The Sox are now second in the AL in run differential, recently passing the TBR and CWS. Only the Yanks remain ahead of us, but without Judge the gap is closing quickly.
The Sox are 7th in all MLB in this area.
3 runs behind PIT
19 behind the Cubs
42 behind the NYY
Admit that your negative fixation with Rafaela is beyond absurd.
A guy who fails to move a runner over happens all the time in MLB. It's not a "blunder" or even a mistake. It's what happens in baseball. That damn round ball moving over 90 mph is very hard to hit where you want it to go.
...and to me, that recency effect keeps the hope alive that he can or might rebound at any minute. It is also what gives him some trade value.... just not a lot and maybe "not enough" to make trading him, now worth it.
You don't hear all the sign Bregman crowd bringing up his name anymore.
The sign Bogey crowd has been silent for years.
When Brez makes a mistake, the name of that player is broadcast far and wide and often.
Gotta like getting right back to winning.
Yanks and Rays won, but lots of others lost.
SEA, MIN, CWS, CLE & BAL lost.
Sox passed CLE in the standings. 1 GB CWS. Sox in 2nd WC slot, now.
-4.5 from NYY (4 loss column)
-6.5 from TBR (6 loss column)
Brannon his his 17th dinger, and maybe he'll be moved to AAA, soon. His OPS is up to .969. He can play 1B/DH. I'm not sure he offers any value as a 3rd string catcher.
Duran has a negative FWAR. It's one thing to stretch it to say He's "paid off" but you also added "handsomely even at the plate."
That's untrue. fangraphs has -17 batting and +1.4 on D
bWAR has -0.4 Offense and +0.4 on D.
BTW, he's not a "dud or loser," he has just sucked this year. I think he can turn it around. I hope he does.
I'm just not going to pretend he's been a plus, so far in 2026.
We are 12th in runs scored since May 22nd.
Why May 22nd? Because that splits the current season in two. This is not a #12 ranking for just the win streak: it's half the season to date.
Okay, we're still 24th in HRs in that time frame BUT 13th in SLG% (still top tier.)
We are 15th in OPS. I know you think hitting is 75+% of the equation, but a #15 hitting team and top 5 on D and pitching has a chance, and that's before any "buy, buy buys."
We can beat any AL team or at least be very close to 50-50 on a series outlook.
Remember, the playoffs are often about your 3 best SP'ers and 2 best RP'ers, and we excel in both of those areas.
Our offense has been playing like a top 8-14 team in almost every category for over a month.
Duran has made some hard and long outs recently.
I'm not writing him off. I think he should be platooned and demoted to the 9 hole, until he strings together a longer stretch of hard-hitting.
Plus, we now have other who are hitting well. We didn't have other options, before.
Well posters here and the video you posted speak to the idea that these guys cannot play through pain or there is something nebulous going on beyond the spoken point about "avoiding distractions."
We got one poster calling Mayer a marshmallow and lying about Anthony's injury being to his "pinky," so I think some- maybe not you- are assuming or implying Anthony is fragile or won't play through minor pain.
With Mayer, at least there is a longer history of missing time. I'm not jumping ship on Roman. I'd be fine trading Mayer but not to dump him.