost like September in May. But the rotation must improve. Great bullpen, however.

Gotta give him credit. He definitely came thru.

The Sox are trying to stay ahead of the Yankees with a rotation that is nowhere near as good as the one that got the Sox to 17-2.

Careful what you say. SoxHop might object.

Way too much fantasy baseball stuff. There is a real season being played out right now and with the Yankees hot on our tail. JBJ's bat is a liability, especially when Moreland has a very hot bat, which means JD goes to LF and Beni to CF like tonight. To me it's a no-brainer to play Moreland more and JBJ less. We would not have a prayer of winning tonight if JBJ were in the lineup he is that bad against lefty pitchers as Moreland clearly is not.

RAre, very rare, that a Sox reliever can keep the ball low in the zone the way Hembree just did. Some pretty good pitches in there.

Too bad Cora chose not to play JBJ tonight. I'm sure he would have caught at least one of those Texas dingers. That' right. I'm saying the guy is that good in the outfield. Plus I'll bet who could have a 2 run dinger off lefty Hamels the way his replacement Moreland did because, you know, he was due. It is irrelevant that his OPS vs. lefties is .202 this year because no sample of less that 10,000 at bats is worth talking about.

HanRam has 3 rbi's in the last 17 games and is following the pattern tonight yet again.

A note to all the JBJ fans on this thread. Tonight Cora went with Moreland at 1b, HanRam DH, JD in left, Beni in CF, and JBJ in reserve. My question is: how many of those Texas dingers, which drove in 4 runs, would JBJ have caught? My second is: how likely is it that JBJ would have gotten a 2 run dinger off lefty Hamel? The answers are of course none and almost impossible these days. That's not a cheap shot. Because in the previous game thread there were several comments about what a huge difference JBJ made in that game with that one grab as if no one else on the planet could make it and as if the pitchers and other guys in the lineup were the supporting cast. Editor's note: OK, I agree with others that I am beating a dead horse, especially when there is an entire thread devoted to him and it is 75 pages long.

Yankees won. Need this.