moonslav59

Good grief!

Relief pitchers often come in during high leverage situations. I'd be nervous with Chris Sale on the mound in the 8th with the tieing run on 2nd base.

Very well said. I couldn't agree more.

Might have been a good time to rest Betts.

I really like him, but I have my doubts about his staff handling abilities. I think Sox management feels the same.

So, if they trade Leon, and Swihart hits .800, but our starter ERA jumps 1.00 higher when he catches, you'll be okay with losing Leon? (Just a hypothetical scenario.)

It's nice having a strong bench, but if Swihart is worth more to another team (GM), then maybe it's what's best. We can afford to wait until Pedey returns to decide. Maybe by then someone else will be hurt or Swihart will have muscled his way to a more defining role.

Swihart looks like a major leaguer. We just need to quick screwing with him. And, bench whom to get Swihart playing time? Everyone he can replace, you just praised.

Maybe, but not after just 4 games. He was rested before the season started. I'm not upset with Cora, but I think the choice was wrong.

Just do what he did last year is fine by me.

2017 numbers 7th Inning OPS Against (20+ IP) .288 Price .440 Fister .561 Kelly .579 Kimbrel .702 Abad .709 Sale 8th Inning OPS Against (20+ PAs) .348 Price .460 Kelly .490 Sale .541 Kimbrel .593 Fister 9th Inning .120 Kimbrel (YES! .120 in the 9th in 25 PAs!) .206 Scott .237 Barnes .422 Fister .493 Price .549 Sale .573 Kelly

The guy put up some impressive numbers last year:in 238 PAs (just 16 less PAs than Kimbrel): OPS against: .573 Kelly Late & Close OPS against: .571 High Leverage OPS against: .523 (better than anyone except Kimbrel) K/BB was not good: 1.93 Kelly, but the WHIP was decent: 1.19. These numbers were far from 4A guys.

Here are some comparative numbers from 2017: OPS against: .573 Kelly .655 Barnes .803 Hembree Late & Close OPS against: Kelly .571/ Hembree .617/ Barnes .628 High Leverage OPS against: Kelly .523 (better than anyone but Kimbrel)/ Barnes .732/ Hembree .768 K/BB 3.89 Hembree 2.96 Barnes 1.93 Kelly WHIP 1.19 Kelly 1.22 Barnes 1.45 Hembree

We paid heavily for Foulke and won a ring. We converted Paplebon to a RP'er and stuck gold. (IMO, we letting him go was the right choice.) We kind of stumbled upon Uehara as a closer after Bailey, Hanrahan and others failed or got hurt before him. We paid heavily for Kimbrel, and he's done a great job. Now, all we need is a ring!

Kelly's fastball is super fast, but it barely moves around. I'm not sure it's a good thing bringing him in right after a FB pitcher. If you bring him in after a breaking ball or curve ball pitcher, he might have more success. I have confidence in Kelly as a 6th or 7th inning guy but not really the 8th or 9th.

The pen has a 1.71 ERA other than that one awful inning game one.

Agreed, when everyone is healthy, Kimbrel for the 9th, Smith for 8th and 9th and Thornburg for the 8th. That would leave Barnes, Kelly and Hembree for the 6th and 7th (rarely the 8th). That's not a bad set-up, assuming good health by all.

Hanley is going to vest. and i love it Sick puppy! (LOL)

The only days off I might try to plan ahead on would be games at NL parks. That's when I'd give Beni, Betts and JBJ their rest, so JMart can play more. It's also a good time to give JMart or HRam a day off.

LOL. I still maintain that once Ben/Larry botched the Lester initial offer and lack of a quick follow up, he did the right thing by dealing 4 of our 5 starters. I did not like the Lester trade as it looked sideways with the loss coming to our pitching, but Cespy turned into Porcello who may not end up being a big step down from what Lester might have given us. I loved the Miller (not a starter) for ERod trade as it made us younger and gave us 5 years for 2 months. I liked the Peavy trade. Too bad Escobar flamed out. The doubie trade (for Marco) was okay. At the time, I was one of the few that liked the Lackey trade, and it wasn't because I was sure he'd pout or sit out a year. I liked Kelly and felt Craig was a good gamble. We needed a 1Bman and some offense, and Kelly offered us 4 years for 1.3 years of an aging Lackey. As it turned out, Lackey still had enough in his tank, but we wouldn't have won in 2015 with him on the staff. All-in-all, I liked the strategy, but the execution was suspect and is still a little bit up in the air as these players play out their last years of their control (our team and theirs).

I'm trying not to be too optimistic The Boston Red Sox certainly could have used Tyler Thornburg out of the bullpen during their Opening Day loss, but he likely won't make his long-anticipated team debut until around the start of May. Thornburg is continuing to work his way back from shoulder surgery, and Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told WEEI on Friday that the reliever is still "maybe a month away" from coming off the disabled list. The 29-year-old has been brought along slowly this spring and recently tossed a 15-pitch live batting practice.

Agreed- for most games at NL parks.

I'm thinking both look like perfect 1-2 IP type pitchers for the 6th to 7th innings (8th when Smith or Kimbrel need a day off.). We need Smith to earn the 8th inning role. Hembree might earn a vital role, too.

4 ER in 21 IP after throwing out that one bad inning. 1.71 ERA

Our pen has let up 4 ERs in 21 IP, when you throw out that one inning opening day.