oldtimer

The records go way back when there were more errors. Couldn't find the record I was looking for but last year he had 24 errors (to lead the majors) and he did it in 116 game appearances. At his current rate he would get very close to 35 errors this year in the 116 games and I would expect him in 140 to 145 games this year in the regular season. If he keeps going at this rate he could have the incredible total of 42 errors. Moon suggest he might be on first base next season and there is a lot of sense in that thought.

6 errors and we are still in April. I will have to look up the worst ever. My guess is he is at a rate that will surpass it and become the new record holder.

Who hasn't?

Now Nunez is back on the IL, this time with a back strain. We need some healthy players!

I see now what you were saying. I misread your comment.

Now Nunez is on the IL and Chavez is coming up. Turns out with Pedroia, Holt and Nunez hurting the Sox were out of options. Don't know how Chavez will be used as Lin will no doubt play second. I expect Beni to be back tonight.

I thought Bogaerts was hitting better so looked him up. The number for OPS today is .871 whereas you show .583. Sum Ting Wong as the old Chinese philosopher said.

I thought Sale showed improvement with his velocity way up from the earlier starts. Building on that could bring him around soon. I think the hitting is a serious problem as well. Moreland, Bogaerts, JDM, and Beni when he can play, are okay but the rest need to get it going. No Pedroia now, at least for a while and we chose to put in our weakest hitting catcher. This team needs a lift and soon.

He is on the 10 day injured list and Walden has been called up but they do need a 2nd baseman. I don't think it will be Chavis.

We just had a grear year and also found ourselves up against the 2nd tier of the competitive balance spending limit. Other teams have and had more leeway We did sign Eovaldi and Sale and got Bogie for the long term. It was probably questionable to have taken on Pedroia's contract but players like Kelly and Kimbrel were financially off limits. So what do you think we could have done better to optimize the team given the circumstances. The starters are only now coming closer to form but need run and defensive support. The suggestion is that ST was not adequate to get them off to a good start. Our hitting has some holes. Mookie is having a tough start as is JBJ. About the only thing we might have done is trade JBJ in the off season as an optimization move. The fact that these guys are struggling is more about readiness and focus. Maybe JBJ just has these periods where he loses his ability to hit. We didn't make the hard decisions at 2nd base and had given Dustin a long term contract. That has come back to bite us and was somewhat predictable. A question to consider, based on what has happened is set in stone, its what can be done going forward? My thoughts include: 1. Shore up 2nd base immediately 2. Reconsider our BP and bring up at least one youngster and let go of our poorest performer. 3. Move Mookie down in the lineup as a way of getting him started I don't see much more we can do now, although I would reconsider trading JBJ at the halfway point if he is still stuck in a subpar hitting performance.

This year he talked about how hard he had worked with the coaches to change his swing, particularly the angle of approach to the ball. Then, he has started off in a pathetic fashion, but he has a lot of company. We have Mookie also drastically underperforming as well. We expect Mookie to snap out of it while no one is quite sure if or when JBJ will.

Dustin was a special player for the Sox and sentimentality prevailed when they offered him a long term contract, which some have said was a discounted bargain for the Sox. The reality is the contract was high risk in that few if any players have returned to form after undergoing that injury and repair surgery, especially when 35 years old. it does look like Dustin may be permanently lost to the team and if so that is too bad for the team and for him. The bottom line is we will no doubt have to carry his salary as dead money against the luxury tax ceiling. We do need to make a move to bring in a younger and at least average level player to fill in the void. Maybe Chavis could do that or we look for another Kinsler. Nunez and Holt are already covering too many positions.

Dustin Pedroia has been a special player for the Sox and has worked very hard and endured much to make back to be a contributor. A lot of us have been skeptical that a 35 year old can be out a full year and make it back, especially with the type of injury and repair that hasn't got a lot of history of success. Tonight, Pedroia went out early in the game with discomfort in the surgically repaired knee. Not a good sign. Cross your fingers on this one.

Sale was throwing harder tonight but his location was an issue but he also got no run support. This team has struggled against fair pitching and tonight faced more top notched stuff. More is wrong than just the pitching. Like Betts not running at the crack of the bat. Thats a lack of focus. The team is having difficullty hitting and the error problem still exists. This is the same team that won 108 games last year so I have to believe they will play better than 500 ball going forward, but the hole is getting deeper and the turnaround needs to happen soon. Putting a poor hitter into the lineup isn't going to help run production. Lets hope he can contribute something on defense, but it didn't show tonight.

Every school kid isw taught to run hard from contact, not wait to see if the ball is fair or foul. Cost him a single.

As far as making judgments on hitting, Betts is off to even a worse start than Swi, so it seems premature to DFA as yet. Cora probably been facing a lot of pressure to bring Leon up for the same reason fans on this site have advocated for Leon. It remains to be seen what happens, but the die is cast now and Swi probably is gone for good. Leon is hitting half the avg that Swi had at Pawtucket so some great transition in our pitching staff will be needed to justify this move.

Have to pose that one to Cora. He makes move like these that leave the fans guessing.

This has been a really poor start for the team , which has already played 10% of their games. As you indicate, starting pitching has been a major sore spot, with a bright spot here and there. Perhaps getting them ready was flubbed. One hates to think they have regressed that much. The hitting has been especially weak also, with Betts, JBJ, Pedroia and Vazquez off very slow. Devers error problem is still with him and in some of our games the defense wasn't focussed. Lots of problems to overcome. An unkind thought is that the guys got caught up in reading their own press clippings instead of aggressively trying to win games. The next stretch could be brutal. Come on guys. Play hard and win some series.

Then again, Leon might NOT be the best Sox catcher. Whether collectively or driven by individual decision making, the Sox management made the decision based on what they had seen. Vaz did the job with the bat today. Some would like to blame Porcello's struggles on the catcher but I wonder if the staff just is struggling due to poor preparation.

Right now we have a number of players that are hitting poorly or at least well below their norms, including Vazquez. Betts, Devers and JBJ who are off poorly. The hope is that they all start to show improvement and soon with the Rays and Yankees coming up. Leon sits in the minors hitting 111. The idea of bring him up doesn't make a lot of sense to me at this point. There would be salary impacts and the loss of Vaz or Swihart. Too little benefit for a small perceived gain. Be patient with Vaz. Maybe he and the other underperformers will start to come through.

It seems like every year JBJ talks about all the work he has put in on swing mechanics and how that will make him a better hitter. He is a chronically slow starter who does seem to have a hot month late in the season. His fielding has always been stellar. Similarly, each year the talk is about how we need to get a better bat in center field. It is a shame that he can't seem to become a consistent hitter for us and as his expense grows we should ask ourselves if we can do better, but we have no minor league outfielders that could and I doubt we can go into the market and get a FA or into the trade market for a replacement. I tend to agree that patience in JBJ's case is the best approach. Accept inconsistent hitting and rejoice over the great defense.

Nice to get the HR but most of his balls are hit to left and left center. I didn't see all his at bats this game but he did ground to short. Please Beni, try an pull some balls, you have more pop if you do.

By the way, Leon is hitting .111 with a .269 OPS in Pawtucket in 18 at bats. Can't see that helping us much.

Not necessarily true. Swihart is the better offensive player and may have been up anyways. Leon cleared waivers and is in the minors where Swihart might have been in there had been options. I don't see where we are worse off. We don't have a Johnny Bench on our roster so we made do with the perceived best of the lot.

I thought your post was informative. I had only watched JBJ hit a few times and in those cases, when he made contact it was solid. I drew the wrong conclusion from that. In fact, despite his talk of changing things for the better with the bat, it hasn't shown in results as yet.