Maxbialystock

is that the great abad I see warming up?

hembree sucks tonight. three straight batters have hit the ball hard.

i'm getting the mlb channel, and I think they simply favor the cubbies.

suddenly a very interesting game. kelly first throw a slider over the geometric center of the strike zone, then throws the next one in the dirt or on the plate for a another run. now all those unscoring innings have some importance. can the sox score again if they need to?

Completely agree.

cubs saved by another GIDP. Sox now scoreless 5 straight innings.

So far Pomeranz is a hero. Not a lot of clean innings, but 6 big ones with just 2 runs. Those 5 runs in the 1st look bigger and bigger.

Sox scored 5 in the first and zip in 2 thru 5, including bases loaded and no one out in the 4th. I love the 1st inning, but right now these guys look like the same old Sox to me.

HanRam certainly does, but in this case it took an incredible throw to get him and it was still close.

Let's put this current situation on a personal basis. Right now Chris Sale is ranked #3 in all of MLB in ERA and #2 in WAR for a pitcher. He has having a fantastic season. And his W-L record is 1-2 because this team cannot--so far, anyway--hit a lick. This in my judgment is criminal, and Sale should hire a lawyer to take this entire franchise to court and sue them for failure to support. The subject of this thread is "A realistic View of 2017." To me it is realistic to say the hitting will likely improve, but not realistic to say, "things are going to be fine" because fine this year should mean running away with the AL East given that the Sox have the 4th best ERA in MLB right now. Speaking of which, the Orioles and Yankees both have lower ERA's than the Sox and are both comfortably ahead of the Sox in the AL East race. So whether and by how much the Sox hitting improves, the whole point of this exercise is not only to win games, but to win more games than the Orioles and Yankees. Remember too that in the off season just about everyone was worried about the pitching this year even with the acquisition of Chris Sale. Then Price--who sure as heck hasn't been worth $30M/year anyway--got hurt in ST and the concern grew. But it turns out the other guys, especially Sale, have stepped up, but largely to no avail because the hitting, so far, anyway, stinks. To me nothing defines the Sox current situation better than that Sale is the 2d best pitcher in MLB and has won one lousy game in 5 great starts. It's entirely appropriate, I might add, that Sale just happens to be tied for the team lead in wins--among starters, that is.

Me, I blame Bill James and his stranglehold on Sox game tactics: never bunt, don't steal, etc, The result of that is that the Sox don't recruit or encourage great baserunners and probably don't even practice bunting--much anyway--which is stupid when you consider not only avoidance of GIDP, but also the benefits of bunting a way from the big shifts other teams use against some of our guys (as we do against theirs). Right now the Sox are ranked 30th in dingers with 11--and the next worst team has 15, which is 36% (4/11) more than our guys. This is a serious power deficiency along with 25th in slugging percentage. Thanks to Bill James, however, the Sox have no remedies for a power outage like this one. Forget a backup generator, we don't even have flashlights or lamps--the ability to bunt and/or run the bases. What did Al Pacino say in that movie? "I'm in the dark here."

Hitting clearly is not random, but neither is pitching. The good ones bear down a little more in tight situations--men on base, etc. They might throw a little harder, and their control improves. The good/clutch/tough hitters don't need to "notch it up" as much as they need to stay focused, calm, loose. To me the acid test for clutch hitting is how often they K with RISP and/or how often they hit easy grounders for GIDP. Even a GIDP is acceptable if the ball was hit hard. I get especially mad at any hitter who doesn't bring the runner on 3B home with 1 or fewer outs--that's choking, pure and simple. Same goes for looking at 2 out of 3 strikes with 2 or more men on base and 2 men out. All that said, I also believe quite firmly that great pitching always wins out--that means the best pitchers going against the great hitters in any situation.

Good for you. I would have been a terrible choice to start, especially when I have periodically railed against Pomeranz--unfairly, I have to admit. Tonight he has a chance to be a hero. Where does Station 13 come from?

Actually, I kind of do that anyway. When the Sox have a good lead, I tune in when the other team is at bat and see how our pitching is holding up. When we are down, I tend to watch just the offense. Stupid, I admit. If it's a tie or 1 run game, then I watch both halves of every inning. I missed last night because I was at an important ceremony (to me, anyway), but am sure I would have been riveted throughout the game until the Yankees got those 2 more in the 9th. I got home just in time to watch Benintendi make the last out. Afterward, I did my share of venting, however.

Darn. Much too sensible for my typical wise-ass response. I not only agree those 6 are plus (or better) hitters, but that maybe Moreland will be too. Losing hope at 3B and C however.

Not bad, not bad at all.

You seem to think that actually scoring runs is irrelevant to any discussion about Sox hitting. I say again, the Sox right now are 26th in MLB in runs scored, which is abysmal for any Sox team. Meanwhile, the team ERA is the 4th best in MLB, which is fantastic, but the Sox are just 1 game above .500 and already 3.5 games behind the Orioles, who have the 3d best ERA in MLB and far more consistent hitting. I say again, I don't expect the current trend--26th in MLB in runs scored--to continue, but am asking whether the Sox this year will get back to the top 5 in runs scored, which historically has been a prerequisite to a successful season. One key is dingers--the Sox are ranked dead last with 11, and the 29th team has 15. I would call that a major power outage, especially for a team that has bought in completely to the Bill James approach which is predicated on no bunting and low risk base-running (at least that's my impression). Related is the absence of Ortiz. I honestly believe this lineup would be fine, but right now it is beyond question there is no stud in our lineup, none.

I think those who are arguing that the hitting will improve are missing a key point. Yes, of course, the hitting will improve because right now it is 26th in MLB in runs scored, which is abysmal. What you are missing is that these guys have to improve a lot, not a little. Meanwhile, the lousy hitting is costing us games lost which cannot be recovered. and let's not forget another key point--the sox are in the same division with the yankees and orioles, both of whom have excellent pitching and better hitting than the sox. so yes, it's early in the season, hope is not dead, etc. Meanwhile, the sox are 3.5 games out of first--despite having the 4th best ERA in MLB.

I got back in time to see the final out benintendi. It'll be a long time before I start another game thread. When the hitting is this bad--and it's really bad--to me it's impossible to blame the manager for not doing something. Eventually, if the team is under performing as shown by their W-L record, managers do get fired even if it isn't strictly their fault. That could happen to Farrell. Meanwhile, maybe we should blame the guy who assembled this team--some of it, anyway. Of course, the very same guy assembled the pitching staff which right now is ranked 5th best in MLB--not too shabby.

i started this, but probably can't finish because i have an important event tonight.

also five bats with OPS's below .700--bogaerts, hernandez, pedroia, ramirez, and leon. last two are below .600. it's 81 degrees in arlington, va. how is it up there?

5 lefty bats, anyway

sale vs. tanaka, advantage to us except for a lineup that has stopped hitting. pedroia 2b benintendi lf betts rf ramirez dh moreland 1b bogaerts ss bradley cf leon c hernandez 3b

great finish, but still a lousy game.

well done, JBJ. Just a walk, but you had to work for it. but then a little slow getting to 2b.