moonslav59

Best Sox winning % since 2018: (Last 8 seasons) .568 2021 (Bloom) .549 2025 (Brez) .546 2026 (Brez) .519 2019 (DD) .500 2024 (Brez) .481 2022 & 2023 (Bloom & Bloom) .400 2020 (Bloom) Can we continue the continued improved record since 2023? .481> .500> .549> ___

The farm went 0-4 today.

Sogard and Jones combined for the cycle. Does that count for anything?

Great to see Bennett settle down. It would be awesome, if he could finish the season strongly. Monasterio's defense is scary. He should probably be platooned. I think Story will be given his old job back after a soft opening. Sogard has earned a FT job. Our top 2 slots went 6-8 today. Saw HOU was up 6-0, as Alvarez was IBB'd 3 times, but they lost.

Yanks-TOR tied 2-2. TBR-BAL tied 0-0.

Had we gave Gray and Tolle more time off so they'd line up with the Yanks, we'd have needed more pen games or starts by Burgos.

Runs Scored since June 25th: 277 BOS 270 CHC 256 DET, 252 CWS 247 PIT, AZ, SDP 246 TBR, COL 29th NYY at 171 OPS: .780 BOS .777 CHC 5th TBR .761 29th NYY .629 (Imagine if Fred was a Yankee fan) ________________________ Runs allowed 172 BOS 173 DET 189 NYY 8th TBR 206 Kapow!

5 IP per GS is very good for a #5. The issue is more tied to Suarez never going past 5, and Bennett and Tolle maybe needing more rest.

MON at MIA Suarez TUE at MIA Tolle WED at MIA Gray THU OFF FRI at NYY Sandoval (+1 day rest) SAT at NYY Bennett (+1 day rest)/ at NYY Opener>Bello SUN at NYY Suarez (+1 day rest) MON SEA Tolle (+1) TUE SEA Gray (+1) WED SEA Sandoval THU at BAL (back to no extra rest until the day off on Sept 10th) The rotation vs the Yanks is not ideal, as there will be no Gray or Tolle, but if we wanted we could not give Tolle the extra days and pitch him Monday and then Sunday, or just pitch him Sunday over Suarez.

Sandy caught some serious beef after those two dingers, but somehow he kept us in the game. Like it or not, he's been a decent #5. His 4.09 FIP indicates his 4.54 ERA is a bit inflated. His main issues are: 4.1 BB/9 1.1 HR/9 All-in-all 4.50ish is a plus from a 5th starter. 40 IP in 8 GS is likely better than most 5th starters, too. IP/GS 5.8 Gray 5.8 Bennett 5.7 Tolle (Early 5.4) 5.1 Suarez 5.0 Sandoval & Crochet

Unless we go to Bello. We could use Bello for 4-5 and still have him ready for the NYY doubleheader this coming Saturday. We cannot afford another "pen game."

Thinking of Duran, a Springsteen song comes to mind... One step up and two steps back

Thanks for clarifying. Correct on all fronts.

I feel the same way, but it's hard to totally write off Story, who had a very nice ending to 2025 while leading the team in HRs (25), RBI (96) and SBs (31 SB & 1 CS) June 7, 2025 to the end of the season (96 games and 404 PAs) .294 18 70 (.839 OPS) Projected to 144 games (1.5 x) .294 27 105 (45 SB) I'm not saying we should expect or project a repeat, but doesn't he kinda deserve a chance to earn his way back into a FT role? (I can't believe I'm defending Story.)

At the time, I thought Harrison was the "prize" of the trade, but when he spent most of his time in AAA, it looked like there was no prize, except salary relief.

Facing a lefty, today gives Duran a day off: 1. R Jones DH 2. R Rafaela CF 3. L Abreu RF (doin fine v LHPs) 4. R Contreras 1B 5. R Durbin 3B 6. S Sogard 2B 7. R Monasterio SS 8. R White LF 9. R Wong C (No Rutschman) Only one LHB, and Abreu is .912 v LHPs, this year!

Bennett ad 9 days of rest, so let's see if that helps. Having Bello ready is a big plus. He will likely pitch today, but if not needed maybe we could go with an opener-Bello game later and give everyone, including Bennet an extra day off. We do have that doubleheader looming next Saturday, but unlike NYY, we have THUR off. (The Yanks have tomorrow off, but that but that is less helpful going into Saturday, as 4 starters have all gone.

Duran should sit vs LHPs, anyway. When Anthony returns one will likely DH vs RHPs, which is close to 70% of all games.

You forgot Seigler, who could be playing vs RHPs: .785 v R (career .670) .550 v L (career .592) The biggest "don'ts" look like Duran v LHPs and Monasterio v RHPs.

There were bases loaded, so yes, a force was at 2B, but no way they'd turn a DP on that play.

