Maxbialystock

I just read a short article that says Farrell is concerned about Moncada's ability to focus--which you can also read in the Sox Prospects article written before Moncada was promoted to Boston. Not just that easy grounder a week ago, but more recently as a pinch runner. 2 men out, Moncada on 1B, and a pop fly to short right. Moncada stops between 1B and 2B to see if the fly was going to be caught. In the 2004 and again in the 2013 postseason the Sox kept what amounted to a pinch runner on their 25 man roster. I think they would like to do that with Moncada this year, but not if his mind keeps drifting as it does. Goodness knows where his mind is because it's not on the game or learning how to hit a curve or improving defensively.

It's amazing the Jays only have 2 runs because ERod today has one pitch, the fastball, and not all that much control of it. He has thrown sliders, mostly below the strike zone. No changeup of course and no curve.

Farrell stinks. Worst manager in Sox history. Sox are winning despite him. If they keep this up and win the WS, DD should bring him back as the Asst bullpen and backup 1b coach.

Farrell stinks, and I hope the Sox keep winning.

Yankees now 1.5 back of Orioles and tigers for 2d wild card slot.

We should all bash Farrell when it is working this good. Watching Farrell manage is like peering into a neuron free cyclotron. He's the only mlb manager who worries about going outside the lines when he colors in the lineup card. We are lucky Ziegler went in for the 8th because he called for Wright.

Our guys are finding redemption on the road. Who knew? ERod may be 2-6, but tomorrow is not an overmatch. The only issue is hitting in daylight after a night game.

Perfect time for moncada K. What I love is that Porcello might not be our best starter right now even though he was solid against a tough lineup tonight. Price and Buch also hot and Rodriguez had 8 zeroes last time out. And 13 runs!

Starting ridiculously early again to combat letdown and enable deadly rocks to slay the Jay. A win tomorrow seals the deal.

Right now all five starters are pretty trustworthy. ERod can still have control issues, but otherwise is good. None of the five is dominant, but all do get guys out. Bullpen, now with Kimbrel, Ziegler, Kelly, Uehara, Ross, and Abad, is the best it's been all year. Still not shut down, but some pretty good options.

I lost sleep, but did not watch entire games when they started at 9 or 10 pm our time. Too old. I hate the west coast games on Sun-Thurs nights.

I disagree about Pomeranz, but who the hell cares? By the end of the season Farrell will have a much clearer picture on all five. I could be wrong about Buchholz just as you could be about Pomeranz.

Everything you say is fair to Buchholz. I think he's in a groove, but agree the next 4 games will confirm or not confirm.

I don't see Porcello as a Cy Young guy, but have plenty of confidence in him. My concern tonight is with the hitting.

Thanks, Wade. I got it wrong this time, but have no problems, of course, with Holt in LF. Shaw in the 6 slot suggest Farrell has confidence in him.

Those 6 were what got him another shot at starting, and that's where it is obvious he wants to be. More importantly, it's now clear that's where Farrell wants him to be. How else explain moving Buchholz up to pitch the 3d game at Toronto? As I explained in the game thread for tonight, Farrell saw him start every game when he was brilliant in 2013 and my guess is that Farrell thinks he is close to the 2013 (first half) version right now. If he is right, it would be a terrible waste to throw Buchholz back into the bullpen to maybe pitch the 6th inning of a game when the Sox are down by 5. I believe relievers need a certain mindset that is different from starters. The few times good starters, like Eckersley, became good relievers was when they became closers, and Farrell isn't going to let Buchholz close.

Strenuously disagree. Right now Buchholz is our third best starter and our fourth best is ERod. The bullpen is the best it's been all year with Kimbrel, Ziegler, Uehara, Ross, Kelly, and Abad. We don't need Buch in the bullpen, especially not when he wasn't that good his last two times out as a reliever.

espn.com allows a quick look at each hitter's last 10 games. I looked at our presumptive top eight hitters and can tell you the three hottest are not, repeat not, among Ortiz, Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, and Leon. Nope. The hottest hitter in terms of getting on base is Pedroia, but you knew that. And the best rbi man--over his last 10 games--is Hanley Ramirez with I think 12. And second behind him with 9 is Shaw. I think that admittedly small sample augurs well because we know Ortiz, Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, and Leon can hit and that among those 5 the only one really struggling is Bogaerts. I also think Farrell is likely to stick with 5 righties and 4 lefties in the lineup tonight. I'm guessing: Pedroia, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Betts, Ramirez, Leon, Shaw, Young, Bradley. The question mark has to be Young because he can always put Holt in LF--another lefty bat against a righty starter. On the other hand, this year the Toronto starter Estrada has been more effective against lefties than righties. Why Oritz 3d and Betts 4th? I think mostly to protect Ortiz from getting walked too much.

