Maxbialystock

Really dumb batting JBJ 9th. Think of all the rbi's he'd have today if he batted 3d after Bolt and Betts.

Two righties for a change, with Gray favored. Our lineup with two surprises (Holt leading off at 2b, Nunez in reserve)-- Holt 2b Betts RF Benintendi LF Ramirez DH Devers 3b Bogaerts SS Moreland 1b Leon C Bradley CF To date Holt's OBP is .281, .111 for the last seven days, which suggests Farrell is doing this on a hunch or simply doesn't want to make anyone else lead off or perhaps he sees Holt as his reconnaissance element, the man charged with finding out what kind of stuff Gray has today.

Actually, I agree. I cite the 7 positions as evidence of why the Sox have kept him, despite the fact that his a jack of all trades and master of none. Right now, for example, Farrell is going with 13 pitchers, including 8 relievers--sadly, with some justification. That leaves 3 guys on the bench, one of whom is a catcher and normally not usable as a pinch hitter, etc. The Sox are officially carrying just 4 infielders--Devers, Nunez, Bogaerts, and Moreland. Holt is the only backup for 2b, SS, and 3b. Last night the three benchers were Vazquez, Moreland, and Holt (largely, as you say, because of his abysmal OPS). Of those three, Holt was also the best choice to pinch run, which he did after Leon got to first on a wild pitch third strike. FWIW, I'm beginning to think that last night's caught stealing was partly the result of a missed hit and run sign (or Holt read hit and run and it wasn't on). I say this because it was a 2-0 count, which definitely favors the hitter. Plus Betances, even with that 3-0 count to JBJ, was throwing strikes--9 of 14 for the game. Interestingly, on a 2-0 count with Betances more than capable of throwing a strike, that third pitch was outside, perfect to set Sanchez up for an accurate throw to 2b.

The count was 2-0. How do we know the hit and run wasn't on?

2-0 count, and that third pitch was also a ball. It's possible JBJ missed a hit and run signal, but I think we would have heard that by now.

Speaking of Bogaerts, this is his fourth full year with the Sox, and his WAR ratings for those four seasons are .2, 4.6, 3.7, and 1.0 (so far). Only part of that 1.0 can be explained by his OPS drop from .802 in 2016 to .736 now. The bigger part is his defensive rating/ranking--pretty close to last among full-time SS's in MLB. So what gives with Bogie? Injuries?

Mostly agree. Sale's first dinger (3 runs) was a mistake, but the second was a low slider that might have been called a ball it was so low. That was just a heckuva swing. But Sale was also helped by the terrific grab by JBJ, who timed that leap perfectly. Otherwise, a good bet for a triple. The top six in the order were 2 for 22 with 1 run scored, so they collectively were our biggest problem. Goat of the game has to be Bogaerts, 0-3 with 2 K's, including one on three pitches with the bases loaded in the 8th. He has a tough time with sliders. I would switch him and Devers were it not that, with 1 or 2 men on, Devers will get walked to get to Bogie, depending on the pitcher.

Great notes, especially the third one. Those are the 5 who are also struggling right now. Three of the top 4 are in the top of the lineup. The first, Devers, has batted 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. In addition to a great swing, I think he is good at reading pitches and maybe being further down in the order gives him more pitches to watch before he bats. He has 33 at bats batting 5th with an OPS of 1.018 and 40 at bats combined at 6th, 7th, and 9th with a combined OPS of 1.225--200 points higher than batting 5th. Just a theory with a very small sample size.

Kimmi has previously cited stats that measure the overall effectiveness of a team's running game. Did you not notice that last night our first two runs came on aggressive baserunning and 3 scratch singles? Ditto JBJ scoring from 1st on a double off the green monster which in some instances has held doubles to singles if the leftfielder players it right? It is not boneheaded to take risks and more boneheaded sometimes to play it safe and not try to get that extra base. When your team is ranked 27th in dingers and 10th in runs scored, aggressive baserunning seems to me to make sense. Boneheaded is failing to tag up on a fly, running on a catchable fly with just one out, much of what HanRam does (but isn't doing much these days), getting picked off at 1b (but not always), etc.

Last night our ace gave up 4 runs on 2 dingers and was saved by a great catch by JBJ and a good one by Benintendi, and our first 6 hitters went 2 for 22 with no rbi's and 1 run scored. The bottom part of the order had all 3 rbi's, 2 from singles and aggressive baserunning and 1 from Devers's dinger. But the story of the game ain't about that. Nope. It's about questioning Holt's attempt to steal 2d in the bottom of the 9th. Go figure.

Your "top of the order" --Nunez, Betts, and Benintendi--were 1 for 12 with 4 K's. The best chance for driving in Holt was JBJ and Holt needed to get to 2b to help make that happen. Plus it was a great throw--just to the right of the bag a tad below waist high, which made the tag much easier. Aggressive baserunning was what got us our first two runs off of three singles. I'm kind of biased against Holt, so I might not have sent him; but it was a reasonable call (by Holt or by Farrell).

Not really. He is one of the most versatile players in the AL. He actually does run the bases well although not much of a threat to steal. I am not a Holt fan because of his hitting, but his versatility has kept him employed.

Hell, after our ace gives up the early 3 run dinger and later a solo shot, this game was going to be hard to win. As it was, the first 2 runs were scratched out of 3 bare singles and aggressive baserunning. The big opportunity to tie was in the 8th and Bogaerts K'd on 3 pitches--abysmal. And Sale gave up 4 runs--not so good.

Meh. I think the odds were against scoring Holt from 1b even though I would not have sent him. Perfect throw beat him.

Yup.

I thought it was an obvious choice to walk Moreland and pitch to Bogaerts, but I didn't expect him to look quite that bad.

About moving Devers up in the order. Our top 6 guys tonight have 1 hit and our bottom 3 have 4 hits.

It was a slider at the bottom of the zone or below it. That was just an incredible hit, let alone dinger.

Leadoff double, and our 3, 4, and 5 hitters, no surprise, can't even advance him, let alone bring him home.

Terrible at bat by Beni. He needed to advance the runner.

Yankees have 4 runs on 6 hits, including the 3 run dinger. The Sox have 3 hits--three bare singles--and 2 runs and are still in this game. That, ladies and gents, comes from aggressive baserunning and not being overly cautious because you might be thrown out.

I don't know, but sure looks like a lot of risky baserunning out there tonight. Bogaerts could have been nailed at 3b and Devers at home. Hopefully, some day our guys we learn to play it careful.

JBJ has an uncanny sense of where the ball is going and where he is. That was a great catch, but also a smart one.

Sabathia has our guys mesmerized, completely mesmerized. Heck, he struck out Devers with ease.

I keep calling it a fast ball, but Sabathia throws what seems to be a very effective sinker, which means all of his pitches break down.