Maxbialystock
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Everything posted by Maxbialystock
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"Symmetry and expectations" are meaningless. Baseball is quintessentially a team sport played by individuals. Thus the central part of very game is pitcher vs batter. Last night's lineup worked pretty well against the best righty starter in MLB, but tonight's starter for Philly is a very good lefty, ERA 2.44, who is really hitting the corners. So Cora is loading up with righty bats (7) and leading off with Ref instead of Duran. Why is that such a conundrum for you? Ref, 2d time up, hits a dinger, which no doubt disappoints you.
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Exactly what I think of course. Plus all 4 Philly runs have been earned. Tonight is still another example of the Sox being completely outclassed on the mound. Last night was a terrific surprise because Buehler was great and the Sox should have won but for Narvaez's passed ball.
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All what weaknesses? Tonight Fitts doesn't have it--obviously as the 5th starter--and Sanchez definitely does. Same goes for the first 3 games @ Cubs. They had much better pitching in games 1 and 2 and the Sox did in game 3. I've asked this before and received no response: can you name another MLB team that played 9 straight games against all 3 NL division leaders, including 6 on the road? I don't just mean this year, I mean any year. Narvaez hurt last night with the PB, which cost the game. But he is the best defensive catcher in MLB or so the stats say.
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Agree. Cora should have started Chapman or Whitlock.
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As I stated above, that was one very weird catcher interference call because neither the batter nor the baserunner was interfered with. Narvaez still has the best DWAR among MLB catchers. Both Philly runs were earned because the guy on 3b did in fact steal home and the batter given 1b did not score. The essential nature of this game so far is that the Phillies can hit Fitts and the Sox can't hit Sanchez. That's exactly what we thought would happen last night, but it didn't.
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That was one weird catcher interference. In no way did Narvaez interfere with the batter or with the runner coming from 3b--the plate was wide open for him. If he was running from the backstop to home plate, definitely interference. Gonzalez seems to be reverting to norm--rapidly. The Phillies starter so far has shown uncanny command.
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I'm sure of that.
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Bregman has slowed down dramatically on the base paths.
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I don't see them as you do. I see a pretty good defense thanks to Bregman/Mayer at 3b, Story at SS, Abreu/Anthony in RF, Rafaela in CF, Narvaez catching, and even Duran in LF. If Mayer could hit better, he is already a good defensive second baseman. The Sox now have 3 pretty good starters, including a stud, Crochet. Plus Buehler, maybe. A good closer backed by an up and down bullpen as we saw last night. Sox team eRA is ranked The Sox are ranked 5th in MLB in runs scored and team OPS and 10th in team ERA. They just won 10 in a row and are in the middle of playing all three NL division leaders, including two series away from Fenway. They have done that despite losing Bregman for 1/2 this season so far and Devers since June 16th. They have started four rookies--Campbell, Narvaez, Mayer, and Anthony. Last night they almost beat the best righty starter in MLB and would have done so, 2-1, if Narvaez, a highly rated defensive catcher, had not had a passed ball.
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I'm fine with confirming catcher interference. But I also think the Sox were dead dead dead after the Phillies had the bases loaded in the 10th with no one out, largely because of a BB and a WP by reliever Hicks. Buehler had a heckuva game--1 ER in 7 IP.
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That's mostly on JH and and CB.
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Ken Pomeroy uses "luck" statistically when he evaluates Div I mens basketball teams. I think his criterion is winning/losing games by 3 pts or less.
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Agree completely with your first statement but only partly with your second. The Sox were going against the best righty starter in MLB and actually scored 2 runs off him in 6 IP. That was enough to win had not Narvaez had the passed ball leading to an unearned run. Narvaez is rated as one of the best defensive catchers in MLB.
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Just the opposite. He was aggressively trying to get the first out with the bases full in the bottom of the 10th. We have all seen the Sox get 3 outs with the bases full and no one scoring this season. It's rare, but possible. I'm just defending Narvaez on general principles. He became the Sox #1 catcher way back in early April.
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I don't think it's so obvious. FWIW, Tek's highest DWAR for a season was +1.4. Right now Narvaez's is +1.8, so he must be doing something right. Tek never got a gold glove award.
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I was referring to tonight's game, not the season. It's pretty hard to make a case the Sox have surpassed our expectations for this season. That said, I do like this team right now and tonight was an example of why, The Sox should have had no chance in this game with Buehler going against Wheeler. I expected something like 6-0, Philly.
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Of course he has been coached/tutored by Tek. Narvaez might be a rookie, but he's been a professional catcher for 10 freaking seasons. Plus he has the highest catcher DWAR in MLB. He is not a reclamation project. But he is human, which means he will make mistakes. Tonight they hurt.
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Of course it's good. Not saying that would be like the Emperor (in Amadeus) saying that Mozart's opera had "too many notes." I will no doubt regret saying this on talksox, but I'm actually a pretty big fan of Mozart--the composer more than the movie.
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- roman anthony
- ceddanne rafaela
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You deserve no criticism. I just wanted to rant. I completely agree we don't have enough now to contend for the WS, but I will be fine with the postseason. And you can make good arguments for buying, selling, or not doing much.
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Agree completely Anthony has been terrific overall. And Duran had the leadoff dinger, which I of course ignored.
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Wrong game, buster. The team as a whole far surpassed what anyone of us expected. They were going against a Phillies team that wins 2/3 of their home games and tonight their starter was the best righty starter in MLB. The Sox should have been killed, but took it to the 10th inning thanks to some good defense, an absolutely spectacular start (7 IP, 1 ER) by Buehler, and rbi's by Duran and Story. As it turned out, the game was over when the Sox failed to score in the top of the 10th, followed by Hicks walking the first batter and throwing a WP to put runners on 2d and 3d with no outs. Narvaez interference just ended the game before Hicks could throw it away. Hold Narvaez accountable???!!! He has the best DWAR in MLB for a catcher. He deserves only support from his manager.
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Right. I'm positive that up to know Tek has never even talked to Navarez about catching techniques. I mean, why should he?
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Actually, it was euthanasia. Hicks had already forfeited the game by walking the first batter and then throwing a wild pitch to put runners on 2d and 3d with no one out.
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Actually, no. It was supposed to be a one-sided win by the Phillies, given Buehler vs. the best righty starter in MLB. Instead it went to 10 innings and was exciting from start to finish.
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Meh. The rules heavily favor the hitter on catcher interference. Plus catchers are expected to frame pitches which sometimes includes pushing the mitt forward. Besides, there is no way Hicks was going to get out of the jam with 3 on and no one out in the 10th.
