moonslav59

I never heard about this. It reminds me of when Manny yelled at Youk, and many fans took Youk's side, when later, several players said Youk needed a "talking to."

Good point. Or, we limit Houk's innings by starting him in the pen, but them move him to the rotation and slide Pivetta to the pen. Yes, lot's of what ifs. Could Whitlock even rise to a rotation slot?

If, and it's a big if, 6 of our 7 starting pitchers are healthy, one will certainly be used in the pen. Maybe Pivetta fits the profile best of all. Maybe the pen is one way to limit Houck's innings. If, miracles of miracles, all 7 are healthy at once, our pen could actually be a net plus.

Yes, basically Perez started 20% of our games and might come close to that, this year. Eovaldi started 15%- maybe the same there. Houck started 5%. 26 of our 60 starts were from Perez, Eovaldi, Houck & Pivetta- starters expected to start some, this year. 34 out of 60 starts (57%) of our starts were from pitchers that might not start a single game in 2021 (hopefully). This is an area for massive improvement. There is no way anyone can characterize the 2021 rotation as the same as 2020, except for adding Richards. The pen added Ottavino, Andriese and others and lost Workman and Hembree- Push? Our offense in 2021 should be better than 2020. We lost JBJ, who had a good year in 2020. We added Renfroe and EHern, and will have Dalbec all season. I won't get into expecting rebounds from JD, Devers and Beni, but it's not a stretch to think we may be a top 3-5 scoring team in the AL. Runs scored in 2020: 315 NYY- added nothing to offense (lost Gardner) 306 CWS- added Adam Eaton 302 TOR- added George Springer & Marcus Semien 294 LAA- added nothing to offense 292 BOS- added Renfroe & EHern (lost JBJ) 289 TBR- added no offense 279 HOU- added no offense (lost Springer) 274 OAK- added no offense 274 BAL 269 MN 254 SEA 249 DET 248 KCR & CLE 224 TX

Yes, just because Munoz might be a slightly better choice, the Sox may not want to DFA or trade someone, just to make room for Munoz to be called up. I was a bit surprised Munoz cleared waivers.

Here is a look at our IP leaders for 2020 and 2019 combined (2020) 203 (0) ERod 174 (0) Porcello 147 (0) Sale 116 (48)Eovaldi 107 (0) Price 91 (13) Walden 87 (23) Barnes 84 (43) Weber 81 (25) Brasier 80 (26) Brewer 78 (7) Workman 62 (62) Perez 56 (0) Velazquez 55 (7) Taylor 54 (0) Cashner 49 (10) Hembree 40 (0) Johnson 39 (8) DHern Just 2020 Listed (ERA+): 62 Perez 104 48 Eovaldi 126 43 Weber 107 30 Valdez 144 30 Mazza 98 29 Godley 58 26 Brewer 84 25 Brasier 119 23 Barnes 109 20 Springs 67 20 Brice 79 17 Houck 895 16 Osich 83 14 Covey 67 & Kickham 62 13 Stock101 & Walden 50 11 Hart 32 10 Pivetta 267 10 Hembree 86 9 M Hall 26 8 DHern 224 8 Triggs 108 7 Taylor 49 & Workman 120 11 from 5 players combined 0 Sale 0 ERod 0 Richards 0 Ottavino 0 Andriese 0 Whitlock If the 13 players in Red pitch most of our 2021 innings, it's easy to see how we can see a major improvement over the 2020 numbers. The players in RED only pitched 37% of our innings in 2020. (193/524)

mlb-mlbpa-reach-deal-on-health-and-safety-protocols

But all this happened starting at age 27- same as Pivetta is now. Hassler ERA+ 91 up to age 26 112 ages 27-30 135 ages 28-30 Pivetta 79 up to age 27 84 ages 25-27

I think their defense is already ML ready, but I like Munoz better than both. (I have high hopes for Rosario, but not in 2021.)

Yes, he became a RP'er with a few spot starts after 1977, so the comp is a bit off, but yes, he did fairly well for several years: ERA+ 140 w BOS in '78 (102 with KC time combined 88 IP) 84 in '79 (96 IP) 147 in '80 (95 IP 114 in '81 (72 IP) 146 in '82 (71 IP)

God, I hope so!

Could this be a major "get?"

I'm not so sure about being "one of the first." Barring major injuries or stinky starts to the season, Chavis and Arauz are already on the 40 man roster and would likely be called up as IF help. As an OF'er, he has a better chance. Duran, Gettys and Puello are also not on the 40 man roster, but my guess is, we add an OF'er before day one. (EHern can play OF, if a need arises, or maybe they stick Chavis in LF, sometimes. As I've said many times, nobody will lose any sleep, if we have to DFA our 40th man on the roster, or even out 34th man, to make room for Munoz, so if he is doing well, he could be among the first to get a shot. Our current depth chart (40 and no 40 man players) 2B EHern Arroyo Chavis Munoz-Arauz (Downs) SS Bogaerts Arroyo EHern Arauz Munoz 3B Devers Dalbec Arroyo Munoz OF Verdugo Beni Renfroe EHern JD (in NL parks only) Wilson-Rosario Munoz-Chavis Gettys-Puello (Duran)

Doctor Doom

Think of how many MLB pitchers had similar numbers and went on to do nothing better. I'm very hopeful on Pivetta, as hope springs eternal, this time of year, but he's not the only guy that could come through for us in 2021. ERod, Richards, Houck and maybe even Eovaldi and/or Perez could surprise us. If we could be in the race when Sale comes back, who knows...

He certainly has potential- but maybe potential for harm, too.

That would be a diamond mine.

He wouldn't be a bad get, and he would not cost much, but he and Puig are all I hear about.

803 IP and 3.73 would be a gold mine.

Why are you so intent on the Sox going after misfits? You latch onto a name and cling to it.

Wouldn't it be something, if Richards and Pivetta exploded onto the Sox Nation scene in 2021?

Kinda understandable, but that's a lot of dough.

I hope you are right on Duran, but I just don't see it happening that quickly. He's new to the OF and hasn't had extended periods of success, just yet. I'm thinking mid summer at the earliest, and even then, only if he's needed. I'd like to see us take a flyer on Sawamura. I'm not sure we'd pencil him in as our closer-m day one, but adding a nice arm to the pen can't hurt.

Okay, but he's off the 40 man, now.

We also got Seabold with Pivetta for Workman & Hembree. Let's hope it turns into the next Vaz & Lowe for Slocumb type deal.