moonslav59

4 HRs! Nice. Hope this is the start of our offense finding its stride.

No. He flied out to LF. Good contact.

I'm just glad JBJ is oh- for on a day when we score 10 runs; otherwise, he'd be bashed for hitting when we don't need it.

Good to see the bats come alive. Bogey showing the power stroke! Boo-yah!

The feeling is mutual.

2018 Team Starting Pitching WAR 1.4 BOS 1.1 NYY 1.0 LAD 1.0 HOU The Sox 1.4 WAR is equal to the 8th and 9th place teams ccombined. ERA 0.86 BOS 1.99 LAD (We are at less than 50% of the secon place team.) ERA- 21 BOS 53 LAD 58 MN 60 HOU 61 NYY WHIP 0.95 BOS 1.06 NYY 1.08 NYM 1.13 AZ& LAD RP'ing T5th in WAR at 0.4 20th in WHIP at 1.30 Offense 19th in WAR at +0.4 21st in OPS at .683 21st in Runs scored at 24 (3rd place is double ours!) Defense 17th in UZR/150 at +0.4 23rd in DRS at -4

When Chris Young was signed, there was no Beni. He was expected to play LF a lot. As it turned out, Holt played more LF than aanyone due in part to an injury to Young. Young was also expected to play vs all LHPs as he had killed lefties for 2-3 years beforehand. He ended up not hitting lefties all that well for us, and he became a bench player with Beni's earlier than expected call-up. Moreland has hit RHPs at a pretty decent clip. Prior to HRam's shoulder injuries, Hanley raked lefties. I really thought the only bright spot of the Moreland signing was that he'd play vs most RHPs and his defense might off set the slight difference between his offense vs RHPs and Hram's. I felt HRam needed to earn his PAs vs RHPs. I get why we started HRam opening day, and he's off to a very nice start, so far, but I still think he needs to keep hitting righties well to actually earn the FT 1Bman job. He's not there yet, IMO, but it sounds like he is to many here (noy necessarily you). If HRam is clearly outhitting Moreland vs RHPs, then he will play and play, but Moreland deserves a chance to show what he can do. I know it will be hard to advocate benching HRam even for a game or two, if he keeps getting game-winning RBIs. I'm not for benching HRam right this second, and he's already sat one game, but I would try to get Moreland into some games vs RHPs, so we can have something significant to compare and choose from at some point down the line.

It seems like we're seeing more and more younger players called up. Devers had been a hit machine everywhere he went. To me, it wasn't just about our horrid offense from the 3B position prior to Devers being called up, it was about our struggling overall offense plus Devers attitude that seemed to show that nothing phases him. He just plain hits! And hits! AND HITS!

It's only 7 games. It's hard to read into anything based on such a tiny sample size.

I'm one of the guys saying we should try to avoid letting HRam vest. I never said the window closes, if he vests, I just said that we have a window to win, and anything that lessens our chances to win during one of those years has to try to be avoided. Not havine Pom or Kimbrel for 2019 might not kill our chances, but it will hurt. I get the argument that not having an assumed hot HRam for a few games this year, because we are benching him might lessen this year's chances, but playoff PAs don't count towards the vest. By resting HRam more, we may actually increase the odds he's healthy in October, when we really need him. Besides, you guys have all benn telling me how great the Moreland signing was, so then let the dude play vs at least half the RH'd starters. That's what we got him for.

I did go back and look. Yess, he had 7 RBI in that 22-10 win over Seattle, but 3 games later he had 3 RBI in a 6-4 win and later he had 2 RBIs in 6-4 game and 3 RBI is a 7-6 win over TOR. He also had RBIs in close losses, 1 RBI in a 7-5 win that put us ahead 4-2. In 2016, he had 6 RBI in a 14-7 win and 2 in an 8-7 win vs TEX. Later, he had 1 RBI in an 6-5 win vs TB. During last year's hot streak at the end of May and early June, he did this... 4RBI in 13-7 win 1 RBI in 2-3 loss 2 RBI in 7-3 win 3RBI in 5-3 win Then, after the team scored 3 runs in 3 games, he had ... 2 RBI in a 6-5 win 2 RBI the next day in a 4-2 loss Ithink we'd all love to see more consistency from JBJ. I'm not defending his slumps, but sometimes a hot player can carry a team through a few games, and wins are wins.

MVP's Pedroia sucks! (Get it?)

I don't diagree, but the facts are facts. HRam's contract is a big part of this year's and next year's budget, and DD did not sign HRam. If he vests, the $22M will surely affect who we sign or keep and who we let go. There's no denying it, unless Henry decides to go way over the top penalty limit for one year (doubtful). I'm not projecting doom & gloom for 2019, if HRam returns, but the reality is, and yes it's DD's doing, that we have a window to win it all. Anything that messes with that window defeats the whole purpose of creating a 4-5 year window by sacrificing some of the extended future.

If the differential is significant, there's no decision, unless we're 10 back on the wild card. The chances are pretty good that Moreland vs RHPs + his defense will be close enough to HRam vs RHPs and his "D" to make it a close call and debatable issue this summer, assuming both stay healthy.

If keeping HRam makes us lose Kimbrel or Pom, we may not hit a cliff, but our chances to win will lessen. Then, if HRam sucks next year, like he very well may do, it's a double whammy.

It's still a choice. Yes, it's not like asking to sign HRam for a 1 year deal at $22M for next year, but the answer to that question is pretty clearly a "NO!", even if he rakes this year. I get the argument about "this year," but to me, HRam still has to earn the 497 PAs. He's off to a good start!

Shouldn't "Joke" be in parenthesis?

I guess that explains a lot. Shoulda traded him last August. (lol)

Anybody heard anything about Rafael working overtime to improve his defense?

Well said. Besides, we did go 6-1 about 4 times last year with one of our worst offenses in 2 decades (.736 team OPS).

I'm assuming a team might pay 60%.

LOL. I'll admit, you were the leader on calling up Devers. I'd like to see Devers start batting 3rd or 4th pretty soon.

That would be one way to free up some money for Pom & Kimbrel.

Once Pedey returns, Nunez could play LF. He's clearly a better hitter than JBJ on offense. (I'd still keep JBJ.)