Maxbialystock

SoxHop continues to be Mr. SoxHopHot. Four straight--1 at Fenway against the best road team in the AL, now 3 at Toronto. At 22-21 the Sox are now over .500 on the road. At the end of this road trip comes the ASG, at which point the Sox will have played 50 road games and 39 home games which means that in the shorter second half of the season they will play 31 road games and 42 home games. In other words, the Sox could not have picked a better time to have a hot streak, whether or not it's a winning streak. Ironically, Porcello--last year's Cy Young--starting tonight is a real test of the strength of this team. His ERA in June, the month when he should really have found his groove, was 6.63. His problem beyond question is where he is throwing his pitches. He lacks command overall, but especially the ability to keep pitches low but still in or near the strike zone. Meanwhile, the Sox are now 42-10 whenever they score 4 or more runs. Perez, the Rangers starter tonight, had--this will amaze and delight you--an ERA of 6.30 in June. Texas overall is 9th in the AL in ERA at 4.40. So chances are good the Sox will score 4 or more tonight. If we score early, it just might give Porcello a lift, who knows?

In round numbers JBJ's OPS was .600 in April, .800 in May, and 1.000 in June. His three OBP's were .271, .341, and .431. He had 5 dingers in May, but just 4 in June. He is hitting to all fields. These data points tell me he is becoming a real hitter and far less likely to regress into the inconsistencies we saw in 2015 and 2016. Bogaerts on the other hand seems to me to over-rely on his truly remarkable hand-eye coordination with the bat. He can take bad swings and still make contact, sometimes solid contact with the ball, so he has not worked on becoming an intelligent hitter. I think he is awful at pitch recognition, for example. In his defense, I would add that I think he probably works very hard on his defense because he loves being SS and knows he lacks range, etc.

OK, gang, it was just the Blue Jays--you know, last in the AL East. Nevertheless, it is possible that we are getting close to the point where we can declare that this stupid thread (which I started) has worn out its welcome. Platooning Lin and Marrero seems to work, so does Vazquez and Leon. HanRam might indeed be coming around. Of the four killer B's, Betts and the now steady (who woulda thunk that?) JBJ have rocketed past Bogaerts and could both be headed toward .900 OPS's, and Bogaerts, Pedroia, and Moreland are all doing fine if not great. I have argued ad nauseum that Ortiz left a big hole. I still think that, but now agree with Kimmi and others that just maybe the Sox can fill that hole with multiple contributions. Nevertheless I will ask the obvious question, should DD still go after a big bat to get us through the 2d half of the season (something I have been opposed to and obviously still am)?

Nevertheless, a great piece of work that tells its own story about the price/cost of talent in MLB. A lot of yuks in there that make the Manny Ramirez deal, $20M x 8 in 2001, look like genius. Also interesting is that the Sox didn't make many of those deals at all--not until Price, Pablo, and HanRam. Pablo at $19M x 5 in 2015 underscores why the Sox have not not tried--or have not been able to--unload him yet. Price at $31M x 7 continues to look insane. HanRam at $22M x 4 is still over priced but he is not a dead bust.

He definitely loses focus.

Great pitching and some timely doubles--a winning formula.

Condor sounds right.

Just read that to Sarah, and she is now likely to get a subscription to mlb.com/TV. Madness, madness--from a grown woman yet.

I certainly did not notice. Did you really predict Marrero's turnaround at the plate? If so, well done.

Well, it's true nevertheless. Every game can have its surprises and like most everyone else I react to them--sometimes, as was the case last night--to my regret. I clearly underestimated our guys, Price, et al. I don't underestimate the bullpen, buy I was definitely mad at Hembree giving up the tying dinger that sent the game into extra innings.

Reading these game threads is a study in contrasts--me included. Early on I was as free as anyone with my condemnations, then quickly turned around when the Sox rallies. I was amazed when Price went 7, which to me showed a lot of guts. Right now that's three pretty good starters--Sale, Price, and Pomeranz (of all people), plus the possibility of one in last year's Cy Young and the likelihood of one in Eduardo Rodriguez.

My daughter finally went to be after the Sox scored 3 in the top of the 11th, so she continues to be a good luck charm--two come from behind wins as soon as she started watching the game (and stayed watching in the case of last night). This is at no small risk to her losing her standing as sane, normal, human being. Fortunately, she goes back to Greensboro in a few days and has no subscription to mlb.com/TV.

Yeah, yeah, you've said that a zillion times, but this time you could be right. The problem in the past was that moving him up in the order usually led to a drop off in production. This year, for example, his OPS's for batting 6th and 8th are both over .900, for 7th it's over .800, and for 5th it's barely over .500. Nevertheless, he his hitting now as though he has turned a corner in terms of consistency. His May OPS was over .800 with 5 dingers and for June was over 1.000 with just 4 dingers. He's hitting to left field as well. He still strikes out a lot--on a par with Ramirez but not as bad as Moreland, but is otherwise pretty darn consistent.

