Nick

Yeah they are doing great. I was just getting greedy and ahead of myself. I think great starting pitching trumps offense. Especially in playoff series. I'm a big fan of Eovaldi and I fully supported Sox extending him what with Porcello's contract expiring in a year later. But for a guy that throws hard, he really doesn't induce swing and miss with his fast ball, which tells me there's not much movement. He gets hit hard. It seems it's a coin flip with him, not sure what you're going to get out of him when he takes the mound. As good as E Rod has been I have concerns about signing him to long term, big dollars deal when his 'throw' numbers are down. I get it that he's very consistent and have been good for us. Can he beat Cole? This is where I'm with Moon. You sign a #1 guy and drop everyone else down one spot. Will we have a better option than E Rod come this November?

Ultimately, there are opportunities for younger/less experienced players to 'take over' a position here and there. At some point we'll have to have discussion about how good is our starting rotation in comparison to top 10 teams. Do we have anyone better than say G. Cole of Yankees? We'll have time to sort it out.

To get to 90 wins which should be good enough for wild card this year, Sox need to be 18 games above .500. We're already at 9. Obviously you can go backwards just as easily. Winning the series will take care of won lost record. Just not sure how realistic it is for for #2-#5 hitters to keep up the pace they're on. Vaz can help and hopefully Hernandez will help from the one spot. Someone mentioned that Renfroe's lifetime average is around .230 so I'm not sure how much more we can expect from him. I know he's had good May thus far. Cordero will be replaced, it maybe that Hernandez moves to center and Arroyo takes over the second base job. At that point all you need is a left fielder. We can stay bit longer with Dalbec but if he doesn't improve, platooning maybe necessary. If we get to the playoffs and Sale returns in good shape, then we got something. Our bullpen is still little shaky.

Not complaining.... Cora was elated that Richards went 7 innings yesterday, saying it gave our bullpen chance to reset for today. Then he brings in Taylor who was very fortunate in his outing today. Other than Barnes, not sure what the pecking order is. I know he wants Ottavino to Barnes set up but Ottavino continues to struggle with his command.

I'm guessing Cordero will be the first to be sent down when Danny Santana is ready.

Throw strikes.....game's pretty simple when you aren't pitching from behind all the time....

I can't believe I'm saying this but the Orioles have pretty good bullpen.

Nevermind...

get the f*** out there....3 strikes out of 13 pitches....what are we waiting for?

Cora was happy to see Richards go 7 innings yesterday, saying the pen is all set for today. So he goes to Taylor? 4 straight balls ....nice

Way off topic....but I see that both Vanderbilt starters are pitching well this spring.....I was hoping we'd get one. Matta, now Tanner (ok it maybe minor). I was looking at 3 starters from this group for 2023.

After 30 pitch first inning, nice outing by Nick. He will still be undefeated as a Sox. What a pick up from the Phillies. This is his 28th year age wise, he should be coming into his prime. 3 additional years of team control. Masterful trade by Bloom.

Here we go.....a walk

How serious is flexor strain?

another ugly at bat by Renfroe....got to drive it to outfield

Dalbec with a double

Whitlock reminds me of Greg Maddux.....not sure why

Pivetta at 69 pitch count....looks like he'll give Sox the usual 5 innings...maybe 6

I like Renfroe but he sure doesn't get his money's worth at the plate sometime. Popping up on first ball......ugh

It's always about command of strike zone. Ahead 0-2 to third batter, he walks him, then walks the next batter. His pitch count up to 30 after 1st inning.

I agree. The goal is to contend this year and identify core group for the future. Red Sox is good enough to carry Dalbec as the 9th batter. Obviously we can't have 7, 8 and 9 hitting below .200. If the experiment fails, that is if Dalbec continues to struggle against right handers, then just platoon him. We're in first place and first two out should be Cordero and Renfroe, not Dalbec.

True....obviously I'm not the one giving out the grades...

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/grading-chaim-blooms-biggest-red-sox-trades-shows-pattern-hes-winning Here's a very good read on Bloom's trades thus far...... Betts A Pivetta A+ Beni C- I don't think you'll fully know until the players to be named later are named Ottavino C It was a cash transaction to purchase Frank German. Anything we get out of Ottavino is plus. Moreland C Throw in Rule 5 pick, Bloom is doing exactly what he was hired to do.

Before Devers came on board it was all about Moncada. Biggest rift on this board was about bringing up Moncada and if it would 'damage' him if things went south. Many thought he wasn't ready. I was in the small camp, let's bring him up and see what he can do. Ultimately watching Moncada convinced the brass that he can be traded, Sox had someone better. That turned out to be Devers. My life experience has taught me that successful people want to know the bad news, sooner the better. That's been my stand on Whitlock. I've been sick and was out of loop for 3 days. I saw that the middle game versus Detroit was lost by Whitlock, giving up a 3 run homer. I've had 'fights' with posters here thinking that he needed to be valued little more than he has have been. One poster suggested I would go off on Whitlock as he had a blow up. Contrary to what he may assume, I'm not at all upset over it. I'm glad Whitlock was given chance to perform on a bigger stage. Last night I watched him come back and pitched couple of innings. He's on track to being a very good pitcher for us. I was also glad to see Dalbec finally contribute to a winning cause. Whitlock, Dalbec and Pivetta are three players worth keeping an eye on. They may become part of core group for us. I'm rooting for them. I see that we're in top 3 or 5 having the worst production from our #6-#9 hitters. For your stat geeks, I wonder where we would rank if we look at #6-#1 hitter. I'm not sure how to get that information.

I like the idea. It would be better if we can measure this in terms of league average. So good starts become say +125GS, with +100GS representing league average. Good work though.