Maxbialystock

Duran LF Narvaez C Anthony DH (!!) Toro 1b Abreu RF Story SS Mayer 3b Rafaela CF Hamilton 2b Pretty good defense. Six lefty bats against righty starter. Birdsong, age 23, has 48.1 innings, but just 5 starts in 16 games. ERA 2.79. He was a long reliever early on. His only quality start, 6 IP and 3 ER, was his latest game-- @ Colorado. Interestingly, Birdsong also pitched in 16 games last season, but all 16 were starts. ERA 4.75.

Game time is just around the corner--3 hours and change. Where the heck is everybody?

Woof is right!!!!! Thank goodness it's on a Friday night. Agree. May I add that my fix for Whitlock was to reduce his repertoire, and I'm pretty sure he didn't do that. What we see now is why they wanted him to start, but I think it's just about unanimous, fans and coaches alike, he needs to be a great reliever if can.

Astounding.

I think Casas is injury prone. Of course he's better than Toro or whoever, but last season he played just 63 games because he foolishly swung a baseball bat and this season 29 games because he unwisely ran to 1b. Agree Bregman is key. He was checked yesterday, but we don't know the results. If it means August, I agree that's a big problem. We agree on postseason chances, Agree the 8 wins in the last 10 games, primarily because of great pitching, is very small sample. But these were starts, not relief appearances, that won those games. When was the last time that happened for the Sox (I'm repeating myself)? I agree nothing is guaranteed with the pitching, but at least there is some hope. I didn't say the pitching was great because Devers left, I said it was great and we won games even without Devers hitting--also after he left. Do I need to add that Bregman and Abreu also missed all 10 games? So I'm hopeful the hitting will get better, maybe not good as when Raffy batted 2d and Bregman 3d. To me the question marks are; 1) how soon does Bregman return? 2) How do Mayer and Anthony do? 3) When does Yoshida return to DH along with Ref?

Meh. It's all on Campbell and not Cora or Breslow. He's got talent and a long term contract. As others have said, watching Campbell has become painful, so it's possible it's been painful for him too. With the security of that contract, he should be eager to work on his hitting at Worcester. Hamilton wasn't/isn't "getting reps." He's at 2b because his fielding is better. If he ever gets on base, he's also a good baserunner. He's a lefty bat in a righty pitcher universe--so it's remotely possible he might get a hit now and then.

Well said.

Both great points. I let his defense, which I like, blind me to the fact that he was signed for his bat. The best we can say about Story is that he's not Breslow's fault. Nor is Yoshida. Breslow is better than Bloom, plus he seems to have more money to work with.

Given your consistent optimism in the past, the above just doesn't jibe. For example, when was our 5th starter ever not a mess or near-mess? The team ERA is ranked 20th, so our 5th starter has absolutely no right to be decent. Story at 2b base fixes that problem. I don't care about Toro: 1) because he's still better than Casas was when he was hurt; 2) if he crashes, fill in with Gonzalez. Heck, if Campbell gets his swing back, move him to 1b. Right now I like the team we have, especially with Abreu back tonight and maybe Bregman before the ASG. Of course we miss Raffy, but you make a great case for Ref/Yoshida filling in. Those 8 of 10 wins were entirely because of the pitching, especially the rotation. When was the last time we saw that? 2018? So, yeah, a good 2d starter would be great, but I think chancy. As you and others have pointed out, no less than 6,428 AL teams are in the hunt for the wild card. Fine with me. Since 2021, the Sox really haven't been. On top of that, this team has grown on me. I even like he defense, the rookies, and the possibility, only that, that the pitching has turned around. You're to blame for my presumed giddiness. You laid down a lineup I like, especially Yoshida/Ref at DH.

Pretty good framework to start with. I agree it's important to include the salaries, but I wish you hadn't told me Story is getting $22M, $2M more than I thought he was getting.

espn, which of course makes me suspect.

