oldtimer

You have strong opinions about this. My own is that we know he is a great defensive player, but his hitting is streaky and I would trade him for the right return. He is 28 now and should be in his prime, but has shown no real improvement at the plate. The same very streaky hitter with the hot part of the streak few and far between.

So is Price. His velocity is great and he is throwing strikes. Didn't think he could come back this strongly. Probably can't go a full game but so much better than Porcello at this juncture.

Kimmi. There is not much we can do with the hitting this year. The Astros have also strengthened their pitching. hope for Nunez return to give us a somewhat better chance.

I went back through the last few series, and included Sept 15 and up, since he had a good day then. For all of those games, he has gone 6 for 39 for an average of .154. That is not getting it done for us. There was an article about his struggles today and the writer couldn't put his finger on any one issue, only that he is not hitting.

Almmost certainly we will take steps to get the best hitting coach available. Whatever, we need to try something different. At this point, I haven't identified a candidate, but what we have isn't working. I suppose who we get will depend a lot on whether JF survives this season. JF has to be given some credit for the position we are in given the lack of power on the team. His strength is handling of the pitching staff. One wonders if the pitching staff has a bad week, due to what looks to be fatigue, will he be criticized for that?

I see Cosart as more of a Nunez type. Play him at 2nd 70 to 80 games a year. DH him some and let him back up Bogey to keep him fresher. I am leaning toward something to be done aboutJBJ. He has been around long enough to see his pattern. Great defensive player but very long periods of deep slumps. i think the team can find better. The question to me is whether a new hitting coach could wake some of these guys up or they are beyond help.

Certainly I would consider him against lefties as Moreland's hitting isn't good, even against righties and Hanley isn't hitting either. Travis use against lefties makes sense.

What about Cosart instead of Nunez? Similar players but Cosart has a better defense. Both have about the same $ valuation. I do believe Devers will improve. He has the tools but needs to have his head more in the game. Bogey is who he is. Not a great defender but acceptable. I would think his hitting can be brought around. I am not stuck on Duda. Maybe DD will find a better overall player. Personally, I am coming to believe that one of our best fielders is just too much of a project in the batters box. Maybe it is time to see what kind of replacement we can get in Center Field.

Realistically, we are a flawed team by way of our death of good hitters and especially power hitters. We are further flawed by injuries to our key right handed hitters at the crucial point where we are struggling for the pennant. Our strength of starting pitching looks tired and our relief pitching isn't doing it either for the last two games at least. Add to that, our stretch run is against hot teams whille the Yankees are not facing quite the same challenge. Still we only need to win 2 game of the last 5 while the Yankees lose 1 of their next 5. If that can't happen are we really pennant caliber? I have seen many finishes, good and bad, and hope now for a couple of good pitching performances along with the return of our better hitters so that we can progress.

Yes, and we miss him greatly. We have JBJ hitting for a .173 avg for the month of Sept and not at all for the last week. Hanley is a shadow of the guy we need. If we get the pennant it will be an accomplishment with hitting this poor.

We are in a period where our pitching has to be nearly perfect. It was most of the road trip but now we are facing a hot team who killed two Yankee pitchers and have continued to do it to us.

Getting one power hitter in place of Moreland would help but not fix the underperforming offense. I think we also should consider trading some of our most erractic tradeable players and go after replacements who could give us a lift. If we can get Nunez or Cosart that would help and a healthy Pedroia would help but we may need more. Tonights game just points out we can't get into a slugfest or we lose.

I agree that the results of a loss tonight were likely and that Sale was put into a situation where he couldn't give up any runs at all and expect our weakened lineup would give him much support. Missing both Betts and Nunez left us with our other likely hitters of Bogey, Beni and Devers a heavy lift, especially against a good lefty who has been pitching well. Sad to see our team disintegrate after such a nice run, but when we were winning we were only getting 5 or 6 hits most days. The pitching carried us. The funning thing is that Young actually got a couple of hits tonight after not doing anything at all for a long time.

