S5Dewey

ZING! You're the winner of the Post of the Day!

That's probably the best idea I've heard. And on the 5th day we can run out there whomever we would be running out on the other days and hope for the best. That's a better idea than what we're doing.

I'm even coming back around on the idea of having a real closer to finish games. While I agree that it makes little sense to run Kimbrel out there to face the 7-8-9 guys at the same time there's only one chance in seven that will happen - and even if it does happen I'd rather have Kimbrel out there than Colton Brewer with Kimbrel used up in the 7th. They're still facing MLB hitters. The real crux of the problem there for every team is that what with the current thinking that starters only pitch 6 innings the role of a BP is evolving. To be successful in that scenario a team needs a stable of good pen arms and right now the Sox don't have more than one who can be depended on nor do they have starters who can go seven or eight innings. The Sox scored enough runs in London to have won both games, they just gave up too many and that's on the pen.

I'll say this.... This year's BP should put to rest the theories that 1) a team doesn't need a "closer", and 2) the way to build a BP is by throwing names against the wall and seeing what sticks. I'll confess that the stat geeks had me somewhat convinced that a team doesn't need a closer but when you don't have TWO closers - one to put out the fire in the 7th and one to pitch the 9th - you damn better have that ONE 9th inning guy because if you don't you've already wasted your best reliever in the 7th. As someone said here some time ago..I think it was Doji... 'Not having a closer isn't a big deal - until you don't have one." I do find it difficult to blame DD for not having a stronger pen because building a pen is a crap shoot. These guys are in the pen because they're not good enough to start and not good enough to close so they're in the BP. It's hard to say who's going to pan out and who isn't until it's too late. IMO the pen is snake-bit this year with everyone underperforming and that's just unpredictable. Here's what I do know for sure: I can remember seasons when the Sox would be trailing half way through the game and I wasn't concerned. I knew that when our offense got matched up against the other team's pen their lead wasn't safe. Now it's the other way around. I always have the feeling that no lead is too big for our pen to not blow, and it sucks.

Does anyone know what's happened to the average exit velocity of baseballs this year in comparison to past years? In all the discussion about the juiced ball I've been wondering if MLB hasn't gone to what the NCAA has done. The NCAA has gone to a ball with tighter (lower) stitches in an effort to not affect the total flight of the ball while controlling the "exit velocity" on balls hit back at the pitcher. The lower stitches create less wind resistance on the ball making it carry farther while not increasing the exit velocity off the bat.

SP! My Man!! I'm looking at what Mookie is doing this year as a potential saving grace for the Sox in signing him. As frustrating as it is to watch him and as frustrating as it is to see the Sox struggling his struggles may drive his price down enough to make him palatable for JH. Right now anyone signing him would be taking a chance that last year was a huge outlier and the "real Mookie Betts" is somewhere between 2018 & 2019. That's not a bad ballplayer but it's not a $300M ballplayer either. The same with JBJ.. his early season swoons may keep his price down so the Sox can afford him. I'll take those two guys in the OF every day and, as they say, twice on Sunday. Especially in Fenway which needs two CF'ers out there - one to play CF and the other to play RF.

DHern reminds me of Pat Light,whom the Sox unloaded a couple of years ago. I saw Light pitch in Portland was was impressed by his velocity but unimpressed by the number of walks he gave up. As I said at the time, "He can bring it, he just can't find it". I had hopes that Light would be able to gain some control but it didn't happen and as far as I can tell he's out of baseball now. I'm still holding out hope for DHern because some pitchers do figure out how to control their pitches but he needs to do it soon because he ain't gettin' any younger.