Story has grown on me this season. I think his steadiness at SS has really helped. I remember one play when it think Toro was playing 3b and lost an easy pop fly. Story realized it and moved way over to get it. Plus I like him on the double plays. And maybe his hitting is getting better. He's still not worth his salary, but he's worth some of it. Thanks to your point about Yoshida/Ref at DH, I know understand better why Breslow was such a jerk about Raffy at DH with 1b open. He didn't need to save 1b. He needed to get more for paying Raffy and Yoshida $48M to be the DH. And, oh by the way, both Story and Yoshida are on Chaim Bloom. Breslow might a ruthless, uncaring maniac, but he's our maniac--and, as General Westmoreland famously said, I see light at the end of the tunnel.

That took awhile. Neither the infield or outfield will miss him--nor the lineup. Meanwhile, we now have four outfielders, all of whom have a claim on a spot--Abreu, Duran, Rafaela, and Anthony. Rafaela is hitting and defending better than Anthony, but Anthony ist der wunderkind.

Dead on. This team was and is a mystery. I like the lineup despite the loss of Devers--because Abreu, Bregman, and Yoshida should make up for him--and I definitely like the pitching. But based on first half, hitting or pitching or both could go down the drain. Devers, I hasten to add, was a perfect fit at DH and hitting before Bregman. Cora did that. But he couldn't fix the pitching.

Ruthless to me means don't be afraid to trade anyone away. I could not agree more that Breslow lied to Raffy and then drove him away by insisting he play 1b when he was thriving at DH. That said, I also think the arrival of Bregman meant Devers' days with the Sox were numbered because Raffy loved playing 3b and had been promised he could keep it. Cora ameliorated the situation by convincing Raffy to embrace DH, which absolutely worked. However, $30M/year for a DH is kind of pricey. Let's not forget that Yoshida is getting paid $18/year and can only DH. So the Sox were really paying $48M a year for their DH. Make sense?

His DWAR is +0.6, ranked 11th in MLB. But I would be delighted with Story at 2b and Mayer at SS, his natural position. Story was terrific at 2b his first season with the Sox.

I don't want Breslow to Mr Goodguy. He needs to be smart and, when necessary, ruthless. Despite the many times Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in Moneyball is seen in the locker room talking to the players, we should not forget that he was in fact ruthless in shaping the lineup and sending players to other teams. Cora is the guy running the team, and he's pretty good at it. Heck, he got Devers to buy into DH.

Right now I'm fine with a potential infield of Bregman at 3b, Mayer SS, Story 2b, and Toro 1b. You love defense, so do I need to remind you that Bregman, Mayer, and Story have all looked good on defense so far? The four infielders' overall WAR's, in order, are +2.9, +0.6 (in 21 games), +1.1, and +0.4. I don't like paying someone else to take Story, not when we don't have a second baseman remotely as good (although Hamilton is good on D). Campbell can't field and is struggling at the plate. Rafaela might do, but he's awfully good in CF. Let's see what Cora does tonight with Abreu back and Anthony getting lots RF time. If the outfield is Doran, Abreu, and Anthony, maybe Rafaela goes to the infield--or, as you opined, backup for both infield and outfield.

I am not trying to justify trading Devers. I wrote (and you ignored) that he was terrific as the DH and, when Bregman returned, would be terrific again. My points are two. First and foremost, the recent success is entirely because of the pitching and despite the absence of Abreu, Bregman, and now Devers. In fact, Devers did little to get those 8 wins. And did you not notice that the Sox, on a dreaded west coast trip, just took 2 of 3 in Seattle? My second point is that Bregman was the big difference maker for the scoring this year. Yes, absolutely, he and Raffy were a great combo at the 2 and 3 slots. Credit Cora for putting them there in the lineup and getting Raffy to buy into DH. And credit Breslow for signing Bregman. I agree the 8-2 record is a small sample. moon is going ape about the loss of Devers. My point is that, while Devers is definitely a loss, he was not the be all and end all of the 2025 Sox. As I keep harping on, the pitching is half the freaking team and their recent great starts in 8 of 10 games are great news. If that keeps up, I doubt Raffy will be missed--but I don't expect that. I'm with moonlav in believing that to get to the postseason the Sox hitting needs to get better and the loss of Devers doesn't help. On the other hand, as I keep saying, we were also missing Abreu and especially Bregman. Abreu plays tonight and Bregman is due back in July (I'm hoping early July). It helps that right now both catcher and 1b positions are hitting better than last year. It potentially helps that Mayer and Anthony are on the team and were very highly rated prospects. Mayer already looks pretty good. And I can't believe the #1 prospect in baseball won't deliver this season. I also like moonslav's notion of a DH combo of Yoshida and Refsnyder. Neither has Raffy's power, but both could deliver .850 OPS's. I could not agree more with you and everyone else that nothing this season is guaranteed. But that also includes the notion that the loss of Raffy prevents the 2025 Sox from getting to the postseason.

