moonslav59

Just like that, Abreu is almost to .750!

Exactly. That begs the question, "How would DD have handled massive budget cuts?" And, did the decline really begin when DD was let go or more about when the budget was cut, radically?

Of course not, but the point was about where the start of the downfall began. Here is crude way to look at the trend: Winning % changes: -.148 '18>'19 -.119 '19>'20 +.168 '20>'21 -.087 '21>'22 -.000 '22>'23 By far, the biggest drop was from '18 to '19, and we all realize the high of 2018 was astounding, and the 84 win 2019 season was second only to 2021 since 2018. Still, it was a clear heavy decline, and DD or no DD, the drop in 2020 was written in stone, once the budget was set so low. DD might have found a way to keep Betts, but I doubt it. Word was, he almost traded him in the summer of 2019. Had he found a way to keep him, it could only have happened, if he traded 2-3 from Bogey, Nate JD and or Sale. In hindsight, that would have been better, but we'd still have sucked in 2020 with DD, too. Could DD have cobbled together a team like 2021? I won't go there. Too many variables involved.

Yes. This year, we are playing after they just started a losing stretch.

Indeed. It's yoga day.

It didn't go downhill in 2019?

How would DD have done better in 2020, with that budget and no ERod or Sale? DD is not really known for finding bargain basement players who over perform. (This is no slight on DD. I loved having him as our GM, and have no regrets, despite the negative effect his reign had on following seasons. It was well worth it.)

I said the same before 2013, when we "replaced" AGon & Beckett (plus Crawford's cost) with Dempster, Napoli, S Drew and Vic.

Like Bogey & Nate?

We can't totally chalk it up to JH being in a stingy mood, that winter. While he did fail to pay for Kimbrel & Kelly or any like replacements, he increased the budget from 2018 to 2019, extended Sale & Bogey and re-signed Nate. We just put our resources in the wrong places, IMO, although those other 3 we did sign looked deserving. (I know, many felt Sale was not.)

They have a RIF in AAA. RIchard Fitts.

Bad or not, winning teams almost always struggle vs one or two bad teams, each year. More often than not, winning teams beat up on bad teams, with a few sweeps included. Last April, PIT swept us and were off to a very good start beyond just beating us, but eventually, they fell back down to earth. They started off 2024 going 5-0 and 8-2. Last year, they started out 5-2 and were 20-8 on APR 29th. They followed that with a 7 game losing streak and 1-11 stretch. Sometimes, it seems, when you play certain teams might make a big difference. I wish we played the Astros in early April, this year. They might have 4 of their 5 missing SP'ers back, when we face them, later this year.

The views of the bridges is unmatched, IMO.

Those errors are certainly concerning, but he's made way more than 3 plays on balls hardly any of CF'ers even come close to making.

Blunders due to lack of focus are unforgivable in MLB.

No doubt, he struggled in AA, but even through those hard times in '22 and '23, his OBP was always very nice. One could say, "So was Dalbec's." OBP: .370 in AA '22 .386 in AA '23/.364 in AAA '23 .500 in AAA in '24 Note: OBP often does not translate to MLB very well.

Early was finally touched up a bit. 3.2 IP 5 H 2 ER 0 BB 5 K Still, he's off to a good start.

Yes, true. The money for Betts was spent before 2020 even arrived, let alone Story & Yoshida. We could have had Mookie for about what we paid for Sale, Bogey & Nate.

If I were a carpenter... Cam Booser called up by Red Sox WWW.MLB.COM PITTSBURGH -- Cam Booser will likely never forget the date: Feb. 21, 2021. Booser had officially moved on from professional baseball more than three years prior, but through a bit of fate, he found himself on a mound for the first time since then. He wasn’t playing a game. He

The Sox defense is dehumanizing.

We are also 4th in the AL in SBs (just 1 from 3rd.)

Grissom went 1-3 in Woo's big win, tonight. Kavadas stole the show, as Larry pointed out: 3-3 w 2 HRs and 2 HBP (4 runs/4RBI) Westbrook went 2-2 w a dinger and 4 rbi and a BB Meidroth keeps hitting 2-4 w BB POR scored in the bottom of the 9th to win 3-2 on a single by Mayer, who went 3-5 Teel 1-3 w HR & BB Anthony 0-3 w 2BB Olivarez started: 4 IP, 3H, 2 ER but 5 BB and 3K

I'm not sure what the mixed metaphor was. Our top 13 pitchers have been amazing.

Kudos also should go out to our catchers, who seem to have gained the confidence of the staff and are maximizing their talents. Then, on top of that, they are hitting very well (great for catchers.) .922 Wong (43 PAs) No BBs! 3 HRs and 8 RBI .791 McGuire (44 PAs) Before tonight's 2-5 game from Wong, the Sox were T3rd in catcher wRC+ at 141! 5th in OBP .353 3rd in SLG .507 4th in OPS at .859 (McGuire is also 1.000 as a PH in 3 PAs, but Wong is .000 as a DH.) I had a feeling they were going to do better on offense, this year. The defense is hard to evaluate, but the staff is doing much better.

Of our top 13 pitchers by IP (6.2 or more,) only4 have an ERA over 3.27 and none are over 4.91. 4.91 Joely 4.63 Wink 4.50 Martin Only 2 are in the 3's: 3.27 Anderson 3.04 Bello Only 2 are in the 2's 2.70 Jansen 2.08 Weissert 6 are under 1.96 1.96 Whitlock 1.35 Houck 1.23 Bernardino 0.82 Pivetta 0.73 Slaten 0.42 Crawford The #14-17 pitchers have 15.1 IP and allowed 14 ERs (no help from the D, as there were 4 Unearned runs in those 15.1 innings.) Slaten is 5th on the team in IP, which is more than Pivetta, Wink and Anderson. Another fantastic job by a Sox SP'ers. This is getting beyond a "small sample size." Bello has 5 GS, and like last year, started a bit slowly and is improving. Crawford has been incredible in 4 GS, despite the 8 BB in 21 IP. Houck has 28 Ks and just 2 BBs in 26.2 IP. (That's the same IP as Bello but in 1 less start!) Whitlock & Pivetta were off to very good starts before going on the IL. Maybe they can come back, soon Combined: 29.1 IP 22 Hits 8 BB 30 Ks 5 ERs (1.53 ERA) Criswell and Bernardino did pretty well in their starts/openers: 6 IP 5 Hits 2 BB 6 Ks 2 ERs (3.00 ERA) This has to be one of the most surprising starts by a MLB rotation in a very long time.