moonslav59

Who would ever think bringing back 1968 is a good idea?

Some numbers from the best teams in MLB, as of now... 7-8-9 OPS KCR .721 .726 .689 .725 from 7-9 slots, but .642 from 5 slot and .469 from 6 slot! MIL .778 .426 .566 (.640 7-9) Also, .665 from 4 slot and .614 from 5 slot! A's .510 .539 .507 (.528 7-9, also .624 from 2 slot and .686 fro 4 slot.) SFG .606 .582 .414 (.612 7-7) LAD .706 .559 .531 (.658 7-9) SOX .461 .653 .427 (.522 7-7 and .648 from 6 slot.)

Renfroe finally gave us something. Too bad it wasn't enough. Better luck, today!

There are probably 6-7 games we won that were very loseable, so it's hard for me to harp on the ones that got away.

The context has to include the fact that nearly every team has sub .700 and even sub .500 and .400 hitters in their 7-8-9 slots. We are not really losing ground due to our 7-8-9's being much worse than others, but it is an area we can improve on.

Santana agreed to extend his opt out until early May. Since we lose him, if we don't call him up, he seems like the obvious choice. The guy had an awesome 2018 season. Duran can wait. I see Brasier or Bazardo/Houck replacing Taylor before too long. I've been saying Brice's days are numbered for too long, so I'm not calling that one. (He's out of options.) As bad as several Sox players have looked, I only see Franchy, Taylor and Brice as possible demotions or DFA's in Brice's case.

Give those guys a few games, and we'll start seeing some call-ups and demotions. It looks like Renfroe may have extended his chance. Franchy is all but demoted already. Anyone know when Brasier is ready to come off the IL?

I don't disagree, and Bloom did leave about $4.5M on the under tax line budget for just such an addition, but don't be surprised, if he remains stingy at the deadline. He's not going to give up any really good prospect(s) for a 2 month rental. I think the 2021 plan was to build for 2022 and beyond while trying at put an exciting team on the field that would build fan interest. Winning more than expected puts a lot of pressure on Bloom to "do something," but I'm not expecting us to add a real stud pitcher, even if we are right in the thick of a playoff race. It would be easier for Bloom, if we were 10 down at the deadline. Being sellers might greatly improve our longer term outlook, especially if we have a solid draft, this year. I think the plan was, that if we look like we can make a strong playoff push, adding Sale, mid summer, would be "that guy." Moving a current starter to the pen to make room for Sale would, in theory, bolster the pen, too, and maybe the $4.5M could be spent on lesser additions that won't cost us anything very promising from the farm- they'd be more like salary dumps. I could be wrong. They may decide to go over the tax line, if they really think we have a legitimate chance. A lot is going to happen between now and the deadline, including a brutal 2 month stretch from May 31st to August 1st, where we play no patsies and 2 or more series vs the very best in the AL. If we can hold our own in those two months, maybe- just maybe... 5/31 to 8/1 14 NYY 11 TOR 7 HOU 7 KCR (best record in MLB) 6 TB (all away) 3 @ OAK 3 @ LAA 3 PHI 2 @ ATL

Many people would give their left nut to play professional ball. Getting paid for it, even at minor league pay,would be icing on the cake. Everyone who signs a contract knows the rules. They agree to them and make out better than 99% of other workers around the world. Does it seem right they can be bartered, traded or cut on a moments notice? Not really, but the trade off is worth it for most, or they'd never have signed.

I didn't need someone else to post to disagree with you. You've been harping on team management from nearly day one. No words being "put in your mouth." The fact is Whitlock has been handled just right. His success is a testiment to Cora, Bloom & Co., yet you have ripped them to shreds for not using him more. The kid is returning from TJS and is certainly on an innings limited plan, this year- same with Houck. We have 5 starters, all of which have shown signs of being okay to pretty good, and they all deserved a few starts to show what they got. Management has stated they want to stretch Whitlock out, so he hasn't been pitching everyday, but when he does pitch, he goes 2+ innings. He's nearly the leader in RP'er innings on the team, yet you complain he hasn't been used enough, especially in high leverage situations. Am I mischaracterizing your position, here? No. I never called you names. I simply disagreed with you, as I have quite a bit, lately. The team is overperforming and very exciting to watch. If I have lost your respect because I haven't "f***ing jumped" on your almost total Sox-bashing bandwagon, then so be it. I happy Cora hasn't over-used Whitlock & Houck or set them up for failure. I have given my reasons, and I think they have merit. I don't expect or want everyone to agree with me.

I guess Cora never read the "reports" on Whitlock, until it was too late. We should be 20-8, right now.

We are going to hit some rough patches. The key is limiting and shortening them. For that, we need stoppers. ERod and Eoavldi have shown signs of that, but we probably need at least one more starter to step it up, bigtime.

In many other ways, the common worker has it worse than pro sports players.

Agreed. It's not a good sign for when we reach that 2 month stretch with no cupcakes. We play 7 vs DET & BAL, next. 5-2 may not be enough.

I'd hate to see what you'd be posting, if we were 11-17 or worse.

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.