moonslav59

Even teams with first round byes?

I put him in parenthesis on purpose, but with 5 other pitchers out hurt, not having Danish does matter a tiny bit.

As much as some dislike Brasier, Sawamura and others, I just don't see us DFA'ing anyone, except maye Diekman, but even he has a 2 year deal, so I'm not sure Bloom cuts ties. Barnes is in a similar boat. If we can keep him on the IL through the roster crunch, it won't be an issue, but I seriously doubt we DFA him. Perhaps we can trade him for a similar salary, but I can't see a fit/match anywhere. Davis is out of options. Brasier has an option, so maybe he could be demoted, despite his recent decency. I could see us trade 1-2 RP'ers (maybe Brasier and or Sawamura) for faraway prospects to make room for returning pitchers and future acquisitions for the pen. 8 man pen: No options Strahm Barnes Davis Diekman Options Houck Whitlock Schreiber Brasier Sawamura Taylor Danish (IL) Crawford, Seabold, Wink, Bello Ort, Valdez For the most part, our RP'ers without options are worse than those with options. Something has to give, because there isn't room for our best 8. If we add 1-2 more arms, several good pitchers will be demoted or traded.

Ort's high BB rate scares the bejesus out of me. I have to think he's the first sent back, once a pitcher comes off the IL. We may not see Ort again.

I’d like to see a comp with their career norms

You think we trade Kike, then? (I've suggest trading him on BTV a few times, recently.) Since Kike can play 2B, SS and 3B, I think we'd trade Arroyo before Kike, despite Arroyo's longer team control. If it were up to me, I'd DFA JBJ, once I knew Kike was 100%, but that won't happen.

They are not a weak defensive team. We just got lucky, there. It is a feat to go 2-2 without... Devers Nate Sale Wacha Whitlock Hill Kike (Danish & Seabold, too)

But... I'll never admit it!

It appears Duran and Ref are locked into a platoon, even as Kike is on the IL. I doubt they make either FT, when he returns, so to me, it's Kike vs JBJ, and the choice is clear, assuming Kike hits like he was in his most recent 113 PAs (a sample size much larger than Duran & Ref's). .746 OPS Of course, if he hits like JBJ, maybe they platoon those two, as well. I think they work Kike back, slowly, and see what happens, but I think they view him as a FT player. He has a .737 OPS since 2015, and while that is not great, it beats JBJ's .720 mark since 2015, and Kike can play excellent D, too. Since 2017: .741 Kike .680 JBJ Since 2019: .723 Kike .649 JBJ Since 2021: .735 Kike .524 JBJ

Trade him while his stock is high.

It would be nice. He's 30 years old and has 2 IP in the bigs. His 4.9 BB/9 rate has always been the thorn, and this year has seen very little improvement (4.2). The 12.5 K/9 rate is nice, though. Best OPSA in Woo .539 Seabold .546 German (.493 AA) .548 Ort .562 Wink .570 Kelly .594 Feliz .611 Valdez (.573 MLB) .619 Bello (.460 AA)

Who has the most "Late & Close" chances, this year? Story is 6th. PAs and OPS might surprise some... 56 Bogey .797 52 Devers .883 47 Verdugo .422 45 JBJ .484 44 JD .652 44 Story .415 41 Vaz .831 41 Dalbec .571 (17 Refsnyder 1.009) The two guys (Story & Verdugo) who seem to have been the "most clutch" by the "eye test" have actually been the worst in the circumstances provided by the "late & close" stat. Late & Close are Plate Appearances in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck. How about "High Leverage?" 75 Verdugo .671 61 Bogey .600 60 Story .698 56 Devers .931 54 JD M .536 46 Vaz .813 44 Dalbec .561 42 JBJ .703 35 Cordero .719 34 Arroyo .717 32 Kik .745 (18 Refsnyder .361) These numbers seem to support the eye test a little more, but some are also surprising. Devers, Vaz & Kike are the best 3. JD, Dalbec & Bogey are the worst 3. Story & Dugo are about in the middle upper half.

As I've pointed out, before, to those who said this... If you take away everyone's "hottest week," Story is still right up there among the Sox RBI leaders. Also, he had RBIs in 6 of those 7 games, and guess which 6 we won. Are those 6 wins worth less than others, just because they are bunched up?

.. This is what happens when pitching slumps.

Thanks. I fixed it.

JBJ, Diekman & Barnes for Gallo & Chapman LOL

Yup, and we don't even have a union, here.

We have a teacher at my school who is late everyday, misses mandatory meetings and is late or fails to do required paperwork on a regular basis. I always say he gives me a great sense of job security.

He gives the other umps a great feeling of job security.

Every picture tells a story. Don't it?

Must be the pressure. Can defenses slump?

It's called a pitching slump.

Second thoughts on Boone doing better, this year?

I predicted last night's win before gametime w Crawford starting.

Vazadocious!