oldtimer

Our relief pitching tonight is also quite hittable. As far as hitters, I can forgive a guy who strikes out when they at least swing at balls over the plate. The opposing pitcher was making tough pitches. I think my suggested lineup of Holt at 2nd base is better defensively. Nunez can really hit but his defense is a little shaky. Since Nunez can't play outfield, the only other place is DH. No problem facing a lefty but it creates a problem against a righty.

I'll be watching and will be properly chastised if he does anything to help the club.

Of course this year he would also love to have those numbers. He just looks disconnected up there. He reportedly works hard and cares, so I clearly don't get it. If he goes up there and hits again like he did last night then we will have a major hole in the lineup. If he performs then great for JF and the Sox.

Hanley can only play 1st or DH. Moreland will play first with a right hander pitching tonight. That leaves him only with DH to fill. I don't see him as a big offensive threat against the pitcher will we see tonight as we was awful last night. I see the better path is to let him rest and to pinch hit in the event that we see a favorable pitching change. While Holt is no world beater, at least he made contact with the ball for a double and drew a walk whereas Hanley stood as if transfixed as several balls came down the center of the plate without so much as an offer at them. We could do much better with the 22.7 million he is dragging down. Hope we don't allow him to get still another year in 2019.

I like the general roster but would find it difficult to leave Nunez on the bench. He's a servicable fielder and also one of the teams best hitters if not the best. I struggle with the idea of Hanley playing over Nunez. As far as RP's, your takinng a leap of faith on Smith. Maybe he will work out but we have to see some evidence to put him in. He has the talent if he is right Price is an unknown at this point as well. If he was healthy then okay but that remains a big if. Would he pitch in relief? We don't really need 5 starting pitchers in the Playoffs. I don't think Barnes is a good choice, and now he is on the DL I would leave him off. Hembree might be okay so will there be one of our younger guys on the 40 man who could fill the job.?

Last night Hanley was pathetic at the plate and perhaps he could use a rest. I think he can be a boat anchor on the offense. Against pitchers who don't throw as hard and miss over the plate he is able to hit, but against what he may face tonight, I wouldn't expect much. It depends what JF's goals are tonight. If he wants to load up on lefties then Holt plays and we need Nunez, which leaves DH as all that is left for him.

I'm more cconcerned about what JF does tonight to get the results we all want. That is a series win against Cleveland in their home park. It would keep the Yankees at bay and further drop Cleveland behind the Sox for any home field advantage. To achieve the results, he has our ace Sale (Slae) going which also means Leon will catch. I think JF needs to put his best defense on the field that the depleted lineup will allow and at the same time load up on left handed bats where possible. My own opinion is that Hanley looked pathetic at the plate last night so seeing another tough right hander going it might mean its time to rest him. So my personal approach would be to move Rajai Davis to CF and Beni back to LF. That leaves the left handed hitting Holt available to play his better position of 2nd base. With Hanley out, Nunez who has been our best hitter can bat in the DH role. The next thought is what to do with the lineup. Unlike some on these threads, I feel specific lineups can make a difference. Again, my personal preference would be to use the speedy Rajai Davis at leadoff. He has been slashing over 300 of late and on base still has the speed to steal a base of go from 1st to third on a hit behind him. I'g go conventionally with Betts and Beni behind him and then Nunez in the 4 hole. Devers remains 5th with Moreland 6th, Bogey 7th, Leon 8th and Holt 9th. I wouldn't be opposed to switching Holt and Davis as an alternative. That gives us 5 left handed bats with hanley and Young as PH's. Davis Betts Beni Nunez Devers Moreland Bogey Leon Holt Be interesting to see what JF comes up with.

Another tough game behind us and the Yankees remain 4 1/2 back. I like that a lot.

Price is missing all the fun. Having another lefty power pitcher would be great in September. Will it happen?

Reed has nasty stuff and fills a need as well as anyone we have to bridge to Kimbrel. He needs to adapt to the American League but overall he is a plus.

