moonslav59

Even if we open the DH slot for an OF'er, we can't play them all. I guess Rafaela at 2B would allow 5 to play. We still have 7 that all deserve to play, either as platoon (Ref, if he returns and maybe Abreu & Duran) or by Cora's insistence (Yoshida.) LHB: Anthony, Abreu, Duran & Yoshida RHB: Rafaela (reverse splits), Jh Garcia, Campbell I'm NOT okay with Rafaela at 2B or SS, unless for a short term emergency, so to me, it's 4 slots for 7 guys. If we rid Cora of the Yoshida choice, this winter, it's still 6 for 4 slots. Maybe Ref retires and we have a manageable 5 for 4 slots, with one being Jh Garcia mostly on the bench in a platoon role. That could be doable, but I also think it's a waste of value putting even our worst defensive OF'er (arguable Duran) at DH near FT or on some sort of rotation/rest basis. Duran's value on another team as an OF'er is way higher than to the Sox as a DH, and that goes even more so with Anthony, Abreu and Rafaela, assuming they DH some games. All the pitchers you listed are here, this year, and we still have only 3 solid SP'ers, with one likely to become a FA. No way am I pencilling in Sandoval, Dobbins & Crawford into meaningful SP'er roles, until we see they are healthy and back. Dobbins proved nothing. Sandoval and Crawford have promise, as does Dobbins, but neither none are even close to sure bets to take over Gio's #3 slot, and even as 4/5's I wonder. As much as we needed SP'ers, this year, Criswell got one start. He's on your list. You also added Harrison at the last minute, and he has yet to start a game during a time where we used pen games, Criswell for one start and now called up a prospect over him. I feel very strongly we need two #2/3 type starters- one, if we get Gio to come back. I'm not saying our offense needs no help or additions, but we will have Anthony for the full season and hopefully Bregman, as well. Much of our everyday roster is pre-prime and nearing prime quickly. I expect more growth than sophomore slumps. We also added Lowe. Our offense is 8th in OPS and 4th in runs. If we bring back Bregman, we should get better not worse or the same. Our SP'ers are ranked 11th in ERA with Gio being a big part of keeping it top 15. The starters are 11th in fWAR and 7th in ERA-. Our pen is second in fWAR and ERA-. Without Gio, our rotation is our highest need area. Without Bregman, our line-up might pass the rotation in higher need.

Yup! 9 days ago, our road record was 27-34. Now, we are almost at .500 (34-35!) Our home record is very impressive at 41-26.

Gotta like being ahead of both SEA (+2.5) & HOU (+0.5.) Since one will win the division and the other is fighting for the WC or a better ranking in the WC set-up. I'd like to be more than +0.5 on HOU and NYY, but it's better than being -0.5. We are 5.5 up on KCR and 7 or more on CLE & TEX. I've been thinking optimistically, lately and am eyeing DET (-3.0 GB) and TOR (-3.5 GB.) We're even closer to passing LAD, PHI, CHC & SDP than any of would have imagined, last winter or even a couple weeks ago. -0.5 SDP -1.5 Cubs -2.5 to Betts' LAD & DD & Schwarber's PHI GO SOX!!!!

I agree, this is the thinking. Buehler & Wilson will not be back in 2026, so the equation is different with them. The hope for a return to helpfulness is shorter term. I don't blame them for demoting Bernardino. I do wonder this... They could have started May, tonight and Tolle on Saturday. This could have kept Bernardino available for 1 more game. He could have been sent down on SAT, after pitching tonight and brought back up Monday- nearly seamless. Maybe they counted out the days and want one more start by Tolle over May by the end of the season.

In the past, the Sox might have kept 2-3 of these prospects on the farm until 2026, so I do think this is a major change. I do think being in the playoff hunt is a big reason for the Tolle call-up, but I also think it goes beyond that. Brez & Co. are breaking the molds. Extensions given to several prospects and young players, recently (First Bello & Rafaela, and now Anthony & Campbell. A mega prospects for ace deal with Crochet can be compared to the Sale trade, but that was many years ago. His near immediate extension further "broke the mold." Spending large AAVs on Bregman & Buehler and to a lesser extent Chapman & Sandoval blew away the Kluber, Richards & Wacha type signings. Buehler's AAV was the highest since the Sale extension and the Price FA signing. Savvy deals like for Narvaez, Slaten, Weissert and other helpful pieces. Maybe I shoulda put this on the Brez thread, but bringing up Tolle and adding him to the 40 long before he was going to be Rule 5 is something new. We have added some, recently, but not by this many years to Rule 5 eligibility, that I know of.

This is the time you put your best players on the 26. (The same should go for Bernardino > Buehler, Hicks and even Wilson, but he can be called back up in 3 days.)

Despite all the attention put on our farm pitching, for once, we still have some very promising everyday players in the system, including a lot of IFA signings that may take 1-2 more seasons to start realizing we have some real good ones.

Ummm....

If they send Bernardino down, he can come back up Sept 1st.

I only look at KCR and the current playoff track teams. I'm mostly watching TOR and NYY.

JH was still paying JD, so this was a "no brainer" to him.

WOO lost 4-1. Mata pitched well for 2 IP. (Kind of a forgotten guy.) POR is up big, 15-2. Rivera pitched well, again. (Not talked about much) Brannon 4-4, Ehrhard and Rosario homered. Godbout and Jo Garcia had 2 hits in the GRE loss. Aita finally had a bad game in relief of Paez.

He is Rule 5. Maybe we don't protect him, now.

OMG! Schwarber hit his 4th HR of the game! He's 4 for 6 with 9 RBI!

Whodathunk we'd be begging for Gio to come back. Think of all the grief Brez took for that signing that was linked to the Sale trade and cost savings that allowed us to "upgrade" from the Kluber like $10M/1 deals to $39M/2. Still, $39M/1 was a great deal for Gio.

Schwarber hit 3 dingers, today. (48 on the year: OPS .946. I guess he is aging well.) The game is still in the 6th! Yanks now tied up w CWS.

I never thought of the word "fear" in this type of situation, but I suppose some batters get "afraid" to some extent, and maybe just not in high leverage situations.

Hopefully, he learned from that first AAA start.

Mayer to 60 Day IL.

Hicks has more control years, so to me it's Buehler and then Wilson, second.

Chapman has pitched no hit ball over his last 12 IP. Last 31 PAs: 0-30 with 1BB. .032 OBP .000 SLG .032 OPSA Legendary stuff here.

Bernardino is so much better than Hicks and Buehler, and even better than Wilson, who has struggled for several weeks. It's the time of the season where keeping as many options on the table begins to be outweighed by the need to have your best 26 on the roster for every game. OPS Against ,365 Chapman .465 Slaten .525 Matz .545 Bernardino .553 Whitlock .653 Weissert .705 Wilson .771 Hicks .823 Buehler Last 28 Days .032 Chapman (OMG! last 31 PAs: 0-31 w 1 BB!) .182 Bernardino (yes, this is OPS Against) .525 Matz .555 Weissert .559 Whitlock .781 Buehler .816 Wilson .861 Hicks

Other than Bernardino going to AAA, and he is needed too much for that, it's an IL stint until SEPT call-ups or DFA Buehler or Hicks.

Ahh, yes!

Even with Houck, Crawford, Dobbins, Sandoval, Mayer, Casas, Hendriks, Guerrero & Wink on the 60 and Abreu, Fitts and Lowe off the current roster, we still have a hell of a 26 and 40 man roster going.