moonslav59

I'm not sure if we'd have even one more win had we not had Brasier or Bleier, but I want to think we would have several more.

Or, get the last 9 outs.

It's the only way to get through 6 IP without seeing the "third time through."

Mr. Human Element: "Man, that Casas guy sure has been in a big slump. Mr. Stat Geek: "But, he's our hottest hitter over the last 2 weeks with an OPS over 1.000!" Mr. Human Element: "I don't use those fancy metrics." Mr. Stat Geek: "Well, he does have a .345 BA in those 2 weeks." Mr. Human Element: "Well, they must be weak hits, because my eyes are telling me something different."

Many of the trades made a while back were thought to be near busts, busts or total busts, before the prospect portion of the trades started to come to fruition. Many are still in the minors, but they seem to look more promising. Some do not look any more promising or are out of our farm system. Here is a look at just some of the players and how they are doing. Betts for Verdugo Having his career year), Downs (DFA'd) and Wong (of to a very impressive start in 2023.) Workman (fizzled) and Hembree (frazzled) for Pivetta (having his worst season with the Sox after 2.3 decent seasons) and Seabold (bye-bye.) M Moreland (kinda over the hill) for Potts (gone) & Rosario (gone) Kevin Pillar for Jacob Wallace (traded for Wyatt Mills.) Benintendi for Cordero (DFA'd), Winckowski (off to a good start), FValdez & GGambrell (not impressive-still in system) and Luis de la Rosa (off to a nice start with Salem.) Renfroe for JBJ (DFA'd), Binelas (not doing well) and David Hamilton (off to a very good start in '23.) Vazquez (2 month rental and .585 OPS w HOU) for E Valdez (doing well for the Sox) and W Abreu (heating up and was supposed to be the best one of the two.) Diekman (was DFA'd by CWS) for McGuire (.798 OPS in first 60 games w BOS) Groome for Hosmer + $$$ (gone) and Ferguson (.390 OBP w 18 SBs with GRE/ last year .366 OBP and 61 SBs in HOU system) and Rosier (.801 OPS w POR w 18 SBs.)

You might convince yourself you see and tell "the whole story." BTW, the whole truth is there is no such thing as a jinx, and I never put any game in the win column before it was over, even if there was such a thing as a jinx, but the whole truth is some believe in jinx.

No doubt, and when every single small sample size shows bad numbers with McGuire, it does take away some from the smallness of the position taken. I will add that 4 of our SP'ers have not pitched to McGuire, this year, it kind of skews the data. No Houck No Whitlock No Paxton No Crawford as a starter Kluber has one start with Wong. Bello only has 5 starts. There is so much imbalance, it's really all about 2 pitchers: Pivetta and Sale. I'm not saying the numbers don't worry me: they do! I'm hoping this was just "the adjustment period," and it's time to show what we got.

Glass half full vs Old Red.

Not even close. It's always been about large enough sample sizes with the same pitchers, which are rare for 2 catchers. Do try to keep up. My post was directed towards the fickleness of small sample sizes.

Can you explain this? Crawford: 1.26 with McGuire (.412 OPSA) 6.35 with Wong (.854 OPSA) Winck to lesser extent: 1.86 w McGuire 3.00 w Wong I think these two probably saw Wong in the minors. Want more small sample size wonders? Whitlock 0.00 w Wong in 2022 6.19 w Wong in 2023 Should we pull Wong, when Jansen comes in? 0.00 w McGuire 7.71 w McGuire Oh, the wonders of small sample sizes.

He literally looked like a guy they grabbed off the street- an everyday, working class kinda guy. He had his brief moment of fame, well maybe not real brief, but like most mortals, he came back down to earth with the rest of us plebians.

No problem on trying to find whatever works.

It seems strange just how many of our pitchers are so far below their career marks and recent 2-3 year marks. I do think new battery mates plays a role, but it can't be everything. Tough schedule, pitch clock, cold weather? Those can only bring you so far. It's hard to pinpoint why this is happening, but I can't bring myself to think Vaz and Plawecki would have made a big impact. Kluber: Age? 35 3.83 ERA 36 4.34 ERA 37 6.41 ERA Pivetta: Reverting back to Philly Pivetta? 5.50 w Philly 4.55 last 2 years w BOS 6.23 in 2023 Whitlock: Injury/finding groove? 2.73 2021-2022 6.19 2023 Houck: Injury? Shifting roles? 3.02 ('20-'22) 5.26 2023 Career: 2.68 RP/3.81 SP

For argument's sake, let's say we DFA or trade Beier and Brasier and demote Bernardino, we have an interesting mix of SP'ers, a ton of "long men" and a few set-up guys. (Note: some longmen could do fine in shorter roles or a mix.) Staring 5: Sale, Bello, Paxton, Houck and Kluber Long Men: Whitlock, Winckowski, Crawford and Pivetta Short Men: Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Joely That's a nice looking long man group, and if Joely shines and jansen finds his groove, again, a pretty nice group of short men, too. As always, the rotation is the biggest question mark.

I think they already chose Kluber, but certainly Pivetta can win back the 5 slot (assuming Whitlock goes to the pen.) Maybe both Kluber and Pivetta end up in the pen. Maybe one gets traded. As bad as our staff has been, I think the healthy top 13 look decent enough, but I'm projecting some pitchers to regress back to their norms.

It must be nice to have a pretty long stretch of good pitching and a ring that you feel you helped a team win. That is more than most baseball players can say. I wish him luck, going forward, but yes, his time was up- IMO, long ago.

Well, as of now, we don't have 5 solid SP'ers with recent 2023 success. Sale, Bello and Paxton have earned a next start. Houck should continue. Whitlock's situation and possible use from the pen, makes his slot iffy. I think we can run Kluber out there a few more times, or until someone else shows they belong. After 2-3 more slots, I might be joining some who seemingly want him gone, now. Maybe Kluber can give us something from the pen.

Let's not forget Brasier's moments of glory: Brasier posted a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 regular-season innings in 2018 and then a 1.04 ERA in 8 1/3 postseason innings to help the Sox win the title.

They may wait to see how lefty Joely does.

Will this be the 13 man staff at some point in May? Sale, Bello, Paxton, Houck, Whitlock, Kluber, Pivetta Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Winckowski, Crawford, Joely No: Brasier (DFA.trade), Bleier (DFA/trade)and Bernardino (AAA)

I agree with you on this. I'm just saying I understand the other view and do think some individual pitchers might do better in the 9th vs tougher hitters than the 7th vs weaker ones. Maybe very few.

Looks like the lefty RP'er, Joely Rodriguez, will get the call. That may mean bleier's days are numbered.

There is a way to keep Kluber on the 26 while allowing all these kids to pitch on the big club, and one step was taken, today: Brasier was DFA's. Bernardino can be optioned to AAA. Next is Bleier.

FINALLY! I think this is worthy of its own thread. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/red-sox-designate-ryan-brasier-for-assignment.html

Acceptable or not, the 5 years are up, or just about up, if you skip over 2020 and start with 2019. It was never a full blown rebuild, either, as we did not sell in 2019 or 2021, and did not "sell enough" in 2022.