oldtimer

I look forward to getting E-Rod back since his potential is to become the #4 or even #3 level starter for us this year. He has been injury prone, but it that can be worked out he has the talent.

I guess I am too old to be taught. You can make a case for just about anything with statistical analysis but only a few cases make actual sense. I'll stick with what I have learned through many years of playing and watching the game.

Using this thread again to talk about last nights game as there is no other better place. Very good news on most fronts last night as the Sox took on the Rangers best starter and easily won while picking up a full game on the Yankees. Don't sleep on the Rays though as they are playing excellent ball these days. The best news was Price put up another strong performance. When a starter can give you 6 innings of shutout ball with 9 strikeouts and spread only 6 hits around.He did leave with what mmight have been a blister on his throwing hand. I will await a report on that but doubt it is very serious. His velocity was very good and command was there. No changeup but otherwise very good. JF was able to rest some of his key BP assests while letting others clean up the game. Clearly Beni had a great game hitting and made one catch in the game that will make all of todays highlight playbacks. What I thought was great about the hitting is that he pulled three of those hits, something he hasn't been doing that I had recommended. The ball was carrying for him but his homerun to right field was a very solid home run. Hope he can build on last night with increased confidence at the plate. I had talked about the approach to Darvish as one where they needed to grind it out to get to the Rangers bullpen. While the Sox didn't get any hits in the first they did grind out 16 pitches. In the second, after Moreland went down, it was good hitting from the lower part of the order. Hanley got a nice double and Beni started his night with an RBI single. Vazquez didn't try to do too much and was hitting well and I was very impressed with Lin's plate approach. I believe we put 2 runs and 30 tough pitches on Darvish. Couldn't believe the next inning when Pedey swung at the first pitch and both Bogie and Moreland went down easily with no more than 9 pitches total. They went away from the grind it out menatality. Good that the lower part of the order was of a patient mind set as they made it very hard on Darvish and he was out of there after just 5. I was very impressed with Lin. In him, we have a fast if diminutive player who is under control and fairly inexpensive. He has an excellent glove and arm and can play 2nd, short and third well.He is a patient hitter with a good eye. I hope he is not being showcased for a potential trade as to me he is a keeper who makes other utility assets like Rutledge and Holt available for trade. I would love this kid to be in the Red sox future plans. I loved the way JF put on the hit and run that worked to perfection. You seldom see those plays nowadays. Perhaps the only bad news is that Bogie is in a serious slump. He is chasing balls out of the zone, taking good pitches and swinging at bad.Has he lost confidence? Whatever iss going on he needs to reset his thinking and get back to meeting the ball. I don't have anything I can see to suggest for him as he is so out of whack right now. JBJ had a good night at the plate but I noticed at least once with two strikes he overswung rather than cutting down his swing and just trying to put the ball in play. Good hitters need to focus and be smart at the plate. Kind of like Hanley with the bases loaded swinging for the fence. Great night with a lot of guys playing well. Onward with Fister next and no pitcher wanting to be the first to break the winning streak.

Yes and the approach tonight should be to grind out every AB and make Darish work hard in the heat. If we get to the Rangers BP, they cannot match us. I don't know if Bogey will make the lineup and feel good enough to get good AB's but I hope so. We need all the quality experienced guys in the game we can muster tonight. I don't expect a lot of Sox hitting but hope to see them battle. We also need Price to pitch well tonight and he has been coming along well so there is a chance of that. I will watch with great interest.

Yes, Betts is guarnteed to be up with no one on base during his first AB when batting first. While our 8 and 9 hitters have gotten on base recently, it is usually the case that our lower OBP guys hit in those holes so Mookie will have a lesser chance of getting up with men on base when batting 1st than 3rd. That cannot be the best approach. The 1st and 2nd hitters in the lineup are usually guys that find ways to get on base at a higher rate than the 8 and 9 hitters. My takeaway is I would rather have Mookie up with a higher chance of driving runs in, even if it costs a few plate appearances a month. No one would have suggested we put Papi up first last year because he was our best hitter and the same should apply to Mookie.

In my view he makes some good decisions and some bad ones. Leaving Porcello in last night with over 100 pitchers in the heat was something I wouldn't have recommended. His command seems to fade as he tires and when that happens his sinking fast ball can go over the heart of the plate and be very hittable. Why not go to the pen with a 3 run lead. It might have saved a run and avoided extra innings. On the other hand, I liked the bold move of putting in the right hand subs to make it difficult for their left handed starter. Tonight will be a difficult game to win with Darvish being a really tough pitcher. It will be interesting to see how JF manages tonight. There will probably be decisions I like and dislike but he is the guy on the hotseat. DiSarcina says he sort of talks out loud but should only be offered suggestions when he asks for them.

