Maxbialystock

Duran stole that double on a gamble that paid off. This time it worked. That other time it was with no one on and the Sox down by 3 runs.

3 pitch strikeout of Mayer, lefty bat vs righty arm, shows how simple pitching can get. First the slightly embarrassing swing at a low slider. Then, determined not to get fooled again, Mayer lets two very hittable fast balls go right by him. Love those 2 runs in the 1st.

Loved that skit.

Seriously? Have you already forgotten the two Yankees series? In the first one the Yankees scored 6, 10, and 11 runs. In the second, 1, 3, and 0 runs. A lot depends on the pitcher on the mound. The weird thing about last night is that our starter was our best and the Reds starter, while not their best, is highly touted in part because he routinely throws 100 mph. Weirder still is that most of had the impression that the 2025 Sox can't hit fastballs. So the Sox drove him out of the game with 5 runs before he got his 2d out. And Crochet gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, in 6 IP, which is double his ERA. I personally think the Sox hitting, despite the absence of both Raffy and Bregman, just might be coming around. Tune in tonight.

Heckuva point. I forgot him too.

A fair comment, and I was certainly aware of those 28 runs when I put this together. However, my point--which everyone continues to ignore--is that Raffy's departure occurred when Bregman was already on the IL, so the Sox have been without their two best hitters over those 13 games. Or put it this way. I'm sick and tired of reading that losing Raffy, by itself, was a disaster. It wasn't. For example, the Sox 6 game winning streak was entirely due to the Sox pitching, not the Sox hitting even with Raffy on the team in the first 5 games. For example, the Giants are 4-9 since Raffy joined them and the Sox, missing both Raffy and Bregman, are also 4-9. And in those 13 games the Sox have been mostly on the road and the Giants mostly at home. Did I forget to mention the Giants have better pitching? I do agree that those 13 games are a small sample size. On the other hand, I'm hopeful that the return of Bregman, the improved hitting of Mayer, Anthony, Rafaela, and Story, and using Yoshida and Ref as the DH will get the Sox back to decent hitting again. They could still lose games, however, if the pitching doesn't improve.

Past his prime does not jibe with Cy Young in 2024 or an ERA of 2.52 this season. That's why I keep harping on 2020, 2021, and 2022 as false indicators when they were in fact nonseasons because of the TJ surgery and other injuries. I will agree that 2023 wasn't necessarily a harbinger of his success in 2024 and again this year. On the other hand, it came after 11 starts in 3 seasons, so maybe he was a little rusty. I'm not saying the Braves were or are geniuses, but in this case I think they thought 2023 was a positive sign as the Sox clearly did not. In the Sox defense is your argument: they were just sick and tired of overpaying a pitcher whose last good year was 2018. I think that's how JH saw him. So, if Breslow wanted to keep Sale, it was going to be an uphill fight.

Agree on point 1. I think Atlanta was smarter, not luckier. Good point on Sox injuries, but they have not prevented him from contributing in both seasons. You could be right about the 1/4, come to think of it. Plus Giolito is helping this season. Crochet, including tonight, has been unreal. Sale in his prime.

Excellent win. Too early to say the lineup can make up for no Bregman and no Devers, but in the 13 games without Devers and Bregman, they've scored 59 runs or 4.5 runs per game. Season to date, they've scored 412 runs or 4.9 runs per game. Good attendance tonight, 35,691, against a so-so Cincinnati team. Maybe it was because of Crochet, but the Sox also averaged 35K per game against the Jays. Season to date the Sox have averaged 32,994, which is the highest since 2019 when it was 36,106 (thanks to being the year after the best Sox season ever). Is it possible the real fans at Fenway see something us nattering nabobs of negativism don't see? Possibly. Despite the 42-44 record, this year's Sox have some cool stuff. 4 rookies, all of whom have started multiple games and 2 of whom just might be as good as their prospect rankings. Rafaela better than ever. Abreu still good. Narvaez a revelation. Bregman, Crochet, and Chapman pricey but excellent acquisitions. Duran not hitting as well and fielding badly, but still exciting on the basepaths. He's tied for the MLB lead in triples with 9. A healthy Story--who woulda thunk? If he could only hit. Oh, wait. He has 20 rbi's in June and a .771 OPS--almost respectable. Bello best season ever with 7 quality starts in 13 starts and 3.41 ERA. Probably not, but those fans are coming to see something.

