moonslav59

He's a career .700 hitter who can barely play several positions well enough to not be embarrassed. What's there to "find out?" Is he back to being the mediocre sub we expected? Is this the time of the season to experiment? Shouldn't we also be thinking about helping Young find his stride, particularly against LHPs, but also to see if his new found success vs RHPs is for real? Isn't that a more legitimate thing to assess? With HRam and Moreland banged up, and Nunez needed at 2B, I'd think getting Young in stride could be vital to this team's success. Holt is never going to win the 2B job from Nunez, come playoff time. And WOW, in one breath you say we need to play Holt, and then speak of possibly releasing him in the next. I've never hinted that Holt was so bad as to be DFA'd-- traded, maybe, but not DFA'd.

Our pen- on paper- (pun intended) looked awful before the year started. Kudos to everyone, including JF for getting the most out of our pen so far this year. Injuries to Smith, Thornburg and Ross might have devastated other pens, but our has significantly over performed for 4 months. Props to JF and the players.

Fair enough. Point well taken.

I'm responding to your point about Beni. Yes, it looks like he benefited by sitting, I guess I should have mentioned I understood your point, but why not respond to my counter point about why JF picked Holt to play LF over Young, who did not start those two games at DH? Beni should have sat 2 games to rest vs a LHP, so Young could play LF not Holt.

Pedey's been banged up. It took a few days to place him on the DL. HRam has been limited to mostly DH duty. Moreland has been playing injured for a while. Bogey has looked tired. We lost subs, Hernandez & Rutledge, to injuries. Holt missed a lot of time, too. By and large, compared to normal expectations, we've done great with having very few injuries to non-pitchers. especially starters. We had 4 days off for the all star break and returned to action on July 14th. We played double header on the 16th and didn't have a day off until July 27th. However, starting with July 27th, we had 5 days off up to August 17th. That's 5 days in 22 days (23% days off) before beginning our crucial match-ups with the Yanks and Guardians. That alone should have been enough rest for any young player on our team and most prime age players not battling injuries. This isn't a football team. Nobody should have needed non-injury related rest vs NYY & CLE. Nobody. Games started since July 27th (21 games in 26 days): 21 JBJ (5 days of rest out of 26 days) 20 Betts (6 days off out of 26) 20 Bogey (6/26) 19 Beni (7 days out of 26 off) 17 HRam (10 out of 26 off-injured for some) 14 Moreland (12 out of 26 off- injured for some) 9 B Holt (17 days off- started more games than Young) 8 C Young (18 our of 26 days off-including the 2 days off given to Beni) 2 Pedroia (Out injured 24 of 26 games)

I was critical of Francoma towards the end, and I did feel like the right thing to do, at that time, was to let him go, but he was no idiot, moron or imbecile. He was a very good manager who lost control of his team while being distracted by more important things in his life. I'd take Terry back in a heartbeat. I'll never want JF back.

Before the season started, I pointed out how Holt was no longer the second or third best sub at any position. His versatility still had value, but with (DH only) Papi's departure, that value was minimized to some extent. HRam's injury and need to play DH changed that once the season began, and Holt had to deal with health issues as well, but by and large, our everyday players have remained comparatively healthy. My pre-season depth chart (from memory): C: Vaz/Leon, Swihart, (Butler) 1B: Moreland/HRam, Travis, 2B: Pedroia, Hernandez, Rutledge, Holt, Marrero 3B: Pablo, Hernandez, (Devers), Rutledge, Holt, Marrero SS: Bogey, Hernandez, Marrero, Lin, Holt LF: Beni, Young, Selsky, Holt CF: JBJ, (Beni>Young/Selsky LF), Holt RF: Betts, (Beni>Young/Selsky LF), Holt DH: HRam/ Young (Note: I obviously had Rutledge over-rated.)

Umm, Young plays LF, too. Beni should be rested vs LHPs with Young playing LF. Holt should be a last resort starter anywhere. His "versatility" is maximized by having him be the last guy on the bench allowing JF to PH and make other moves knowing he has anything but catcher covered.

Yes, true, but all the more reason to stress fundamentals through ST'ing and all season long. Look, I realize I don't know everything JF does. He might be addressing each and every blunder behind closed doors- to no avail. It's just hard being a rabid Sox fan and watching us piss games away or barely hang onto wins due to mental mistakes and IMO, misuse of the roster.

Yup!

Was he saving Reed for Fister's game? We were up one vs a top contender. What's the chances Fister's game will create a better chance to use our best RP'ers?

...and how to avoid bonehead plays.

Again, we've had 4 days off in 20, and our roster is as young as I've ever seen it. Yes, Pedey out has forced Holt to play more than anyone (but JF) wants, but with Nunez able to play 2B, I don't see the need to start Holt in 7 out of the last 14 games.

12 pitchers is probably the norm not 13. 13 means you have 3 guys on the bench and one is Leon (or Vaz). You're right, though. Why trade Hembree when rosters expand in 9 days? My bad.

...hopefully not as a PR'er.

He nailed it. On Holt. I'm okay with keeping versatility on the roster, but it is best saved for late game situations where JF would get the flex needed- not starting over Young (DH and HRan to 1B). Starting Holt last night was not a horrible call. What we need is 4 subs not 3, so we need to go with 12 pitchers again (maybe after Fister's start). I don't really want to send Scott down, so I'd look to invent a DL stint for Hembree or trade him for a decent prospect and add Brentz to the 40 man roster.

I wrote my post on Holt's defense before last night's game. I said .690 vs .720 is no biggie. I'll leave it at that. On 12 pitchers, honestly, I trade the out-of-options Hembree. He won't make next year's 25 man roster anyways. We have Boyer, Maddox and Carson Smith in AAA, if needed. I'd call up Travis but Marrero or Lin would be okay. We might add Brentz to take Hembree's 40 man roster spot. We might even get a decent prospect for HH.

It's also a mystery to me why certain players keep playing and playing.

More and more mental blunders. It seems to get worse- not better. No accountability.

Reed offers the only real hope beyond Kimbrel and Workman.

Where are all those Holt defenders from earlier this evening?

Bad vibes, but we've pulled out games like this. Hard hit outs. Plenty of chances with so few hits. Pen's gotta lock this down and give us another shot.

Sounds about right. I guess one also has to look at hard outs and cheezy hits as well.

I don't disagree, but here's a question: Say a normal .750 guy has been hitting .900 for a month. He's "the hot hand." How bad does he have to do, and for how long to decide to bench him? 2 for 9 over 2 games? 1 for 9? 3 for 13 over 3 games? 2 for 13? 4 for 17 over 4 games? 3 for 17? 2 for 17? Nothing specific like this, but about what? Just curious.

I could argue neither can Holt, but we all know HRam can.