moonslav59

The more we can save Whitlock & Houck for the dog days of summer, the better.

Whitlock is second in IP from the pen. I'm not sure what more is expected. They said they want to stretch him out, so he can't pitch everyday. I'm not sure what the rush is to max out Whitlock and Houck's IP before we reach September, let alone October. This team was supposed to win between 70-85 games, but are on pace to win 98, and yet somehow, we're being run by a pack of idiots. I, for one, am glad we have leaders looking at the long game and not short term gratification that might for players into situations not conducive to success. Maybe part of the reason Whitlock has done so well, is that Cora has only placed him in situations where he had the best chances for success, and he's been building his confidence by not overusing him right out of the gate.

3 seasons in one month. 0-3 9-0 8-8 I was looking at our schedule. We have an incredibly hard 2 month stretch from May 31st to August 1st: 14 NYY 11 TOR 7 HOU 7 KCR (best record in MLB) 6 TB (all away) 3 @ OAK 3 @ LAA 3 PHI 2 @ ATL Nobody easy.

Tough loss. We had our chances.

Damn!

Bogey Time!

Nice!

Yes, that 2 run HR was brutal.

That might be the major reason we have not sent Cordero down already.

I'm not sure any of us know if Sox management feels Duran is ML ready, right now. Even if they do, they may want him to actually play a few live games before throwing him in the hot Boston spot light. If they think he's ready, I think they give Renfroe another 2-3 weeks, minimum, assuming Santana replaces Cordero. GMs do not usually make decisions based on just a 68 PA sample size during the coldest month of the season. I, for one, am glad they don't. That's not to say I'm not really concerned about a few slumping players. I am, but there are several good reasons to wait, at least until AAA is up and running for a few days, and the possible replacement players have a few real games under their belts.

I'm usually one to want to wait on longer sample sizes, but Cordero should be sent down, very soon. 2 reasons we waited: 1. The alt site is not playing live games, so anyone called up is not really in sinc.(AAA starts, now.) 2. Santana agreed to have opt out date extended into May, presumably because he was not ready. He seems like the obvious choice- yes, even over Duran or Chavis due to his opt out clause and his great numbers in 2018. They may wait for Santana to actually play a few games before calling him up, so I'm guessing 3-7 days more. Much of the league is struggling offensively. There is no guarantee the guy we call up will do well, but it would be awfully hard to do worse than what Cordero has been doing. I don't see Renfroe being sent down, anytime soon. He has a longer and better history than Cordero, especially vs LHPs. I do think the concern level is growing on him, too. Maybe he gets 2-3 more weeks, but probably even longer. I'm not sure the Sox brass thinks Duran is ready. They may want him to get a month of live action in AAA before considering a call-up for him. Chavis may be called up before him.

Santana extended his opt out into May. I think he'll get a call-up. It seems like an easy choice to send Cordero down for some work on that swing. Brasier is on the IL. Any idea when he comes back? Since Brice is out of options, Taylor will likely be the one sent down. Sale has a long rehab ahead, so there is little to be gained by trying to figure out who is demoted from the rotation, and who is demoted to AAA or DFA'd. We can be pretty certain these players will get a serious look in 2021: Houck as a starter or long man,depending on how well our starters do, and how healthy they remain. Bazardo should get plenty of chances, especially if Taylor and Brice keep struggling. These players may only see time, if there is an injury, serious slump or as September call-ups: Michael Chavis Jarren Duran Jeter Downs (not on 40 man roster) Connor Seabold Colten Brewer Jonathan Arauz Connor Wong Marcus Wilson Hudson Potts Jeisson Rosario Ronaldo Hernandez Need to be added to 40 Man Roster to see action: Tristan Casas Yairo Munoz Josh Ockimey Chris Hermann Ryan Weber Kyle Hart, Matt Hall, Kaleb Ort, Rayel Espinal, Stephen Gonsalves, Seth Blair, Bobby Poyner, Marcus Walden, Daniel Gossett, John Schreiber, Josh Winckowski, AJ Politi, Thaddeus Ward, Frank German, Durbin Feltman

Pitching Numbers (By mots PAs against) Pitcher and OPS against 143 Eovaldi .647 109 Richards .773 106 Perez .746 104 Pivetta .603 89 ERod .643 52 Andriese .577 50 Barnes .351 50 Taylor .993 48 Whitlock .319 46 Sawamura .792 45 Houck .806 43 Ottavino 42 DHern .796 40 Valdez .368 33 Brice .792 5 Bazardo .400 We've used 16 pitchers, this year, and Bazardo was only for one game. (Houck for 3.) What a difference from last year's merry-go-round.

Some serious slumping bats the last 7 days. .562 team OPS 1.228 Devers 1.157 JD .710 Verdugo .600 Bogey .389 Vaz .388 Kike .381 Renfroe .350 Arroyo .327 Dalbec .229 Marwin 16 PAs from Plawecki, Cordero and some pitchers combine for a .000 OPS. Last 14 Days .414 Vaz .410 Renfroe .250 Plawecki .170 Cordero

5.4 CIN 5.2 AZ 5.0 HOU 4.8 LAA 4.8 BOS 4.7 LAD 4.7 ATL 4.6 MN 4.5 STL 4.5 TOR 15. TBR 4.2 23. NYY 3.9 27. BAL 3.6 ERA Leaders: 2.72 SDP 2.90 NYM 2.95 SFG 2.98 LAD 3.09 NYY 3.27 MIL 3.40 MIA 3.42TOR 3.51 BOS 3.62 CWS 15. BAL 4.01 18. TBR 4.20

I don't disagree, but I'll add that most teams' pitching looks better than expected due to offense being way down across the board. Maybe every team with a struggling O is the new norm.

Nobody in the ALE is more than 2 games under.500. It's the only division like that.

I just said it would be "hard" since we all beat each other up 57 times each.

We were talking about the top 4 ALE teams and their chances at winning 90 games each.

If we put our best 4 hitters 1-2-3-4, the next 5 will find it hard to scratch across some runs. Studies show the #5 slot is ultra important, so to me, putting our best 4 in the top 5 slots is best. That means someone else should hit somewhere in the top 5. Maybe the third slot is best, but anywhere but 2, 4 and 5 is okay with me.

I have to think the Yanks will make some additions, this summer. They have some gaping holes.

When each of the 4 ALE teams play 57 of 162 games vs each other (35%), it's going to be hard for even 2 teams to win 90. 3 would be very difficult.

I kinda like the idea of Arroyo leading off for a while. Our bottom order is in such a funk, lengthening the line-up seems like a good idea.

Lat 5 games: 44 IP 28 H 9 BB 61 K 7 ER 1.43 ERA 0.840 WHIP 12.5 K/9

700 did. He called it a 90 season.