Nick

10 Openers in July and August, 2, 3, 4 innings, averaging 3 innings. That's 30 innings. He's pitched 34 innings so far. Add 30 innings and you get 64 innings as of 9/1. 5 starts in September averaging 6 innings for total of 30 innings. Now we're up to 94 innings. What would be his maximum for this year? 120 innings?

Our top pitching prospects per SoxProspects. Personally, I want to keep them all. #5 Tanner Houck, 24, coming off IL, join the Sox after All Star break? #6 Conner Seabold, 25, another depth piece coming off rehab. #7 Thaddeus Ward, 24, TJS on 6/3/2021 #8 Aldo Ramirez, 20, Salem #9 Bryan Bello, 22, just moved to AA Portland, shooting up through the system. #11 Bryan Matta, 22, TJS on 4/13/2021 #12 Noah Song, 24, military service, no one knows his status #14 Jay Groome, 22, I'd swear he should be 30, seems like he's been around forever. I want a college starting pitcher with our #4 pick. 28 and Under 28 Nick Pivetta 28 Josh Taylor 28 Colten Brewer 28 E Rod 25 Garret Whitlock 25 Eduard Bazardo 24 Darwinzon

It’s time to call up Jarren Duran Let’s get that spark. https://www.overthemonster.com/2021/6/21/22543422/boston-red-sox-roster-jarren-duran-call-up-the-time-is-now Let's throw gasoline into our campfire....the writer makes compelling case.

It's all good.... My #1 priority is to stretch out Whitlock and make him a starter. For pitching gurus, can we do that during regular season and also pitch in relief at the same time? Just wondering. Can we make him the "opener" and increase his pitch count steadily? I know nothing about pitching and rest. I also want to see Cordero come up one more time.

I doubt Bloom will make a 'big splash' at trade deadline. This team is going to rely much more on players that are developed within the system. We survived the Cordero experiment. We're still in 1st place. (he seems to have bounced back, did not go in the deep end) We're surviving with Dalbec at 1B despite the fact that we're one of the worst when it comes to production out of 1B. Being very patient may payoff here. We should be open to all and any possibilities to improve. I trust that Bloom will do great. This here is a fan forum. It'd be no fun if we all agreed on everything.

I doubt Bloom will make a 'big splash' at trade deadline. This team is going to rely much more on players that are developed within the system. We survived the Cordero experiment. We're still in 1st place. (he seems to have bounced back, did not go in the deep end) We're surviving with Dalbec at 1B despite the fact that we're one of the worst when it comes to production out of 1B. Being very patient may payoff here. We should be open to all and any possibilities to improve. I trust that Bloom will do great. This here is a fan forum. It'd be no fun if we all agreed on everything.

All of you took my bait. My point is there's not a 'book' that you go by. Each player is different. Sometimes situation dictates the move. Has Glasnow been healthy and Rays were in first place by comfortable margin, Rays may not needed to call up their #1 prospect. I've been on this board long time and there's always that group that wants 100% assurance that a minor leaguer is "ready" to move up. I'm not pointing out to any specific player. Tanner Houck really doesn't have much of major league experience but I'm glad Sox gave him a 'look' last year. Despite his inexperience everyone seem to agree we could use his arm in the rotation. Funny that. Sometimes you just take a leap of faith. Moncada certainly was a hot topic before being called up. Just look it up.

No. 1 prospect Wander getting called up ST. PETERSBURG -- Baseball’s best prospect is about to be a big leaguer. Infielder Wander Franco, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball the past two years, is expected to be called up on Tuesday, the club announced Sunday night. The switch-hitting standout will join the Rays on Tuesday for their series opener against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Having lost six in a row as well as ace Tyler Glasnow over this past week, Tampa Bay is in need of a spark. Now, the defending American League champions, with a wealth of young talent atop baseball’s No. 1 farm system, are ready to unleash the game’s next young star upon the Majors. https://www.mlb.com/news/wander-franco-rays-callup Good thing he doesn't play for the Sox. He'd be stuck in minors for couple of more years. "He's not ready. Not enough at bats at AAA, forget that he went from A+ to AAA, skipping AA."

0.90 Whitlock 1.60

Seattle does it again. Bottom tenth, two outs bases loaded, grand slam. Mariners win it 6-2. Good job Seattle.

We were 30-4 when we had 12 base runners or more. Now we're 30-5. It was an ugly game.

Well, we've seen how Whitlock plays at the major league level. His stuff is there. He added slider this year. We have veterans that can't improve. Whitlock is special and I'm driving his bandwagon. Many have the stuff but no command. Some have good command but not enough stuff. Whitlock has both. If Houck, Seabold, Ward and Groome are better than Whitlock, then we got something.

Per MassLive Whitlock has begun to use his slider more recently. He throws a plus-changeup and his sinker has averaged 95.5 mph while his four-seam fastball 95.9 mph, per Baseball Savant. The Red Sox view the Rule 5 Draft pick as a starting pitcher longterm. “From day one in spring training, this young man has done nothing but impress,” Varitek said Sunday. “Keeps getting better. Keeps getting smarter. His game experiences are going to keep going up and that’s going to continue to match his stuff. He’s been able to make on-field adjustments with his breaking ball. He’s just been impressive. He steps up in there, no sweat. ‘Oh, I have to hit? OK. I’ll hit.’ And then the next time he hits, he gets a hit.” Whitlock recorded a single in Boston’s win over the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday. “It’s just been impressive,” Varitek said. “He does a good job in all aspects; our pace, our tempo, which we’ve pushed since early in spring training. You watch him, that’s first and foremost what he’s doing. And he’s attacking. He’s using all his pitches and he’s continuing to grow. He’s just been extremely impressive and he’s going to keep growing.”

