Nick

Keep an eye on Sawamura....I think we have him for 3 years with options.....bargain.

Per OverTheMonster Baseball America updated their top 100 list on Monday, and we saw two risers in the Red Sox system, plus one slight faller. We’ll start with the positive side here and go to the top-ranked Red Sox prospect, which is still Triston Casas. This is not a surprise, but it is nice to see how high he is climbing. After coming in at number 38 in their last ranking, the first baseman has moved up to the top 30, coming in at #27. He’s ranked between Guardians infielder Tyler Freeman and Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach. Casas is just coming off a strong showing for Team USA at Olympic qualifying and he is hitting .328/.400/.552 in 75 plate appearances with Double-A Portland. The 21-year-old should return to the Sea Dogs this week. Coming in right behind him is Casas’s Team USA teammate and the biggest Red Sox riser in Jarren Duran. As he continues to show his newfound power is indeed for real, it’s not surprising to see his stock rising in the way that it is. Duran comes in at number #29 after being 86th in the last iteration. He’s ranked between the aforementioned Larnach and Yankees phenom Jasson Dominguez. Duran also played well for Team USA, and he’s hitting .278/.366/.625 at Triple-A Worcester. Like Casas, he should be back playing affiliated ball this week. On a more sour note, the Red Sox did have one guy fall a bit as well, with Jeter Downs falling from 59 to #69. He’s ranked between Cubs pitcher Brailyn Marquez and Cubs outfielder Brennen Davis. Downs was also away from the club playing for Colombia in Olympic qualifying, and he’s hitting .244/.337/.385 in Worcester so far this year.

Having Arroyo leading off and playing second base further lengthens our line up if he keeps hitting well. I did not realize that he was a first round draft pick coming out of college. (i hope i have the right player, going on memory). That will force Kike to play CF primarily and that's where he's needed. With low BA, I'm not sure platooning Santana with Dalbec is a great idea. Who knows, maybe Santana will get on a tear. I'm leaning towards acquiring a low cost left handed hitter with proven track record. 1B is the next fix. Do it, Bloom. (And quit telling me we lead the majors in runs scored. It it's bad, you need to fix it. It's always about making the team better). Watching Dalbec come to bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out and striking out on a pitch not even close was the final straw for me. He needs to start hitting bombs if he continues to strike out. I'm pulling for him. I want both Dalbec and Whitlock to succeed.

You need guys like Whitlock and Houck to keep the team below the luxury tax payroll threashhold. We can't keep buying every pitcher. Bloom has already made his mark by getting Nick Privetta from the Phillies. We have one of those pitchers back, Workman. It couldn't have come at a better time with injury to Brasier, who has been put on 60 day IL. Richards and Perez signings also look like winners. They are exceeding expectations and the risk was low due to one year deal and high reward due to having club option for second year if they pitched well. Sox can also trade them after exercising club options. Win-win in my books.

He has unbelievable stuff. It's kind of amusing that he picked up his change up from a teammate during spring training. (I hope I'm not getting the pitchers confused). An article stated that he's working on a slider and he's been mixing in that pitch recently. He attacks the strike zone and that's what I like most about any pitcher. At some point, starters will need a break and I'm hoping to see Whitlock be the opener and let him go as long as he can.

Christian Arroyo will leadoff for the sixth time this year, as Kiké Hernández is staying in the bottom third of the Red Sox lineup. In his previous appearances in the leadoff spot, Arroyo is batting .292 (7-for-24) with three doubles and a .320 on-base percentage. Cora explained there’s no analytical reason for Arroyo getting a crack batting first, the Sox are just trying to see who runs with the opportunity. I'll give Cora credit for never throwing a player under the bus.

Geez the wrist injury must be worse than what they lead us to believe initially. He was available for pinch hit on Saturday.

great hustle play by our captain.....

That's what I'm afraid of.....

One of three leads off....

That would be great......if you get beat three times, you don't deserve to advance.

Unless Sale comes back as his old self, I sure don't want to play in a one game winner take it all scenario. I just don't think single game defines the best team.

Little bit surprised that Sawamura didn't get the call in the 10th.

And to have a Rule5 guy from Yankees play a role in a win....sweet.

Yes, very much. You called it. Reminds me of a Yankee that pointed to bleachers while standing in batter's box. Epic.

It's funny how this past winter, all we heard was how well the Yanks were set up for the short AND long term. Now, look! Yep, I thought our 2019 starting pitching looked good on paper, too. That's why you play the game, as they say.

Biggest frustration watching Dalbec is him taking strikes and then chasing balls out of strike zone. He is dead in water with 2 strikes against him I guess that's pretty much true for all .200 hitters.

Not being able to smash balls over the fence, they can't overwhelm opponents as in the past. You never think it'll happen but you do get older. Just look at Gardner. He plays like an old man now. Not a good look for a centerfielder. They're saddled with Stanton's contract for six more years after 2021. 6 year, $90M man LeMahieu is now a singles hitter. Yep, he just signed the new deal beginning this year. This version of Yankees will not play well in Broadway but it works in my household. And they can't help themselves. Judge will end up with Betts deal and that's good news for Red Sox. Yankees will have 3 guys having signed a deal in excess of $300M. Another financial disaster in making.

As bad as Dalbec has looked (I'm his fan), his ops of .625 is not far behind Kike's .654. Kike went 0-4 with 3 K's. More concerning is Santana. I'm beginning to think his 2019 season was an aberration. He's BA is .125. Even more concerning will be if Cora bats him first again.

We're 13 games over .500 for first time. Finished the tough road trip 4-3. The team is hanging in there.

Absolutely not. I don't mind buying players, Just don't give up young talent.

Barnes only pitched 1/3 of an inning last night....should be ready to go....

9 hits 3 runs Yankees 5 hits 4 runs Red Sox sweet, we're efficient.

So if you have the lowest OPS on the team, you get to lead off? Okay Cora. I'm not complaining, we're winning. That's the formula.

Nope, so far he's shown he is a valuable utility player.