oldtimer

In the pitching arena, what lefties do we have to get an out or two facing opponents lefties? Ross for sure and is Scott a better option than Abad? On the opposite side, is Kelly or Barnes a better option than Tazawa? Is Buchholz a better 3rd starting option than E-Rod? Tough decisions tempered by how these guys look in the next 9 games. The lineup discussion at catcher with Leon still slumping and no other catcher hitting well, it would seem to be based on how good the defense will be. Leon is good in that regard. I don't think Hanigan is a guy I would put 2nd. Since some problem seems to exist with Vazquez, then Holaday seems the better backup to me. Holt, Young and Hernandez would make my playoff team but 3rd is where I have the most trouble. Shaw adds defensive flexibility but is not hitting very well and Hill is just plain bad as a hitter. Hate to waste a spot on a guy that can't really be a pinch hitter. With Moncada hopeless, we just don't seem to have a candidate than makes sense for the 13th position. I don't have an answer as the Sox are in a box on that one.

Your discussion begs the question. If not Moncada at 3rd for most or all of next season, who do we use? I have stressed being patient with Shaw as he gives us good defense and has 1st base utility use. The problem is Shaw's hitting has not come along. He is young and may hit better but the signs haven't been good during the second half. I don't really believe our other alternatives currently on the team look too positive. I would like Hernandez to be considered as our new infield utility guy (including 3rd) but not as our first string 3rd baseman. Will we instead look for a better option in the FA or trade market and trade our other guys? One of the key issues facing the Sox for next year.

I am not one who believes it is worth the risk with Clay. He is kind of emotionally out there and by that I mean somewhat unstable. He still has ability but can he sustain it with his mentality? Better to get someone with less risk if we plan to go long term. One year is a lot different than long term contract and I could abide offering him another year.

While Hembree and Barnes have good arms (stuff), they seem to get frazzled under pressure. Too much nibbling and missing. I am not too sure that either will be solid in relief. I have also been a supporter of Abad, but with his obvious talent, he too has problems with pressure. Neither Uehara or Scott throw hard, but they are very effective. Scott is primarily a lefty option whereas Uehara has been great with his control and splitter. Uehara is probably not back and we will sorely miss him but I am all for looking for additional quality RP's to replace likely losses and to upgrade where we are weak. Maybe Smith will fill one role, but I see a need for at least 2 other arms.

Now that is amusing.

Maybe by next year he will need to shave.

Hard to project guys with a single season multiplier when they are mired in serious slumps. Shaw and Leon for instance will likely finish worse then your projections. Interested in why you left Pedey off your list.

The Sox are now in the process of burying the Orioles while the Blue Jays also cooperated by losing tonight. Ten to go and it is looking better with Price going tomorrow. We put a shaky Buchholz out there tonight and while he was wild, he had enough stuff to keep the Orioles off the board with the exception of one in which Leon made a bad judgment play to throw to second. The Sox lineup was weaker than normal tonight but the Orioles helped us with a key error and then Beni showed his hitting skill off by hitting the 3 run homer. The question comes up as to what to do with 3rd base as Hill is not answer and Shaw is back into his slump. When the Sox are best, they offer a threat up and down the lineup. Is Holt a better option at this point? Hernandez? or do we stay with Shaw and hope he can complement his defense with an occasional hit?

Leon is an excellent defensive catcher who has had offensive numbers far and away superior to his prior showing. Did he really discover some special hitting secret that made the jump possible or is he more likely to return more to his norm. I hope not but wouldn't be surprised if his hitting stopped being all world. Based on what he has done this year, he will remain our #1 guy but next year they may take another look. I hoped that Vazquez would be second on our list but something else appears to be going on with him and JF perhaps.

Change in topic slightly. I am hoping that Hernandez gets the last open slot on the playoff roster for field players He just turned 24, is hitting 306 on a very limited opportunity basis, can play 3rd, SS or 2nd fairly well. He is a solidly built 6' and 200# and his plate discipline reminds me of Beni. I have been a supporter of his but realize the experience is low but would rather have him than a Hill for instance.

First of all I agree with the premise that we shouldn't and won't go after an ageing power hitter and get into a long term contract that could easily turn sour. I understand and share your view of Swihart having a better chance to make the team but I would concentrate on 1st base and assume he would also have utility value in both the outfield and 2nd backup catcher. He is young and has potential to help the team going forward. The Moncada situation is really up in the air as he definitely is not ready to play at the major league level at this time. How much more grooming will he need? I suspect he will start the season in AAA and depending on his progress could be up if a need develops or at least by the all star break. That still is a hope as he really wasn't showing the mental toughness needed. Under those circumstances Shaw can't be traded , since hill and Rutledge are not solid options and Holt would only be a stop gap. I like Rutledge as perhaps a backup but also Hernandez looks like he is more flexible. Then there is Devers in the background. Third is really our most contested position. Holt is a major league player and would have some trade value as an every day player, something he is unlikely to get for the Sox. I still think we need to straighten out the RP situation as a priority. With Ziegler at 38 and a FA, Tazawa probably returning to form as he gets more rested but a FA and Uehara as a great talent but 42 to 43 next year. How long could he go? DD needs to really think long and hard at what he has and bolster the pen with smart pitchers. His move to get Ziegler was good and Abad on paper was better than he has shown to date. Smith may return so it is a complex situation. Guys like Robby Scott who don't throw hard but has a knack for getting guys out is interesting. Do we want hard throwers or guys who are effective? Sometimes one doesn't lead to the other.

