moonslav59

Here's another example: In 2009, Tito benched VTek in favor of a known better hitting catcher (VMart) for every playoff game and we got swept. Our SP'ers allow these runs per IP: 3 in 6.0 Lester (4 BB & 4H) 4 in 6.2 Beckett (1BB & 5H) 2 ER in 5.0 Buchholz (1BB & 6H) Totals: 7 ER in 17.2 IP by our starters (3.56), but the pen brought us to 16 ER in 25 IP overall (5.76 ERA). Note: Swihart is not known to be a better hitter than anybody.

I'm not going to say that history has a way of repeating itself, but for those who choose to judge this team based on just its last 19 games (9-10 record), you might want to look this over: 2004 Red Sox Champions 16-14 in May 11-14 in June 14-12 in July That's 3 straight months of .500 ball. We had one stretch where we went 16-17. An overlapping stretch saw us go 11-17! That was from May 31st to July 2nd. Shortly after that, we had a 5 game winning streak followed by a 3-8 stretch. We also lost 5 of 7 in September. We swept the World Series! Year after year, teams hit hard times. It's totally natural and should be expected. Why it always seems so shocking to some always surprises me. Too many knee-jerk reactions based on what people saw in just one game, one week or even one or 2 months. Baseball is a 162 game season for a reason. It's not like basketball or football where the better team almost always wins. To me, that's one part of the game that makes it great. To others, it seems it's just a source of frustration that turns to negativity, sometime brutal, personal and unrelenting. I'm not asking people to change their personalities or outlooks, but I can't help but feel like it gets pretty ridiculous at times. Want another example? How about 2007? We went 37-37 from May 11th to July 31st. That's nearly half a season of .500 ball. We swept the World Series. We took four of six in the 2013 World Series, despite going 15-16 from April 30th to May 31st. Again, a longer stretch of struggles than the one we are going through now. in 2013, we lost 6 of 9 near the end of July, We lost 6 of 8 in August and ended the season going 5-6. I remember there were nay-sayers in all those seasons, and I can understand feeling like the team does not look like a champion at various times of the season. I get it. That's natural, too. Then, there are the teams in history that seem to do everything right just about all season long, then lose in the playoffs. I won't even go there other than to say that in-season judgements are often not true in October (Dodgers 2017). My point is that it seems futile to try and definitively judge a team based on 20, 30 or even 60 game sample size, at times. Baseball is a "long look" sport that seems to spook the "Now, Now, Now generation". Sit back, chill out and enjoy the season. It's going to be a great one!

It's amazing how two people can see exactly the opposite thing.

Certainly as a high leverage RP'er, the odds go down.

Johnson might have just passed Hembee as the most likely out-of-options pitcher to be DFA'd. Too bad he never really got a long look as a starter this year. Maybe RP'ing is just not his thing.

Me, too. Worst case scenario, he makes a big error to eliminate us. Imagine how that might affect a 20 year-old. He seems to have enough of the "right stuff" to not let it get him too far down, if it happens.

This wasn't about JBJ.

I do no doubt he can develop into a plus defender. My concern is his learning curve occurring during a year like this.

I'm verklempt!

fangraphs... (230 players with 800+ PAs) 2016-2018 SLG% .612 JDM .596 Trout .587 Judge 8. Stanton .555 16. Moustakas .525 17. Betts .524 70. HRam .469 107. Moreland .448 131. Bogey .435 140. JBJ .430 146. Pedey .426 OBP .442 Trout .440 Votto .409 Judge .404 Freeman 18. JDM .377 23. Pedey .373 37. Betts .362 63. Bogey .350 64. Beni .350 83. HRam .344 128. JBJ .330

If Thornburg, Smith or someone else becomes great by playoff time, we'll have a great chance. With so many players capable of becoming a solid 8th inning/back-up closer, I like our odds.

He settled on KC, because there were no other bidders. I agree, there was no way of knowing, but at the time of the Moreland signing, there were plenty of options available. There was very little risk, we'd be denied a capable 1Bman or 3Bman. It's hard to be critical of the Moreland signing. He's doing fantastic! (BTW, Moose is at .291 10 28 in 159 PAs. Moose has done better, so far, but the 3B defense might have been improved.)

Before last year started, I felt our pen was our greatest weakness (though not weak). They proved me wrong. I felt with Smith and Thornburg coming back, and full seasons from Workman and Maddox, along with Barnes, Hembree & Kelly being more "seasoned", our pen would be at least as good as last year. I'm not sure what to think now, but we look shaky in that area, to say the least. Time will tell. We have a little budget space for the deadline, and RP'ers with pro-rated contracts should be available, if needed.

The Yanks have a very formidable team. To me, this is the best Sox team, on paper, since maybe 2007. With budget issues, it might be our best for the next 4-6 years. This is it, baby!

I guess, if we think Moreland is vastly better than Moose, Duda, Morrison and others, then maybe, but there was absolutely no rush to sign a 1Bman. It was the one position saturated with capable players. Now, as it turns out, Moreland is doing great, so the signing looks good, but Moose and Squirrel are doing very well, too... and for less money and/or years. Listed in order of RBIs. All with 120+ PAs, except MM... .191 6 26 Santana .298 10 25 M Adams .298 5 24 HRam .218 8 21 Alonso .325 6 19 Moreland (in just 80 PA!) .271 7 19 J Abreu .242 4 18 Duda .178 4 13 Morrison .263 5 12 The Hose

We lose 2 of 3 and now Max thinks better about us and worse about the Yanks.

Moreland has been great, and the more I bash him, the better he does. "Ignore the man behind the curtain." Maybe we found a real gem. My biggest beef is about Devers now being forced to learn defense at 3B during a championship run. I had also thought Moreland could keep HRam from vesting, but the way HRam is playing, that ain't happening.

Of all the times he pitched in bid games, that's not bad. (I know there are more than these listed.)

That doesn't worry me. All players look shaky for a few days here and there. He's been about as consistent as can be over the years. I worry about the rest of our pen, especially in big situations. I worry about our 3B defense. I worry about of CF offense. I worry a little about our catcher offense. I worry about Price's tingles and Smith's long return from injury. Those are my biggest worries right now, and I don't really think about them too often

Precisely.

We've been in just about every game we've lost. To me, that's a plus. Maybe to others, it just frustrates them more and makes the losses more memorable. This team is full of scrappy players. We never give up. I see a "fire and desire" I felt was missing last year. There seems to be a sense of urgency. Several players have carried this team for short stretches, while a few have done very well all year. ERod took a big step forward last night, and Pom seems to be nearing total rehab. Price and Smith are still question marks, but we have some depth and some players returning soon. I can't see how any Sox fan can be discouraged.

It's not so much the crude language as the knee jerk over reactions and negativity based on tiny sample sizes or bad stretches by the team or a player. I get that some people are much more emotional and maybe don't mean everything they say in the heat of the moment, but it gets way out of hand during a 2-3 game losing streak. I'll try to avoid posts and posters that depress me, but I like to read the flow of a conversation or debate. I know the majority of this board is very knowledgeable and respectful. I'm not going anywhere.

Yep, and our pen allowed 3.03 BB/9 which was 5th best in MLB and just 0.10 from 3rd place. 15 teams were over 3.50.

I used to totally ignore the game threads. Now, I join at the ends of games, as I watch the game on delay. I still love this team. It was expected we'd have a bad stretch or two. This is one. Hopefully, tonight's coronary win will trun things around.

Kimbrel is one of the players I least worry about.