moonslav59

All other SP'ers have an ERA over 5.00 as a starter.

I do miss the steadiness that Bogey brought to the team. It's no secret I prefer great defensive SSs, but the guy was a clear plus to the team. Last year, I questioned the clubhouse leadership as appearing to come up short, but it's hard to know exactly what was going on and who was most at fault. Many were upset when we traded Vaz and mentioned his leadership qualities and how trading him (and the way we handled telling him about the trade) took the steam out of clubhouse morale. I was thinking, "what morale?" I think the team needed a change, and my views on Cora are such that I don't think he was a major reason we flopped, last year. It looks like the team is more cohesive and energetic. As bad as the defense has been, it does not seem to be from a lack of focus and effort. There seem to be a few less mental blunders on the basepaths and defense, but that is not supported by any data I know of. I have a better gut feeling about this team than 2022, and it's not just based on that 8 game streak. Had we gone 4-4 in that stretch, we'd be at .500 and I'd still have optimism. I lost my optimism very early, last year. It's not something I'm proud of, but it just seemed like the writing was on the wall. It was like the team expected to be snake-bitten every night.

To me, a big part about instincts is sensing, perhaps by seeing pitch location and bat angle, where the ball is going to be hit and already leaning towards that direction or getting a lightning quick jump on the ball hit while also choosing the exact right path from your first step. It seems Duran has improved on this, but it's hard to see from a TV. I'm not arguing he was taught instincts, but they sure seem to have improved. "Aggressiveness" can explain some of it, like going all out after sinking line drives or balls hit behind you, but it seems to be more than that.

No doubt. It's not like he's a rookie after one goos 5 IP game, either.

Agreed. I hope it wasn't all the hype and talk and ST'ing invite going to his head. He still has time to work it out, but it is concerning, now.

I've heard this, often, and sometimes long swingers can excel in the minors and are exposed in the majors, but I'm not so sure his swing is extremely long. He does have 109 non homer hits in the minors to go along with those 33 bombs. A .268 BA is not all that bad, these days. I seriously doubt he can come close to his .440 OBP in the minors at the ML level, but .350 and 30 bombs per 650 PAs would make him a keeper. Hell, .333 and 24 bombs would, too.

If you had to win tonight's game to make the playoffs, who would you want? A. Kluber B. Pivetta C. Paxton (Maybe, if we knew Whitlock was healthy, I'd vote D. Whitlock.)

Normally, I'd totally agree and am a champion of not using small sample size for anything, but the rest are so horrible, he's #3 on my list by default.

Then, what happened? It can't be just learning how to track flying objects.

Some questioned the lack of clubhouse leadership, last season. I know stat geeks are not supposed to even talk about human element stuff, but the team seems to be in better hands, this year. No knock on JD, Vaz, Nate & Bogey, but it did seem like the 2022 team lacked something, and that falls on Cora, too.

It might have some effect on the total numbers, but it is not likely to be as major as people down here seem to think it is. BTW, the Astros SP'ers have been dropping like flies, but they keep bringing up young studs that end up not being a downtick.

As "meh" as he looked in AA, last year, after his call-up, he still had an awesome season in the minors- one of the best. He still has more to prove, but it is good to see him finding a groove at a much tougher level on the farm.

Who taught Duran better instincts and how to better track flyballs?

Central Time. I had to take a break from the hyper-negativism often found on game threads in hard times.

I'm very hopeful Bello can and will break the SP'er curse on our farm. He needs to get the BBs under control to be a great one, but he looks pretty damn good, now. Had anyone claimed our top 3 starters, in mid May, would be Sale, Bello and Paxton, how much laughter would have ensued?

I don't disagree, but it's hard to know how either will do when told, give us just 2-3 innings, tonight- not 5-7. I agree with the choice made. Personally, I might have given Pivetta one more start and Whitlock some time from the pen, but jerking Whit around is not a good idea.