Wrong focus. The Braves obviously focused on 2023, in which Sale made 20 starts, and kind of ignored the 11 total starts in 2020, 2021, and 2022. What 2023 told them was that Sale's recovery, while not complete, was going in the right direction and his last 3 starts were pretty good: 15 IP, 2 ER. I don't remember how fast Sale's fast ball was that season or how good his slider and changeup looked, but I'm pretty sure Atlanta knew. Also, what about 2012-2018, 7 seasons when Sale was pretty doggone good? Don't those count? Obviously not, and that's a shame because during 2019-2023 Sale did not slip gradually into mediocrity. Quite the reverse. He was hurt, got the surgery, got hurt again, and finally had a semi-productive 2023 after 3 straight years when he did almost nothing. I think it is unarguable that the Braves were smarter than Breslow who, by the way, has made two other mistakes in Giolito and Buehler. By my count he is 1/4 acquiring starters. Plus, of course, he paid Sale's salary his first season with the Braves.

Fine.

Crochet right now is by far Breslow's best acquisition. In the 13 games before the ASG he starts 3 times. I'm counting on 3 wins. If he does that and the Sox win just 5 of the other 10 games, they will be at .500 at the ASG. That sounds like a long shot, but Bello and Giolito also start 3 games each over the next 13 games. Plus I'm encouraged by the hitting in the last 2 games. If the bullpen can regroup, we got a shot. After the ASG, Bregman should return and provide a big lift. Yoshida maybe a little lift. Anthony and Mayer could grow into MLB hitters right before our eyes.

Love the sarcasm. Sale was the worst trade in years if not decades. We paid his salary last season when he won the Cy Young for the Braves. This year he is/was their best starter for 1/2 season. With Sale the Sox make it to the postseason last season and again this season. And to do that was simplicity itself. Keep him. You gotta know when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em, and when to walk away.

A note to Alex Mayes-- These daily articles are terrific, including the ones I disagree with. They almost never fail to get a good discussion started because they are about good topic, fairly well researched, and usually well written.

Disagree on "every single FA" because to me dumping Bregman is a showstopper despite his quad issue and his huge salary. As for the rest, no problem. In fact, I love "pitching, pitching, and pitching." While I agree with dumping Story and Yoshida, I don't want to do that and pay their freaking salaries. Better to keep them. I like all four rookies--Narvaez, Mayer, Anthony, and even Campbell. Same goes for Rafaela and Abreu. Plus Bregman. If Campbell can both hit and play 1b, that's a pretty good lineup even with Story as SS/2b. Agree also on "spend big," which JH used to do but hasn't lately. Did you notice that the attendance for the Jays series was over 35,000/game?

Agree. Such is the nature of fandom.

Maybe in my decrepitude I've become more optimistic than you. The Astros active payroll is $168M to our $105M. You know why I like our defense, which will get even better when Bregman returns: Abreu, Rafaela, and Anthony in the OF, Bregman, Mayer, Story, and whoever at 1b, and Narvaez/Wong catching. And you seem unaware that opposing teams have done some egregious baserunning. Yesterday with the bases loaded, 2 outs, Buehler in a meltdown on the mound, and Bichette at the plate, Heinemann got picked off!!!!!! There have been a bunch of other miscues against us. Also errors. I do agree the hitting and pitching are both lacking, but I see the hitting and defense improving with the return of Bregman, especially, but also Yoshida. The tricky part is whether rookies Anthony and Mayer will get better, and I think they will. I see nothing comparable in the pitching staff although Dobbins return should help the rotation. On June 8 and 14 he went 11 IP vs the Yankees giving up 3 runs. Back to the IL. I definitely left out the likes of Crawford, Houck, Slaten, and Winckowski, all of whom were very useful last season. To Breslow's credit, both Crochet and Chapman have been excellent. Also this. We are finally seeing Campbell, Mayer, and Anthony, all highly touted. Narvaez is also a rookie, so Cora has been managing 4 rookies this season, all of whom have started. I'm optimistic about all 4, but believe, as you no doubt do, they are not yet where they can be. The Sox are 3 under .500 and 3 behind the last AL wild card, Seattle. Up ahead are 13 games against Cincy, @ the Nats, Rockies, and the Rays before the All-Star break. I think the Sox can go 7-6 and stay in the field competing for the postseason. When Bregman, Dobbins, and Yoshida return, they should be able to make a good run over the final 64 games.

