Maxbialystock

Thanks for both data points. It does occur to me that our guys get injured regularly via HBP and other actions by opposing players. Pedey got spiked by Machado and more recently hit by that Astros pitcher with a pitch I thought was definitely intentional. George Will did a baseball column on Sunday I think and commented on the shifts and how those seem to be driving hitters to get loft in their swings to hit over the shifts. But he made no mention of the easiest way to slow down an opposing hitter--just hit him with a pitch. These days you can do that without fear of penalty.

Pitchers' duel: Berrios, 7-1, 2.67 ERA, righty vs. Sale, 9-3, 2.85 ERA, lefty Betts Pedroia Bogaerts Moreland Benintendi Young (changed) Bradley Leon Lin First time in awhile Farrell has had 5 lefty bats against a righty starter--thanks to Leon over Vazque and Lin over a cast of thousands. What does Tzu-Wei sound like out loud? We're still in June, but no time like the present to say we need this win.

Some numbers as of June 26, 2017 OPS OWAR Bogaerts .843 2.6 JBJ .850 1.6 Betts .818 1.6 Moreland .837 1.0 Benintendi .781 0.7 Pedroia .720 0.3 Travis .962 0.2 Young .732 0.2 Vazquez .705 0.2 Ramirez .747 0.1 Leon .706 0.0 Rutledge .558 -0.2 Sandoval .622 -0.3 Marrero .488 -0.4

Hold it right there, buster. Are you and Kimmit disagreeing with me and supporting HanRam, he of the long hair? Fine with me. I hope you're right and I'm wrong and that he reads your stuff, not mine.

Someone needs to remind Price that they went after Ted Williams too, enough to cause him to stop tipping his cap--even when he hit a dinger on his very last MLB at bat.

I've been down on Price a lot, but I agree with you. I think he has some good starts ahead of him. Of course, I would also like to have Vazquez shot at dawn for insisting that Price keep throwing fast balls.

Agree. Devers would be an improvement at 3B, but would this be good for his long-term development? He's 20 and at Portland, not Pawtucket. When Pedroia came up for good at 2B, he had a terrible April and I think maybe May, but management stuck with him because they knew he was the goods. Ditto Betts. Ditto Bogaerts. Ditto Lester. Funny thing, but JBJ had played at Pawtucket, and there is no question he was ready defensively. So when the Yankees (foolishly) outbid the Sox for Ellsbury, JBJ got the CF job in 2014 and bombed out at the plate. Back to Pawtucket. Then in 2015 it was like he was on a shuttle between Pawtucket and Boston. Finally, o/a August 1, the Sox made a trade or something, which gave JBJ one more opening at Boston, and he took off like a rocket. Up and down since then, but overall a pretty good OPS. With Travis lined up for 1B, it makes sense to commit to Devers at 3B, but he does need to be able to field the position.

Hmmmm. You have been the most faithful of all of us with regard to, "the hitting will be there." It's become my hobby horse which I ride incessantly, but I still think it's the loss of Ortiz that has done most of the damage. He was a great bat and especially a great lefty bat. Too many of our righty hitters can seem to adapt to pitchers with good heat, good location, and especially good pitches that break down and away from righty hitters. I except none of these four: Betts, Bogaerts, Pedey, and HanRam. Everyone keeps saying the fix is to get a good hitting thirdbaseman, but that guy was Travis and will probably be Devers and in between was supposed to be Pablo Sandoval. My point is that it's silly to blame that position when our key righty hitters--all our hitters, really--can't produce runs.

Finally! A decent play by Bogie. So right now this has become, wait for it, a very interesting game. Our journeyman starter, picked up off the ash heap of MLB history, just got thru 5 innings while giving up 3 runs despite our abysmal infield. It's a 3-2 game definitely time for the bullpen to show their stuff. And wouldn't it be nice if our lineup--especially our righty bats-- could get their collective heads out of the wrong orifice and actually get a rally going?

Once again Betts gets a fat fastball near the center of the zone and lets it go by because it's the first pitch. He ends up with a lazy fly to CF after trying to hit the ball off his shoe tops. That was his third at bat against this same routine and you would think he could learn from the first two.

Not really. That one is on Farrell, who clearly called for the hit and run, and Marrero who simply can't hit today.

Since the title of this thread is Farrell, I have to think at least some of the discussion about how to use the bullpen relates to him. Moving Barnes to the 7th inning and Kelly to the 8th is fine with me, but I would hardly call it a big fix. Indeed, in most games where the bullpen is key, both of them get in there. On top of that, the bullpen has done pretty darn well so far this season and clearly is not in need of major surgery. About that other topic--rotating relievers thru an inning at a time. I used to believe--devoutly--that it was sheer idiocy. If one reliever is clearly going great guns, leave him in, I say. These days, however, I'm not so sure. Oh, it still makes sense for anybody going in in the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, or even the 6th inning. But after that I suspect "roles" make some sense. And don't forget that the manager still has the option of pulling whoever goes in when he doesn't have it.

