Maxbialystock

Yankees tied 1-1 after five, and we are in the middle of the 4th.

I agree. I think he was safe, but I'm satisfied the play was close enough that calling out was not a blunder. Besides, I'm anti-technology.

Over on mlb tv they are asking Kluber about the clubhouse atmosphere, which is a really nasty, low question when the poor Guardians are on a 19 game hitting strike. this is sports journalism at its grittiest. But Kluber handled well and said he didn't know because, you know, all clubhouses are the same whether you are winning or losing.

Ok, that's 62 pitches in 3 innings, a lot, and ERod is headed toward 5 innings, but I like what he is doing now--hitting spots, mixing his pitches, and avoiding fat fastballs down the middle. He did that last time too and went 6.

would that be great or what (says the guy he complained about his first AB)?

Farrell went with 7 righty bats tonight--which just might be working. No Beni. No Moreland. No Leon.

I have told moonslav repeatedly I basically don't care who bats cleanup, but I just might make an exception in HanRam's case. He just swung and missed at changeup that was up and very hittable and the same place as a previous changeup. what a putz.

I hope you are right because Betts is great at those. But I have also seen him accept a wave off on the same play, which would then get dropped. Certainly on that one Travis acted like he thought he would catch it.

Bad play, Devers. Very bad. Yea, it is written never make the 3d out or 1st out at 3b or risk it. They play was much too close and much therefore be classified as boneheaded. I mean, I loved it because I don't care about that stupid rule.

Very nice. First Travis (on an 0-2) count gets a double off a fat fastball (pitcher mistake), then Bogaerts does the same thing to bring him home, then Devers singles to get men on 1st and 2d with no one out. Neat.

Mass confusion on that popup catchable by both Travis and Pedey, but Betts had to make the grab.

Another first pitch meatball from ERod, hammered, but foul.

Hard to be sure. Other teams do that to us regularly and our guys just stare at that first pitch strike. Plus ERod just walked a guy, so maybe he just signaled, "fast ball for a strike."

Betts was just not thinking. The low pitch was intended to get a grounder, which he supplied. Definitely should have been more patient.

What the heck is Betts doing with men on 1st and 2d, no one out, and swinging at 2-0 pitch low in the zone?

ERod, maybe requested by Vazquez, threw a first pitch fastball right down the middle to Lowrie, who hammered it. Not good pitching.

My bad. I thought I wrote something that was so insane no one would doubt I was being facetious. If anything, Sale's fire and desire now and then get him into trouble. Forget his pitching. I love the way he gets to 1b on any grounders to the right and generally defends his position.

Pedey has a track record in previous seasons of playing hurt beyond when it made sense. He is a gamer--one of the best the Sox have ever had. If he ain't playing, it's either because he really cannot or because Farrell put his foot down (and listened to the trainers/doctors).

Are you being facetious (as I often am)? I ask because right now Pedroia has the 4th best OWAR (1.9) on the Sox, and, despite fewer games, higher than those Beni, HanRam, and Moreland. So, right there, I would put him ahead of any of them in the lineup were it not for the fact the Beni needs to stay in LF. But I would definitely put Pedroia at DH over HanRam, Young, et al. The three higher OWAR's belong to Betts, Bogie, and JBJ, and none of them play 2b or is used as the DH. I would also play him ahead of Nunez at 2b and move Nunez to SS or wherever there is a weak bat--or have Nunez DH when Pedey is at 2b. The only thing not good about Pedey this year is that darn knee (or knees). Based on past years when he showed an overabundance of zeal to play hurt, it is very unlikely he is malingering this year as some want to believe. Remember that season when Ellsbury had the rib issues and barely played? That was the year Pedey was taking infield practice on his knees because that's all the trainers would allow. And it was dumb even though it was vintage Pedey. Pedey is just about the only veteran Sox regular who runs out every grounder full tilt. He plays a good 2b and used to be a great 2b. He is tough on pitchers when the Sox need a good at bat or just someone to get things started. He's banged up and 33, but his OPS this year of .791 is just below his career OPS of .809. Are you kidding me?

I read somewhere that he's actually faking it. Same goes for anyone else who seems to have fire and desire--its acting. The best way to determine real fire and desire is to look at the won-lost record with respect to fan expectations. The 2013 team, for example, didn't seem to have all that much until after they won the WS (a complete surprise). Today everyone believes they saw it right after that horrific bombing on Patriot's Day and that, of course, Farrell had nothing to do with it. Consequently, when just about everybody but Ellsbury came back for 2014, they bombed because Farrell just doesn't like fire and desire. Xanax, maybe. Plus he looked carefully at the guys he thought were faking fire and desire a tad too much and asked Cherington to dump them. Since then the Sox have lacked fire and desire--except for the guys who like to fake it just to irritate the manager.

Sox are 2-1 in games Nunez has been available but not played, hardly a disaster. Pedey would play more if he and Farrell thought he was up to it. He could DH more, but I'm guessing Farrell generally prefers HanRam, maybe for his higher slugging percentage. I like both Nunez and Pedroia in any lineup but trust Farrell on when to use them.

Come on, guys. Bogaerts went to 3b almost immediately when he was brought up in 2013 because we had Drew and Iglesias, which then became Drew for the final two months and in the postseason. Bogaerts only played in 18 games. The next year Bogaerts was the starting SS for the entire season except the June and July when Drew was re-signed and then traded before the August 1 deadline. 2014 was also Bogaerts worst DWAR season and 2015 his best. 2016 and 2017 have been at -.2 and -.4. Injuries could be a factor this year, but the Sox and Bogaerts,practicing good OPSEC,ain't saying.

Back to the lineups. My no doubt simplistic view if this year's lineup(s) is that nobody has enough slugging power to make a real difference in the 3, 4, or 5 slots. Last year the Sox top three in slugging percentage were ranked 1st (Ortiz), 16th (Betts), and 33d (HanRam) among all MLB regulars. This year our top two are Nunez at 95th and Moreland at 97th, and that 95th for Nunez was mostly earned with the Giants, not Sox. Of equal interest to me is the Betts prospered last year batting leadoff with an OPS of .896: he led the team in runs with 122 and was second in rbi's with 113. Furthermore that team led the AL in runs scored with 100 more than the #2.

Mostly wins and losses, yes. Farrell is still here in part because of 2013 and despite finishing last in 2014 and 2015. So, while wins and losses are important--and I think they are especially so this year in his 5th year with the Sox--clearly management thinks other factors are in play and think they are right (to a point). Valentine lasted 1 year, so John Henry would appear to have low tolerance for what he sees as ineptitude. And didn't Grady Little get the boot mostly because of the 2003 ALCS? Francona lasted 8 years in large part because of 2004 and 2007. Some have said he deserved to stay despite the 2011 September collapse, but I was not one of them. And I could have been wrong given how well he has done in Cleveland.

You're darn right I want to fire him--at least, on those days when I get really mad. The rest of the time I think, "meh, the manager can only do so much, and that does not include making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If your hitting stinks with pretty much the same guys (less Ortiz, who retired) as the year before, the manager can't fix that by changing lineups, especially when their OPS's are gravitating toward a mean of .750." I also remain relatively untroubled by the presumed endless boneheaded plays which I think are given far too much credit for games lost, which to me is the real bottom line for any manager." So, yes, definitely flip-flopping, which includes last year and maybe 2015. So, while I defend Farrell on many specifics, I do not feel at this point he has proven he should be brought back in 2018. Win the AL East, probably. Win the ALDS, for sure.