oldtimer

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.

How come no one is talking about Martin Prado of the Marlins? Boston sports reporters are on that lead. Sounds like much better than we currently have at 3rd.

Speaking of hitting, I absolutely hate it when one of ours gets up with men on base and takes 3 call strikes, never taking the bat from his shouldefr. Where is the aggression? Where is the idea of plate protection? I watched Travis do that last night. Leon did that a lot toward the end of last year. I'd rather have a guy swing the bat and miss than keep the bat on his shoulder and go down looking.

You ought to work for the Red Sox front office.

Doesn't look there is much at 3rd from Pawtucket but Portland has 2 good 3rd basemen in Devers and Chavis. Chavis is hitting a little better there but is reportedly not as good a fielder. Maybe one or both of those guys should move up to Pawtucket and get exposed to better pitching. Lets see if they can handle it.

Looks like a revised lineup in tonight with JBJ in the 5th hole and Beni moved back in the 7th. Travis will start as well. I think Hanley is still hurting from the hit by pitch on the knee.

The message on Devers seems to be he is not good enough to be brought up and produce better results than Marerro, Pablo or Lin. What makes you think he is going to make the big improvement needed to be better than Marerro in a little over 2 months? Maybe we just accept Sox management opinions and get a decent replacement and leave Devers in the minors until next year. My personal opinion is that there is little to lose by bringing Devers up now and seeing what he can do. So in my opinion, Sox management is being overly cautious.

JH would have to be naive not to be aware that big money spent on Pablo, Hanley, Craig and Castillo haven't resulted in the expected benefit. He may be asking for more justification these days and by doing so avoiding the big mistakes made in the past. We got Moreland, Young and Leon for reasonable money and they have each been a benefit to the team. The rest are home grown. If I were JH I would be asking for full justification of any big expenditure and put responsibility for mistakes in terms of future employment.

I'm a believer in playing the guy who gives this team the best chance for winning on any given night, particularly when this team has a real shot of making the playoffs. The Sox FO must believe that Devers is not as good as Marerro or Lin or any other that the Sox may have waiting in the wings. Otherwise, Devers would be up. That being said, what magic elixer will occur in the next month or two to bring him along so that he is a better player? Will he come up in September and be really good? The Sox FO would have egg on their faces if that turned out to be the case. So, assuming Devers is not as good now as Marerro and Lin, and we know they are pretty weak players, what should the fo do? Let the team play on with a handicap at 3rd? Get a questionable experienced third baseman and trade away good prospects for him? Wait and try to pick up a really solid third baseman and pay through the nose for him after the AS break? The choices do not look that alluring. Others have suggested picking up a SS and moving Bogey over although that is pretty far fetched to me, that remains and alternative, I suppose. I'm from the old school, which means when you have an obvious problem, you make an attempt to solve it. Lets hope the red Sox FO is thinking along those lines.

And Marerro hits breaking balls well? Isn't it a question of is Devers a better option? Lots of players are brought up without a lot of development time because they are good. Trout was brought up at age 19. Woulld the Sox management argued to keep him in the minors to let mim develop more fully?

The idea of someone being ready for the ML means what exactly? I think the question is whether he would provide more than Marerro or Lin. I've given up on Pablo.

To attain a team batting average of about 270, we need to get 10 hits a game. We got 8 yesterday and two were home runs. Unfortunately, with Marerro hitting 156 he doesn't do his share and yesterday neither Betts or Bogaerts were able to hit. Batting averages are just that. Against strong pitching, we will clearly do less some days. The Angels issued no walks yesterday so it all had to come from hitting. I am not concerned about either Betts or Bogaerts, but Marerro has proven he cannot hit major league pitching. I would be happy with a 3rd baseman that could hit 270 with some power and field his position. In the long run I would expect it to give us a few more wins. The longer DD procrastinates, the less chance we make the playoffs. I think calling the guys out for playing poorly in a game or two is overstating the case.