oldtimer

Now he's more of a rally killer.

Nice to see the Sox turn the tables on the Yankess and do it with excellent pitching, timely hitting and good defense. Having Bogaerts getting some rest was the thing to do. Nunez delivered and now tomorrow we get JBJ back so Bogey should sit out again. His problems appear to be mental rather than physical so some time off to gain perspective should help.

Pedey had a very good night defensively and while he is bound to be rusty at the plate he held his own, got a hit and fouled off a few against Chapman. Nice to see him back.

heres what is said about the rules for call up. What does Sept. 1 mean for postseason rosters? If a player is to be eligible for a team's postseason roster, he must be in its organization as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31. Specifically, players must be on the 40-man roster, the 60-day disabled list or the bereavement/family medical emergency list at that time.

I checked the 40 man roster and Brentz is not on it. My reading is that it means he cannot be brought up.

So far the field player call ups are Swihart and Travis. I don't buy that Nunez can play SS to give Bogey are rest. I would either have Lin (preference) or Marrero there while Bogey gets some time off. In general I agree with your lineup against RHP. The problem is to get Nunez into the lineup while not accepting the liability of his field play. That really leaves him as the DH but does leave our one true power bat out of the lineup as a PH only. From what I have heard Brentz is now slumping (something like 2 for the last 20 against AAApitching). Doesn't sound good to me and so far he wasn't called up. Did you check to see if he got transferred to the 40 man roster before Sept 1st? I put Nunez in as DH and Marrero/or Lin at SS and leave Bogey out for at least a week.

Will you lay off of that one. He did try to extend to a double on one. My view is with a 3 and 2 count and Betts up he was sent and it made sense. Avoid the double play or score on a hit. What didn't make sense is that Betts took a called third strike under those circumstances. Quit trying to blame Beni, who was one of our lone bright spots last night, even hitting a tough lefty when some of our rightys could not.

Sept 1st. Time to take stock. We have a 4 1/2 game lead in the east. We have done that largely with Excellent starting pitching, very good relief pitching 4 or 5 deep, good defense and team speed. Our hitting and run scoring has been below average. Are we vulnerable at this point and if so why? I'd say we are and wouldn't use the excuse of injury, as all teams face similar issues there. Some of our key problems stem from a few key are: Hard Luxury Cap Limit Whille other teams have been able to spend to add power bats and pitching, we have clearly had a mandate to stay below the limit. DD has made some astute moves to pick up Nunez, Fister and Reed and to a lesser extent Davis, all have been with the cap limit in mind. Had that not been true, Castillo would have been brought up instead of going to Davis. Bad Luck with Acquisitions Thornburg and Smith might have helped us a great deal had we gotten their us earlier. So maybe we get something from Smith this year and Thornburgh next. Its either bad luck or lack of due diligence. Underperformance of Key Sox Players While Beni, Moreland, Hanley (now), JBJ, Devers, Pedey, Vaz and Nunez have done as well or better than expected and Leon has done probably close to what we should have expected both Bogey and Betts have not been able to hit even close to what has been hoped for. Bogey looked totally lost at the plate in the seconnd half while Betts hasn't been able to adjust to the way he is being pitched. With the outside part of the plate being targeted, he pops up or hits to center where his balls in play are being caught. Bogey's defense is average while Betts is A+. Without these two hitting we are not going to strike fear into anyone. Is our coaching deficient? Or, are the guys just not as good as we had hoped? Farrell's Moves Is Farrell so constrained by what he has available that he is unable to make moves that might help the club? His bench has proven to be very weak and the Sox have chosen to keep only three players on it with extra pitching instead. Was he instrumental in holding Devers back for as long as they did? And what about placing Bogey and Betts in the middle of the lineup and using Young. Seems to me he continues to try to do the same thing while expecting different results. Maybe there is no better solution as we are so limited with our minors. We will get Pedey and JBJ back very soon and that should help our flexibility. We will see if JF is willing to make moves with the return of those two and also whether the call ups will reflect a need to where we are currently weak.

