oldtimer

The bottom half of the order is struggling. Moreland put up a battle but Nunez and Devers no so much. Scoring shouldn't be all up to the first 5 or 6 guys in the order.

I agree, Holt over Nunez and perhaps I would have pushed Hanley back behind Moreland in the order.

There are trends that are impacted by away games, quality of opponents, etc. There are also slumps that are harder to understand, both in the short term and in the longer term for players like JBJ and Vaz. Short term examples are Hanley hitting in the 220's for the last 7 games while Beni is hitting 366. Having pitching that is inconsistent also can result in ups and downs and our starters have been inconsistent, except for Sale. All of these will result in high and low periods. The trick is to recognize when weak spots are driving the record in the wrong direction and be willing to make the hard decisions to improve. DD knows Swihart wants to be traded, knows our catcher offense is weak, knows JBJ is unlikely to contribute offensively and knows our BP is shaky. It's DD's responsibility to try to take corrective action and we need to do it this year as in my opinion, this is our best chance for a late October run in the next several years.

The Sox haven't looked all that strong of late and the pitching is something to be concerned about, also the bad base running. We know that Cora has spoken to some of our guys about running into silly outs, and last night he had one major case of stupidity to deal with. Some things to think about. Hanley has dropped from around 320 to 282 in the past short period. He may need a rest. Moreland is still hot so be sure to keep him in the lineup. Nunez is also not doing the thing we have him for (producing offense), so Holt is no slugger, but a better option. Devers can't be replaced, but he sure can work on his plate discipline. Catching is a black hole offensively and we can't afford to play JBJ unless more of the lineup is hitting. The pluses offensively are Mookie, Beni is pulling himself up somewhat now, JDM is great, Moreland and Bogie. The rest not so much. We still have punch compared to other lineups and one hopes that Pedey can bring something like his prior solid hitting. Something to be said about the Yankees is they don't seem to have the personalities that we do. No Hanley spending his time working on his dreadlocks, no group of outfielders acting like kids at a chucky cheese with their silly dance, for which they will be embarrassed later when they look back at it. Get serious guys, play ball and stay focused on the game.

I am usually a defender of Beni, but this play was just dumb and cost the Sox at least 2 runs since Moreland doubled right afterward. I can see no reason why he did what he did. The games on him at this point.

Sounds like Smith's injury is serious in that there is no discussion about his return. Relief pitchers in general have a reputation of not being well grounded. These is a case of a grown men doing a stupid thing.

Any of our guys can go into slumps at times. Some of them seem to be in permanent slumps. Right now Bogie has cooled off, but he is too good a hitter to have it last. I like your basic lineup but might switch JDM into third and possibly move Hanley to 5th. Not a big change and it seems to be working fairly well. If it aint broke don't fix it? Vaz was hitting fairly well for a time last year but seems to have lost his way at the plate. JBJ is back mired in his all to typical slump. He gets extra chances based on his defense and his rare but impressive hot streaks. I'll keep my eye on Pedey. Hope he tears up the minors during his assignment.

I agree. Even your s***** hitters are s***** hitters.

The Sox have three guys who work the pitcher, get on base and have the speed to be a threat to steal. Those three are Betts, Beni and Bogaerts. How you apportion those guys assuming you want the power in the three and four slots is the question and there are no wrong answers in my opinion. What Cora like is Betts, Beni, power, Bogaerts and so on. It has worked with the exception that the bottom of the lineup has been a black hole and Betts isn't getting a lot of chances to drive in runs. When Pedey gets he will probably be batting down in the lineup, at least for a while. Assuming Devers is going to be a hitting threat, that leaves the catcher and Bradley, when he plays. One alternate lineup would be to put Beni ist, Bogaerts 2nd and Betts third with JDM following and move Hanley down to Bogaerts current spot. I do think Hanley moving down makes some sense, even if the table setters move down. Bogaerts at 3rd in the lineup is a good idea.

Just an aside, but having a hitter like JDM on the club has got to be an example for the other players and in particular the younger ones. The level of his preparation and the way he settles himself after every pitch. The Sox front office was very right in signing him and are not only getting production but a form of leadership by example.

Nunez is a professional hitter and will do his part offensively. His mobility isn't good right now and he never has been a golden glover. Some tough decisions facing Cora and the front office.

If Vaz or Leon get injured, Swihart is the obvious replacement so I think we may keep him. He is flexible Hembree and/or Johnson could go when Thornburg comes up. Barnes is not solid but he is probably better than others we might get. Who goes when Pedey comes up around the 1st of June? Could be Holt or we could have an injury in the interim which would change that scenario. JBJ doesn't seem to have any trade value so he will probably be kept as a utility man for the time being. I can't see us handicapping ourselves with Bradley, either catcher, Holt and to some degree Devers in the lineup together. Yes we get rest but do have a greaster risk of losing winnable games.

