illinoisredsox

But right now they have to get there. Does starting Valazquez or some other minor leaguer else make that more likley? The time to build in rest was in July and August. And the board was screaming when Farrell tried to give that to Sale (and the rest of the stff) back then. The team is flawed and has been all year, and now injuries are cropping up; Betts has a hand/wrist that could be very problematic going forward. Pedey and Nunez have knee problems. That is very troublesome. JBJ is in one of his semingly endless funks (don't forget he had a thumb issue earlier this month). Hanley hasn' been there all year. Benintendi banged a ball off his ankle tonight. They will win or lose on whether or not they hit, and to do that they need everyone back and reasonable healthy; I'm not overly worried about the pitching.

As Colonel Potter would have put it: Horse Hockey. Mule Fritters. Buffalo Bagels. He had 6 days off, more than enough time to recover. Did either of you consider that the extra time may have contributed to his less than stellar outing? My guess is no because it it doesn't fit your narrative. Truth is, you don't know and neither do I.

True but 3 of those were against a guy who would never sniff the mound in a closer game.

Yup. All except the MLB minimum.

If it gets to that, blow the division on Sunday. I want no part of a playoff for the division on Monday followed by the wild card play in on Tuesday.

So tell me again why Travis should be the everyday 1b from now on?

The fact that Lin is not playing now should tell you where he is in the pecking order. Most of the offensive numbers Lin put up for Boston came in his first 10 games (.360/.429/.949). His next 9 games (before he was sent down) his line was .200/.360/.560 and that hasn't improved in his limited playing time this month. He also didn't do much offensively once he went to Pawtucket (.227/.283/.602). Other than the first 1/2 season at Portland this year, his body of work throughout the minors screams defensive specialist. He has a slightly higher offensive upside from Marrero, but not much (and Marrero has actually tossed in a few hits this month). And really, Travis for 1B in the playoffs? This is no time to throw a singles hitting rookie into a full time position. Moreland has shown he is streaky and has been his entire career. He's also got 20+ homers, which is 20+ more than Travis has hit. For what it's worth, Travis has driven in all of 1 run this season (yeah, I know RBIs are a limited stat but still).

IMO, a great player from one era would have been a great player in another era for the simple reason that talent is talent. A player from the 30s who grew up in the modern era would have had the same training, the same travel, been exposed to the current pitches and pitching philosophies (sliders/split fingers and multiple relievers) as the modern player. If you took the modern player and transported him back so that he grew up in the 20s and 30s, he would have none of the advantages of modern training, etc. Hitting philosophies have evolved as well. A talented player adjusts to the era they are in and would excel. The less talented would find themselves in the same pecking order no matter when they played. What you really shouldn't do is try and compare numbers. 5 man rotations vs. 4 man rotations. Relief pitchers. Mostly night games vs. mostly or all day games. 15 inch mound vs. 10 inch mound. Coast to coast plane travel vs. train travel. The swing from small ball parks to large ones and then back again. Artificial turf. There really are only 2 things that have remained the same across the decades: 1) 90 feet between the bases 2) 60' 6" from the plate to the pitching rubber I was gong to add Fenway and Wrigley to that list, but those have changed as well.

But results do matter. Flash forward a year, if Ortiz makes decent contact in the 14th inning of game 5, it's an easy fly to center and the game continues to who knows what result. Instead it was one of the early notches in his "clutch" belt.

Last year, the White Sox were scheduled to wear some 1970s throwback uniforms on a night Sale was scheduled to pitch (not sure which ones, but I do recall they had some hideous ones from that era). Sale didn't want to wear them, refused to play in them and to make his point, went into the clubhouse and cut them jerseys up so that the team couldn't wear them. He was pulled from his start and suspended. The thought was that the incident was more about the strained relationship between Sale and the White Sox front office than the uniforms.

I see the fingers are firmly back on the panic buttons.

Can't see how he wouldn't be. At the very least he will be very unlikely to be able to play the field at all. I'm far more worried about Betts' hand.

Batting wise, Davis has been worse than Young this year, both with Boston and with Oakland. He's no magic elixer and you can't steal 1st Base Young has been decent as a ph this year; I think he's hitting .400 in that role.

Yeah but your post was well before that AB

Did he do something specific tonight to evoke this reaction?

Hint, he's old enough to have actually seen Foxx play.

No, Vazquez played it by the book. He goes to back up first there because it's the right thing to do, just like he would on most infield ground balls (note I said most, there are times the catcher doesn't do that). If anyone should have headed home it would have been Pedey or Workman. The play was caused by: 1) Workman not getting to 1st quickly enough and/or 2) Pedey missing the moving target Workman. The other key to the play was the ball deflecting off of Workman's glove, caroming away from Vazquez and forcing him to go chase it. If Workman never touches it, it goes straight to Vazquez backing up 1st, and he either has a shot at getting Hamilton at 2nd or at worst, Hamilton stops at 2nd. If no one is backing up 1st, Hamilton gets to 3rd easily. Just one of those weird plays that pop up every once in a while.

This is the truth. The W-L record notwithstanding, his numbers this year (ERA, WHIP) are not that out of whack with his career norms. A little below, but nothing crazy (within 1 standard deviation). Career ERA going into this season was 4.20, this years is 4.55; career WHIP 1.306 before this season, this season's WHIP is 1.391). He is what he is, a #3/#4 starter. People need to stop holding the contract against him; it's not like he held out for it. He was offered a big deal and took it; same thing any one of use would have done.

The Hamilton play is a tough one to defend (as in how do you defend it on paper). Workman blew it, IMO, he was late getting over there. Vazquez correctly went to back up the run down at first and ended up with the ball. Bogaerts correctly got in position to back up at second. Devers was covering 3rd just in case (also correct). I'm not sure who has to try and get to the plate in that situation (Bogaerts tried but just couldn't get there).

Yes moon, he's going to throw on the side anyway. 30-35 pitches isn't going to tax him to the point where he couldn't come back 3 days later. And note that I said if he pitches. There is a lot to be said for skipping the turn, and even more so if they are going to face the Astros in the first round. No sense giving them potentially 3 looks at him in a 10 day period.

Max, assuming the Sox have clinched by then, if Sale goes on the 1st it will be for 2-3 innings and maybe 30-35 pitches, just to stay sharp. He would still be available to start game 1.

Magic Numbers: Division - 3 Wild Card - 0

Magic Numbers: Division - 3 Wild Card - 0

Folks, on September 15, is there anyone here who would not have signed up for a 7-2 road trip?

A potential 7 to 9 game series.