To me, the Rays seem like the hardest team to figure out, with the Tigers being a close second. (Well, maybe the Sox are first.) For some reason, the Rays almost always outperform Pythagorean, and this year is no different. They are 7 games over Pyth. They are 6 up on the Sox. Do the math! Couple this with the Sox being 5 games under Pyth, and we could be looking at the Sox being 6 games up on the Rays, and tied with the Yanks for first in the ALE. I'm not crying over us "deserving" to be in first place, but we do seem like a better team than our record, while the Rays seem to win with smoke and mirrors. Here is a comp of the remaining schedules after this weekend series: BOS: 4 at NYY, 3 at TBR, 3 CHC, 3 CLE, 3 at MIA, 3 at TEX,4 at BAL, 3 SEA, 3 KCR, 3 LAA- This is by no means an easy schedule, but 9 v SEA, KCR and LAA are games we should be faves in 8 or 9 of them. 12 v CLE, TEX, BAL & MIA are not easy. The 7 games against TBR and NYY hold the key, and all are on the road. However, the Sox have been very good away, and the Yanks are not so great at home. (The Rays are.) The 3 ames vs the Cubs will be a challenge NYY: 4 TBR, 4 BOS, 3 HOU, 3 at SDP, 3 at AZ, 3 at MN, 3 BAL, 3 at LAA, 3 NYM, 3 COL - The Yanks get to play the 8 games vs BOS and TRB at home and have 3 seemingly very easy series. 15 v others is hard to project. To me, the Yanks are harder to catch than the Rays- see below... TBR: 4 at NYY, 3 BOS, 3 HOU, 3 SDP, 3 at ATL, 3 at PHI, 3 at DET, 3 at TEX, 3 NYM & 6 v A's- Tey have the 9 games vs the A's and Mets, but WOW! Look at the rest- all difficult to extremely 25 difficult games. The Jays, today makes 26. It won't be easy, but I like our chances, this year. Fangraphs WS odds: 9.0 NYY 8.4 TBR 7.0 BOS 4.3 SEA, 3.0 OU, 2.2 CLE, 1.9 CWS ___________________ NL 26 LAD 12 MIL 8 PHI 6 ATL 5 CC

I'm not saying they suck, but only that I don't think they are as good as many think they are. They had a recent 5 game win streak, despite the many injuries, but other teams have many injuries, too, and as I pointed out, we could field a decent team with just players on the IL plus our AAA/AA rosters. While Cole, Rodon and Fried (Max is still on the IL) have been hurt, they have started 41 games. I'm not arguing Houck, Crawford and Oviedo are as good as they are, but Crochet is. We've gotten 6 (mostly rotten) GS'd from those 4. Plus, Sandoval missed 16 and Suarez a couple. Nobody on our everyday roster can compare to losing Judge, but that is a danger for a team to rely on one guy that much. Other Yankees have missed some time, too, but we lost Anthony and our HR, RBI and SB leader (Story) for almost the whole year. We traded one of our best pitchers for Mead, who got hurt on day one. The Yanks are 37-33 since June 1st. Despite tat 5 game win streak I mentioned, they are just 5-4 in their last 9. They were 7-6 in their previous 13 games. Run Differential since June 1st: +103 BOS +24 TBR -3 NYY If Fried and Judge can come back strong, of course they will be a tough team to beat, but why assume they do, but not feel the same about Crochhet, Anthony, Story and maybe Houck? (Not that you are doing so.)

YES! Bennett was given a 9 day rest, and now they can ease him back with Bello taking over early in theh ame, if needed.

I have not been as high on Sogard as others, here, but he's winning me over. Look at the list of infielders who have come off the bench and not only avoided stinking up the place but have actually done something good. Hell, even Gasper had some moments. IKF just got over .700 and went on the IL. Seigler Monasterio Sogard Our all healthy depth chart at the start of the year was probably: 1. Mayer 2, Romy 3. IKF Then, we trade one of our best pitchers for Mead, and he gets hurt game one! Our all healthy SS depth charts was probably: 1. Story 2. Mayer (from 2B) 3. IKF We tried Cheng at SS more than Monasterio, until Monasterio kicked into a higher gear. Cheng was our SS when we started on our streak. One could argue te Sox have been playing their 4th, 5th and 6t string middle infielders for most of 2026. What highly competitive team has ever been able to say that? Then, add to that we have missed 4-5 of our top SP'ers for most or all of the season, traded one for a guy who got hurt and had another get the starter yips and have to be put in the pen!

I never felt the Yanks were all that good, and the Rays have played way over their heads. The Judge injury hurts, but we have a near .500 team on the IL, including our 2024 and 2025 aces (Houck & Crochet), our best young player (Anthony) and the guy we traded Early for (Mead,) plus maybe the best set-up man in MLB (Whitlock). There are more.