moonslav59

Ref is not a crappy hitter, so I'm not sure why you mentioned him. Yes, Eaton, Sogard and DHam are all crappy. Usually only 2 play at once, due to the injuries to Anthony & Abreu. I do think some of the hitters I listed are "crappy." What has Volpe done to prove he's even average? Tell me why Iggy and the Padres catchers aren't 2 crappy hitters. Clement and Straw are crappy. HOU has 3-4 crappy batters. It's not even close, there.

They've discussed the goal for the next 15 games with Breggie? Hmmm....

Romy has been okay vs RHPs, this year, and he's better off-handed than many other Sox and league players, this year, too. The teams you listed as not having 2 crappy hitters is debatable: NYY: Volpe .661 (3rd on team in PAs) + Catchers Wells .715 & Escarra .629 LAD: Conforto .621 (6th in PAs) & Edman .675 (9th) 10th and below suck. SDP: Arraez is at .702 (3rd), Bogey .717 (4th), Iggy .563 (8th) and Diaz .600 (9th) His back-up is at .572. TOR: Clement .715 (3rd) Gimenez .609 (8th) Sraw .676 (9th) DET: You have a point with them (Baez .682 and 8th) It's bad 10-13th. HOU: has 5 batters in their top 8 below .740, 4 below .710 and 2 below .675. Our bottom of the order is one of the best in MLB. While injuries have forced more bad batters into our line-up, other teams have injuries, too. Team rank by batting slot: 9th: 2nd at .740 (.644) +96 8th: 25th at .615 (.657) -42 7th: 6th at .731 (.684) +47 6th: 6th at .746 (.694) +52 5th: 4th at .782 (.722) +60 4th: 30th at .668 (Our biggest slot weakness) .762 MLB (-94) 3rd: 6th at .835 (.784) +51 2nd: 10th at .794 (.763) +31 1st: 4th at .813 (.753) +60 In terms of rankings, our bottom 4 outperform our top 4.

True, but the Yanks do have some 2025 history of bad stretches: 2-7 to start AUG, including losing 5 in a row. 3-7 mid July 0-6 June 30-July 5 0-6 mid June 6-16 (two June stretches combined with some in-between) 2-6 end of April One stretch like these, and TEX is right back in it.

Starting Skubal game 1 of the playoffs is a big advantage, but getting that first round bye pretty much sets that up, anyway, so yes, there is no need to sit Skubal vs the Sox. The first round playoff teams are the ones looking at their rotation set-up going into the playoffs. (Worst div team + 3 WC teams) The worst division team will probably be SEA or HOU.

Agreed, and SEA playing the LAD in the final 3 games might not see their best team.

We would likely get in going 5-10, too.

Very true. We may also see DHam PR then come in to play defense in the late innings.

Pivetta had some very nice 15-25 start stretches over almost every season with the Sox. He just never did it for 32-33 starts. I think Fenway brought down his numbers: 4.66 ERA at home ('21-'24) 4.34 FIP 4.02 ERA away with a 4.06 FIP He blew all others away in IP from 21-24, so his fWAR numbers should be higher than others but here they are. 8.1 Houck (414 IP) 7.7 Pivetta (623) 6.8 Nate (293) 4.8 Bello (377) 4.7 Crawford (392) 4.3 Whitlock (243) ERA- (200+ IP) 78 Whitlock 85 Houck 86 Nate 100 Pivetta and Wink 103 Bello 107 Crawford xFIP 3.42 Whitlock 3.47 Nate 3.66 Houck 3.92 Bello & Pivetta 4.20 Wink 4.36 Crawford

Nice laydown. I'd add: if RA does not return, maybe WA might be just enough of a boost to the O to get us farther into the playoffs. (He was our HR leader before going on the IL.)

With all the injuries plus the loss of Devers, I think our bench and depth have done better than expected and better than most teams might have done. (Devers, Casas, Anthony, Abreu & Mayer.) In the last 10 games (6-4) we've scored 1 run twice. The other run totals have been 5, 6, 11, 5, 7, 7, 6 and 4. That's 8 games with 4 or more scored and 7 with 5 or more. One could argue it's not the offense's fault we didn't go 7-3. The 6 and 4 record was a team event.

