moonslav59

Going forward, I would not view our pen as a strength, especially if Hembree never returns to 2019 form, but up to this point our pen has clearly been on the plus side of the ledger. It's been a strength, and every number I call valuable shows us in the top 10 with several in the top 3 to 5 in MLB.

Kelly was out number 2 RP'er at this point last year and in the playoffs, but you are right, he wasn't really our #2 all year.

Also,... Yoan Moncada .864 in 281 PAs (12 HRs and 40 rbi @ 162 gms=29 HRs & 98 rbi) Mauricio Dubon .922 in AAA last year (27 games) .819 in AAA this year (67 games) Travis Shaw .570 this year (192 PAs) after two .800 plus seasons with Milwaukee. Jalen Beeks (Eovaldi trade) 2.73 ERA in 56 IP (1.27 WHIP) Ty Buttrey (Kinsler trade) 2.02 ERA in 36 IP (1.21 WHIP & 10.6 K/9) Frankie Montas (Peavy trade) 9-2 2.85 in 82 IP (1.18 WHIP & 9.7 K/9) Basabe (AZ) .837 in A+ (224 PAs) Basabe (CWS) .817 in A (24 PAs) .600 in AA (133)

...and pretty much FT 2 DH's.

I agree, and making sure JD DH's as much as possible is also a key component to keeping his back from acting up. (If we had gotten EE...)

Only in light of the quotes from Cora and Price after the game, and the fact that Price struggled his last outting and may have been gassed or not feeling right. We can't afford to lose Price. If he needs to be "babied" for a short stretch, then Cora is 100% right to do what needs to be done. As for our pen since June 1st.... 3rd in IP (thanks to so many extra inning games) 3rd in WAR +0.9 1st in K/9 at 11.0 5th in ERA- at 70 5th in SIERA at 3.65 6th in LOB% at 79.3% 12th in WHIP at 1.30 (All this with a .304 BAbip that ranks 10th highest.) For the season as a whole: T6th in WAR at 2.9 (just 0.7 from the #1 Yanks) 5th in ERA- at 82 7th in xFIP at 4.17 11th in WHIP at 1.30 1st in K/9 at 10.5 6th in LOB% at 76% 9th in K/BB at 2.69 The funny thing is, almost all these numbers are better than the Kimbrel-Kelly led pen of 2018.

What happened to you high hopes for Happ? I remember when I mentioned his age has increased the chances he's due for a decline and possibly a steep one, you poo-poo'd the idea. Your everyday players and pen are solid-- more than solid. Only the rotation can keep you guys from being the playoff favorites. My guess is, you guys go very big for a top SP'er like Scherzer.

Let's hope he's right and not just saying this to help bring it to fruition.

I agree. I don't always fully agree with him, but he has been spot on and very insightful, of late.

I've seen glimpses, but not for any prolonged period of time. Maybe "it" will come: maybe not, but maybe with a little tweak to the pitching staff, we can put together a long stretch of dominance that will convince us all we are a top contender. Max, every year is a "longshot" when you have 3-5 really good teams and 3-5 part time contenders every year. Last year was a longshot. I remember posters giving up on our team multiple times last year- often with the same comments I'm reading now: "We can't beat the good teams." "We can't beat good pitching." "Our pen is horrible compared to ______." "We can't win without Sale." "Price is a playoff choke." "Kelly shouldn't make the playoff roster." and on and on... Let's keep the faith my brothers. (I don't need to say sisters because Kimmi is a true believer.) We have more than half the season to go. I know it looks bleak with all the Yankees healthy, now, but stranger things have happened, and our team has the horses to make a strong run for the division title, and if we fall short, I like our rotation against any team in a short series with days off left and right. We have a better defense with the improved Devers at 3B. Our catcher and 2B positions are no longer "black holes" at the plate. Bogey & Devers are having career years. A tweak to the staff and rebounds from Betts & JD should be enough to make us a top 3-4 contender. That's all we can ask. Then lady lucky and timely hitting & pitching decides the rest.

Great win all around. Some key hits. Patient batters (10 BBs). Erod did what it took. The pen came through. Day off. 6 games at Fenway (TOR & CWS) Then, off to London to beat up on the Yanks.

We should probably not see any more blown saves either.

Holt is the man!

They'll trade for a top SP'er at some point this summer.

ERod is one of the few Sox SP'ers who doesn't seem to mind who catches him (Porcello, too): Career CERA ERod with 3.78 Hannigan 4.09 Leon 4.24 Vaz 4.44 Swihart Porcello with 4.06 Leon 4.17 Avila 4.25 Vaz 4.32 Laird 4.93 Swihart 5.38 Holaday Price 2.85 JMolina 2.75 Leon 3.06 Jaso 3.61 Shoppach 4.20 Vaz Sale 2.41 Leon 2.51 Pierzynski 2.98 Navarro 3.02 Flowers 3.53 Avila 4.37 Vaz

I'd be fine with that, even though the luxury tax hit would be significant.

Actually, 2 blown saves, but point well taken.

The other issue was EE's inability to play 1B even half the time. We'd have had to play JD in the OF over half the time in order to keep EE in the line-up daily. We'd be benching our hottest hitter and GG OF'er to make that happen, or we'd be praying EE can play 1B FT and bench over $12M in contracts by Moreland & Pearce.

That EE homer helped put us one game closer to the Rays!!!!

Had we known the price would drop this much, and that Pearce would struggle, we might have been able to afford Kimbrel and stayed just under the max line with no Pearce, Thornburg and ?? Holt ?? I still think we made the right choice. We can spend our precious budget space on pro-rated contracts this summer.

Let us win tonight, have a much needed day off and come hom to an 8 game homestand vs TOR (3), CWS (3) and then the Yanks for 2. The homestand rotation might look like this: TOR Sale +1 day rest TOR ??? TOR Porcello +1 CWS Price +1 CWS ERod +1 CWS Sale NYY ??? NYY Porcello or we could go without the extra day rest for all but Sale Sale +1 Porcello Price ERod ??? Sale Porcello v NYY Price v NYY

Exactly. You can't trade for a "timely hitter." You can't teach or practice "timely hitting." We also seem to have untimely pitcher meltdowns, if you call letting up 1 run in the bottom of the 8th and 13th innings as a "meltdown."

Brown stain bad!

Our "closer", Barnes, did great. He pitched a scoreless 9th inning. It was the non closers that let up the runs.

The funniest part of his post was the 1.80 ERA. Had Price gone 9 IP at a 1.80 ERA clip, we'd have still been tied 2-2 after 9. The pen was not the reason we lost- not even close.