oldtimer

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.

Funny how they can creep up on you. Slight changes can lead to the beginning and perhaps negative thoughts can lead to making additional slight changes and pretty soon a person is lost. I believe it is a complex situation and even with all the camera footage, coaches and the like, it is still difficult to climb out of it.

Call me sentimental and I am old, but i love baseball and the Sox. Every year, before the season opener, I always rewatch "The Damn Yankees", with Gwen Verdon, Tab Hunter and Ray Walston. It reminds me of my own desire, like Joe in the movie, to get out there for the Sox (he for the Washington Senators) and help them win a pennant. Its a dream and not achievable but still the wish is there. I still play softball and my oldest team mate is now 87 years old but we can still go out and give it our all. Something about baseball that grabs the fans and I admit to being one of those.

I didn't think Pedey is ready for tomorrow's start!

Well said, and I think that is why JBJ was often talked about in trade rumors this off season. He is a top notch defender but has been a streaky hitter and spring training is not giving people a warm feeling that he will have a breakout year. His time to perform is now, so if he doesn't, patience will run very thin.

My guess is Pedey will not return until sometime in June. By then, things may have changed due to injury or performance. To me, Holt will be the first to go down, but it may just be too early to call that shot.

When Pedey gets back, and the assumption that we keep Swihart proves true, then the bench consists of Leon, Moreland, Nunez and Swihart. Someone will go down and that is probably Holt, unless we suffer an injury before that time. That leaves us with only Nunez and Swihart as possible infield (short and third) subs once Pedey gets back. Not a good situation to be in. Maybe management has another plan.

I personally don't expect Leon to stay in the 800's once the season gets going.

The question on JBJ remains unsettled. He probably will have a hot streak at the plate, but when and for how long? He is at a point in his career where he has to perform or be surpassed.

Holt speaks of his decline after suffering the concussion and his inability to feel right until finding a new medication, which he is now taking daily. He says he feels much more normal now and that his spring training performance is reflecting it. I tend to agree with your assessent of Brock. That his versatility is not of as much value to us now that we have a DH who can play in the outfield, Hanley who can play 1st base and Nunez who is flexible and will be used in utility once Pedey returns. We also have Swihart who is going to make the roster and is quite versatile. That leaves Holt fighting for the one remaining roster spot with Marrero and that spot may also dry up when Pedey returns. As you point out, Brock is not the number 1 option in utility at any one position. If he regains his hitting stroke, as he believes he has, he could return to a 280 hitter with not much power but there is the question of whether his health will hold up on the long term. Brock has been a nice player and a good guy for the Sox, so it will be interesting to see how he is handled. Will the Sox look ahead to cover the inevitable injury bug, where one or more of our players gets laid up for 15 to 60 days? It appears that Marrero or Holt will be shopped and traded if possible.

Cora has said about Bogey that he was guilty of bad takes at the plate and that the coaches were working with him to avoid those. Cora seems to define bad takes as fastballs well in the strike zone early in the count and of course many of us were saying the same thing about him and also a few others on the team last season. It appeared to me that this was an artifact of JF and Chili Davis coaching and may have had a lot to do with the general decline of our offensive performance last year. Cora wants hitters to be more aggressive and not to take hittable pitches early in the count. I applaud that as it will give opposing pitchers something to think about before grooving the first pitch knowing our batters have been told to take the first one. We will see if Bogey has a resurgence in his batting average and possibly his power profile this year.