oldtimer

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.

Smith has been very shaky so far. Maybe he is tipping his pitches, but he definitely is getting hit hard. We were kind of counting on more from him. Hembree and Barnes don't have a solid history. Both throw hard but their command is an issue. Starting pitching has not been that strong either. Price worries me the most. Gopher balls to the Rays?

Yes, and Bogey is being rested today having played two games after a long layoff. Could be there is something that we don't know, but resting Bogey when Betts is out of the lineup is inviting a weaker offensive day. Don't get it.

Being an old guy playing softball competitively 2 or 3 days a week, year round, I see quite a few hamstring injuries but haven't had one myself. Typical the injury occurs when taking the first step from the plate or when stretching out of the last step to beat a throw. One is accelerating quickly and the other is an awkward movement.

Wonder why Bogaerts isn't in. Two days back after more than two weeks off and he gets a rest? Hope his leg isn't bothering him. Seriously, with Betts out with a sore hamstring you would think arguably our best hitter should be in.

Pitching is only getting worse. Turn out the lights, the party's over my friend. Who will we get to pitch a decent game?

Now its Betts leaving the game with a tight hamstring. I doubt if he is out of shape.Will we ever miss him if he has to sit out. Come to think of it, he has rested already this season.

If Price gets 30 starts this year, today we saw a million dollar effort. Don't get much for your money these days.

Last night they were facing a tough lefty so Cora chose to leave Beni and Devers out but left Lin in. Moreland was in since he has been hot. I cant fault Cora for those moves and then when the right handed closer came in he tried to use his leftys as pinch hitters. The problem right now is we aren't getting much from our left handed hitters right now and guys like Betts, JDM and Bogaerts have to carry the club. I notice Hanley is getting a ton of fast balls, so they must think his swing is late. Hanley has been hitting up well, but his last hit came on a changeup. No question, we need Hanley, Nunez, Beni and JBJ to give us more. If a lineup change can help with that, why not? Some folks might think running up 4 right handed hitters in a row isn't the best idea, so that is a consideration.

From the reporting, it was hamstring tightness, whatever that means. Hamstrings are extemely hard to get over when they tear. Hope Holt doesn't have a tear as that would sideline him for the time being. In the meanwhile, I can't imagine him playing again soon as they will want to be very careful that whatever his condition is doesn't progress into a full tear. Typically, baseball players don't overdevelop their legs like running backs and they do a lot of stretching but these injuries do crop up from time to time, even in the adult leagues.

nice to have Kimbrel too. He is worth what we are paying him. Two of three from a division opponent in their home park after a long road trip. Excellent results, and yes it is good to have some home run power. I was looking at the lineup tonight and noticed we had power in a number of positions. Only one had hit the long ball on successive nights but tonight we had Betts Hanley JDM Moreland Dever Nunez All of them can be power threats. Nice not to give the opponents pitching much breathing room.

If Holt has pulled his hamstring, the dilemma is temporarily solved in that hamstrings can take 6 weeks to heal for a severe one. I feel sorry for Holt as he was turning in a nice performance with the bat of late. Some guys are just unlucky> Perhaps with modern training the hamstrings can come along quicker or perhaps it is not a severe pull he suffered.

Mee too. All the Sox fans who have been bitching about Beni for the last few days. Yesterday it was he didn't hit and should be moved down in the order or rested. He also shoould have scored from third on a Devers fly to right. He did point out the umpire screened his view of the play causing him to leave early so he had to retreat. He also got two walks yesterday. The kid today has doubled to drive in a run and singled in front of JDM's homer to score another. Yes, he got sloppy at second. On the whole, I think the kid is an important part of the team and a mainstay going forward.

How do you know what I understand. I have read the entire UZR description and know full well what it means and how it is applied. I also understand that it is best used with about 3 years of data, however by then, the players performance may well have significantly changed. It is more of a retrospective concept. Now with Moon listing UZR/150 for 2018, I just pointed out the numbers don't ring true with the performance we see with our players. Maybe it's you who doesn't understand.

When the ZR/150 is that much in disagreement with what we see, it has to be called into question. JBJ worse than the average CF? That is not what i see.Moreland and Lin also seem to be capable fielders when compared to some sort of average player. Devers better than average while leading all 3rd basemen in errors made. Seems a little far fetched. HRam has had a good season so far so I can believe his numbers and JMart in left field is according to this way better than Beni. Maybe this can be attributed to garbage in and garbage out. If the FO is using these sorts of numbers to establish player value then I wonder about their intelligence.

I disagree. We need Beni to be the best club we can be. He is slumping now but I doubt that will last. He didn't hit last night but he did walk twice.

Made a heck of a catch on a foul ball last night. The kid can play.

Yes, but last night his throw cost us a run. He leads the league in 3rd base errors made, which can't be a good thing and at the current rate he would commit 37 errors for the year. This is something the coaches can work on with him and it should be a priority. He has a strong arm, just not accurate. The team defense has been better than expected although the range of our infielders is certainly not the best.

A little information about the Sox defensively. The Sox have committed 6 errors this season which is good for them. Five of those errors have been committed by Devers, which is not so good. He seems to field fairly well but his throws still are kind of wild.

Bring Back Birdie Tebbetts

We have a formidable lineup and when Bogey gets back and Pedey also comes, we should get even better. We have depth with Nunez, Moreland, Swihart and either Lin or Holt. Of late we have been missing Bogaerts in the lineup and that has hurt our offense. A question that I haven't as yet gotten my mind around is whether managing for the long haul by altering the lineup day to day to keep player fresher for the finish is the smart approach, at least as currently practiced on the Sox. We have done well to date so it a moot question but I wonder about the following: 1. Making major changes to our team on a daily basis results in mny days where we are weaker. If the opponent plays his best on those days are we at a disadvantage? 2. Are games won early in the season not as important as games won later? We might get a chance for a very long rest in October if we don't do our best in April and May. 3. Is there a goldilocks lineup where players feel most comfortable that can be disrupted with constant change? Clearly we can face good pitching and be held down for a period. Also, the wear and tear of a long road trip can impact performance of some of the guys perhaps more than others. It will not get any easier for the next few days as the Blue Jays staff is good. Lets hope we can salvage a couple of games in Toronto before coming back to some home cooking.

Good hitting catchers who also can hit don't grow on trees and I am hoping that Vaz will get going at the plate. Don't believe Leon will but stranger things have happened. If I was in the Red Sox front office I would look at the FA catcher market with an eye to improving our strength there. Don't believe it is a critical need, but one where we definitly could improve.

You can be okay with that, but wouldn't you feel better if they were average or better than average?

I'm 77 and play softball virtually year round. I have had no joint problems even though I admit to being 230 pounds on a 6'1" frame. Some guys just have the genes to survive the games while others are getting around on a cane. I had a guy on my softball team who was 87 and could outrun many of the guys in their late 60's. Great player and without problems. Pedey does have some wear and tear but could well come back and give us quality play at second. I am pulling for him.

Cora appears to believe loading the lineup with lefties when facing a righty. I believe we have 8 left handed batters today. Makes you wonder if a left handed Holt is superior to a right handed Mookie.