moonslav59

We are now 1.5 GB first place (BAL & NYY tied) We are tied for the 6th best record in the AL (w DET for final PO slot.) We are 0.5 behind KCR for #5 record. We are in the top 10 in MLB by winning %. Run Diff +50 KCR (8th best record) +48 ATL +45 CLE +41 BOS, NYY, LAD +36 BAL +27 PHI (2nd best record) +26 ARI (14-17 record) +25 MIL

Gambrell pitched a gem: 6IP, 1 ER, 6H, 1BB, 3K Benitex K'd 3 in 1 IP )1H & 0BB) Kavadas 1-4 w 2B POR won as Olivares went 4.2, 0ER, 1H, 4BB, 5K (3 unERs) Teel went 2-4 w a homer and BB Mayer 1-5 w 2B and 3 rbi Anthony 0-2 w 3BB Jordan 2-4 Paulino 1-2 w 2B and 2BB GRE lost, but Early did well: 5.0, 2 ER, 3H, 0BB, 6K We heard about Campbell's dinger. SAL lost Jo Garcia 3-4 (1.063)

I'm glad he has stayed healthy for a full month. I hope for the best for him, until he faces us in the WS, this October.

Rays, Jays and O's all lost, tonight. Besides the wonderful game by Crawford, I'm hopeful Martin just turned the corner. Wong with 3 hits (up to 1.007) Duran got on base 3 times (3B & 2BB) up to .747 Devers on base twice (2B & BB) Abreu on base twice (1B & BB) Everyone else got a hit, except O'Neal. Take a gander at our OPS leaders (38+ PAs) 1.098 Refsnyder 1.073 O'Neall 1.007 Wong .915 Abreu .884 Devers .857 Casas (IL) .760 McGuire .747 Duran .736 Yoshida (injured) Our ERAs in order of most IP: 1.56 Crawford 1.60 Houck 3.04 Bello (IL) 1.96 Whitlock (IL) 3.50 Winckowski 0.52 Slaten 1.65 Criswell 5.52 Anderson 1.38 Weissert 5.11 Martin 0.79 Bernardino 0.82 Pivetta 1.86 Jansen 3.86 Booser 0.00 Kelly All I can say is "WOW!"

They all have done very well, but we've heard a lot of praise for Houck and Crawford. They've been near or at the top of the ERA rankings, almost all April. Duran seems to have gotten more praise than Wong, IMO.

While determining how many wins 18-13 equates to over 162 is somewhat meaningless, it gives us an idea of how good that record is. Of course, it could go way South of end up being near 94 wins. It is not a predictor of what is to come, but it is an indicator of how good we are playing. It's hard to have a real clear idea how good 18-13 is, but we have a better idea of how good 94-68 is.

Nice overall game. Crawford has been awesome for over a calendar year, now.

We might be able to sign Ford and make it 3.

If I told you in March that Wong and Abreu would be top 3 on the team in OPS, would you have said, "You are crazy!"

Is Connor Wong the unsung star of this season, to date?

DFA Garrett!

Send in the clowns There ought to be clowns

Speaking of the best 3 homegrown starting pitchers, what was the best year for our rotation (homegrown or not?) Since 1972, when I started following the Sox... ERA- 77 2002 81 1990 82 1999 84 1993 85 2018 86 1986 87 1978 88 1992 FIP 3.13 1972 3.32 1990 3.57 1992 3.60 202 3.64 1976 fWAR 20.6 1990 Clemens, Boddicker, Harris, Kiecker, Bolton 19.9 2002 Pedro, Lowe, Burkett, F Castillo, Wake/Fossom 19.7 1999 Pedro, Portugal, Rapp, Saberhagen, Wake/Rose 18.2 2004 (32 GS+ by all 5) Pedro, Schilling, Lowe, Wake, Arroyo 18.1 1992 Clemens, Viola, Dopson, Hesketh, Gardiner/Darwin 17.7 2003 Pedro, Lowe, Wake, Burkett, Fossum/Suppan 17.5 1987 Clemens, Hurst, Nipper, Sellers, Stanley 17.2 1986 Clemens, Hurst, Nipper, Boyd, Seaver/Sellers/Brown 16.9 2001 Pedro, Nomo, Cone, F Castillo, Wake/Ohka 16.7 1972 Pattin, Siebert, McGlothen, Curtis, Tiant/Culp

I was never that high on Masterson. Buchholz was really good but couldn't stay healthy. Lester was our best homegrown SP'er from Clemens to today. I think I'd take Houck, Crawford and Bello, but Lester makes it hard to do. I'd go with Clemens, Hurst and Boyd or Clemens Hurst and Ojeda.

You'd think the threat of a DFA might snap him out of it.

These are the best looking 3 homegrown SP'ers since _____?

His swing was hideous, and I think you are right on Walt Hriniak.

Springs

There was a lot of talk about Monty, but that was likely because he signed so late. There was a lot of hot and cold on Snell, Gio, Stroman and Wacha. I liked Gray and felt $25M x 3 was reasonable. I think I was higher than most on Seth Lugo ($15M x 3)and Imanaga ($13M x 4,) but who knows, if they will continue doing well.

On soxprospects.com, some jockeying occured between the two: At the end of 2017, Mata was 3rd and Houck 4th. By mid 2018 they both climbed up to 2-3, as Groome dropped. They flipped in the Fall of 2018: Houck was th and Mata 7th. The gap widened by Spring of 2019: Houck 5th and Mata 10th. They flipped agin in Summer 2019: Mata was back up to 4th and Houck dropped to 9th. That fall it was Mata 2nd and Houck 7th. He held his ground through 2020. Another flip in spring of '21: Houck was 5th and Mata dropped to 11th. By the fall of '21, Houck had graduated and Mata was 10th. Mata was as high as 6th in 2022 and 5th in early '23. By the end of '23, he was 27th.

You crack me up. (Don't stop!)

LOL. Funny.

A few people, I think Bell was one and I felt Gray was a good idea, because his age would likely mean a shorter term deal- something we felt this management team might be attracted to.

It's not impossible to make trades in May and June, and back-up 1Bmen are often a dime a dozen, but it is not always easy to find the right fit, at this time of the year. In '22, it was not absurd to give Bobby Dee a long look. He had started slowly in 2021, but was a big part of our second half success (.867 in his last 103 games of 2021.) In 2021, he began his turn-around on May 13th, so it made some sense to stick with him to mid May or a little longer. The idea was casas was beating down the door in AAA, so looking outside the system looked to be unnecessary. We also had late 2021 late season star, Travis Shaw on the roster, early in 2022. The killer was when casas went on the IL in AA near the end of May. I'm not sure they knew how long he was going to be on the shelf, but if they knew it was going to be a long time, then looking outside the system made sense at the end of May and through June. (Casas returned to AAA in mid July.) The choice to try Marwin Gonzalez (99 innings at 1B,) Danny Santana (98,) Cordero (65) and Chavis (53,) before finally acquiring Schwarber at the deadline- someone not known as a 1Bman. I'm not sure who the choices were near the end of may to July, but it sure looks like an outside option could not have done as badly as the in-house guys ended up doing.

How about Gedman?