moonslav59

We traded Barnes for Bleier. (Not DFA.) Wong has been great, recently, but McGuire has also done a fine job. It looks like they will settle into a binky system where Wong goes 3/5 and McGuire 2/5. That could flip over the course of the season. 1B has been one of our worst positions, so far, and it's been a long time since we had a significant plus first baseman. At least the defense is solid from Casas. I think Casas will improve, and I hope it happens, soon, but having Turner as his back-up and many fine players to slide into DH makes this roster construction way better than last year's, in this area. 2B/SS is going to be all about returning players. Losing Story and Mondesi and then Chang is something few GMs plan for. They may happen to have better middle IF depth on the farm that are ML ready, but it's hard to plan for 3 guys out at the same time. Arroyo is starting to look better, but Kike at SS is a real concern. Looks like we will play the waiting game here, as some will blame Bloom for not signing someone like Andrus or even adding Iggy a week ago. Fair criticism, if you ask me. 3B: It looks like Devers is not getting fat after the signing or putting his feet up and losing his "edge." Devers forevers came true! The OF has to be one of the most amazing turn-around/overhauls in Sox or MLB history. We went from near worst to maybe the best with just two additions- one of which has been on the IL for half the start of 2023. The Dugo-Duran turnarounds or upticks, whatever you want to call them, are stunning. Yoshida is looking like an MVP, the last couple weeks. I'm talking AL MVP- not Sox MVP. With Kike and Tapia in the wings and Duval due back, all I can say is WOW! Turner has been very good and is known for heating up over the second half of the season. Stay tuned. The pen has been a savior, and if we can get something from Joely or a SP'er moving to the pen, it could even get better. The rotation, as we all know, is going to be the key to where we end up by season's end. I still have some optimism we will find the right mix. It would be nice if it did not have to include Houck and or Whitlock, which would make our pen a top 5 pen in MLB, IMO, but I'm not sure that is possible. Perhaps a deadline deal can get us to the promiseland.

That's a great example of small sample size judging, and how even 5 weeks of baseball is rather small in the grand scheme of things. Also, it shows the importance of beating the teams you need to pass or stay ahead of in the standings: each game is a 2 game swing.

We certainly have found the groove. I hope we can keep it going and going. As much as I'm loving this, I have to think about some serious flaws we still have not solved- namely our SP'ers. I'm more and more convinced that Sale can give us what we need the rest of the year- maybe not an ace, but more and more solid and dependable as the year progresses. The rest of the rotation is one big question mark, with even Pivetta not being the solid #4/5 he has been since joining the Sox. I'm still hopeful enough of our starters will improve by just enough to contend, but we need to start seeing more proof and more consistency for somebody- anybody! What's not to love about the pen, the line-up and the promise of returning players like Story, Duvall, Mondesi, Joely and maybe even something useful from Paxton, who got the win with Woo, despite walking 5. I'm still cautiously optimistic about the season, and I certainly feel better now than a week ago, but I know some struggles lie ahead for us, unless our starters take control and soon.

TBR is for real and were expected to be good. The O's have been building up a mighty foundation of young players that look to be finally maturing. I thought they were a year or two away, and they made very few moves to even replace what they traded away at last summer's deadline. To me, the big LOL is the Yanks tied for the 16th best record in MLB (also the 14th, but 16th sounds better.)

Woo won 14-2 to get to .500 (15-15.) 4-5 Palka w 2 HRs & 5 rbi 3-6 Alfaro w 2B 3-4 Sogard w BB 2-4 Hamilton w 2 BB 1-3 Goodrum w 3 BB 1-2 ABreu w 2 BB 1-4 Fitzy w HR & BB POR split and is 18-7 Game 1 Liu threw a no-hitter (7 IP CG) 2BB & 6K After being demoted on soxprospects.com, Kavadas went 2-4 w 2B & HR (rare no BBs) Rafaela 2-4 w 3 RBI Yorke 0-2 w 2 BB Game 2: lost 2-1 Rosier 2-2 w BB GRE won 10-9 (They are 10-14) 3-5 Jordan w BB 3-6 Paulino w HR 3-4 Lopez w BB 2-6 Mayer w 2B 1-5 Hickey w HR & SF SAL lost 5-2 (They are 11-13.) 2-3 Coffey w BB 0-3 Bleis w SF and rbi de la Rosa 4 IP 3H, 1ER, 4BB, 4K

Paxton went 5 IP and got the win. He was a bit wild. 2 Hits 2 ER 5 BB 4 K

Some games still left to play, but as of right now, we are essentially tied for the 5th best record in MLB. - TBR -4.5 BAL -5.0 ATL -7.0 PIT -7.5 TEX, LAD, BOS -8.0 MIL, MIN, TOR -8.5 LAA -9.0 AZ -9.5 SD -10 HOU, NYM, NYY

Nice to see we can win without scoring 7.