No doubt. But the simple fact is that the Sox are ranked 18th in team ERA, 8th in runs scored, and 7th in team OPS. Plus to me it's significant that in the 6 game losing streak the Sox scored 16 runs, and in the 6 game winning streak they scored 17 runs with Devers still in the lineup. The Sox active payroll is $105M, 19th in MLB. Total payroll is $192M, 12th. When I look at the injured list, I see two bats, Bregman and Yoshida, who should make a difference in July and after. moonslav pointed out that Yohshida/Ref could be a heckuva DH combo. And all I see among the IL pitchers is Dobbins. I also like the defense with Abreu back and Bregman soon to return. Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu in the outfield, Narvaez/Wong catching, and Bregman, Mayer, Story, and Gonzalez/Toro/Campbell in the infield.

Exactly.

You are so full of it. Kike has been in MLB for 12 years, and 8 of them with the Dodgers. But his best year ever was 2021 with the Sox, which happens to have been the year the Sox made it to the ALCS. 2018 was the best season in Sox history, and the most games by any Sox player was 150 by JDM. The superstar AL MVP Betts only played 136 games. The very next season, 2019, with basically all the same players, Devers played 156, Bogey 155, Betts 150, etc. That team didn't even make the postseason. As for the callups, I suspect it's a combination of Cora, the CBO, and probably the pitching coach when pitchers are involved. But, hey, this is the Red Sox we're talking about--the team that has always had to trade for pitching because they are terrible at developing it.

We all love a winner, especially a winning team. And it can be painful rooting for a team below .500.

The contract may have changed Devers, but I think what changed him was losing 3b when Bregman arrived. That said, there have been zillions of prima donnas in MLB whose skills still made them valuable. Devers played 121 games on the 2018 Sox and 11 games in the postseason with 9 rbi's, 4th most on the team. I think we do miss Raffy, but have no problems with the trade. He was too pricey for a DH, especially when Yoshida can only be a DH. Plus I kind of like the lineup when Bregman returns. My biggest concern is the pitching.

MLB Draft is much more of a crapshoot than for the NFL or the NBA. I do not see Devers departure as the end of this season. Bregman and others on the IL can help this team. I believe Mayer and Anthony will improve this season. Rafaela already is. Story hard to tell, but he has led the Sox in rbi's this month. Toro/Gonzalez are better than Casas was before he ended his season by running to 1b. m, I like this lineup, offensively and defensively: Bregman 3b, Story/Mayer SS; Mayer/Story 2b; Toro/Gonzalez 1b, Narvaez/Wong catcher; Anthony LF, Rafaela CF, Abreu RF, and Yoshida/Ref/Duran as DH. Crochet, Bello, and now Giolito are now looking like 3 pretty good starters. When Dobbins returns, that's a decent 4th. The big question mark to me is the bullpen. Back to Devers. Since he joined the Giants, they are 4-7 and the Sox are 3-8. 9 of the Sox games were on the west coast. The Giants played 9 at home. I'm not saying the Sox have turned it around. How could I? But I am saying this season is not hopeless.

Hit it hard, right to Jays third baseman. Up to Toro not to waste Duran's triple.

Thanks. Still pretty awful.