Maxbialystock

He stunk his first at bat vs lefty Sam Moll. But I agree he and Anthony both look like the real deal. If they are this season, Devers will be a distant figure in the rear view mirror. Already the Sox have 1 too many outfielders, and I'm not including Ref. Pitching overall was excellent for the Sox.

5 IP, 2 ER. Maybe you spoke too soon.

Same answer to the question, "who's giving the Giants a big boost in 14 games so far?" Giants are 4-10 with Raffy and the Sox are 4-10 without Raffy and without Bregman. With Abreu back, Anthony's DH'ing more. His June OPS is .667 with 6 rbi's. Raffy's OPS with the Giants is .677 with 5 rbi's.

Toro's OPS vs righties is .837 and Gonzalez's is 1.074 against lefties. Assuming that Mayer and Anthony continue to adapt to MLB pitching, Bregman returns and stays healthy, etc, I honestly don't see a compelling need for any position players. The pitching, however, could use some help.

Every MLB team with any sense relies on prospects to keep their payroll reasonable and to balance the huge salaries they might pay to their best players. The Sox paid Mookie a total of $33M for 7 seasons and an accumulated WAR of 42.4. But they have also acquired plenty of players who started with big salaries. Thanks to Anthony, Mayer, Narvaez, possibly Campbell, possibly Casas, Rafaela, Abreu, and Bello, the Sox can afford a bunch of higher priced guys. The trick is to sign the right ones.

Interesting. I was hoping Fitts could come back for 2-3 innings. Even if Bello does the whole 6 innings today, that leaves a big gap for tonight. Neither team has a game scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.

Game suspended. 2-1 Sox, top of the 4th.

Six straight sinkers/4 seamers all high in the zone or above. For a K.

Looks like a ballgame despite the 2 runs in the 1st.

Agree. No credit to Breslow they are Sox, of course, but shirley he had these two in mind when he went looking for someone to take Devers off his hands. Plus Cora has pretty much kept Anthony in Devers old slot, batting 2d. And guess what? Neither of them is a defensive liability.

Unfortunately, I agree with you. I rooted for Raffy as our DH this year, and I thought he was more sinned against than sinning. But since the trade the only story out is that it was the dumbest move in the history of MLB to let such a truly great hitter go. Nobody but nobody said maybe the Sox needed to do it. Nobody but nobody said that, while he was missed, it was especially tough because Bregman was already on the IL.

Isn't it great how Fitts is mowing them down tonight? He has to because behind him is the worst defense in the history of MLB. All those errors. Just awful.

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.