Emp9

He starting to hit outside pitches with more power now. One can imagine he starts to walk more because of this, which will definitely help his OBP. Teams shy away from pitching him inside, now he's taking them yard on pitches outside.... We've seen this movie before, it's called 'Take Your Base'.

Right. Continue to ignore the caveats. Well played sir.

The only bright spot concerning Kelly & Buchholz is that at least it's still early and we have time to address acquiring another SP. We all knew we should be looking for an upgrade anyhow, even going back to last season, wether that be #3,#2,or a #1, that's a whole different argument. But this will force the issue I think. It sucks we can't depend on these guys, but it's great that we can do something about it.

Opposite field HR for Mookie!

Don't think we've seen a HR like that from Betts ever. On his lead-off HR, that pitch wasn't inside, it was tailling out side and down. He didn't pull it (not sure he could've anyhow)... AND hit it dead CF (420-Ish?). It's a sign that he's developing more power going the other way... Or straight away at least.

Got it. Still confusing as hell. Not every thread has longevity anyways, they tend to moderate themselves.

Man, Wright is just straight dealin' this season. I wanted him in our rotation as our #5, over Kelly, but I never expected him to pitch like our #1. The wild pitches/passed balls don't seem to matter at all. What a bright ray of sunshine he's been through a turbulent cluster of thunder storms that this rotation sometimes is.

I really can't speak for Moon, but to me The Realistic Threads were an attempt to have a realistic discussion about Red Sox baseball. Free of trolls, political views, outrageous hyperbole, preposterous trade proposals, etc. Where observations were welcome and factually dug a little deeper into without the need of personal attacks (or at least not as many personal attacks). At the same time, being aware of budget constraints and not forgoing all reason when it comes to free agent signings, trades, track records, history, expectations, our farm system, our graduates, including all other teams as well. That doesn't mean there were no heated arguments or disagreements. But It always served as a decent sanctuary for posters who just simply wanted to talk baseball and leave out that other noise. Besides centering around budgetary criteria, there wasn't any actual set topic. Surprisingly, nobody ever seemed to mind or take issue with it's topical fluctuation or vagueness. If I were a Moderator, I would concentrate my efforts on keeping things civil, and not worry so much about it's subject matter (unless it's not baseball related of course) or where to file it under.

Good to know. Thnx.

I believe it was Moon who last season suggested a move to the BP for Buch with his usual pros & cons. I thought it was intetesting and maybe not the worst idea. Although in that scenario, Buch wouldn't be moved due to him sucking, it was a move of strength aftr signing another top SP and to preserve Buch's health and at the same time bolstering the BP. Me? I can see both Buch & Kelly in the BP, w/ ERod and (a trade for) a top SP taking their slots. Still.

I'm curious to see JBJ after his hit streak. I really wanted him to make it to atleast 30 (30 seems to be the cut off on the list). Does XB go further?

Kelly has much to prove yet, but if he can come clise to his last 8 2015 starts you'll hear no complaints from me. I carry my baseball games with me on my phone. In comany, it's still ok to check highlights or even a few innings from time to time. The condensed games are a nice catch up if you must entertain.

It's said no injury, so BP long relief is my guess. It's possible he may get one more start. Too bad we can't go back in time and sign this mysterious FA SP that was projected to be a better risk than Clay Buchholz for the same money or less.

... but evidently Ortiz is sitting so i guess it all equals out.

Bautista is serving his one game suspension tonight.... So who's the big winner? Looks like we are!

Lol... "Stupid like a fox!" Hahaha

I don't see why we couldn't hypothetically trade cost-controllable players for cost-controllable player(s) in return. One of ERod/Kelly performing like #3a-#2b sure would help. Need consistency, no melt downs. A lot still needs answering before I dub this a playoff caliber rotation.

Did he top out at 94? I saw him hit 92 at the most, but they don't leave MPH on screen too long so i guess could've missed it if he did. Maybe Buch can figure things out in long relief role? I've been so disappointed not having ERod in the rotation, so to get him back is exciting.

Yep. They just don't sell it as much.

Knowing Buchholz it may not be so phantom.

Soooo...., the Sox are winless without Mookie Betts Leading off.

I think a handful of teams had Statcast last season (4?). I remember hearing launch angle and exit velocity a little bit starting last year. I originally thought Statcast was going to be used to collect more defensive data ... Like good/poor jumps from an Outfielder and amass that data. I gotta admit, launch angle and exit velocity ... pretty sexy terminology.

TJS wouldn't surprise me. He has some kind of precursor signs last season. And if that's the case then YES! His option would NOT be picked up : ) This would also be a No-Brainer.

Perhaps Buchholz is hiding an injury or isn't really all that healthy? He does have a track record of trying to pitch through injury. He does have a track record for pitching really well when he's 100%. We'll see how it all unfolds soon enough. With Buch or w/out Buch, I'd still like to see a trade for a TOTR SP go down. Although thats still a ways off.

I think the Sox are simply trying to give Swihart as many MLB ABs as possible and keep proving himself offense-wise. Being in AAA doesn't help him do that. We already know he can catch, he did well last season. I highly doubt 6 cold, rainy, windy games in April proved to be some deciding factor on their view of Swi as a catcher. Is he as good Vaz on defense and pitch framing? Absolutely not. Not sure anyone is. It aslo helps that the Sox offense was top 3 in the league going back 2nd half of last season and looked decent this season from the get-go. Sox can afford to forgo some offense at the catcher position. Not every team can or would prefer to. The Sox FO have clearly said they don't like changing a players position without them having somewhat mastered their original position (concerning prospects). They've publicly stated that, so one has to atleast consider taking that statement at face value. For the time being, I'm fine with Swihart as our LF.