Maxbialystock
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Everything posted by Maxbialystock
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Lousy year for Betts: his OPS has plummeted from .897 in 2016 to .780 this year, a near catastrophe. Can't hit the slider away. With 20 games to go he leads the team in rbi's, runs, total bases, doubles, and stolen bases. Some people think he's not too shabby in RF either.
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GIDP started by Holt, not too shabby.
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Ump calling a whole bunch more strikes on the corners and even outside/inside. He wants this game over too.
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Sorry, but I like it when anybody beats those huge shifts by going the other way. I think they demand a rules change--2 infielders must be on each side of 2b.
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6 shutout innings, but SAle needed 97 pitches. The new approach--lots of breaking balls, lots of them low in the zone--seems to be working. Leon called an excellent game. Not sure Sale would have willingly sat for the 6th. Way too competitive (I think) to submit to that. Farrell of course makes the decision, but that's why I think he left Sale in. So right now 4 of 5 starters have pitched well in the same rotation--except for Porcello, and he gets his chance tomorrow. 12 hits by 8 different hitters, always a good sign. Pedey (2), Beni (3), and Moreland (3) with the rbi's. Still 3 innings to go at 9:30, so a brief thanks to HanRam for running into an out with the score 9-0. Shortening the game was/is a worthwhile endeavor.
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After 23 pitches in the 1st, Sale has 10 in the 2d and 10 in the 3d.
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The three guys in the NESN booth remind a little of the three who used to call Redskins game on the radio--Sonny Jurgensen, Sam Huff and the announcer. Very compatible.
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Yankees need to go back to MLB and claim sign stealing again. Won't fly, of course, but they need to try it because what we are seeing right now is bad news for them.
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Devers is hot! If there is a change, it might be he ss happy with just hitting the ball squarely and not whether it's a dinger. I'm not at all sure of that. Just an idle thought.
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Wrong! He stayed with a heavy diet of breaking balls and needed just 10 pitches. This could not be better.
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3 run lead. Sale might be a tad more aggressive in the 2d if only to get his pitch count down.
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Mookie is so fast. 3 in the first, just like last night.
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OK, if I'm a Yankee fan, I'm getting nervous because my guys can't catch the Sox alone. They need help from the guys they are chasing, and that should mean continued weak hitting except this is now two straight games when the Sox have scored early. Then a blast, caught, by Beni and a hard single by Mookie. Plus now the bulls are running.
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OK, ump off--definite strike on that andriese ball.
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Great steal, thereby proving it didn't need to stretch that single. Late and hard slide by Nunez showed determination, hopefully not to much.
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New rules, it seems. Do not try to stretch singles off the wall. Let's see if Nunez goes.
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I think the ump only took away one strike--a biggie-granted--but it was also right on the lline and not inside that rectangle. Sale has done exactly what Dr Max would have prescribed--mixed his pitches, plenty of changeups and sliders, lots of them low in the zone. But so far the Rays aint nibbling much and to me they are seeing the ball way too well. Thus 23 pitches and a walk and a single. Passed ball by Leon an irritant, but Sale sure didn't show it.
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Countdown to the Playoffs - 2017 Edition
Maxbialystock replied to Slasher9's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
Guardians unreal right now. Helping ourselves vs. the Yankees is made better by the last 3 games and Sale tonight. As Kimmi keeps reminding us--we are in charge of our destiny and lately it looks like the pieces might be coming back together. Or as moonslav says, don't forget that 16-4 streak in August. -
1 Nunez SS 2 Pedroia 2b 3 Benintendi LF 4 Betts RF 5 Moreland 1b 6 Ramirez DH 7 Devers 3B 8 Leon C 9 Bradley CF Against righty Andriese, 5 lefty bats, mostly because Sale likes Leon behind the plate. 3d game with Nunez in for Bogaerts at SS. This time with Pedroia at 2b, Devers at 3b, and HanRam at DH--I mention those three because Nunez could play/hit in place of any of them. Devers and JBJ remain in the bottom of the lineup, but it seems to work. Leon too of course--and all three have lefty bats.
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I am longwinded, no question. But in my mind I lay out numbers as such as my case for support. I have, I think, made it clear that I think those "fundamentals," while they are real, are not in my judgment the cause or our problems this year, especially not when we are closing in on the AL East and 90 or more wins and the 3d best record in the AL despite weak hitting. Maybe I have overstepped on that topic, but lately I've noticed others saying just maybe Farrell isn't quite as bad as the talksox consensus (thus I am clearly in the minority) says he is. If you look at some of my other posts, I have ranted about him too--see especially his decision to leave Porcello in in his last start. I also hate that some of our pitchers are still slow to cover 1b on grounders to the right. Overall, however, you have a point. Lots of my stuff is both longwinded and pointed. Kimmi is far more gracious and accommodating.
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Bosoxmal, I sure hope he isn't. Important, no question. But we got got killed by the Guardians last year because of three lousy starters, not one. They were ones with the deep rotation, remember? This year they are just as deep and can probably withstand an early win by Sale. What's more, they have hit Sale awfully well this year and before this year. Our 2013 WS win was mostly about our great pitching, but even then Lackey was as important as Lester. Lackey was the guy who held the Tigers scoreless against the Tigers and Verlander, who gave up just 1 run. Plus the bullpen was fantastic. Don't forget that in 2013 we still had Papi in his prime which meant good hitting and leading the AL in runs scored. In the postseason we got some very timely hitting, some clutch hitting, but not a whole lot of hitting. Sale can't fix our hitting, and he can't be the totality of our rotation. In fact, it may be in his case that less is more, that Farrell should not want to make him the iron man.
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In fairness to ERod, I have to admit control/command of his pitches, especially the breaking balls and keeping the ball low in the zone (but not all the time) might be the real problem. In that respect, he is not alone. Porcello can't do that, neither can Pom. Heck, there are times when I think Sale can't do it.
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As do we all, especially when we know he can do it.
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Could be right. I cited one lousy game only because of how it happened--he started out great which he rarely, if ever, does. He loves blasting away that fast ball in the first inning, and if it works OK the 2d as well. He seems to eschew smart pitching. Besides, I'm desperate for something good to say about ERod. To me he has pretty good stuff, but only only from the neck down. He is the polar opposite of Fister.
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Meh. Last year Betts, one example, prospered batting first: OPS .897, first in runs scored with 122, 2d after Ortiz in rbi's with 113 which was more than HanRam's 111 with a great OPS of .866. Besides, the Sox collective OPS's this year were better before the ASG than after. More and more I'm thinking there is an elusive (meaning I am clueless) psychological dimension to slotting hitters. Small sample size, but Devers has been incredible batting 7th with an OPS of 1.414. He batted there last night and the night before when he got out of that nasty little slump. My conclusion? I find it hard to second guess any lineup or even the idea of keeping the same one or changing them regularly. I simply cannot buy the notion that anything Farrell has done with the lineup is very good or very bad. Last year's lineup didn't need a lot of tinkering because Ortiz was so incredible and helped make everyone else better. He's gone and with him a bigger chunk of our run scoring that I thought possible.