Hembree has good stuff except between the ears. He gets himself into trouble trying to nibble and then being forced to come right over. Don't know if he can help much in the playoffs. Abad also looked weak tonight.

I don't want him anywhere near short either. Bring up Lin to play there or Marrero. With Bogaerts totally lost at the plate, what do we lose by subbing for him? We do have a problem coming up when Pedey gets back in that there will be no where for Nunez to play other than PH. Hanley is back to making hard and sometimes loud contact and Moreland should also play as he has had a hot bat. When JBJ gets back Saturday, Young and Davis will not likely see much action either, nor will Holt. Beni showed he can hit a tough lefty tonight so I wouldn't go with the lefty/righty thing either.

You bet. He had 2 hits and 3 walks and most went to waste. I donn't know what JF can do, but he has to get our hitters into the lineup that can at least make hard contact and put the ball in play.

I have advocating resting him or at the least moving him way down in the order. Right now JF has set his lineup with a rally killer in the middle and actually Betts is not doing a lot either. We really of short of hitters who are performing. Beni went 2 for 2 with 2 walks. Got to capitalize on the table setters but with a rally killer right in the middle of the lineup, that isn't happening.

Beni make a bad read trying to stretch a single to a double. Betts was to blame for the second time he was caught stealing. It was a 3 and 2 count with one out. Betts stood and let strike three be called. He has to swing and hopefully make contact. Tough to criticize Beni for that.

The idea of using Nunez as a backup shortstop and thirdbaseman should be shelved. We need to bring up Lin/Marrero for the sept call up and get Bogie some rest.

I think our lineup has hurt us tonight. Bogaerts just shouldn't be in behind Betts. Young is another weak hitter. I would have moved Mookie to bat first and move Bogaerts way down in the order. To me, Young is just so cold at the plate you would be better going with MOreland and taking your chance.

What bonehead play are you talking about? Beni was running on a 3 and 2 count. Beni has to swing at a strike. In fact he never swung at any of the 3 strikes. Was it his lack of swinging you thought was a bonehead play?

Robbie Ross is scheduled for back surgery so one would hope he can fully recover and be back next year.

My understanding is that if we sustain an injury in the Playoffs then that injured player can be temporarily taken off the team and can't come back until the series end, and we can replace him from the 40 man roster. I haven't found that in writing, but I think I read it last year.

Don't want to put a hex on us but was just reading an article written about how to construct a playoff team and thought i would share it. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/building-the-perfect-playoff-roster-090115 Should we be so fortunate I would think its clear that barring injury we would take at least the following guys onto the 25 man roster into the playoffs Beni JBJ Betts Devers Bogaerts Pedey Moreland Rameriz Leon Vaz Nunez Sale Pomeranz Porcello Kimbrel Reed Kelly Scott Workman Fister E-Rod (possible) Smith (looking very possible) Who the other 3 are remains to be seen. Davis (If we go for speed and a decent defensive outfielder) Brentz (will he even be added to the 40 man today) Lin/Marrero (we have Nunez, would we go for another defensive infielder?) Hembree (If rested is he dependable) Young (another experienced outfielder that needs to show something at the plate) Holt (can't see the need for versatility and not much else) Price ( will he be recovered enough and should we use him this late)

Last night JF stuck with Young in a close game with Moreland sitting. I was afraid JF would do the same tonight. I say go with the hot bat.

Moreland got a hit against a lefty tonight as well as a home run earlier. The night before, JF stuck with Young in a close game. I was afraid he might do that again tonight. Young isn't getting much done. Go with the hot bats.

Once we got Happ out of there, we were up against relatively inferior pitching and our guys came through. Moreland gets it done and Hanley did his job as well. Talk about aggressive base running, we have no respect for the Jays stolen base defense.

Hanley has awoken after being moved to the 7th slot and JF pinch hit for Young, unlike last night and put Morelands hot bat in. He delivered on cue making JF look good.

Happ got another 3 ground balls, all on his 2 seamer. We did get him well over 100 pitchers so he may be gone. We shall see.

One other thing. Happ is inducing ground balls with his two seamer. He was up to 86 pitches and this will probably be his last inning if the sox can grind here.