moonslav59

Sunday's games all start at 3:05 Eastern Time BOS (Sale) @ WSH (Adon) TBR (Wacha) @ NYY (Taillon) BAL (Zimmerman) @ TOR (Ryu) LAA (Detmers) @ SEA (Anderson)

Just win, Baby!

Going against a no name SP'er scares me as much as the ace. We worked hard this season to get to here. Win and we're in. Don't mess this up! Best case scenario, the Yanks lose, and have to play someone before coming to Boston to play us.

I met my wife during the 2004 World Series. She became a Sox and baseball fan, then. She asks about the games and listens when I give her summaries, but she usually only watches a little here and there, until the playoffs come around.

After 161 games... OPS Leaders .956 Schwarber (131 ABs) .892 Iggy (56) .875 Devers .867 Bogey .867 JD M .863 Shaw (41) .823 Renfroe .794 Dalbec .789 Kike .772 Verdugo .765 Arroyo (164) .737 Plawecki .661 Vazquez Pitching Most IP / ERA 182 Eovaldi 3.75 157 ERod 4.77 154 Pivetta 4.56 136 Richards 4.71 113 Perez 4.78 40 Sale 2.90 72 Whitlock 1.99 69 Houck 3.52 62 Ottavino 4.21 55 Barnes 3.79 51 Sawamura 3.16 48 Taylor 3.40 40 DHern 3.38 40 Valdez 5.85 25 Robles 3.70 17 Davis 4.86 12 Brasier 1.50

161 games and we are tied with the Yanks! 1 ahead of the Jays. Maybe 1 ahead of the M's, too, if they win tonight. What a season! I know some of you get upset when you hear a fan say, "I'll still be happy, if we lose," but I won't lie. I'll be upset, for a bit, but this season was very enjoyable- no matter what happens here on out.

We may have to use Eovaldi from the pen, if needed, but I'm hopeful we won't.

I took a break from the game thread and actually got my wife to sit down and watch the game with me. Great game- although a heart attack. We have some guys stepping up. Just win, baby. One at a time!

A snake bite start to this one. Not good.

This SFG team is not the same as one from years back, but that team has a history fo not looking all that good, then once they make the playoffs, they take care of business. The Dodgers do have a play-in game that may mess their pitching up. I'd put the Rays as faves, too. 1. Rays 2. Dodgers 3. Giants 4. Astros 5. Brewers 6. White Sox 7. AL WC winner 8. Braves

One thing has been pretty constant, all year: the Rays are DAMN GOOD!

Must wins are mostly losses (for everybody).

Well, finally, we face a righty. Watch Devers and Scwarbs go nutty!

That's gotta hurt the Yankee psyche.

I guess the Jays were NOT Means tested.

It doesn't even take analyzing anything to see that, let alone overanalyzing.

I'm not saying Boone should not have yanked Monty before BLowe's second HR, but by your logic, he should have yanked him in the first or before the second inning. He did get 4 of the next 5 guys out- 2 on Ks, so maybe the pen guy would have done worse. It's not like all your pen guys have been lights out, and yanking him in the first would have really put them to the test. Agreed, Boome blundered with Brandon.

The only guy Bloom signed for more than 1 year was Kike. More brilliance. Okay, Sawamura, too, but that was under $2M a year.

Nick, nobody is saying give him the option. Nobody. You keep acting like somebody is. Also, yes, it's $10M, but with the $1.5M buyout, it is really an $8.5M choice. Maybe that does not change anyone's mind, but it's not really a $10M option. That $1.5M counted against the 2021 luxury tax for a reason.

It's fine to disagree with how Sale was used upon his return. I think I remember a poster or two thought we should just not pitch him at all, this year- something I did not support. We brought him back slowly and might have even made sure he faced easier opponents his first 3 starts. After his first start (5 IP), he was given an extra day's rest. After his second start (5 IP), another extra day's rest. After his third start, again another extra day off. Then, he started vs TBR twice, with just normal rest between, but after his 6 IP in the first game, he only lasted to the 4th in the first game he started without an extra day's rest. Call that overanalyzing, and maybe it is, but it is a fact. Then COVID, and he got 11 days "off." Start 6 (5 IP) followed by start 7 on normal rest (5 IP, 6 H, 2BB, 2 ER). His last start came with an extra day's rest and he went into the 6th on 85 pitches. I'm just curious on what here points to why he looks ready to pitch on short rest. He's only started on normal rest, twice this year and 6 times with extra rest. I know it's a big game, and throwing caution to the wind is often a strategy team's use, but we need an arm Sunday, too, so I'm not sensing the great need for him to go Saturday and not Sunday. Also, pitching Sale, today would force Eovaldi to start on short rest, tomorrow with no Sale in the pen.

I'm not making things up. Sale falls apart after a certain amount of pitches, as do several starters of ours. Call that overanalyzing all you want, but every manager in MLB watches these types of things, and for good reason. Yes, it would be great to be able to stop babying him - and other SP'ers, too, but it's not some freaky opinion to think now is not the time you push Sale beyond what he has shown he can do. Maybe it would work. I'm not claiming to know the answer. I'm just giving my opinion and try to back it up with evidence when I have some. It's not "all figured out," and my point all along has actually been to say nothing is all figured out and you can't predict what will happen based on recent trends and results. Things Can turn on a dime is my position not things WILL change on a dime. They've been turning on a dime, all year, and the Yanks are showing that, right now. Will the dime flip again over the last 1-2 games? I sure don't know, but you seem to know, so tell me...

With Means going for the O's, today, this might be the best chance to put the Jays out of it. I doubt the Angels can win, again, but stranger things have happened. Hoping the Rays hold on, today, but it just comes down to us needing to win. I know, I now just win baby is overanalyzing, but apparently, that's what I do best.

Y.W.

It's all nice and fluffy to just proclaim Sale is ready to stop being babied, but the guy can't get past 60-70 pitches, and it's NOT overanalyzing to have the position using him on short rest is a major risk, especially when you consider, as you pointed out, Sunday is more likely an elimination game while today's is certainly not. Sale has been pitching well. Better than most of our starters, but he's coming off TJS and is not likely going to do better today, on short rest, than tomorrow on normal rest. It's a very simple concept that is not really all that hard to figure out.

Montgomery sucked. As much as I think Boone sucks, too, he didn't allow Montgomery to suck. BTW, maybe the players you felt were better than ours and others, like Montgomery, just are not as good as you thought. Many Yankee players are coming up short, when it is most needed. You can blame injuries every year, but it's time to realize you have a team loaded with injury prone players who just may not be as good as you think, even when healthy. No doubt, this team has talent, but you need to start adding reliable players not all cut from the same cookie cutter Cashman uses every winter.