oldtimer

Ten innings and three hits and two walks. None by anyone not named Beni or Bogey. Our vaunted attack has been missing for days now. I really didn't expect Betts to get back in form tonight but we should be getting something from JDM and Moreland. Sooner or later our staff will give up a run and this game will be over.

One way to get Devers attention is to send him back to Pawtucket for a while and tell him to make corrections of risk a long stay. So far he isn't getting the message.

I think you confused your post and meant it makes sense to have Holt in the lineup over Nunez.

Mookie is back in the lineup tonight which should help us regain a little Mookie Mojo. The team seemed to lack enthusiasm against the WS so maybe this will inject a little enery back into the team. Travis goes down.

We could do a lot better in CF but under our constraints it won't happen this year.

Had a double play been turned on a tailor made ground ball he would have been out of the inning where he walked some. The team seemed not to have a lot of energy today. Lots of play attempts were poorly made. He gave up 3 runs and at least one of them was due to misplays in the field.

Sounds like they are treading water with Mookie while the news on Pedey is not positive. Mookie's injury is taking longer than they first indicated as likely so perhaps they really don't know what the problem is.

Kind of a lack of energy out there and several plays which defined the weak effort. The tailor made double play ball to Holt at 2nd and his poor throw in the dirt which would have made a double play difficult for Bogaerts. Then Bogaerts not picking the ball for even one out. It resulted in a run and a lot of extra pitches. The ball hit by Moreland where he didn't hustle and would up with a single. No excuse for that. Moreland's inability to catch the ball at first also was damaging. Leon's inability to pick the ball and make the tag late Even Beni's not taking 3rd on a long ball to center field seemed lazy. Who knows, a pass ball and your home. So, a lack of energy and then the normal weak hitting down in the order. If we face good pitching our better hitters are not likely to get more than one for 4. Really, the Sox need help and having Mookie back would be a major step. Having Pedey back to anything like his old form would also help as he makes the plays at 2nd and may still be a threat at the plate. Hate to see us playing 500 ball as we will definitely not keep pace with the better clubs doing that. DD and the front office needs to consider alternatives to some of out weak players. I know it is hard to do with the constraints, but the alternative of doing nothing doesn't look like a good plan.

Not impressive at this point. Part of the bottom of the order blues. The botob boys.

Beni is much better when he pulls. He got a good pitch to hit yet it appeared as though he was trying to flare the ball to left. When he does that he takes away most of his power.

Maybe Devers for Trout.

Ever the optimist. Our catchers should hit better than the awful .450 start. Still not good though JBJ is going to hit .700+ . Think you are smoking something on that one. Bogey is better this year and if they can keep him in a good spot in the lineup the hope is he won't fade in the second half again this year. Beni does look for real. Moreland will get his extra base hits but I don't expect him to keep up at his current level. Nunez is a pro and will be a solid contributor but Pedey is an unknown. Will he play in a significant number of games. Devers looks like he will struggle this year. He needs to make adjustments at the plate and to date he has been slow to do so. He may need a threat of being sent down to realize he needs to change. Holt is a pro but is always going to be a fill in. Swihart shows little sign of contributing.

be nice to have him back in the lineup as our main threat is now just JDM. Would have been a sorry thing to waste another strong starting pitching performance.

What will our lineup be? Hard to win when relying on the majority of our lineup when missing two major stars.

We need healthy players and we need more of an everyday outfielder since JBJ doesn't look like he can regain acceptable form. I don't like playing JDM in the outfield daily as we can't afford him to get banged up. His sore back is a sign of things to be avoided. Nunez and Holt as outfield replacements doesn't strike me as reasonable. I would use Holt and Nunez strictly as fill ins for 3rd, short and second. With Devers not performing as well with the bat as expected and Pedey iffy, we can use them there. I don't see much trade value in Swihart, Beeks or JBJ and we don't have a lot of payroll flexability so getting the players you suggest, while they would help us, doesn't appear practical.

I think from last night we can see that Beni, Xander and Moreland will have trouble picking up the slack, particularly when they were broken up with Holt interspersed. If you have a hot hitter among them, they can be pitched around since there is virtually no protection. The bottom of the order remains weak but there is little DD can do with his constraints.

He's not awe inspiring I will grant you that, and he is also not a good trade candidate since he can't seem to hit well enough to stay in the lineup. With our current injury issues we can ill afford to have weak hitters as everyday players but that is just what we have. Currently the few good hitters we have left have no protection in the order so can be pitched to very carefully. I don't see an alternative outfielder in the minors to take JBJs spot and if we move Beni, we still don't have the outfield covered. I am assuming that JDM is not an everyday outfielder as we can't afford him to be injured. I don't know what DD can do to improve the situation as he has little money to spend and few trade chips.

While it is a truism it doesn't excuse stupidity. Yes, some decisions get derailed by injuries or the like and one can excuse that type of bad signing. I am bothered by the ones where the baseball executives haven't thought through the process fully. They haven't identfied the goals for making moves and identify any pitfalls associated with them. You can see that from the messes they have gotten into. Many decisions look like they were generated by a committee and not by a clear thinking baseball man. Many Lucchino was on the committee. I think DD has done well so far with the exception of the Price contract, which I find absurd.

It's totally believable with the lineup we have in the game. How many games would this lineup win? Got to score to win and we are now down to three good hitters in the lineup and maybe one of them is hot right now. I wonder about the Cora philosophy at times. Yes we have won a lot of games but lets try not to lose games that we should win.

I had a severe one this morning and could bearly walk without pain. Breaking the rules, I took a heavy dose of Aleve, went to the softball field, stretched, warmed up and wound up pitching two games and going 4 for 5. Now in a lot less pain than this morning, but not zero pain. I am heading toward 78 years old. If I can do it why can't a professional medical staff find a way to get a player ready to play? We sure could use his bat tonight.

The contract for Castillo was poorly thought out. Some foresight here would have anticipated the situation where he didn't work out as well as they apparently expected. With the luxury tax limits it has would up costing the Sox his salary while burying him in the minor leagues for the whole of his useful baseball life. Bad for the Sox and bad for him. Blame goes to the people who set up that contract. Panda has one more year of salary on the books plus another $5 million the following year which doesn't apply against the luxury tax limit and Rameriz is gone after this year. When you look at the value we got versus the cost to the team, they rank up there with the worst I can imagine.

I don't want to be an alarmist here but Mookie still looks to be in some pain and for two nights running we have see JDM taken out of the games early with signs of back spasms. Our core group is those two,Beni, Moreland and Bogey. The rest of our order scares no one. Lets hope that both Mookie and JDM can play regularly soon and together in the lineup.

When you watched the feed of him hitting off the tee and how he grimaced after each swing you have to believe he is still hurting. I played a lot of football and once tore a rib cartilege and it was a very painful injury and took a long time to heal. I wonder if Mookie has a different injury than the one we have been advised about.

I followed Williams career from the 40's on. Yes, they did shift against him and he still pulled the ball. So few hitters have Williams talent to hit the ball consistently hard. Guys like Molitar could hit the ball where he wanted and it was an advantage for him. The shifts are so lopsided the field on one side is nearly wide open. The stat guys only work based on past performances. Adjusting swings to hit the other way would curtail the use of such accentuated shifts. Even buts laid down properly would be easy base hits.