No, but if we are doing close to the norm, it may not be as bad as it seems. Of course, a top 3-5 OPS team should also be top 3-5 OPS Late & Close, and we are not. Yes, it is still an issue. I'm one that believes "clutch" is not a repeatable skill, so I'm not sure what can be done about it.

Agreed, and the A's are not a pushover, either. (DET & HOU play them.)

I'm very confident we make the payoffs and have at least a 50-50 chance of advancing each round. Our top 3 SP'ers compare well with every AL playoff team. Our top 2 RP'ers do, too. If Slaten can get to form, maybe our top 3 RP'ers are the best in the AL. Our defense is improved from 2024 and from the first 2-3 months of 2025. Our baserunning makes too many bonehead plays or non plays, but are still a clear plus. Our offense is the big dice roll. On paper, it is top 6 to 10 in most categories, but they can go into long slumps.

Good point. Every stat is "relative." I'm usually the one pointing that out! Thanks.

Harrison did okay, yesterday. Maybe we do end up with something good from the Devers trade, beyond salary relief.

I never expected he'd get one, and I really liked the guy and felt he was underrated.

Pitching is such a high need area for almost every team that demand via trade will be high. Some team might see him as being significantly better or as having higher hopes than their worst 1-2 pitchers on the 40 or Rule 5 list. I think someone offers more than he's worth via trade. Trading him for a comp pick would be nice. We've overloaded our farm with pitchers, so I think some might be included in package trades, this winter.

The Final 5 for the final 6: BOS: 3 NYY, 3ATH, 3 at TBR, 3 at TOR, 3 DET (Not an easy ending) NYY: (DET today) 3 at BOS, 3 at MIN, 4 at BAL, 3 CWS, 3 BAL (after BOS, the easiest) TOR: (HOU today) 3 BAL, 4 at TBR, 3 at KCR, 3 BOS, 3 TBR (kinda middle) DET: (@NYY today) 3 at MIA, 3 CLE, 3 ATL, 3 at CLE, 3 at BOS (Not easy) SEA: 4 LAA, 3 at KCR, 3 at HOU, 3 COL, 3 LAD (Not easy at all.) HOU: (@TOR today) 3 at ATL, 3 TEX, 3 SEA, 3 at ATH, 3 at LAA (next 10 are tough) _________________________________________________ Longshots: TEX: 3 at NYM, 3 at HOU, 3 MIA, 3 MIN, 3 at CLE (pretty tough)

The Final 5 for the final 6: BOS: 3 NYY, 3ATH, 3 at TBR, 3 at TOR, 3 DET (Not an easy ending) NYY: (DET today) 3 at BOS, 3 at MIN, 4 at BAL, 3 CWS, 3 BAL (after BOS, the easiest) TOR: (HOU today) 3 BAL, 4 at TBR, 3 at KCR, 3 BOS, 3 TBR (kinda middle) DET: (@NYY today) 3 at MIA, 3 CLE, 3 ATL, 3 at CLE, 3 at BOS (Not easy) SEA: 4 LAA, 3 at KCR, 3 at HOU, 3 COL, 3 LAD (Not easy at all.) HOU: (@TOR today) 3 at ATL, 3 TEX, 3 SEA, 3 at ATH, 3 at LAA (next 10 are tough) _________________________________________________ Longshots: TEX: 3 at NYM, 3 at HOU, 3 MIA, 3 MIN, 3 at CLE (pretty tough) I'm counting KCR and CLE out, unless they reel off 5-6 in a row.

Good one! To me, it's LF or DH or with another team.

I think I'd rather trade him than add him to the 40. (Not hand him away, though, and many teams are facing a Rule 5/40 Man roster crunch, at the same time.)

I'm not sure if we do this more than other teams, or if I just don't notice when they do it. Of course, we've had some big innings, so this does not happen all the time. Also, I might be hypersensitive towards bad things that happen. Consider this: .749 is our team OPS in 2025 (.254 BA) Better: .760 RISP (.253 BA) .769 Men on Base (.260 BA) About the same: .743 High Leverage (.252) Lower: .705 2 outs RISP (.231) .672 Late & Close (.230) This one is the killer, to me.

His defense is "decent" where? (Please, don't say 2B.)

I agree. You gotta think Duran's speed in on the OF'er's mind as he prepares to make the play.