Whitlock's changeup moves in towards right handers and down. It's the movement that avoids contact. He should be stretched out to start at some point. I'm hoping one of young guns take over for Eovaldi in 2023.

He can throw 110 MPH. He still can't miss the bats.

No one has explained to me the difference between batting 1-5 (add Renfroe) and batting 2-6. All of you think it's detrimental to move up everyone by one spot. I would venture to guess it matters MORE who you hit behind remain the same. Are you telling me our 2-5 insist on hitting in that order because they all want to bat in that spot? Verdugo did just fine leading off last year. No matter how small, Verdugo will get at bat more leading off. That's a mathematical certainty. Does anyone really think that Verdugo is such a pussy that he's performance will go down by leading off? Oh my gosh, he can't deal with it? That's not in his DNA from what I've seen from him. Maybe, maybe it'll be one or two game difference. It could be the difference between winning the Divison or being the wildcard team. We don't lead the league in runs scored per game so you can't use that argument any longer. I rather have a big hole in 6-9 than 7-1. We lead the AL in ops in 8th spot in the order so relatively speaking to other teams, we don't have a big hole in the #8 spot.

I did not mention Kike in this post, because he has been bashed pretty harshly, too. While he has been a high usage utility guy his whole career, I think we signed him thinking he'd get over 550 PAs- more or as much as we expected from Dalbec, this year. Moon Much of his bashing is Cora's fault for insisting that he bat leadoff. If he's hitting 7th or 8th, I don't think anyone would talk about him. It's Cora's insistence that Kike, Marwin and Santana bat leadoff puts spotlight on the three. I'm just done talking about it. Why not put a .104 hitter in leadoff spot because he has speed and the line-up really doesn't matter? Dalbec was designated #9 hitter. No expectations.

After a day off on Monday, Sox play 16 straight games. It may not hurt to insert a sixth guy during that stretch. Maybe Houck can be that guy.

Boston Red Sox prospect Brayan Bello’s 10-strikeout performance ‘was eye-opening,’ Alex Cora says http://https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2021/06/boston-red-sox-prospect-brayan-bellos-10-strikeout-performance-was-eye-opening-alex-cora-says.html

Sale nearing live BP Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, will throw bullpen sessions again Tuesday and Friday. “Then from there, we’ll reassess that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Most likely he’ll throw two live BPs the week after that.” Cora said Sale likely will throw his first live BP on July 8. Sale most likely will throw his Tuesday bullpen in Portland with the WooSox on the road.

Bazardo throwing again Reliever Eduard Bazardo has begun a throwing program. He played catch Friday. The WooSox placed Bazardo on the 10-day injured list May 24 with a right lat strain. The 25-year-old has pitched 3 scoreless innings for the Red Sox this year. He was one of the top reliever depth options in the minors before the injury.

Connor Seabold KANSAS CITY — Red Sox prospect Connor Seabold threw a 25-pitch bullpen session Friday. The righty, who was shut down with right elbow inflammation and minor soreness in early May, began a throwing program in late May. The 25-year-old is one of Boston’s top depth starters despite having not yet made his major league debut. Boston acquired Seabold with righty Nick Pivetta from the Phillies for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree last August.

I would love to see him get to 3 innings.....it's BS to claim they're monitoring the 'usage' when he's thrown more innings than any other reliever......

Good Day for me as a fan Sox win, back to 15 games above .500. Dalbec with 3 hits, opposite field home run. Whitlock pitches 2 scoreless innings. I like watching him pitch than anyone else.

Dodgers CBT History 2021: $262,111,667 payroll on day 1..... 2020: The Dodgers' CBT payroll of $204,653,651 did not exceed the $208M threshold for MLB's competitive balance tax. 2019: The Dodgers' CBT payroll of $204,918,530 did not exceed the $206M threshold for MLB's competitive balance tax. 2018: The Dodgers' CBT payroll of $195,039,730 did not exceed the $197M threshold for MLB's competitive balance tax. 2017: $36,209,572 tax on payroll of $253,633,893 with $195M threshold and 50 percent rate as a fifth-time payor. 2016: $31,775,817 tax on payroll of $252,551,634 with $189M threshold and 50 percent rate as a fourth-time payor. 2015: $43,567,472 tax on payroll of $297,918,681 with a $189M threshold and a 40% tax as a third-time payor. 2014: $26,621,124 tax on payroll of $277,737,082 with a $189M threshold and a 30% rate as a second-time payor. 2013: $11,415,958 tax on payroll of $243,234,050 with a $178M threshold and a 17.5% rate as a first-time payor. Interesting that they stayed under the cap in 2020 to win the World Series. Dodgers added two big contracts in 2021, Betts and Bauer. Luxury tax doesn't seem to bother the owners.