Top Sox pitchers since 1999 by season fWAR: 1. Pedro '99 Trade 2. Pedro '20 Trade 3. Sale '17 Trade 4. Pedro '03 Trade 5. Pedro '02 Trade 6. Schill '04 Trade 7. Sale '18 Trade 8. Nate '21 Trade 9. Beck '07 Trade 10. Pedro '01 Trade Top 10: ALL TRADES!!!!! 11. Lester '09 12. Porcello '16 Trade 13. Pedro '04 Trade 14. Lester '10 15. Lowe '02 16. Schill '06 Trade 17. Price "16 FA 18. Beck '08 Trade 19. Lester '08 20. Beck '09 Trade 21. ERod '21 Trade 22. Lester '14 23. Beck '11 Trade 24. ERod '19 Trade 25. Wake '03 FA 26. Sale '19 Trade 27. Lackey '10 FA 28. Buch '15 29. Arroyo '29 Waivers 30. Lester '13 Note how our major FA AP signings have not produced great results. $210M on Price and we get one top season at #17 best. $85M on Lackey and about the same results. This is not evidence to prove we can only win by trading for a top pitcher, but it has been our best method, to date.

Top fWAR Pitchers on the Sox since 1999 (The Pedro Trade) 46 Pedro- trade 28 Lester 21 Beckett- trade 19 Wake- FA 18 Sale- trade 16 Lowe 15 Schill- trade 15 ERod- trade 14 Buch 14 Papelbon 13 Porcello- trade 11 Price- FA 9 Nate- trade 9 Lacket- FA 8 Dice-K- IFA Some notes on the REDs: Lowe ended up with a 39.4 career fWAR, so had we kept him, we would have jumped some slots, but he did spend 7+ years in BOS, which is more than some of those we traded for had. Lester ended up with a 49.2 fWAR, career and spent 8+ yrs w BOS. Papelbon was a RP'er. Wake's high total was due, in part, to his longevity & 17 seasons with the Sox.

Top fWAR Pitchers on the Sox since 1999 (The Pedro Trade) 46 Pedro- trade 28 Lester 21 Beckett- trade 19 Wake- FA 18 Sale- trade 16 Lowe 15 Schill- trade 15 ERod- trade 14 Buch 14 Papelbon 13 Porcello- trade 11 Price- FA 9 Nate- trade 9 Lacket- FA 8 Dice-K- IFA 11 of top 15 were from outside our system. Now, the data that blows it all up: our only homegrown pitcher in the top 13 seasons by a Sox pitcher since 1999 was Lester in 2009 at #11. Pedro '99 Pedro '20 Sale '17 Pedro '03 Pedro '02 Schill '04 Sale '18 Nate '21 Beck '07 Pedro '01 Top 10: ALL TRADES!!!!! Wait... it continues... 11. Lester '09 12. Porcello '16 Trade 13. Pedro '04 Trade 14. Lester '10 15. Lowe '02 16. Schill '06 Trade 17. Price "16 FA 18. Beck '08 Trade 19. Lester '08 20. Beck '09 Trade 21. ERod '21 Trade 22. Lester '14 23. Beck '11 Trade 24 ERod '19 Trade 25 Wake '03 FA 26 Sale '19 Trade 27 Lackey '10 FA 28 Buch '15 29 Arroyo '29 Waivers 30 Lester '13 Top 27 seasons: 19 by trade 3 by FA 5 from our system

He's had very good success as he ages. That does not mean he can't lose it, quickly and at any moment, but he had one of his hottest stretches of his career over the last half of 2022, and is known as a second half hitter, so I'm optimistic he will stay ahead of what JD gave us last year- and maybe by a lot.

The DH keeps pitchers from being plunked.

LOL, after tonight... .795 Turner .794 JD Too funny!

WOO let up 7 in the 10th, but Dermody had a nice start: 6.0, 6, 0, 2, 3 Alfaro homered and walked. Hamilton triple, but went 1-5. Allen stole his 22nd base in 22 attempts. POR is losing 9-4 and has just 4 hits. Yorke with a dinger and 3 rbi Kavadas with another BB GRE is losing 3-2, late, but Bastardo pitched a gem: 6.0, 1, 0, 2, 7 Bonaci 3-4 is now up to .900. SAL is up 4-3, late as Anthony and Ravelo have 2 hits each.

Is he one of those "gems" we heard Bloom was so good at finding?

Turner may just pass JD, tonight!