moonslav59

I think the thought was having Carson Smith for a full season and Thornburg for the end of the season would be enough to "upgrade" a pen that did very well last year, even if it might have been a bit of a fluke. We also had Workman coming back for the full year and maybe the idea that Wright, Johnson and/or Velazquez might fill a long reliever role nicely once our starters returned. I don't fault DD for not adding a pen arm last winter.

Yes, I was basing my numbers on 12 games not 13. My bad. The 27 HRs and 162 rbis would be lower based on 13 not 12 games played.

HRam's current pace: 648 PAs (497 to vest) 27 HRs 162 RBIs

Hopefully Smith finds his groove. Maybe this has just been an adjustment phase for him. It remains to be seen if 2017 was a fluke for Kelly, Barnes & Hembree. We still have a lot of pitchers on the DL who will be coming back soon. Some tough choices may have to made (trade out-of-options Hembree?), but our pen, on paper, should get stronger as the year preogresses. (Alert: projecting any pen's future production is nearly impossible.)

This has been a fun opening 2 weeks despite al the guys on the DL.

Sweet! Good to see Devers hit well. I think someone wanted to rest him tonight. ERod was buttah. 6 IP/ 104 pitches is same ole-same ole, but I'll take it ! The pen seems a little shaky still, but a win is a win.

It wasn't the worst I've seen, but the spikes were up high, and they were aimed at the plant leg. Holt should have bopped him in the head right there, but a 98 mph heater was better justice served.

Glad to see the golden mop gone. He looked like a page boy.

7.5% of the season is over. That is a small number, but in another sense, it looks pretty meaningful.

I like his swing, even though it's too "long". I don't see his head getting in front of his bat as often as you do, but I'll look more closely from now on.

Well, now that he's got a 2 game sample size showing he's getting hot, it's all hush now. Found these from the first page of this thread: Yes his Glove is nice but we need to cash in while we can. I wanted to trade him in off season but not a lot of people agreed with that and if last year was a fluke and he really cant hit, were screwed. -Stephen Curry Should have traded him this past offseason, when his value was at its highest. I thought that even at the time (though I didn't say it on here, because I only began posting a few weeks ago). He is wayyyyyyy too streaky and has been a bad or mediocre hitter for longer than he's been a good hitter.... -tombirner I wanted to trade him as well--just had a bad feeling about the guy and, yes, he is way too streaky. They could have moved Benintendi to CF and brought in an offensive upgrade at LF. It is possible that another team would have overpaid for Bradley, coveting his OF defense. It is too late to trade him now--his value is too low due to his slump. If he breaks out of it, I would consider trading him.... -Fan_Since_Boggs I think JBJ is one of the best defensive players in the league and his offensive showing when hot indicates he could hit. I long ago identified what I thought was his hitting issues and noted earlier this year that despite his statement to the contrary, he really did not change his hitting mechanics. Should he go with someone who would get his attention and have him try a shorter and more compact swing, he might hit very well indeed. In my opinion, the Sox should talk seriously with him about his career and get Chili Davis to do a swing makeover. The time to have done that was the off season, so now he is in a position where he is hurting the team and his trade value is minimal. -Oldtimer JBJ can't hit. Who waits for a guy to get "streaky". That's crazy. And is far from the best defensive outfit in baseball. He is smooth. He gets a good jump on the ball, then tthrows it to the wrong base---off line. No, his defense is very much over rated. Watch the guy from the Rays, for example. As under rated as JBJ is over rated. Spectacular plays, yes. Of any value a this time. No. Before the season gegan I lobbied (daily) for the Sox to get rid of him. My thought was to bring back Swihart as the left fielder. Put Benni in center. Swiahart has, I think, given up. The last time I looked, he was hitting about .200. So I was right and I was wrong. Par for the course. -bosoxmal In response to this: Quote Originally Posted by Fisk View Post Trading JBJ would be crazy, great center fielder and when he gets hot he can carry the team. His slumps are too severe and prolonged. a700hitter Just pointing out that the first page looks a lot different than this last one. (No surprise.)

lol!

No, he was filmed in the dugout mouthing the words, "It's not me; it's them!"

I've always liked his swing, although it looks too "long". I hope he heats it up and keeps it going for longer stretches.

We have some decent pitchers on the farm and some pitchers returning from the DL soon, so it does olook like Walden's days are numbered in Boston-- for now.

If anybody can come back strong from a serious injury like his, it's Pedey. What a boost he could be. The biggest plus might be that with Nunez moving to utility, our bench may finally be strong enough to fully benefit from Cora's "rest 'em often" philosophy.

I loved that, too. It might have ended up costing him a perfect game, but he did what he needed to do.

He's up to 0.0 now in fWAR.

8 guys on the DL, HRam banged up and Price day-to-day for who knows how long? DL List Bogaerts Pomeranz Pedroia Wright Thornburg Poyner Maddox Hernandez

Half? Name 3....

...but is on a 630 PA pace of 36 HRs and 144 RBIs.

No. I'm glad Kelly was on the mound. 1) He throws the hardest 2) We won't miss him all that much My point was one plunk at 98 mph was not really enough. Spikes up has to be deterred.

These "big three" have carried the offense, and the rest are pretty well bunched up between .592 and .733: 1.111 Boget (DL) 1.085 Betts .964 HRam (leads league in RBI with 12) .733 Beni .725 JMart (10 rbi) .715 Devers (10 rbi) .714 Nunez .607 JBJ .602 Moreland .592 Vaz .348 Holt .286 Leon

Yes, and who better to start getting hot against but the Skankees?

Big win for such an early game.