Maxbialystock

Can't disagree that the Sox are a longshot for the WS, but disagree vehemently that should have been the goal for this season. I say that because Breslow in fact brought in four excellent players--Crochet, Chapman, Bregman, and Narvaez--more than any CBO I can remember doing in one season. In fact, this is the best Sox pitching staff since at least 2018. The hitting has been up and down, but that's because Devers and his .905 OPS as DH were traded away after refusing to move to 1b, Bregman was out for 7 weeks and then went into a slump. Anthony, the Sox best hitter, went on the IL on Sep 2, Abreu has missed 40 games because of 2 visits to the IL, And let's not forget that in the Sox four WS seasons--2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018--the Sox payrolls were 2d, 2d, 3d, and 1st in MLB. This year their payroll is 12th. The Sox payroll in 2019 was 1st when the Sox didn't make the postseason.

Looks like you are about to see results in the form of the postseason and that's primarily because on July 31 the Sox already had the starters they needed to get to the postseason.

Cora had it right.

You're right. All opinions, including yours, are allowed. And my opinion, backed up by some data, is that not getting a great starter had not hurt the Sox. I don't recall anyone agreeing we needed a great first baseman.

They are already out of the picture because only hitters, catchers, and pitchers can challenge. Roboump calls all balls and strikes.

The challenge is intended to add a tiny human dimension to what is entirely a technological solution to calling balls and strikes. I just read a description of how the system establishes a strike zone for every player and was impressed. There is no actual need for a challenge, but the test fans liked it.

4--0 in the 6th.

Guess what. You don't get to define his job. My guess is that his decision not to go bold in late July was supported by JH and others. The Sox were 59-51 on July 31. Now they are 87-71, and that's despite our best hitter Anthony being on the IL since 2 Sep, Abreu missing over a month on the IL, Bregman's slump of about a month (but looks good the past week), Yoshida struggling as DH, Rafaela's slump, etc. Right now, provided the hitting (by the whole lineup!) holds up, the Sox have a good rotation, bullpen, lineup, defense, and baserunning, which is exactly what we have seen at Toronto against the winningest team (right now, anyway) in the AL Only Milwaukee and Philly have won more games than the Jays. Yes, absolutely, ;Breslow failed to give away the farm for a #2 starter, but guess what? The Sox already had Tolle and especially Early hiding in Worcester and Harrison on the IL. There is one reason and one reason only you wanted Breslow to go bold last July. You wanted him to fail bigtime so you could continue to gripe.

He needs to be more like Tolle who tonight suckered Kirk in to grounding out, RF to 1B. Bello has pitched 162 innings this year, 162 last year, and 157 the year before. Agree on the first inning, which is a challenge for most Sox pitchers Heck, the Sox nailed Scherzer for 3 runs in the 1st and just 1 run in the next 4 innings. Meanwhile, Varland looks like a reliever starting tomorrow.

His ERA's in June, July, and August were 2.87, 2.79, and 2.27, so tired could be it.

I'm not sure I saw that, but I do know he shut down a very good hitting team in their home ballpark.

Indications are Anthony will be lucky to make the postseason. Tonight was Abreu's 3d game and he looked fine to me. Just his first game was a bust.

maxbialystock

Abreu last night was worlds better than his first game.

Tigers and Sox both play Thursday night and must fly to Boston to start final series the next day. . Cleveland and Toronto are about the same flight time.

Crochet vs Scherzer has to give the Sox the edge tonight. However, last night the better pitcher, Gausman, did not prevail. I disagree that Abreu is a "wild card" although I'm certainly hoping he can help. Last night the 7th and 9th batters--Lowe and Narvaez--batted in all 4 Sox runs. So it would be nice if Abreu could get an rbi or score a run now and then. Yoshida lately looks like the guy Chaim Bloom signed. Rafaela seems to have reverted back to his June/July self--OPS .810 in last 7 games. Same 7 days, Yoshida's OPS is .843, Lowe 1.031, Gonzalez .903, Bregman .838, Last night the Sox bullpen went 4.1 innings without giving up a hit or a run.

Sure is.

Do I need to supply a 😃 when I am being over the top facetious? I think this might be Cora's best season yet because of all the permutations. 13 starters. Devers traded. Bregman injured and then a slump. Abreu on the IL twice. Mayer through for the season on 24 July after playing 44 games and Anthony on 2 Sep after 71 games. Despite a good defense, leading MLB in errors. Starting 8 different rookies: Campbell, Mayer, Anthony, Narvaez, Garcia, Dobbins, Early, and Tolle,

Meh. Look at the AL standings. 9 teams have winning percentages from .500 to .570--from the Rangers to the Jays--which means all 9 of them are unpredictable.

Target hit!!! And you're the first to say--and have said it before. I've been beating up Bregman for about a month but now suspect he has been a good influence all along. No credit to Cora of course. As is clear from reading talksox, he has no clue about lineups, when to bring in relievers, which ones to use, when to pinch hit, etc. Were it not for his endless mistakes, the Sox would be leading the AL East by 5 games.

Could be.

So maybe you agree with me that the Motor City team broken down and needs repairs. 😄

I think we have 5 competitive SP's--Crochet, Giolito, Early, Bello, and Harrison--but Crochet is the only one who deserves "very good." Crochet, Giolito and Bello all have ERA's over 4 this month. Pitching has been the Sox strong suit all season long and especially in those 6, 7, and 10 game winning streaks. The Sox lineup, meanwhile, lacks a single big hitter, so needs all 9 slots to be competitive. Tonight 7th and 9th each drove in 2 runs, both with solid doubles.

There's a ton of people on talksox, especially moonslav,, who say teams are very unpredictable. Rationally, I know he's right, but my gut says the Sox will beat out the Tigers by a couple of games.