I think Bill James is a part of the problem because he is paid by the Sox and is the world's leading advocate for not swinging the bat, especially on the first pitch. In the movie, it's call money ball, but to me it's stupid when every single MLB pitcher knows you can throw safely throw a fat one on the first pitch. In his last at bat Betts looked at a fast ball in the geometric center of the strike zone then hit a dinky grounder on the second pitch, a curve low in the strike zone.

Who cares about Rusney Castillo? I sure don't. We have a pretty good outfield without him. In a no doubt desperate view to return this thread to a "realistic view of 2017," which is actually the dadgum title, I would like to offer the following thoughts. 1. The pitching overall ain't half bad and will likely get even better when Rodriguez returns, hopefully right after the ASG and giving the Sox a rotation of Sale, ERod, Price, Porcello, and Pomeranz. Not too shabby. And a bullpen led by Kimbrel and Kelly, also pretty good. The only real weakness of the pitching I can see is our infield fielding. 2. This hitting continues to be problematical as we approach the midway point, 81 games, of the season. This is rare for Sox teams in the John Henry era or any era for that matter. Think about this: last night the Sox announcers said the Sox are 37-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs. If you will check our W-L percentage you will find it to be way, way below that percentage (37/47= .787). 3. Ortiz retirement has demonstrably left a giant hole in the middle of the Sox lineup. Last year we led the AL by 100 runs in the runs scored department, and right now we are ranked 7th. At the same time we are dead last of 15 AL teams in dingers and second in GIDP. 4. Although we actually have a decent array of hitters in Betts, Bogaerts, Beni, Moreland, Pedroia, and now even JBJ, HanRam is woefully lacking as the DH and the C and 3B positions are bad enough opposing pitchers see them as tantamount to having to pitchers (a la the national league) at the end of the batting order. 5. Nevertheless, right now the Sox are neck and neck with the Yankees for 1st in the AL East and in first place in the AL for a wild card slot.

I would love to blame this one on Price, but I blame 2 of his 3 runs on Bogaerts, first for the two errors causing an unearned run, then for the runner who advanced from 2d to 3d (and later scored) on a grounder to Bogaerts when he had a good play at 3b to nab him. The other problem is the Angels starter had good stuff, fast ball 95-98 mph, excellent slider he used a lot and to good effect, and a curve and changeup he used now and then. I think Price for all his faults could have gone 7 innings last night--without Bogie's 2 errors and mistaken play that allowed those 2 runs and which would have saved Price some extra pitches--giving up just 1 run. Assuming a 1-1 tie, I like our bullpen against theirs with Kelly in the 8th and maybe the 9th, Kimbrel in the 9th or 10th, etc. At the beginning of the game the Fox announcers said one key for the Sox was simply scoring 4 runs because the Sox were/are 37-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs. We are getting close to the midway point, 81 games, in this season and it is becoming more and more evident that this team will continue to rely much more on its pitching, which is actually pretty good despite all of my (and others) whining, than on its hitting. I think the biggest problem with the hitting is the absence of a big bat in the middle of the order and the weakness of the 8th and 9th slots which more and more opposing teams have come to rely on as a ready source of outs.

Well said.

The announcers say he did indeed balk and the umpires got it right.

What hurt? He threw 103 pitches, plenty for him these days especially with the Sox down 3-1. Of course, then Abad comes in and gives up 2, but whatever.

I don't blame Farrell for getting mad, but I also think this game is over and that Abad was awful and that guy would have scored anyway.

Meh. Ortiz did that and more and no one seemed to mind. Actually, I hate it when anyone does it. My MLB rule would be that, the hitter can step out of the batter's box any time he wants to, but the pitcher can still throw the ball. There are no timeouts for a hitter short of an injury. Also, once a pitcher puts his foot on that rubber, he must throw a pitch or throw to a base. No stepping off. I would also keep a clock on the pitcher once he puts his foot on the rubber--15 or 20 seconds to pitch or throw to a base.

Another thing. All three of the pitches to Moreland, batting lefty against a righty pitcher, were low in the strike zone. That's another thing our pitchers are piss poor at.

Two curves into Moreland's lefty wheelhouse and he is completely helpless. Why can't Sox pitchers master the curve, slider, and/or changeup? They all seem to love the damn fastball.

Good for Pedey to swing at the first pitch fast ball, but he only fouled it. Then the slider got him to pop out. That slider has done a lot of damage tonight because it works so well in tandem with the fast ball which ain't too shabby, 95-98. Just did it to Bogie--fast ball down the middle, no swing, then fouled off the slider and another slider. Then a weak grounder off the fast ball inside.

Finally, a Sox hit off that damn slider which has killed us tonight--this one was a little up in the zone.

Maybe. But 2 of the 3 runs are on Bogie, not Price. First the two errors, then failing to get the lead runner on an easy grounder.