oldtimer

His velocity is down a little and he has to become more of a pitcher. His command must be better to do that. We have a huge investment in him so lets hope that isn't another case of sunken cost for us. As long as his arm is sound there is a chance he can be a productive pitcher for us and we certainly need him to go with Porcello and Sale.

Holt will be back before Pedey and if he continues hitting at all like he was before the hamstring, he is a better all around answer at second than Nunez or Lin right now. I do think Nunez is a professional player and hitter and will improve as the season moves on if last season is any indication. To be the most competitive team we can be we need Moreland, Holt inserted and Bradley on the bench. Not much to do about catcher.

Last night E-Rod got hit but the BP came through in a big way. Great for them, although Kelly and Kimbrel have been the strength of the pen. Our lineup did it again with always some of our main guys coming through.

I am hoping E-Rod stops nibbling as much so that he doesn't wind up being close to 100 pitches in the 5th inning. He has talent but seems to lack confidence. Surely the pitching coach is telling him something similar. He can be a very good 4th starter for us. While Price hasn't been good at all, I believe if he could establish better command he would be a decent starter.

I would prefer a solid defender in CF who also could hit. I can dream. Say what you will, JBJ is gone after this year if his hitting miseries continue. Hard for a guy with the time and experience he has to suddenly become a hitter. He had his moments, if he could only remember what he did in his hot steaks.

Would like to see Moreland tonight as Hanley isn't as hot right now. I think he could use a rest.

Some of the discussion was about what we might have done prior to obtaining Moreland. Now that we have him, it is difficult to see us moving Devers off of 3rd this year. We probably jst have to live with the errors and hope for some improvement with experience. I agree with the concept of using Martinez in left field. He is a professional hitter and has done better in the outfield than I expected. Beni is a quallity hitter and will likely bring his numbers up this year. He isn't as gifted defensively as Bradley but can do a decent job there. I would suggest resting Bradley and that indeed might result in him becoming more of a reserve outfielder. His trade value doesn't look that good right now. My view of Hanley is that he is in his mid 30's now, is a big muscular guy and probably needs more rest days than he has been getting. I have noticed for some time now he is not doing well with fast balls and he is getting a lot of those. Reducing his plate appearances sounds like a good idea, whether it be DH or 1st so he can stay fresh and produce better when he is in the game. We have a hot Moreland who is a good 1st baseman so that is no problem and we hope to allow Swihart to get more appearances along the way so some DH reps can come from him.

I certainly would have supported Moon's view that we should have gone for a 3rd baseman as a FA before thiss season began with the thought of moving Devers to 1st. There is still a chance he will improve to only a so so 3rd baseman from a poor one now. In Bradley's case, he has quite a history now and continues to have problems at the plate. I would give him a rest period now as we do have options with Martinez in left, Beni in Center and we can use Moreland at first. Now,the argument of playing a great defender that doesn't produce at the plate is often made here. If all our fielders were great defenders who hit like Bradley we would be in last place. Yes you can hide a guy in a strong lineup, but we often play Bradley, either catcher and a substitute infielder who can't hit. That puts the pressure on part of the lineup to provide all of the scoring. Much better to do continuous improvement by replacing the weak links on a team with better. Its kind of the continuous improvement idea and it goes on with every team every year. What we are hoping for is to get better when players show sustained weak areas through capability or age.

Devers is still very young and his bat is good and should get better if he avoids chasing pitches out of the zone. He seems to have good reflexes at third but doesn't seem to stay focused. Can he learn? Seven errors in early May is not a good sign as between 35 and 40 is the likely target for the year. Looking back over history, one guy had 3 and another 4 as an indication of the best ever. I would be happy if Devers could stay under 20 but that is very unlikely. Like you, I preferred that they considered first base for him and pick up a quality 3rd baseman but now we have what we have and he is going to stay at 3rd. Possibly Hanley will be gone next season as will be Bradley. Keep Moreland around as a first base/DH, pick up a defensive CF who can hit his weight and find a second catcher who can hit a little. Our pitching staff also needs some work. Price is with us long term and his issue is command at this point. He can still help the team despite his poor initial showing this year. The BP is our weakest spot. The comment on Thornburg is troublesome as we had some hope that he would be ready soon.

Cora's rest strategy should include both Bradley and Hanley tonight. Matinez has shown to an adequate outfielder and Beni is a much better hitter than Bradley and not that big a fall off on defense. Beni is a better 2 hole hitter than Hanley who seems to be starting into a slump. The guy is getting older, is a heavily built guy and no doubt needs to be rested at times. In Moreland we have a good defensive first baseman who is a hot hitter now. Can't do much about catcher as we have who we have. Neither guy can hit and Swihart might if he played more, but probably not at this time. Vaz seems to be letting the hitting woes impact his defense. I don't believe in asking a few guys to carry an entire lineup. Cora needs to adjust here where things are obviously becoming an issue.