And today, up one run in the 8th inning, Beni leads off with a walk, steals second and scores on a ground ball out. Oh and he threw a possible tieing run out at home in the 7th. He is coming through and probably get better as the season moves on.

So why does Cora put so many weak hitters in the lineup when we have better sitting on the bench?

And yet yesterday his running helped us win. Give the kid a break. I hear from the gurus that he is not a #2 hitter, but in my opinion it is an excellent place for him and Cora seems to think so as well.

That dance is appeaaling to the gods to please let JBJ get a hit soon.

Hard to teach an old dog new tricks

Hope the experiment with JBJ is over for a few days.

Today the results favored Betts and Beni in the #1 and #2 slots. Tomorrow, who knows.

Betts is an excellent hitter. Good power, good OPS, OBP and he doesn't strike out a lot. Once on he has speed and is a base stealing threat. Cora likes him leading off but he also could be an assest at the 2, 3 or 4 slot. Beni is also a player who knows the strike zone and makes contact. He hasn't been right on this year but he does get walks and he has good speed. I like him ahead of Bogaerts or JdM. Hanley on the other hand does tend to strike out a lot and tends to go into a funk at times. He has power and has had a good start but I still don't like him in the 3 hole as a guy you rely on to move the table setters. We shall see how well things go over time. Devers has talent but is not polished and chases pitches all too often. A good hitter in the 6th or 7th slot to get the ocassional big hit.

I'd alter your order by keeping Beni at #2, but moving both JDM and Bogaerts up with Hanley moving down. 1) Betts 2) Beni 3) Bogaerts 4) JDM 5) Moreland 6) Hanley 7) Devers (mainly because of power - he has a lot to learn) 8) Nunez/ Pedey (maybe june now) 9) Vaz/Leon Maybe there would be a few hurt feelings but so be it. Notice, no JBJ, Holt or Swihart. They will get into some games but if JBJ subs in and starts it will be 8th or 9th.

Beni got a hit, walked and stole a base last night. This is the kind of thing I want from a #2 hitter in the lineup. I certainly hope for more from him and agree that patience in his case is worthwhile. What I notice about him is that he is seemingly just late on many swings. If he would pull more balls his numbers would come up. He still has excellent plate discipline and knows the strike zone. Some call strikes on him last night were out of the zone. Hanley is putting up decent numbers now but sometimes is frustrating to watch as he will take a third strike that catches a lot of the plate. He struck out looking at least twice last night. The difference between he and JDM is night and day. JDM prepares himself for each pitch and has a plan. Hanley at times seem lost. All the guys were exhausted last night and didn't hit as well as they normally might, even given the fact the Jays pitching was good.

The team has been on the road and playing virtually every day and with a particularly tough series against the Yankees followed by an arrival in Toronto at 4 AM. Clearly many of the players were tired for last night's game. In particular, Hanley looked bad at bat and to some degree so did Beni. It was a shame to see such a fine effort by Sale go unrewarded. After what appeared to be a move by the Sox to prevent the Jays from stealing signs, Sale looked great and went a full 9 innings with one problem. I told my wife, that this game smells of a loss about the 5th inning. Opportunities to score were squandered and it was just a matter of time before we gave something up as we just weren't scoring. I really didn't understand why Hanley couldn't score on the long double off the top of the wall which bounced away from the outfielder. Couldn't have been running hard the whole time. I wonder why Beni is hitting so many balls foul to the left. It's like he is late on almost all his swings. It looks like he could make a minor change and hit more balls up the middle or to right field. At any rate, we are a tired team and I hope that they get decent rest before game two and that the sign stealing will be handled from out one this time and that some of our hitters get it going today.

If he doesn't throw a strike he can't give up a hit. Is that what he is thinking? Henbree and Barnes have that same lack of mentality or lack of menatality.

I too have been a fan for many years, going back into the 40's. Te 1949 team was one of my favorites ever. We have a very good offensive team, particularly if we sit JBJ and play Nunez. When Pedey gets back, we may even be stronger. Our defense is not great as we suffer from a 3rd baseman with a leaners permit and range issues in the infield. Pitching is worrisome and particularly the BP. Kelly and Kimbrel are high quality but Henbree is a liability and Barnes is only so so. Like many, I am hoping Thornburg will come in and hold his own and Poyner will also do the same. Smith is an unknown. Not great so far but maybe he can at least be useable.