At last, a voice of reason. IMO we've all lowered our expectations a bit from ST time. Weren't most of us expecting to battle the MFY to the wire to win the division? Now many of us (me included) would welcome a WC spot. I still think this team has the potential to play well enough to win the WS, but fans of probably ten teams can say that. It's all about realizing their potential. I find that whether I'm enjoying watching the Sox is a matter of my expectations. One of my favorite times to watch was the last half of the 2015 season. I knew the Sox were out of the race but I found it enjoyable to watch JBJ, Mookie, etc. begin to come into their own. During the last 2-3 months of the race the Sox actually were playing better baseball. I had no expectations of making the playoffs and it was enjoyable for me to just sit back and enjoy the show.

Did you even read that before you posted it? "Aside from those blown saves/8 losses they've done better than expected". What were your expectations???? LOL Aside from that nasty shooting the trip to Dallas was a rousing success!

It's a good thing we're not allowed to use those C words here.

Can we please have a little 6 -4-3 and get out of here?

you'd think they'd know better than to run on Vaz in a situation like that.. wouldn't you?

In 2018 the Sox hit .264/.790 (BA/OPS) In 2019 the sox are hitting .268/.792 In 2018 the Sox scored 876 runs. We're now half way through the season, which interpolates to 438 runs per half season. In 2019 the Sox have scored 435 runs. Our offense is essentially the same In 2018 the Sox committed 77 errors (38.5 per half season) in 2019 the Sox have committed 45 errors. In 2018 the Sox pitching staff had numbers of .375/1.25 (ERA/WHIP) In 2019 the Sox pitching staff has numbers of .425/1.29. The Sox are scoring runs at the same pace to collect 108 wins and yet halfway through the season we only have 44 W's. We have a poster here who keeps saying that Pitching + Defense = Parades. 'Nuf said.

That was my observation too, and why I think it's his back. The power to go opp comes from the back and if it's painful for him to go that way his body isn't going to want him to do it.

Face it. Fans are fickle. How long ago were some posters advocating trading Vaz and going with a catching duo of Leon and Swihart? How many want to dump Vaz now? How long ago was there talk of some way, any way, getting rid of Erod and now are realizing how valuable he is? And that doesn't even begin to get into the JBJ discussion. Fortunately the FO doesn't run the team like TalkSox would.

And in the last nine ALCS the East has been represented 8 times while the Central and West have been represented 5 times each. BTW, if it weren't for the two Texas teams (which are actually in the central part of the country) the "West" would have been represented exactly 0 times. The Left coast gets Left Out. There are occasional good teams in the AL Central and AL West but dominance of the ALE isn't a myth... it's fact.

Just as they get to deflate their win totals by playing one another.

. All of that doesn't negate the fact that the Sox, Rays, & Yankees are three of the best teams in the AL. If Oh Foy!'s Newport LL were the teams in the AL West they might have good "balance" but they'd still be inferior to the three teams I mentioned.

I think you might find the Nats saying, "If you're insisting that we take Thornburg then we're not going to be able to make a deal."

This is but one of the reasons I'd like for the Sox to win the ALE and keep them out of a playoff game. Sometimes a team doesn't get a chance to set up their rotation - they have to try to keep winning to remain in the WC race and to do that they have to keep their rotation intact during the last few games of the season. We could end up with Velazquez starting the WC game! Eeeek! (or more realistically it could be Johnson). Last year we had the luxury of coasting to the finish line and setting our rotation just the way we wanted it. We may not be as lucky in 2019.

This is one of those posts that needs a "Like" button.

Yes. I hope JH is getting paid "Royally" for turning two home games into away games.

I hear you and don't disagree. My concern now is that the Sox have dug themselves a large enough hole that it's going to be very difficult to avoid that Wild Card game. Too many things can happen in a winner take all game and too many of them are bad, especially when one team is measurably better than the other, not the least of which is pitching match-ups. I'd be very comfortable playing any other WC team in a best of 5 or even best of 3 series but a winner take all game makes me very nervous.

'Nuf for me. I'm not going to last another inning and a half. Go get 'em Sox. I'll read the wrapup in the morning.

That's true. The "secret" last year was that when Vaz & JBJ began to hit the team scored A LOT of runs.