Holt actually had a nice game tonight. Played like a veteran. Thats all we can ask.

I thought JF took Pom out at the right time. Pom had begun to have control issues with many balls missing high or very high. With a freesh BP and a narrow lead, the time to remove a starter is when he shows signs of weakening. Good job, setting up our hitters to continue to apply pressure to the Cleveland pitching staff. Holding Cleveland to 2 runs over two games is a major accomplishment.

DD gets a lot of credit for signing Nunez. He continues to be a very dangerous guy who wins games for us. We need to keep him in the lineup when Pedey gets back. Hanley on the other hand looked pathetic tonight. Hard to understand what gives with him. Kluber is good but Hanley was bad, no other way to sugar coat it.

I like the trade. Davis is a veteran presence. He still has excellent speed and can fill in as an outfielder. His poor hitting line misses that of late he has hit over 300. With Bradley out, this is someone we need. Good going into the playoffs as well. Just hope this doesn't mean Bradley will be out for too long.

Marerro is being brought up so its clear where JF thinks he wants to go. holt will now be the utility outfielder.

Lin hit 280 for the Sox when up.

Yes, they need to get Brentz on the 40 man and your suggestion is a good one. Early on they can also use Lin and Travis who could actually get some burn right now, especially until Pedey comes back. Carson Smith if he is ready (don't think he is quite there yet) and Maddox might also help. Furher additions like a catcher to give Leon a little rest might help only when we have secured our spot. I doubt if that will occur early in September. If we caan hold Cleveland off and get home field advantage it is worth playing our top guys right until the end of season.

fister will deseredly get a lot of praise for last nights great start but i also wanted to give a shout out for our quiet man, Jackie Bradley Junior. JBJ is a quiet guy but I see him as having immense pride in his work which has allowed him to develop into one of the best all-time outfielders the Sox have ever had. He is paid $3.6 million this year and is with the team until 2021 and is eligible for Arbitration for the rest of his contract. He is still only reaching the peak of his career and through his efforts he continues to improve himself. He is a sneaky good athlete who makes tough plays look easy and makes nearly impossible plays fairly often. Like last night, he was giving his all when he injured his thumb. I hope it won't be too bad as we will need him back in the fold. I have been around for most of the great Red Sox center fielders (except for Tris Speaker) and have never seen anyone better defensively. The great ones, Fred Lynn, Dom Dimaggio, Jimmy Piersall, Coco Crisp, Jacoby Ellsbury and of course Tris Speaker were never better defensively. Hard to compare offensively, since they played in different eras but overall, JBJ ranks up there among the top 5 all time. I hope we can keep him in a Sox uniform for his entire career.

This is a guy who throws around 85 mph. He befuddled a good hitting club tonight. Good for him and good for us. The BP had a much needed night off.

Beni lined to Bruce in right. good sign as he pulled a ball and hit it hard.

The hE HAS BEEN HITTING THE BALL HARD, JUST IN BACK LUCK. nOW HE HAS 5 RBI TONIGHT. The Sox can save Kimbrel tonight.

Hurt his hand. swe will know tomorrow. For now he is out for precautionary exAM

Baseball is like horse racing. Longshots do come in.

The Sept 1st call up is still 10 days away and in those ten days we are playing American league teams, so it makes sense to make a player move now to try to plug our weakness with a utility infielder. I heard Pedey is doing well, but I don't expect him back in those ten days. Its a tough stretch with games daily so cutting back to 12 pitches could put some pressure on unless we are willing to shuttle some back and forth. In looking at what teams typically do on Sept 1st, we can add any person from the 40 man roster but typically teams don't add too many (3 to 5) until the AAA minor league season closes. An exception last year was the Cubbies who added 8 players on Sept 1st and then 2 more later on. I think Brentz, Lin and Travis would make sense for us along with a couple of BP arms.

Perfect chance to bring up an infielder but instead back to 13 pitchers