He hasn't had his command of late and tonight was another bad effort. He needs to work to get it back as he still has decent velocity and knows how to pitch. Without him pitching like a #3 starter at least, this team is hollowed out in the pitching staff. The Sox tonight also looked bad in the field. Devers, Bogaerts, Vaz on a pass ball called a wild pitch. It is one of those games that we shouldn't have but like all teams, they happen.

Looks like we are bringing Walden up for the Texas series as E-Rod will be out on family leave for several days. We certainly could also need someone to replace Johnson, who has not gotten it done.

We have a very tough stretch of away games coming up. Rangers, Yankees and Blue Jays. We need to do something to bolster our BP as Johnson has been awful. Am I wrong in the thinking that if they send him back down, he is out of options and can then be picked up by another team? We have three or 4 guys in Pawtucket who might help us now. Thornberg isn't ready as yet, but I would make a move before getting on the plane to Texas. Can't have enough good relief help and Johnson just cant get it done.

The bottom of the order, who is up before Mookie after the first inning, have not been hitting their weight. I don't expect high average hitters in the 7 through 9 slots, but these guys haven't hit 200. Maybe Holt can give us more but our catchers are very weak hitters, Bradley is also and when we run Lin out there we have three guys who don't put anyone on base for Mookie.

Betts played anyway as the game went to extra innings and so did Nunez. So much for resting them. It might have been just as easy to start them but who knows if the team would have won anyway. Tough for Sale to get another no- decision. Of concern to me is the relief staff. Kimbrel is not a concern. He throws hard and in pressure situations. One missed location and a HR can result. What concerns me is the quality of our relievers. Kelly and Velazquez are doing okay. Smith has a chance of getting perople out. Barnes is a hard thrower and so is Hembree, but neither seems reliable. johnson isn't getting it done. Time to look for inspiration to the 40 man roster. Thornburg probably isn't ready so who can give us help?

Cora's attempt to rest players didn't work out so well this time. The team went to extra innings, Betts and Nunez played anyway and the pitching staff was used for extra inning duty. No guarantee our best lineup would have won the game but this is one to remember, regarding the rest strategy. How this works out in the long run is open for discussion.

Nice to see Beni hit the lefty.

I understand that Cora had a reason to leave Betts out tonight. I have not heard a reason why Lin is in over Nunez. Is Nunez injured?

Interesting. With Betts back tomorrow, how do we set the lineup? Betts RF Beni CF Rameriz DH Martinez LF Moreland 1st Bogaerts SS Devers 3rd Nunez 2nd Leon C (Sale Pitching) Tough lineup but we probably won't see it as JBJ will be in center. Love to see him have his month long hot streak. Now we know Pedey is slated back near the end of May, depending on his getting into playing shape. Holt will probably be back when he comes off the 10 day DL. Lin probably goes down at that time.

Correcting my own, it's 6 in April. Unbelieveable.

I used to look forward to his at bats, but now the kid won't stop chasing. Man on 1st and 3rd, Beni up he hits a fly ball and brings in a run. Devers in the same position takes big cuts at balls out of the strike zone and is gone. The kid has talent but needs guidance.

Whats that, 5 in April to none last year? Baseball is a crazy game.

Smith hasn't looked good at all. Hitters look like they know what is coming.

I agree that getting a professional hitter to bolster the lineup was a great move and one that is helping the sox to get off to such a nice start. The only caveat I see is his durability. If he can give us 135 games I will be thrilled. Ad for Betts, he has bounced back so far and is showing to be even better than before. Experience and encouragement to be aggressive has helped him, along with getting over a nagging injury. Bogaerts is in a different category. He not only regained his health and changed his plate approach to be move aggressive, he has aalso changed his swing dynamics and is hitting with the power I suspected he had. As for Hanley, he is off to a good start, maybe encouraged by those around him. I have noticed, and others can check me on this, he is getting a steady diet of fast balls. Many more than others in the lineup. Do pitchers see something to exploit? Devers is a very aggressive hitter who will probably hit for decent power but with a lower batting average until he stops chasing pitches out of the zone. He seems to have excellent hand/eye coordination and bat speed so he good improve his contact rate with experience. Nunez is another professsional hitter. Maybe he will suffer from not getting into the game on a regular basis when Pedroia returns. Beni is a little bit of an enigma to me at this time. He has a nice swing and very good plate discipline. He gained 10 to 15 pounds and should have added some power, but not much of a sign of that so far. I'm hoping he will emerge to be at least a 280 hitter this year and hold his own in the lineup. Moreland is also a professional baseball hitter type but at a little lower level than Nunez. He is a good guy to have availlable to add depth and to rest Hbutanley at times. I don't see the rest of our hitters as being much threat. JBJ has had years to develop but still is not there. Leon has fallen back to not ht his weight. I had hopes ov Vaz being better but not so far. Lin has a nice swing and plate discipline but his swing and miss rate is too high. Swihart doesn't get into the lineup enough to judge. There is hope that Pedey will add another good bat to this lineup and his glove is superior to any we have for that position. We have a formidable lineup this year except if you went back over the month of April, there have been few times it has been played together due to injuries and Cora's approach to resting players. Can't comment on that as the results will only be known over a long season.