oldtimer

Where did that come from. Is it from a sportswriter?

Sale looks tired on the mound. Small wonder.

Doezsn't look like it with a walk and a home run.

Moreland made it two. JF must believe his best chance at 2nd base is going with Holt, a proven 170 hitter. We need a win here.

I think the BB execs like Dombrowski are busy people but imagine they might look at the boards from time to time, just as the players might. They rightly believe they have superior knowledge and experience to the posters, on the other hand, many posters have been fans for a very long time, are educated and have professional backgrounds and also tend to see things without pre-conceived ideas or alliances of the BB community. After listening to John Valentin's cliche laced color support of the broadcast last night, one wonders if many BB people have so little to offer. So unlike you, I think the execs and players scan the boards and may actually find some nuggets there.

Hanley hasn't got the joob done for whatever reason. Good to give him additional rest.

JBJ's performance seems to be sensitive to where he appears in the order. I'm not sure he belongs in 9th but he hasn't done well when pushed up in the order

By way of comparison, what would you expect of Betts next year. Nunez has added an aggressiveness to this club. He plays an intense game and maybe lifts the club by his example.

I'd rather look at what he is doing recently than look at lifetime figures. Hanley lifetime would be much better than he is doing now, for instance.

So much of ml hitting is timing. They see where the ball leaves the pitchers hand and how fast it get to them. I can see the htters taking a pitch or two during the first AB, but then all pitches should be fair game if they are down the middle, particularly fast balls.

I expect this to be a fight to the end. JF needs to treat each game as being critical. I would assume the Yankees will lose 4 or 5 along the way but no more. If I am right, the Sox will have to win 10 games, so have to play well to capture the pennant. Lets have the Yankees faced the Guardians.

I think you undervalue Lin's bat. He has good mechanics and a good plate approach. He isn't ever going to hit for power but he is likely to hit for an acceptable average to be a utility player. He isn't currently getting any looks so I would hold judgment on his capability.

Well Nunez is our most aggressive hitter and his numbers are impressive.

This string has morphed into a discussion of pitchning or god knows what. Sox hitting is what the string is named so I will come in with comments on hitting. Pray for the return of Nunez, who is our only really aggressive hitter. If it's over he will make his cut instead of taking a lot of pitches as it appears the others are instructed to do. He adds an aspect to this team they need. Pedey is a very capable hitter and a veteran. Just hope he can hold it together as we continue the pennant race. Beni is hitting well of late and may start popping a few if he will pull the ball. Can't complain with a guy who has been delivering. Vaz and Devers both show decent bat control and can give us a lift at times. Devers might just explode again going down the stretch. After those, it is difficult to be particularly happy with Betts. We know he has a lot of capability but for whatever mechanical issue, he is popping up an awful lot of pitches. The pitching coaches should be all over him as he was doing it before his big day and right back to it after. He ccould well be one of the best hitters if he can straighten his swing mechanics out and lay off the sliders away. Bradley will give something once in a while but doesn't appear to see pitches well and often swings at bad balls. Moreland does produce at times and is at least capable of hitting deep. Too often he is hitting the ball off to the left or into center. He power will most likely be better to right. Seems to be slightly late with his swing. I have no faith at all in Bogey, Hanley or Leon. If on rare ocassions they contribute something, that is all we can hope for. JF should either rest them more often or put them deep enough in the order so they aren't primary rally killers. We need to keep winning and JF needs to put our strongest lineup in to do it.

Now John Valentin as color man. That was a bridge too far for me. The guy just isn't a TV or radio guy and his first time out was a flop.

Funny! He was the bright spot and you know it. NOw Betts, pop-up city all over again. Whether he is looping his swing or swinging down on the ball, I can't tell. It should be correctable. We need him to make an adjustment to his swing.

I don't hear it that way at all. While some would recommend major changes, others look for replacement of those team elements that haven't stood the test this year and are on the lower side of the value for their positions. Bogaerts is one of those, Hanley is another but hard to change, Holt and Leon are also sub par and JBJ is fringe, mainly due to his stellar defense. Clearly our hitting coach should be considered a negative and possibly JF as well, particularly if the team swoons late. Most us us want Nunez back and want the team to go for a top hitting 1st baseman to replace Moreland. To sit tight with the same guys who are not getting it done while facing teams like the Guardians, Astros and even the Yankees doesn't make a lot of sense. All of those teams will continue to try to be even more competitive going forward and we need to as well.

Our most consistent hitter is Nunez and he is out for at least another 3 or 4 days. Pedey is our second most consistent and he is hobbled, which leads us to having to play JBJ, Bogey and in some case leon. So today we go with Bogey leading off and Holt and JBJ in the lineup. It spells trouble scoring runs. Hanley gets to sit as he has added nothing of late. We need more consistency from Betts. A couple of hard hit balls from him last night and we would have been in the game. Instead, it was pop-up city, as Vitale would say. Cross your fingers as another loss today would be hard to take.

That can only be judged by the results on the field. If you believe nearly the entire team being substantially lower in OPS is not connected to the hitting coach then you might bring him back. On the other hand it would seem that there must be a connection, so i would recommend a change. Can it be worse?

Lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. Not enough guys who in the end who put the bat on the ball and hit it hard. We had another example of that tonight. Nunez would help but that is all we have left to change the dynamic of this team. Betts back to popping out. Leon an easy mark. Lots of ground balls with men in scoring position. Taking good pitching and swinging at ones out of the zone. Lots of players do it for all teams, but our team just doesn't have enough to get the runs in. Pretty discouraging watching this team unable to get the hit they when they needed it. That is not to mention a subpar pitching performance from our starter and relief pitching was not particularly sharp.

I had problems with JF pulling the infield in with one out and a man of 3rd. That inning was shaky and a disaster. Even the way Mookie played a double into a triple. Not good as that resulted in pulling the infield in.

The first baseman could have come to home and with a return to first it would have been a double play anyway. It was made easy by the grounder right near the bag. Anyhow, the Red Sox tonight have been bad with runners in scoring position. That often is their mO. They miss Nunez's bat in the lineup and Mookie's big night last night is not being repeated in any way. Game is on rain delay and it may be over if the rain continues. To me, the team looked shaky tonight including manager decisions, the pitching and the hitting. Need to win these games when we go against a rookie at home.

He had a terrible AB. Swung at two outside the strike zone and took one right down the middle. JF sets the order.

Just an awful result. No blame on Pedroia, he just didn't have the speed. Bad at bat for Moreland though. He should have been trying to get the ball into the outfield. Stuff happens

So, why did JF pull the infield in with a runner on first and one out? That is one strategy and the other would to play for the out and allow the run to score on a ground ball. As it turned out, there would have been 2 outs and a man on 3rd. What happened after is on Fister.