moonslav59

I think asking all non WC teams to sit 4-6 days while waiting for the 3 game series to end outweighs the negatives of a 1 GAME PLAY IN. There used to be no wild card and no 3 divisions. Just getting a one game chance is more than they had before. I know it rewards the team with one dominant starter, but usually that team used that starter in game 162 anyways. I like the way it is now more than before, but that does not mean there aren't some downsides to the set up.

My belief in Wright has been longer standing than Pom's Sox tenure. I still like Pom, but I'm confident Wright is going to pitch so well, that there's just no way he gets demoted out of the rotation. The "luck" I spoke of would mean and injury to someone or Wright having some bad luck that would enable Pom the inside track on taking his slot back. Pom does not seem like the same guy as 2016-2017. Maybe it's an injury. Maybe it's mechanics. Maybe he's just in a rut. Less likely, to me, is that he was never as good as 2016-2017 and we're seeing the "real POM" now, but I guess that's possible. I was a big Wake fan and supporter, even through the tough times. I pitched a knuckle ball in softball for years, so I have a bias. The domestic issues with Wright tempered my entusiasm for him, but my belief in his ability to get guys out consistently has never wavered.

Devers is still a bit raw. He's a natural hitter who has been wildly successful at every level- levels where he was 2-4 years younger than everyone else. I'm not worried about his bat. He may have some long struggles as he figures out how to adjust, but he's going to be a great hitter. I'm think Vladamir Guerrero great (someday). His defense has been helped by his plus range and athleticism, so I hope he keeps a hold on his weight. I still see him as a first baseman long term, but he's got a couple years to prove himself at 3B.

Lost all the game after Wake data when my computer died. I remember it showed that the ERA was about a half run better the game right after a Wake start. On 2016, Porcello came on strong in the second half. He started out slowly. Wright, by the numbers was the clear "ace" on the Sox over his first 14-15 starts. Starter ERA after 14 and 15 starts: Wright 2.01/2.18 Porcello 3.76/3.93 Price 4.52/4.24 I'm not saying Wright can put up 2.18 numbers for a whole season, but he proved he could do it for 14 games in a row. Note: he was still at 2.67 after 19 starts! He was at about 3.45 for 3 years before 2016. He's been very consistent, until his injury. He's was no more inconsistent than any fastball, curve ball or sider pitcher from 2012 to 2016. I keep hearing, "but when a knuckle ball pitcher loses it..." I always reply, when any pitcher "loses it," they look bad. Wright is for real. He's not a fluke. Pom might need some luck to ever start for us again.

Had I known DFA'ing HRam was on the radat, I'd have viewed the signing differently. BTW, I'd still rather have Moose at 3B and Devers playing 1B/DH, but it's hard to argue for that when Moreland's over 1.000.

If we keep Sale and Betts, we'd almost certainly be saying good bye to JBJ, Pom, Kelly and maybe one or both of Bogey & Kimbrel.

Agreed. One simple step would be to just seed teams by record, despite the unbalanced schedules and division winner titles. The 2 worst teams play each other. While I agree a 3 game wild card makes sense, asking the other teams to sit for 4-5 days might mess up their timing or momentum.

I have observed a noticeable improvement in JD's defense. I'm not sure I'd take him out of the below average category just yet, but he's been better, of late.

You'd think in today's times, making these women parade on stage without bathing suits in nothing but their birthday suits would be frowned upon.

One reason to like the play-in game.

We will likely hit another rough patch or two before the season ends, and all the naysayers will come out in force to say, "I told you so," but I feel this team has the fire and desire and more importantly, staying power. All the way guys!

Scooter Gennett https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gennesc01.shtml

They forced them to 13 innings.

Our starting pitcher numbers (as starter only): 0.00 Wright (7 IP) 1-0 record in his starts 1.50 Johnson (6 IP) 1-0 in his starts 2.53 Velazquez (10.2) 2-0 3.00 Sale (81) 7-6 3.59 Porcello (80.1) 9-4 3.68 ERod (66) 11-1 4.08 Price (68.1) 8-4 6.81 Pom (37) 4-4 If I had told you the team would have a 11-10 record in Sale/Pom starts and was 15-1 in ERod, Wright, Velazquez and Johnson starts back in March, you'd have called me nuts. We're 32-9 in non Sale-Pom starts. That's a 78% winning percentage!

