Nick

THIS IS WHERE BASEBALL HAS GONE NUTS ON BOXING PLAYERS IN WITH THEIR ROLES.....SO WE SHOULD HAVE PITCHED KIMBREL IN THE 8TH THEN ZIEGLER IN THE 9TH. THEY ARE BOTH ON CONTRACT. WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MATTER WHO CLOSES 100% OF THE TIME? MATCH UP DICTATED THAT KIMBREL SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE GAME FOR A SHUT DOWN INNING AFTER THE SOX HAD TAKEN A 3-1 LEAD BECAUSE ZIEGLER COULD HAVE PITCHED 9TH. Wow, wow, would that hurt their little feelings? What a bunch of pussies.,

Should we entertain the thought of bringing up Kopech to pitch out of bullpen?

Off Topic Can we count on our young players to continue to improve so that we can pass on signing a DH for at least a year? You have Young, Swihart, Leon, Shaw, Hanley, Pedy, Pablo and Moncada to step in and DH. Sox can't afford to make another long term mistake. Pedey would hate it but he needs rest from playing defense. We can't afford to lose him. Why not DH Sandy Leon on his days off behind the plate? This will keep everyone fresh.

Pablo wanted early retirement.....and I mean by age 28.

Too often what player does over 7 game playoffs gets overblown. Damn what they did over 162 game season. Ben ultimately paid a heavy price for his mistakes.

Holy Toledo.....that was a good group

The Designated Hitter rule: A hitter may be designated to bat for the starting pitcher and all subsequent pitchers in any game without otherwise affecting the status of the pitcher(s) in the game. A Designated Hitter for the pitcher must be selected prior to the game and must be included in the lineup cards presented to the Umpire-in-Chief. The Designated Hitter named in the starting lineup must come to bat at least one time, unless the opposing club changes pitchers. It is not mandatory that a club designate a hitter for the pitcher, but failure to do so prior to the game precludes the use of a Designated Hitter for that game. Pinch hitters for a Designated Hitter may be used. Any substitute hitter for a Designated Hitter himself becomes a Designated Hitter. A replaced Designated Hitter shall not re-enter the game in any capacity. The Designated Hitter may be used defensively, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order. A runner may be substituted for the Designated Hitter and the runner assumes the role of the Designated Hitter. A Designated Hitter is "locked" into the batting order. No multiple substitutions may be made that will alter the batting rotation of the Designated Hitter. Once the game pitcher is switched from the mound to a defensive position this move shall terminate the DH role for the remainder of the game. Once a pinch-hitter bats for any player in the batting order and then enters the game to pitch, this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. Once a Designated Hitter assumes a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. So in theory, say you have a player that can both hit and pitch. He's a bona fide closer. He starts out as a DH and then comes in for the pitcher to close out the game.

When did Pablo become a part of Sox pitching staff discussion?

Who was the 3rd OF? My memory is sketchy..college years....

I'd focus on Betts first.

Has any major league ball club had three OFs with combined salary of less than $2M that's been more productive than our three B's? Talk about value. Watching Xander struggle at the plate should always temper our expectations of him. I'm pretty certain Borass is thinking $300M over 10 years. Pass.

Sox relief pitching We are paying close to $35M for this bunch. Getting nothing out of Koji at $9M per year stings. Craig Kimbrel is at $12.5M and he has control issues. That is the first thing I look for, BB/game. Hopefully it's about the knee and not start of a trend. I am so sick of hearing 'tired arm' for Tazawa ($3.#M). Hell put him on DL. Or don't use him. Don't let him get hammered then proclaim he's overworked. Then you have $2.6M in Joe Kelly. He throws the straightest fast ball of anyone. It comes in fast, it exits fast. Just don't know what to make of him. Abad has another year of team control, if we want him. Luckily we don't have a second year of control, or third. How's Carson Smith doing on his rehab?

Xander should be moved down the order....... We are better with Betts not leading off We maybe better with Xander being dropped...I think he's something like 14-74 or something...around .200. Hell he should be hitting 6th or below. It's be different if he hits for power.

You mean Noble Barnes that walked 3 straight with 6-3 lead?

Oh believe me, I'm ecstatic. Obviously Sox Management was very wrong about Buchholtz and Kelly. They need to own up to it. Sounds to me like we need to hire more pitching gurus.

Coming into the game, the Red Sox starting pitchers had emerged as the best group in baseball throughout August, claiming a 2.69 ERA and .205 batting average against. Price pitched well tonite. Pomeranz had his best outing of his career the other night. E Rod is back on track. Porcello is money. Hopefully missing couple of rotations will help Wright the ship. Johnson is coming around. Owens took couple of steps forward. Why does it always take until August for this staff get its act together?

Price signed a 7 year deal.....if we get into the playoffs and he rebounds next year, all is forgotten......

John Farrell moves to his comfort food......Abad has been a huge disappointment.... I wonder what it would have taken to get Miller back....

When healthy and pitching to their expectations, our rotation looks pretty good. We can be choosy with a trade. Need depth thought. Like to see Johnson at some point. It's all about control issues for Owens. It may take him another couple of years. Biggest question mark on horizon is where exactly is Moncada and what to do with him? Is he ultimately an OF because he can't defend in infield? I love our OF.......I personally put those 3 ahead of Xander. Now if Xander shows signs of hitting for little more power, then it's between him and Betts for MVP. I just see him now as adequate defensive shortstop that can hit. I also like Betts the best because of his agent.

Well, he's no Madden

I'll take him over Brycee, Brockie and Chrisie in left field....

"HanRam would pout, if we platooned him by sitting him half or more of the time, so before we'd even mention a platoon, we might try to trade him by paying close to half his salary.. " Moon My thought on that would be 1) it may pay half of Encarnacion's first 3 year's of salaray or 2) pay for a strong reliever (say Ziegler for 3 years)...second option would not add any more payroll cost....

Didn't you say that sample size is very small vs LHP? You bring him up in Sept to help the ball club win. Look and see should be secondary. That said, to me he sure looks like he can add a spark. He'll probably hit better than Shaw. Defensively at 3B? That would be a concern. Only the coaches know at this point.

Maybe he can get old job back with In Living Colors...

You mean Mr. Barnes that walked 3 straight batters ahead 6-3 before Ziegler wiped his ass with 3 straight strikeouts? Yeah, okay.