Nick

Maybe we comeback, maybe we don't. We finally got Bello's first outing out of the way. I just don't put much stock in this start. See what happens next. Maybe he'll rebound as Whitlock did. Very encouraging to see Kutter pitch the way he has. Duran on base twice is a good sign. Love to watch him on the bases.

I like having guys that can go multiple innings out of the pen. We don't have to be 'rigid'. But why not rotate say Winckowski, Cutter and Houck as an example? Obviously we won't need a long reliever EVERY game. I'd say out of 5 starts, one would require 13th pitcher to pitch in an out of reach game, another one a tight game where you may go to say Schreiber. That would leave 3 long relievers to piggy back.

I like to see Casas little more NON-selective at the plate. Be aggressive young man.

There are some soft hit balls getting through.....not too worried about him. He'll figure it out. It's a horrible day to be pitching. Cold and wet. No freakin' chance of Otani ever signing with the Sox (unless we can put a dome over it on the days he pitches)

I just wished the organization would develop an 'identity'. As a long time fan since 1967 (age 12), I've always felt playing in AL East required teams to hit in order to be successful. More power the better. I can separate offense and defense (pitching). Our pen is good, our starting pitching will get better. But what is Bloom's vision as far as positional players and their ability to play defense? I'm just little confused. As an example, put a defensive first shortstop over offense? If he can hit, that's cherry on top. Despite his efforts, Kike is probably not the answer at ss. What about corner infield and outfielders? Emphasis on power over average? I guess we did get the hint when Renfroe was traded for JBJ. But JBJ hit so poorly that experiment lasted one season. Casas is our 1B until he's not. Arroyo to me is not our full time 2B. Will Story eventually move to short or will he stay at 2B? Duval is a stop gap fix in CF, not a long term solution. Will Verdugo get extended and become part of our next core group? Inquiring minds want to know.

My first impression of Duran call up and his sub .200 average was an ugh. But then I saw his OBP was reasonable helped by 10 walks. Is it time to get rid of BA? We focus on OPS and that's a cobination of OBP and SLUG%. Anyone know what the average OBP is?

I don't believe Cora will ignore Tapia. I see him getting opportunity against right hand starters.

Assuming 33 max starts at 6 IP average, that is 198 IP 200 IP will belong to true studs.

I want us to be competitive and make the playoffs. But I am also interested in Sox building a core group for the future. Whitlock and Bello are big pieces to that. I still hope Houck can be a starter also. It starts with solid starting pitching. Ask Moon. We"ve had two ace types while winning the world series.

I would like for Tapia to be inserted into the lineup. Maybe that means Kike playing 2B or Turner at 1B and Yoshida DH. He has quick bat and speed on basepath. With Duval out we need help offensively.

Moon u probably meant Winckowski and not Whitlock.

Tomorrow is another must see TV. Bello's 1st start. Loved today's game with Whitlock. And less than 2 hours to complete. I hope I never experience 4+ hours of Yankee games.

Despite many things going wrong, we are 8-8. #1 issue at the CONClUSION of last season was to improve the pen. I do think we r better there just on the strength of our new closer.

Then Pivetta to the pen? Or go 6 man rotation of Sale Kluber Paxton Pivetta Whitlock and Bello? Does that hurt the pen with now only 7 relievers instead of 8?

On a serious note, Whitlock wants to be starter. He is under team control for six years. You'd be a fool to put him in the pen.

If you don't enjoy watching Whitlock pitch, why are you Sox fan? And tomorrow we get to watch Bello. I get the wins and losses but we have some young players worth watching.

And Turner will get a day off tomorrow. Count on it.

Don't worry Cora will take him out after 5. Will say "he did his job".

Yep....he is utility guy.

For pitching experts on the board can you take a starter and pitch him every 5th day say in tandem with Chris Sale as an example? And not vary from it? So Houck prepares to pitch mutiple innings on the day Sale starts? Would that be hard on Houck physically

When Paxton comes back we can use Winck Cutter and Houck as multiple inning guys.

We did something right other than extending Devers. How nice is it to bring in a closer in the 9th to win a ballgame?

Good news is that despite not having had a starter have a "quality" start, Sox are only 2 GB of the last wild card spot, tied with Houston and Seattle. It's got to get better, right? Monday is another must watch TV with Bello getting the start. I also want to see Whitlock's second start.

The Red Sox could go in two different directions when it comes to Crawford. The first option is keeping him in the majors in a role similar to that of Josh Winckowski, who has pitched well in multi-inning stints so far this season. The more likely option is that Crawford is sent back to Triple-A in the coming days to start while the Red Sox bringing up a more traditional reliever to join their bullpen. Doing so would require a 40-man roster spot which the Red Sox could theoretically clear up by placing Kelly on the 60-day injured list if his injury is severe. Possible call-ups from the WooSox bullpen include righties A.J. Politi and Jake Faria and lefties Ryan Sherriff or Oddanier Mosqueda. Now this maybe the media and not the management. This is where I have an issue with Red Sox. It should be all hands on deck. I don't give flying heck about Kutter being stretched in the minor leagues. If he's one of 13 best pitchers, he needs to be up with the big league ball club. Cora and Bloom act as though we have bevy of talent and we can stash away players in AAA when a guy like Kutter at least has had some success in the majors. I'm a Bloom backer but there are things I scratched my head over. PS. I like Dalbec but he's not a shortstop. Are you telling me that Sox can't find a defensive shortstop? Quit f***ing around. Get a damn shortstop.

That's what I'm thinking. Why have them on the team if you're afraid to play them. Ref Man can play defense. I want to see what Tapia can do.