Very well said. I rooted for Raffy because of his hitting and what seemed to be his joyous attitude toward the game--and despite his low DWAR. Breslow screwed him first by lying about 3b and then by demanding he play 1b after he did so well as the DH. We now know replacing Casas was the easiest thing in the world. The fact is, Devers was having a banner season as DH because of his higher OPS and the fact that he didn't miss a game. Should he have learned English? Probably. But a lot of people struggle with new languages, plus interpreters were always readily available, plus he was getting paid a lot of money. I too am OK with his departure because I like the overall direction of the Sox. To me the turnaround by the pitching staff more than makes up for the loss of Devers. I am not saying he won't be missed because he will. But I'm upbeat about the rest of the lineup still with the Sox, especially after Abreu returns tonight and Bregman in July. moon makes a good case that a combo DH of Yoshida and Ref would ameliorate the loss of Devers. I look forward to the development of the rookies, including Narvaez who was a steal.

This is true of all managers since at least 1901. 50-50 hindsight rules.

Nice, but--and I am serious here--I've discussed a lot of his points in my previous posts. And so have you. I know I was the first to point out how Devers OPS fell off after Bregman went on the IL. OK, water under the bridge. Since you are the one responding to the OP, I offer 2 thoughts. The first is the Yoshida/Ref DH caper which you dreamt up. That alone makes the DH slot good if not great as it was the Raffy. Speaking of whom I was one of the few who said he was perfect as the DH because his OPS was better and because he MISSED NO GAMES. Now that the Sox pitching seems to be coming to life, I think the Sox would be ready for a great run when Bregman returns with Raffy as the DH. Breslow messed up twice. First he lied to Devers, then he told him to play 1b. On the other hand, I now believe Raffy was headed out the day Bregman was announced as the new Sox thirdbaseman. The second one is about run differentials in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. They were/are: +80 in 2021; -52 in 2022; -4 in 2023; +4 in 2024, and +18 in 2025. Devers was on all 4 of the previous teams, whose cumulative run differentials add up to +28 total or an average of +7 per season. Now it's +18 in half a season. So it's a bunch of crap that Devers was or is superman. We know Bregman has made a huge difference this year because he was on none of the first four teams, 2021-2024. However, I'm perfectly willing to agree that the Devers/Bregman combo worked like gangbusters. As for the rest of the article about who will step up, I have no disagreement but believe you already covered that ground. And ain't it nice he mentions that the pitching has picked up? So gracious of him. They are only half the freaking Sox roster!!!! 13 lineup players and 13 pitchers: it takes two to tango.

I think most of us thought it was time, that is, if the Sox want to win games. Right now Christian is a defensive liability--ditto hitting. That 8 year contract should soften the blow.

Thanks. Had no idea.

Of course the NL is better and the AL this year is mediocre. But the Sox play 19x4 = 76 games against AL East teams. Plus to me that tight shot group of 6 teams in the hunt for the 3d wild card means that, even if the Sox get hot, we can expect at least 1 of the other 5 to get hot. A good sign is that, of the those 5 teams, the Sox have the best run differential, +18. Giants finally win, 2-1. No runs scored or driven in by Devers. A pinch-hitter, Flores, drove in both runs with a double. Cleveland now .5 games back.