Morrison is another interesting guy. If he can repeat something close to this year he would be better than Moreland. Also, if we can't pick up Nunez, we should look at Cosart. They both aren't gooing to come cheaply. Their values are listed at around $14 million for next year. What they get offered may be something different, but it would be good to have a backup plan for Nunez.

You could be right, but I am a sucker for a top athletic type. It will take him time to come up through the levels. Hitting will be his biggest hurtle but I think if he can put on 10 to 15 pounds he could well be a top flight outfielder. The hitting is the thing. Whatever, don't trade this kid.

I must have seen Duda at the wrong times as he didn't look like that good a hitter against good pitching. Maybe Alonso for a short contract would be better.

Devers is likely to improve his defense and he needs to do that. His hitting is already a plus on the team. I don't expect Bogey to improve much as he has enough years of play now to define who he is defensively. His hitting really fell off a cliff this year in the second half but looks now like he is coming back a little at season's end. My hope is that we get a hitting coach who can do a better job with our team next year. Maybe Bogey and JBJ would respond to a different approach.

I've got my eye on Cole Brannen who needs to mature and gain some weight and strength as a Sept call up in 2018. He fits the bill as a very fast and athletic outfielder who could also play center. At 6' 170# aand 19 yo he needs to gain 10 pounds and his power may respond a little. To me, he is a possible diamond in the rough type. I agree that we have elements in our system that can fill the utility spots as well as they were filled this year. I know you have been less than enthusiastic about Hosmer, but he might just be so much better than what we have that he would be a major improvement. i believe in continuous improvement.

Yes, we have to get used to the fact that Hanley will remain here next year, despite his less than stellar production. I don't expect another year older Hanley will show any improvement, so whatever plan we have should make 2018 his last with the Sox. I prefer that any player we get in his place will be able to play a position and would not advise taking on any playing who can only be a DH. Going forward for next year and beyond, we need to realize that Pedey is likely to be a 90 games a year guy just due to age and wear and tear. So we need a capable replacement for him for the other 70 games or so a year. Pedey when right can hit and contribute enough to fill in as DH. Not much power but a good way to use him to give him days off in the field. As far as priority players going forward, I think Betts, Beni, Devers and Vaz should be our key signees. If Nunez is healthy, I would love to sign him for 3 years as well. That would solve the expected partial void at 2nd and allow for rest to other infield players, plus, he too could be an effective DH. On a second tier, I am ambivalent on JBJ, Bogey and Leon. All have good points and weaknesses but could be replaced with players of equal capability. If signing money or length of contract gets too high then say goodbye. Our current utility players aren't getting it done enough to hang onto them. Young, Holt and Davis. We should look for younger and adequate utility guys to replace them. Maybe we could find a diamond in the rough or two. Travis certainly has upside. Clearly we need some pop in the lineup and 1st base seems to be the logical place to find it. There are several guys out there better than Moreland. If we have to pay a FA, then we should do it.

Now, Nunez seems to have more of an injury than first suspected. That was an ominous sign last night with him in pain during an AB. Add to that, Mookie had a sore wrist and was removed. Not good news at this point.

Lets hope that Nunez is going to be back and that we are getting straight talk in that regard. Young is definitely not playing well enough to get a spot in the post season, whereas Travis can play first and has at least a chance of getting a hit. Marrero for his defense and his upbeat attitude. The problem going that way is that there is no backup outfielder. Right now we have Pedey, Moreland, Rameriz and Bradley all hitting poorly. Lets hope that some of them can come out of their hitting doldrums to add some positive at bats to the team.

Without Pomeranz imploding, this would have been another win.

Youngs third strikeout in a row. I guess Farrell must think Beni needs the rest.

I thought Young was a decent defensive outfielder and did enough at bat to be a utility outfielder. Over time though, he has apparently lost what hitting skill he had and now is a total loss at bat. No way they should bring him back nor include him on a playoff roster. If Farrell also thinks that way, then why play him in any games leading up to the playoffs. He has an alternative in Davis. Why not play the guys who will continue on the roster?

Didn't use his curve ball and it cost him