Nick

Well I did hear that both Verdugo and Story pitched in high school. BTW, didn't Dalbec also pitch in college? Maybe he can DH and come out of bullpen. Then we can sign both Xander and Devers.

Why are we discussing Xander's contract in the "2022 Starting Rotation" thread? Is he going to pitch with his next contract?

76 pitches over 5 innings 101 pitches over 5 innings 95 pitches over 4.2 innings Tell me why Eovaldi was pulled with game tied 2-2 after 7 innings with pitch count of 72? Tell me why? He's our f***ING ACE. This coaching staff f***ing sucks. It's time Bloom looks at our hitting and pitching coaches.

During pre-game, the announcer mentioned Houck was going to piggy back on Hill. It's good that he came in with the score 2-5. Let's see, if Whitlock had not started, he would have came in for fifth inning. That's how much they value 2-0 lead. But they saved Houck for that crucial ninth inning which never came. Another fine outing by Brasier. His ERA today was zero. Atta boy. (I always have one in my dog house. He's it this year) I really don't have any complaints about our overall pitching. We've scored 3-2-1-2-4-2-2 the last 7 games. Won't win too many with those numbers. I'm anxious to see so called I fixed the mechanics now Pivetta throw on Tuesday.

What is he waiting on? Ask yourself one question Do you think the Rays, Yankees and the Jays prefer Whitlock starting or coming out of bullpen.

Against our weak bats, every starter in the league is a legit.

And I thought our manager was lot smarter than your manager.

Maybe I'm old school. IF I OWN A MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM, I THINK I HAVE A FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY TO TROT OUT A LEGIT STARTER EVERY GAME. I NOT ONLY OWE IT TO THE PAYING PUBLIC, I OWE IT TO THE POSITION PLAYERS. THEY SHOULD NEVER FEEL "OH GREAT, WE'LL HAVE SCORE 6 RUNS TO WIN THIS GAME" What good is to have the best closer if we can't use him because we're playing from behind all the time? Soooooo, this Tyler Danish guy shows up AND does the job. I think that's pretty much how the relievers roll. It really is a crap shoot sometimes. I will not complain about our pen. It feels like it's a deeper pen than in the past. I think Bloom has done a good job.

Many fans on this board complain about not spending 'real' money to acquire a 'real' starter. Same fans argue Whitlock is more valuable in the pen. I don't f***ing get it. We have a 2nd year pro, who to me matches the command that Maddox of Braves had in 1990's. He's got good stuff to go with his command. Stretch him out for God's sake. Give him the f***ing ball every fifth day and let him start 32 games. Maybe Sale should go to the pen. At this point in his career, he seems more physically frail than say Whitlock. Whitlock is efficient. He has chance to go into 6/7th innings....and if our offense can put up couple of runs, we have chance to win the game. Wake up man. I don't want to hear anyone complain about our starters when we have have a starter hidden in the pen.

I was dead set against signing a long term deal with E Rod. I wish him well. The year he was traded for, he was the only starter I cared to watch. I like the Paxton deal. Bloom is hoping for 2 solid years for 3 years worth of money. (the last two is for $13M per annum). Whatever he's able to give us this year is big bonus. If he breaks a leg, well it cost us $10M and we can walk away. Wacha looks like he'll give the innings we need from a starter. As you have alluded to, Bloom saw something in his last few starts last year. Hill is Hill. He's hittable but can provide us with innings. At $4M, not a big risk. I think Moon and I always think alike in that we think the way to go is to sign a #1 pitcher and slide everyone else down a slot. But that's expensive and risky. I would not want to own G Cole's contract. Another 7 years at $36M annually (counting 2022). I would only do it if we have a very good team and the signing is way over the top. (ie blow away others in AL EAST) Ultimately Bloom is buying time to get some of our younger pitcher time develop. Need Bello to continue ascending and Matta to come back from TJ.

My source if I heard it correctly was Eck during recent appearance by Valdez on NESN telecast. Eck was impressed with his change and added how many in a row he had thrown. Anyone else hear it? I'm beginning to be less impressed by all the one inning guys.

Robles 16 pitches (4 outs), Dieckman 28 pitches (2 outs) If it's all about pitch count, I was little surprised we didn't go with Robles to start the 9th inning. I'm sure the pitching coach wanted Dieckman to have a clean inning. I just thought Robles had decent command and the first batter in 9th was right handed (maybe he was a switch hitter). On his second walk, he was ahead in count 1-2 and I thought he got little cute throwing 3 breaking balls to walk the hitter. Then he also had the next hitter 1-2, and even thought the batter looked overmatched, Dieckman again got away from his fastball couple of times. If you allow Dieckman 28 pitches, why not a longer outing for Robles? Do you count the warm up pitches on top? Just asking.

My source if I heard it correctly was Eck during recent appearance by Valdez on NESN telecast. Eck was impressed with his change and added how many in a row he had thrown. Anyone else hear it? Even 12 straight is impressive.

Yes but it's really hard to swallow his two year contract. Ottavino signed for $4M this year. Too bad we didn't pick up that contract, a one year deal. We paid him net $7.875M last year. I think Bloom is waiting for our farm to provide outstanding pitching in near future. Bello is at the top of my list to become a starter in 2023. Our pen will be better when and if 'old' Taylor returns.

I tend to agree with Moon on relievers...hit and miss Gee, all you have to do is look at Barnes...2 year $18.75M is no chump change...how many of these mistakes do you want? He's at best our #5 reliever right now...

Toronto starter goes 8+ innings. We're doing cartwheels for 5 innings. Do Sox pitching coaches have low expectation of our starters? I heard Cora say Whitlock may go 3 or 4 innings. WTF? I'm anxious to see how efficient Whitlock will be Saturday. I'm excited.

I heard he threw 17 straight change ups once.......must have great arm motion to deceive the hitters.

Getting Taylor back healthy and productive would help.

GM IP-(ER) Pitcher 01 5.0-(3) Eovoldi 02 5.2-(4) Pivetta 03 3.1-(3) Houck 04 4.1-(1) Wacha Quality 05 4.1-(3) Hill 06 5.0-(2) Eovaldi Quality 07 2.0-(4) Pivetta 08 5.2-(0) Houck Quality 09 5.0-(0) Wacha Quality 10 4.2-(4) Hill 11 4.1-(1) Eovaldi Quality

Ever since I posted how much I like Kutter's 'stuff', his outings have been very poor. Obviously the top 4 have emerged. They are Whitlock, Robles, Strahm and Diekman. Taylor hopefully will return soon and pith effectively. Davis probably is expendable when Taylor returns, making Davis the fourth left hander. I'm assuming at some point (May 1st?), we'll go back to 26 man roster. I like Valdez better than Brasier right now. Just have not been impressed with Sawamura this year. Just not sure what to think of Barnes. 1st man out...Kutter Crawford 2nd man out...Austin Davis 3rd man out...is it Valdez simply due to option remaining? I like Valdez because he seems to have a rubber arm and can go multiple innings.

Are we getting hurt by long balls so far this year? Even Whitlock gave up a big home run in his first outing. 2 by Hill today.

I'm pretty sure JD is not vaccinated. Anyone confirm? I thought I read that somewhere. My apologies if I'm wrong.

I would say baseball fans are right there.

I'm pretty sure our former president was vaccinated and still tested positive. Your point is?

Sure.....Houck is always welcome at my house. Apparently he's welcome in Sox clubhouse.