oldtimer

I was so happy for him that he got the hit that eventually resulted in the win. we know what he can do in the field. Maybe that hit will get him going on a hot streak. I thought he was our most tradeable field player earlier this year but his value has to be lower now, so we should keep him and hope he can come alive at the plate.

Interesting list of where our prospects will start playing this year. Brannen will start in Greenville to try to work on his hitting. He is 6th on our prospect list behind only Chavis and Travis as field players. He is 6th prospect because of his excellent speed and ability to play up the middle (CF). I am hoping that his hitting will come along well this year and his high ranking can be justified.

To change the subject, I did a look ahead at the weather in Boston for the next 5 days and it doesn't look pretty. Very cool (cold) with a chance of rain tomorrow and possible snow as well. Looks like it will be tough to play and particularly hard on the pitchers.

If the walks weren't the result of Barnes unwillingness to throw strikes and to nibble outside the strike zone, then we have a guy who can't throw strikes, which could be even worse.

Much better to try to get the hitter to chase than to throw strikes? His thinking is if you don't get it over they can't hit it? What are our pitchers thinking?

Kind of interesting that all the left handed hitters except Devers and possibly Swihart (I don't know the breakdown of his switch hitting) are hitting poorly in the lineup. Were the pitches doing something that caused the lefties to be off so poorly or are they just in a collective slump?

I'm with you in this regard. Timing of pitching substitutions, steal, hit and run, shifts, pinch hitters, defensive substitutions and many more are under the managers control. In addition, the manager is following the game and hopefully encouraging his guys. Of course the behind the scenes work is done before the game, and we don't see that, but there are the in game items that make a difference.

Games lost because of experiments with the batting orders might well cost a team the season and if radical would likely cost a manager his job. Not going to see that happening. There are no totally weak hitters in ML baseball other than pitchers. There are however weaker hitters and by putting them at the bottom of the order, they tend to get fewer ABs. The idea of putting your high OBP hitters in front of your power hitters makes a lot of sense to me and to most managers. Also the idea of stacking your best hitters in the front of the order is also what is done and has been done. I am happy with those approaches but for those who think putting a weak hitter up high in the order makes sense, good luck to them.

Be a good series to get going against the Marlins. When we play the Yankees the pitching will be tough.

Two HR's in 4 games and one of those an inside the park type. At this rate we are good for 81. Not the power we will need to beat the better teams.

We are picking up from last year and that play cost us a run.

I hope so, but Smith looked shaky to me again yesterday. Relievers are trying to throw their best stuff every pitch and paint the corners. Makes you wonder if they think about how damaging a walk can be?

I would aqllow that health has a lot to do with Bogey's resurgence but he also had the most to gain from taking a more aggressive approach at the plate. Betts apprears to be hitting it well but in bade luck. Beni is mainly hitting it into the ground at this point. I expect both of them to move forward. Interesting point somebody made about the astroturf that impacts Cora's desire to give guys a rest, although Devers was playing on dirt and he is just a young kid. Hope he plays today.

Three games in and what have we learned about Cora and the team? It is early to really learn much, but Cora is limiting his starting pitchers early in the year, perhaps in hope of not wearing them down as the season progresses. He is also using his full roster in games, with the exception of Swihart, who has not gotten in. Did he have his best fielding lineup in yesterday? Not by my standards. Did he have his best hitting lineup in yesterday? Don't think so either. Is he just trying different arrangements to see what happens and to reduce wear and tear on our catcher. Looks like yes. So far the good that has happened is Bogey is starting off red hot and showing some power. Some will attribute it to his better health while others to better coaching. Whatever the reason, he is our best hitter at this juncture. Others are showing some hitting ability so there is hope of more to come soon. Our starting pitching through 3 games has been very good. Sale has all his stuff. Price has less velocity but knows how to pitch in and out, up and down and mixes his pitches well. Porcello kept his pitches down until starting to lose it after 5. Everything started to be up in the zone where he gets killed. Cora got him out of there in time. Barnes and Kimbrel have been good in relief. The bad to date is that our bull pen is full of tall hard throwing guys who have trouble getting the ball over. Not so good for setup men to be this wild. Also, Poyner was leaving balls up across the center of the plate and was quickly burned and had to be yanked. Our bull pen to date is worrisome. Its early in the season but through 3 games our lead off three hitters are pretty far off. Betts at least showed some ability to make solid contact while Beni less so and Dreadlocks needs a haircut. Both JBJ and Leon also look like they are continuing their weak performances at the plate from last year. . Our defense with Nunez at third, Bogey at short and Holt at 2nd was as weak at those positions as perhaps any in the MLs. Couple that with JD in left and it isn't anything to brag about. New managers have to experiment with their guys and I am willing go give Cora the benefit of the doubt while he does that. Devers is a young strong guy and would prefer that he is in the lineup, especially when the alternative is Holt (both left handed hitters).Maybe Devers was injured, I don't know. I also Hope that Cora makes moves quickly when people are not performing. Games early in the year do count as much as those later on so we don't want to see a poor quality player used when it become apparent that he is a detriment. Management is in the best position to make the decisions provided they have the guts to do it. On to game 4.

The Rays develop starting pitchers so why can't we. Groome is the obvious possibility and lets see if he can make the jump within the next two years.

Price did it with location and varied his pitches. He topped out at 94 mph but rarely got there. More 92 to 93. It was enough because he got away with pitching in on batters.Great job of pitching.

Two games in a row with great starting pitching. Barnes did his job two days in a row and Kimbrel was overpowering. Bogaerts has been the hitter with several others looking good at the plate. I almost wonder if our 4,5,6,and 7 hitters are superior to our 1,2, 3 hitters. iT LOOKS LIKE A TOUGH LINEUP TO FACE. Have faith, they will get going and soon.

This thread to me is insulting to Hanley and the Sox. Its one thing to believe the sox wil be better off without a 422 million salary for an player with his skills, it quite another to track his at bats and make negative comments day by day. Hope he doesn't read this as it might impact his performance to know the fan base is hoping for his failure.

Nunez was a hero at the plate but his defense was shaky, which is to be expected with him. His lack of range on one play was evident and Hanley saved him on a wild throw to first. Hope his defense improves with repetition.

He should have got Kelly out earlier for sure, but Kimbrel was predecided to only be used in the 9th and Smith came in as the possible next years closer and he sucked as well. The guys slated to pitch can't be that awful if we are to be competitive. One of us might have come in and done better. What is wrong with these guys?

Good and bad in this game. The good: 1 Bogaerts is hitting 2. Nunez is hitting 3. Dever also hit well 4. Sale pitched well and so did Barnes The bad: 1. Obvious total lack of control by Kelly and Smith 2. Two base running issues 3. No errors but the infield can lead to fielding adventures. Won't throw dirt on any hitters with only one game in the books. Did notice hitters were more aggressive than last year.

I doubt it.

All these years where Pedey has been a mainstay of the Sox and a consistently good hitter when healthy. Any players has ups and downs and age eventually catches up with them all, but I'm willing to wait on Pedey and see if he can be even 90% of the player he was 3 years ago. Unless there is an offer that is too great to pass, I would stick with Pedey and see what he can do.

There are those who also think that poor performance early in the season is not as important as poor performance late in the season. I would argue that a game won or lost either early or late have the same value, so getting off to a good start is important. Does it correlate to having a good spring training? I don't know the answer to that, but I would think starting the season following a good hitting/fielding spring should give a guy more confidence.