Forget Pedroia. My daughter Sarah the magnificent is again watching on the TV (via desk top link) and, presto magico, the Sox have scored 2 runs with more sure to come. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, d-money.

Meanwhile Fister is in the 3d inning and over 60 pitches--plus, whenever the throws a fast ball it gets clobbered.

Our lineup is so pathetic. Bases loaded with no one out and 2, 3, and 4 hitters roll over and play dead to a guy throwing 91 mph fastballs and nothing else. He threw some changeups for balls. Every team we face sits our on our pitchers fast balls and then hits them hard, which forces our guys to mix in some breaking stuff (to good effect). But opposing pitchers seem able to throw gopher balls with impunity--Pedroia and Beni popped up to the infield and Moreland struck out.

Now that's just mean. Unfortunately, you also have a point, which is the same as mvp78's and others: so what?

Last night I was finishing up around the house to get ready for family joining us this weekend, so I didn't post much. But I would like to report that the early arrivals, my daughter and her husband, showed up during the game which was on espn and while I was still cleaning windows in the living room, so Sarah watched the game with me. And that's when the offense caught hold and scored some runs. So as far as I am concerned, Sarah was the good luck charm that changed everything. Yes, Price pitched tough and went 7 giving 3. Yes, some nice hits, including solo dingers by Betts and Ramirez and a surprising triple (over the rightfielder's head and glove) by Lin. But you need those silent fans from afar to push the team over the top. Also, FWIW, I was cursing the entire team for the first few innings, so it's a good thing I had no time to blog. On to Toronto and a ten game road trip before the ASG break! If the Sox come out of that still in first place, you gotta like our chances in the second half.

Yes, still still tied for first in the AL, but, more realistically, 1 of 12 AL teams with a shot at the playoffs. Only Houston is in the cat bird seat. Everyone else has hopes and concerns, and the Sox are no exception. I believe this is the first Sox team in the John Henry era with such weak hitting and such reliance on the pitching, especially the bullpen.

Last night the Sox were 0 for 10 with RISP and that's what killed us. To me the definitive at bat was Bogie with the bases loaded reaching way out to get a slider well outside the strike zone but nevertheless pulling it to produce a weak groundout to SS. This did bring in a run, but blew a golden opportunity to get more. Bogaerts left 6 guys on last night. I think he has fantastic hand-eye coordination at bat, but still has trouble identifying pitches. In that particular at bat he seemed to come to the plate determined to swing the bat wherever the ball was and to rely on the hand-eye coordination to produce something good. The Sox are still 39-10 when they score 4 or more runs, which also means they are 4-25 when they don't score 4 runs. That the Sox are still "tied" for 1st in the AL East is to the great credit of the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, and the by product is that nobody in the AL East has a very good W-L record this year. Heck, nobody in the AL Central does either. In fact, just one team in the AL, the Astros, has a solid W-L record. Everybody else is in a dog fight. I would say that the biggest danger to the pitching is not another injury--although one to Sale would be huge--but the infield at the 3b, 2b and SS positions. One indicator is that the Sox are 14th in the AL in double plays but of course are 2d in the AL in GIDP. Pedey still still has the good hands but has lost at least a step in range. Some of that, I hasten to add, could be because he is banged up from spikes coming into 2b (Machado), HBP, collision with a firstbaseman, etc. Porcello still struggles with location in my opinion. The 4 runs were almost OK, but he also only went 5 innings. Assuming ERod returns at the same level he was at, Porcello will be our 5th best starter unless, of course, that fingernail hampers Price. If the Sox can't make a deal for solid third baseman or bring Devers up, I would be tempted to move Bogie to 3B and Lin to SS.

Sox 0 for 8 with RISP--an enduring malady this season.

Now JBJ gets two fast fast balls, fouls one off and misses the other.

Not a good start, agreed, but the hitting tonight is worse. Are you watching how our guys just rollover when they come to the plate? With men on 1st and 2d and no one out, Pedroia pops to the infield and Bogaerts and Moreland strike out. Like I said earlier, the Sox are 39-10 this year whenever they score 4 runs. Tonight the hitting is just abysmal at least over the first 5 innings.

Bogaerts two straight fastballs in close to the same spot. He lets the first go for a strike, then hits a weak grounder to 2b on the second. Both balls up in the zone about in the middle and midway between the center point and the outside edge of the plate. This guy ain't that great, our guys are just terrible tonight.

So much for the righty-lefty advantage to the batter. In the first the only hard hit ball we had was by Moreland, lefty vs. lefty, who lined out to the leftfielder. Betts, Pedroia, and Bogaerts all hit the ball just hard enough to be easy outs--even though Bogie got the single when the Twins pitchers forgot to hustle to 1B.