In the spirit of looking at the bigger picture, moonslav has a neat thing on his thread "A Realistic View of 2016," in which he points out that the AL East is easily the toughest and winningest division in 2016. And those are the only teams the Sox will play for the rest of the regular season and more than half of those remaining games will be on the road. So, yes, the business at hand is Porcello winning tonight--hopefully with some decent run support--and taking this series. But we can get just as excited at every series remaining.

all good points.

I'm starting this a day early to encourage discussion of the series, September, whatever. I have zero mojo, so we might as well discuss/argue/carp/cajole/analyze/pontificate. I like our team right now and in this series and specifically the three matchups now that Farrell has moved Buchholz ahead of Pomerantz to pitch game 3. Both teams are starting righty-lefty-righty and in all three games I think our guys are pitching better right now. As for Buchholz starting, I had a blinding flash of the obvious today. Farrell was manager in 2013 when Buchholz had that amazing first half before going on the DL, which means that Farrell, more than any of us or his coaching staff, knows what the good Buchhholz looks like. And something tells me he thinks this version is pretty darn close to the 2013 version. In his last 3 starts Buch averaged 6.1 innings and 1 run scored. And you can tell he's confident because he's pitching quickly (for him). In the first six games of this road trip the Sox gave up no more than 2 runs in any one game. The two losses were 2-1 and 1-0. In their just completed road trip at Baltimore, Tampa, and NYC, the Jays were 3-6 and were just swept by the Yankees.

Actually, I didn't quite say he does not work hard enough. I said four things--lack of experience, moving up to MLB quickly and then getting the starting 3B job, all the adulation in the press, and the big upfront money he got last year--are telling him he doesn't have to work hard. I have read nothing about his work habits, good or bad, so I don't honestly know. The lack of focus comment came from narrative on him in Sox Prospects and referred I think to grounders hit right at him. I think your point about management is well taken. They are indeed responsible for his development because we know he has talent. I thought the announcement that Shaw needed to work on his OF skills was a big mistake because it also told Moncada he had it made. In 2013 they did not take that approach with Bogaerts, and this year they did not do it with Benintendi.

Gotta admit that one of the best qualities of Talksox is the sense of humor.

I did watch the game, but went to bed after the 7th because of work today. Moreover, I rarely have the sound on because I have a low regard for the commentators. I get especially irritated with the NESN policy of having guests for home game discuss all kinds of things, thus relegating the game itself to the back seat. This includes camera shots of the whoever is in the booth, which I dislike. Why is carping about carping prohibited, especially when I included a discussion of why Farrell made the moves he did? Indeed, if the commentators questioned those moves, one has to wonder whether they know anything at all about baseball. More likely, however, is the notion that they just feel the need to fill the air with opinions and ideas of whatever value. P.S. You are right that there was very little carping on this thread, largely because the game went smoothly. However, that one example of misguided carping was just too choice and therefore irresistible.

Clutch, smutch. The only truly "clutch" hitter on this team is Ortiz and that's because he has an OPS over 1000. And let's not forget that the opposing pitcher has a lot to do with how well we hit. For those who have forgotten, the Sox great success in the 2013 playoffs was due primarily to the great pitching--an ERA of 2.00 over 16 games. Yes, there were a few "clutch" hits, but overall not many hits at all. This is a young team, especially in playoff experience or for that matter pennant race in September experience. But right now I like what I see overall. The rotation is worlds better than earlier in the season. The hitting is stuttering, but the talent is there. And the bullpen is showing definite signs they want to be reliable. The outfield defense is pretty good, but the left side of the infield lacks range. Right side, Pedroia, is still good and HanRam is good enough. Catching is a tad better than we should expect because of all the turnover last year and again this year. I love moonslav's constant reminder: other teams have weaknesses too. While I do like where this team is, I also think there are no guarantees. And, quite frankly, who the hell wants them? It's the imperfections that make this such a great game.