Maxbialystock
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Everything posted by Maxbialystock
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Yesterday the last three were all batting lefty--Moreland, Leon, and JBJ--and had all the rbi's and 4 of the runs scored. I'm no HanRam fan, not by a longshot, but I'm not sure 4th is best for Devers. As his splits currently show, he has batted 5th about 38 times with an OPS of somewhere around .940. He has batted 6th, 7th, and 9th a collective total of 40 at bats with an OPS of 1.225. That's about a 300 point difference. Those are of course small sample sizes, but so is yours (including all at bats since he joined the team).
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That is getting to be Farrell's preferred lineup against righty starters--except that sometimes the catcher is Leon. It is just possible that this is becoming a deep lineup--that is, the bottom three are almost as good as the top and the middle of the order. We'll see.
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Sadly, the great Brock Holt is probably not playing tonight, so we are stuck with some guy named Nunez at 2b.
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Our lefty vs. their righty. About even in ERA's and K's, so once again it boils down to who is on and who isn't. Home field favors Clevinger. What I liked about ERod his last time out was he really settled down after the 4 run 2d inning. He looked like a pitcher. He has a good slider and changeup, but sometimes doesn't trust them.
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So not so sparingly, granted. From Aug 1 thru yesterday, it might be worth noting, Holt started 7 games and didn't start 10. Of the 7 he started, the Sox lost 1. Of the 10 he didn't start, the Sox lost 2. The Sox record in the 16 games Holt played in July is much spottier, but even there I don't think Holt was a big detriment--any more than the rest of the lineup was. Holt was/is neither the cause of nor the solution to our hitting problems this year which have been manifest. The solution was/is obviously Nunez and Devers. I am not arguing that Holt is any better than you say he is, but I am disagreeing that you have substantive evidence that playing Holt establishes Farrell's malfeasance, ineptitude, idiocy, or whatever you want to call it. And that includes yesterday when Holt replaced Nunez at 2b and lead off. The Sox won, 5-1. Holt's made a nice play on the grounder to his left and got two hits, but he scored 0 runs because the top part of the order wasn't in the mood to drive in runs.
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I was never a big fan of Porcello and agree he was lousy earlier this season. But, frankly, who cares? What's important is how well he is pitching right now, and his right now is pretty good. I think ERod has better stuff, but can't control it and too easily falls back on his fastball. Fister is just OK. And Price is on the DL. So right now Porcello is our #3 in my opinion. Interesting that both Sale and Porcello seem to want Leon as their catcher, so that could also be a factor in evaluating Porcello.
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I honestly think you are missing the big picture, which is the 13 pitchers on the roster. Given that, Holt becomes a necessity even though Farrell now uses him a little more sparingly because of his weak hitting. Nunez had played in 19 straight games, so Farrell gave him the day off and put Holt in there. As it turned out the top part of the order, 1-5, yesterday were pretty unproductive, but the bottom third--Moreland, Leon, and JBJ--really came through. So did Porcello and so did the bullpen. In other words, it was a team win with several ingredients for success and none of them named Devers (or Nunez) for a change. That's good management. About the 8 relievers: I think it's the right move because right now the rotation and the bullpen are a little less reliable than not too long ago. Also, it's hard for me to think of a position player to bring up who can do what Holt can do or at least back up those three infield positions.
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I think the Holt discussion is by now pointless. He is the crucial spare part, the only guy who can backup at 2b, SS, or 3b, but he is also now on the bench. He played today because Farrell wanted to give the suddenly cold Nunez and off day, and he probably batted leadoff because Farrell didn't want to force any one else to do. But the point is this was just one game. Farrell wants to keep his hitters in the lineup, no question.
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If Farrell thinks Nunez needs an off day, which he probably did, the only choice was/is Holt. My guess is he led off today because Farrell didn't want to shift the other guys around and especially didn't want to make any of them lead off. In the event, Holt played a pretty good 2b (better than Nunez) and had 2 hits, the same number as Betts, HanRam, Devers, and Bogaerts had combined. I am not a Holt fan, as you know, but I think you keep forgetting that, as long as Pedroia is on the DL, Holt is the only guy who can backup 2b, 3b, and SS. In a pinch, he can also play 1b or the outfield, but that should normally not happen. You also think it's criminal that JBJ is batting 9th, but he did well there today--again. Indeed, the bottom 2 in the order batted in all five runs and the bottom 4 in the order scored all the runs. Devers was moved back up to the 5th slot today and bombed.
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It surely is.
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Great win, guys. Partial credit to Youk of course. Porcello pitched great, as did the bullpen. 12 hits, 5 runs, and JBJ and Leon the hitting stars. All 5 rbi's by the 8th and 9th hitters, and all runs scored by 6th, 7th, and 8th hitters. Devers moved up to 5th made sense to me, but maybe he likes it further down. Betts left 4 on, so did Beni, and Devers left 3. Tough series in Cleveland starts tomorrow--4 games: Fister, Rodriguez, Pomeranz, and Sale. We are just 2 1/2 up on them for 2d best record and, assuming they lose to Oakland, 5 behind Houston for the best record in the AL. More than anything else, you have to like the way the Sox are playing right now. Guys griped about Holt CS in the 9th last night, but the fact is we were lucky to be in that game at all. Pitching is good if not great, and the hitting is coming around. Heck, I'm even crazy enough to say I like the baserunning as well.
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Not possible. We have been assured he is lousy defensively.
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OK, here we are in the 8th inning with a 5-1 game, the bases loaded, and guess what? Time for a meeting on the mound. We are headed for a 4 hour 9 inning in game with not a lot of scoring unless HanRam hits one right now.
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One more run, and I think not.
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Too true, but I'll take him over Wright.
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Assuming the Sox win, they will be 5 up on the Yankees again and just maybe get closer to Houston, now down 3-2 in the 8th, and more ahead of Cleveland, now down 7-3 in the 8th.
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Actually, I thought HanRam's at bat was OK given what Chapman was dishing out. Devers had the bad at bat.
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Goodness gracious. Guess who's bullpen just melted down? If this were our bullpen, there would be absolutely no criticism of the reliever. Nope. Everyone would dump on Farrell for letting it happen--well, except for me of course.
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Every word you wrote is just so true. I hate Sunday night baseball. But I watch it if the Sox are playing.
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Absolutely agree, especially for Devers.
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Isn't this a 9 inning game with a low score? Weren't most of the relievers brought in at the beginning of the half inning? It all that is true, why in the wide, wide world of sports are we now coming up on 3 1/2 hours? FWIW, I think the Yankees are the real slowpokes. But the problem is with MLB who will not empower umpires to speed up the games.
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Sox are 2 for 9 with RISP--both by JBJ of course. Left 14 baserunners on--4 by HanRam, 3 by Devers, 2 by Holt. Update. Sox finish 4-14 with RISP and HanRAm with 7 guys left on base. Our 8th and 9th hitters have all rbi's.
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You are probably right. I thought Devers was swinging a tad too hard.
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Neat to see JBJ covering Betts on that fly in the sun. A pretty good outfield.
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Holt just made an easy play look hard. Nunez would have made that play without half trying because it's a known fact that Holt is weak defensively (and at the plate)..