Fister and Boyer are not so bad either.

The Sox went into Texas after 3 successful for longish games against Toronto and into the really hot weather and after a long flight. Fortuneately, JF was able to use Abad in relief closing the Toronto series so the bull pen came in somewhat rested and the starters were and are on regular rotation. To tough out a win required a lot of good things, and some not so good to happen. To me first among the good was the magnificent play by Dustin. He may have lost a step but he makes up with it in savy play. His hitting was clutch as he didn't try to do too much and his fielding was superb and made the win possible. Also, I credit our outfield play with all three fielders doing well and Young making catches like a premier outfielder. JF had started his mainly right hand hitting lineup with essentially 3 rookie players since Bogey is still hurting. Travis, Lin and Marrero field their positions well and Lin might be a better fielding SS than Bogey. He is also a smart base runner with excellent speed. If you count Beni in the rookie mix, we really had 4 in the game last night and none really hurt us. I thought Betts did some smart hitting as Texas was being so careful of him. He took walks and didn't chase. Finally, his double was key in winning the game. As far as pitching, the strike zone was very small but consistent last night so Porcello was up against it and faired well. His issues come when he leaves a sinker up in the zone belt high and over the plate. He did that maybe three times all told last night. The final time he was tired and JF may have mistakenly left him in too long. Our relief pitching was pretty good. Scott made an excellent pitch but the hitter fought it off for a double down the line. Small hiccups in relief are to be expected though and we had ours. Hembree came in and gave us two solid innings to win the game. In my opinion there were a couple of bad things worth mentioning. Hanley, who has been raking it recently, had some dumb at bats. He was up with the bases loaded and swung out of his shoes at balls outsside the strike zone (hero ball). He didn't look right all night. Beni, who wound up getting the winning hit, is still hitting predominently to left field with fly balls. He would do much better getting some more power into his hitting by pulling at least some balls. He is a smart young hitter and I expect him to work out where he can do better. Great start in Texas although they will face Darvish the Texas ace next up an runs will be very difficult to come by. Haven't heard about Bogey, but I would sit hm if there is a lingering groin soreness. We will need him in the long term so no reason to take chances there.

One thing that occurs to me is that our rookie players in Travis and for that matter Beni and having their struggles adapting to MLB level play. it takes time, even for some talented rookies to make significant contributions. Devers may also have quite a bit of talent based on his rating at the minor league level, but he too would likely take some time to adapt to the MLs. Meanwhile we need help at 3rd. I doubt Marerro is a long term answer and I gave up on Pablo so am looking for DD to make a more significant move in that regard.

I don't expect the FO to bring Pablo back unless he shows in a rehab assignment that he is capable of playing better then our current options. It is difficult to imagine that this will happen for Pablo as he has already had the opportunity and it hasn't gone well.

If you look at the Blue Jays, with some folks we thought we wanted a week or so ago, only Smoak is really hitting. Its just a cautionary thought to remind oneself that getting help is not as easy as picking up a guy who has doe well in the past.

When you say now, do you meet at this current date? In reality, while Bogaerts has the highest average, he is in a slump of sorts and no doubt will come out of it, but he isn't hitting the best on the team right now.

More ebb and flow of players today with Betts having a monster day (2HR and 8RBI and counting). Today he was lucky to have Lin and Marrero hitting well behind him. I would prefer Mookie batting 3rd with Bogey and Pedie before him. Funny how just a while ago people were worried about Betts hitting and those that urged patience are happy for him. Of course the same might be said for JBJ, now over 280 and Hanley seemingly hitting with a vengence. Hanley should be 4th or 5th in the lineup and JBJ is good enough to hit in either of those positions as well. Now we need a little patience with Beni and Bogey. They are both too good of hitters to be in a prolonged slump.