Does JBJ lead the league in HBPs?

Exactly! And our 6, 7 & 8 starters have an ERA under 1.60 combined!

Bottom of the order on base 6 of 10 PAs after Devers' double.

Just caught up live. Nice to see Vaz coming to life. maybe leon getting hot and hints of Swihart getting a chance behind the plate lit a fire under him. Maybe he just got hot on his own. Beni staying hot is great. Looks like everyone is pitching in, now.

Sale is currently 8th in MLB in IP'd. He's gone 7 IP five times this year.

I look at the list I compiled and see it differently... The Trey Ball pick was bad, but many teams swing and miss on top 10 draft picks. Most of our pitchers have been picked below 30. Here's the list from 2010 by draft slot pick- notice how many choices were below 30th: 7 Trey Ball 12 Groome 18 Barnes 24 Houck 31Johnson 33 Kopech (helped get us Sale) All-in-all, our top pitcher picks (considering their slots) have all pitched in the bigs or are still fairly highly regarded prospects. The next tier: 36 Owens 37 Light (got us Abad) 39 Ranaudo (got us R Ross) 45 Stankiewicz 57 Workman Did anyone expect greatness from these slots? Or these? 87 J Callahan (helped get us A Reed) 88 S Anderson (helped get us Nunez) 103 J Cosart We actually have not done too badly with later picks: #118 Austin Maddox #143 Noe Ramirez #148 Mike Shawaryn #151 Ty Buttrey #171 Travis Lakins #178 Stephen Nogosek (part of A Reed trade) #201 Ben Taylor #211 Justin Haley #231 Logan Allen (part of Kimbrel trade) #263 Kyle Martin #374 Jalen Beeks #411 Bobby Poyner Recent later rounders: #100 Durbin Feltman #131 Jake Thompson #160 Thad Ward #161 Alex Scherff

It's hard to imagine anyone, let alone a good manager, would bench one of our hottest hitters (Leon) who also is a great defensive catcher.

I'll leave that to the reader. We're doing better than one would expect given the aspects I listed, but a few players not reaching expectations or getting hurt is expected. We're looking good, but I expected that. Did you?

From fangraphs... Wake: https://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx?playerid=219&position=P&pitchgraphs=true&statArr=271&legend=1,2&split=base&time=daily&start=2002&end=2011&rtype=mult&gt1=15&dStatArray=KN&ymin=&ymax= Wright https://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx?playerid=8185&position=P&pitchgraphs=true&statArr=271&legend=1,2&split=base&time=daily&start=2013&end=2018&rtype=mult&gt1=15&dStatArray=KN&ymin=&ymax=

I once did a study on how our pitchers did the day after Wake pitched. I have since lost the data, but it showed our staff ERA was about 0.50 better. Knuckle ballers mess up the opponents timing. Their value stretches beyond their start. Wright had a record of success for many years in a row before his injury & suspension. We should not view him doing well as a fluke. In 2016, Wright started the season with a 2.18 ERA over his first 15 starts. Only 1 start saw him let up over 3 ERs (5). In 12 of his first 14 starts, he let up 2 or less runs. The guy is capable of putting up good numbers for more than a month or so. Before 2016: 3.95 ERA MLB in 107 IP (203-2015) 3.81 ERA in AAA 2015 (52 IP) 3.42 ERA in AA/AAA 2014 (100 IP) 3.46 ERA in AAA 2013 (135 IP) 3.41 ERA in winter ball '12-'13 (29 IP) 3.49 ERA in AA/AAA 2012 in 142 IP This is the model of consistency. The injury messed him up. The suspension slowed his return. He's back.

Swihart is "best of all?" How about this? Without Pedey, with Betts and others missing time, with Devers below .700 and our catchers hitting about .500, we're one run from the league lead. Our slugging % is .003 below the much-vaunted Yanks. Our ERA- is second only to the Astros in the AL and beats the yanks by 5 (82 to 87). That, with 4 starts from outside our 5 man rotation and a bunch of guys on the DL. Surprisingly, our defense, as measured by UZR/150 is second only to CLE in the AL. (To be fair, DRS has us at -21 for 24th place in MLB.) Looking good!