Many felt Abreu was the better half of that trade.

You jinxed him!

I guess he figured a utility player would swing and miss.

The guy we got back is almost identical: 13.2 IP 14 Hits 3 BBs 9 Runns

So, who built up the pen (finally?) Yes, the current group is playing well, despite 2 of our best hitters (Story & Duvall) and 2 of our best defenders (Story & Mondesi) being on the IL. It's all voodoo magic.

soxprospects updated their rankings with no Casas or Kelly, as they graduated. YES! Drohan passed Perales, as well as many others. I caught grief for suggesting it might happen by their summer update. 1. Mayer 2. Blies 3. Rafaela 4. Yorke (jumped Mata) 5. Drohan (jumped Mata, Romero, Perales, Anthony, Walter and Paulino) 6. Mata 7. Romero (jumped Perales) 8. Perales 9. Anthony (jumped Paulino & Walter) 10. Walter 11. Paulino 12. Lugo 13. Valdez (jumped Wikelman) 14. Wikelman 15. Hickey (jumped 3) 16. E R-C 17. Jordan Jumped Murphy) 18. Murphy 19. Hamilton (jumped 6) 20. Abreu (up 3) 21. Coffey (up 1) 22. Meidroth (up 7) Biggest drops: Kavadas 20>27 Koss 28>34 Bonaci 22>25

Cora has moved from L-R-L-R-L-R-L-R-L to L-L-R-L-L-R-L-L-R With so many lefties tearing it up, why not? If Dugo could have played and McGuire catch, we might have seen 8 lefties, if they sat Kike or Turner.

Was the she the one who "flew over the cuckoo's nest?"

MLB has us 15th on the Power Rankings (up 4). We have a better record and just swept the Jays, who they have 9th (down 4). The Cubs, Yanks, Angels and Mets are also ahead of us.

Speaking of Kimmi, anyone know what's up? Should we file a missing persons report?

It's amazing how so many pitchers developed this new pitch virtually overnight.

I'm not sure why having more stuff to pack to move from Woo to Boston should matter.

Like who?

Maybe the pitch clock has messed with some defenders' ability to stay focused on defense. It does seem like there are more blunders, and I've never seen more catcher interference calls in a whole year, as I've seen in 5 weeks. The point remains, even if the overall level of play has dropped, we have done better ve tough teams than almost anyone else, and have played double the tougher teams than some teams. I think that helps determine just how good a team is beyond just looking at a win- loss record. I find it interesting that the guy who keeps calling "scoreboard" as in it's all about winning, now says that winning is happening because of a watered downn league. It is no longer only about wins. I've said all along, one reason I think we have a good shot at the playoffs was because other teams have major issues, too. It's easy to focus just on the Sox and all their faults, and think that is all that goes into determining a team's chances. Don't the other teams matter? We've been trying to point out how difficult it is to win when you play more good teams than others. How that is any different from claiming we are now winning because the teams we are beating are watered down or not as good as their record indicates is the same thing- just in reverse. It's no big deal, except the guy can't stop bringing up how sick he is hearing about the strength of our division and schedule, is now doing the same thing.

Wow, I would have never known MIA beat my Bucks, because they played better. Thanks. Yes, maybe all winning teams are not "good teams," but we are talking comparatively. Besides, I thought you judged everything by wins and losses- no excuses- no if and or buts. In most cases, having the same record by beating winning teams as another team beating lesser winning teams shows some extra value. I'm fine with you disagreeing, but saying you don't "get it" is something you won't explain. How can you not, at least understand why it means something to others?

Bogey, Betts and JD never did this! (LOL)

I'd still rather us have Castillo than SEA, although I'm not sure I'd want to pay the price for him.