We seem to be seeing an ebb and flow of hitting on by various players on the Sox and I believe it is the managers job to use the guys who are hot and who can hit lefties or righties to maximize our run production without giving up too much defense. Our pitching has been solid and may still improve, so if we can score at least a few a game we are in it. By ebb and flow I am referring to a guy like JBJ. There were a lot of unhappy fans calling for his trade early in the year. Others advocated more patience, since he had hit before and was so good defensively. I was concerned about his long loopig swing. Now his swing looks better and he may just be the hottest hitter on the team. We will hear more about moving him up in the lineup. Handley is another one who was being heavily criticized for attitude, overstated injuries and lack of production. Some realized he miht be our only hitter with true power potential and one whose contract dictated we should be patient. Lately there are signs of he too coming around. Bogey has great potential as a hitter but has looked somewhat lost at the plate and it may just be physical and/or mental fatigue. He was given a day off yesterday but it may take more, erhaps the all star break to get him going. Last year he also had a bit of a swoon so it may well be just fatigue of some sort. Moreland was our most productive hitter for a while but he too has looked tired and a little off at the plate. He also has difficulty with left handed pitching. It is probably good to sit him against lefties and give him a rest now and again. He is now in his 30's so a little rest is a good idea. Too bad Travis hasn't been producing, but he has a history of being a good minor league hitter and may come through. I think Betts is okay although i would move him in the lineup to an RBI position. What I noticced about him was his propensity to hit the ball into the big part of center field making loud outs. He seems to be doing a better job of hitting to all fields and it may pay off in both total hits and HR's. Beni infrequently pulls the ball these days, preferring to hit into left field. His power has disappeared since he has done that and I believe he would be better served to go with the pitch. He has the potential to be a 300 hitter and needs to continue to make adjustments at the plate to help the team. I liked JF's idea of stacking the lineup against lefty or righty starting pitching. He gives the team an advantage by doing that and is able to rest some players who need it at the half season mark. We are fortunate to have good back up defensive players so little is lost by stacking. Here we are in first place. That doesn't mean we should become complacent. We still need to deal with the 3rd base issue and we probably need another relief pitcher. I look forward to watching this team make progress in the second half.

Still unsure why the Sox are keeping Devers down. If he is the 3rd baseman of the future, what is the real holdup? Please don't trade him for some rental player.

Moreland was the black hole last night and probably could use a day off but I don't think the Sox haved that luxury. Maybe Travis could fill in if a lefty starts for Toronto.

Reading that just makes you wonder what our FO was smoking to do this and other similar awful deals.

Turns out that Bogey is getting a rest tonight although I didn't hear the reason. He definitely is in a mini-slump. A night off may help him get back to the important hitter he has been for us. Lin will play short and it will be interesting to see how well he hits. He did have a decent average in the minors so maybe he can at least provide a fill in alternative as multiple positions. So far he has played a little third and second so now it will be short.

I know it is too early to codify him, but is Lin going to take Marerro's place. He is diminutive, but fields well, runs well and can defend multiple positions. He looks like a better hitter as well but only time will tell. We still need a 3rd baseman and the Sox seem unwilling to bring up Devers so we have to wonder going into the trade deadline. If Devers becomes the guy, we can trade for additional pitching help in the bullpen.

I don't agree with that lineup although I have no problem with Xander hitting first. I want my guys who get extra base hits up 3rd and later. I would stick Beni up 1st or second in the order and then Betts. After him, take your pick of JBJ or Moreland although JBJ does a little better with lefties than dooes Moreland. Handley is an open question. If he gets hot, he is good in the 5th slot.

Going back to the batting order again, last night the ESPN crew brought up the situation where Betts was batting first. With the bottom of the order up before Betts, he rarely would have men on base to drive in. They were advocating that he bat third and i agree. When Betts pulls the ball, he becomes a greater HR threat as he hit one last night. Too many of his early in the year were hit straight away for loud outs. Either Beni or Pedey can hit lead off so there are alternatives. Beni gets on base and has speed, although his power seems to have disappeared. He seems to be contacting balls to go to lef5t field or pop up. He did get one line drive to right and that was a hit. Bogaets is back in a mini slump. He seems to take two good pitches most times before swinging. Maybe getting back to being a little more aggressive would help him. We know he has the ability, he just has to find himself again. Handley wwent deep last night with a line drive to center. It kind of reminds us of what he could do. What we need is for him to return to the threat he was last year and still can be.

If Devers is good enough to be promoted on 7/13, why not bring him up now? Possibly we could get another win or two in the interim with him. I think the Sox management are not planning on bringing him up until the end of August and will need a fill in for the two intervening months. We shall see.

We have DD so anything can happen.

He's on the payroll for a little over $11 million and we would pro-rate that. Possibly we could unload someone on them.

Adding reference. isportsweb.com: Boston Red Sox Trade Rumors: Is Martin Prado the answer? He is a long term infielder, 33 years old, hitting 277 with 9 HR, and is makinng $11+ million. Pro-rate that and keep him for a year.