We have the nucleus of a great outfield now, I am happy with a gold glove outfielder who can hit as well as JBJ and is not fragile.

We are now very likely to go into the playoffs so who will be have on the roster. My understanding is that we take 25 players and that we can set that roster before each series using everyone on the 40 man plus any on the various DL's. If we have an injury during the series and replace that player, the injured player is lost for the rest of the playoffs. There may be a couple of other eligibility categories, but that is pretty much how it lines up. Who will we go in with? Clearly Hanley, Pedey, Bogey, Shaw, Ortiz, the 4 outfielders and Leon. I assume Holt and the backup catcher is not clear. That leaves one. Since Holt can back up most positions I would think we would want someone who can play short, second or third. Will it be Hernandez? Do we take 12 pitchers into the playoffs? If so, it is clear that Price, Porcello, E-Rod and Pomeranz will make it as starters and the relievers will be Kimbrel, Uehara, Ziegler, Ross. Beyond them, Kelly and Barnes and Buchholz are very likely. That leaves Tazawa, Abad and the new young lefty whose name escapes me at the moment. Since we need a second lefty at least, pick one or leave some of the very likely off the list. Finally, if Wright can make it back in decent form, he is likely to be in the list of starters, leaving who off, Buchholz? with Pomeranz as a relief option? Any thoughts?

A lot of interesting things to talk about from last night's big win. Baltimore went into last night with a pitching advantage, sending up their ace against our talented but inconsistent starter. To Baltimore, it was also a must win game. Perhaps the pitching matchup that favored the Sox was the fresh bullpen resulting from Porcello's complete game win. It turned out that E-Rod was on his game and went 6 1/3 before several balls were hit hard. JF did the right thing replacing him quickly. Barnes has good stuff, but got unlucky and perhaps can get frazzled and wild. JF again did the right thing putting in the veteran Ziegler to get out of the inning. Uehara was brilliant again and Kimbrel shut them down in the ninth. Both Kimbrel and Barnes walking people when ahead two strikes made no sense. Why nibble or try to get people to chase when up by three and you blew two by the batter already? You could question Showalter's decision to keep Gausman in against Ortiz. Gausman had by then gone well over 100 pitches on a muggy night and Ortiz had seen him 3 other times. Gausman amped up the velocity thinking Ortiz couldn't catch up wasn't quite as sharp and got the ball over the plate, albeit at 99 mph. That was the turning point in the game. Hard to know if it was the right strategy but it didn't work. The lineup looked good with Betts hitting very well in particular and JBJ getting two hits with a homer (another encouraging sign). Pedey was out with a sore knee (hope not too bad) and I thought Hernandez looked good at the plate. There was one play I didn't understand where he didn't cover second base on a throw in from Young on a double. It looked like he had a brain freeze on that one. Leon appears to have gone into a slump and is taking good pitches and swinging at a lot of balls out of the zone. NOt a good time to be slumping and maybe a little reversion to more his norm. Also Shaw didn't look as bad hitting but is slumping again. Need these guys both to offer more offense as we go into the playoffs. Young looked good on the other hand so we have two good outfielders to choose from. Tonight will be a tough one with Buchholz going. Hope he can give us at least 5 good ones.

No to breaking up a solid team to get one guy who may or may not break down the year we get him. Stay young and try to get pitchers with what we can offer without breaking up key elements of the team. I include Beni in that.

Standing pat in the lineup area based on this years team is a reasonable idea. Of course we lose Ortiz whatever else happens, and that is a huge loss. As we have said many times we are good in the outfield with and including Young as our utility guy there Out of our 4 current catchers, we have to be okay. Trade a couple and keep the best. Leon and who? Second and short are set so back to 3rd, 1st and DH and utility infielders. Hanley will be either 1st and/or DH, maybe sharing time between the two, so that leaves us with 4 slots we can fill to make up the 13 lineup players. Shaw is a strong candidate for us since he can play 1st or 3rd and still can be expected to improve as a hitter, perhaps enough to sub at DH. Holt is a major league player and can fill in just about anywhere but as you say, his value might be even greater to another team. Swihart is also a good candidate, since he could sub in the outfield, as a 3rd catcher, possibly 1st and even do some DH work. Moncada has some learning ahead. One hopes he can develop an fulfill his potential. Devers could possibly emerge and one can't forget Panda as his salary may dictate one more look. When all is said and done, we will need a utility infielder who can play short in a pinch. I have wondered about Hernandez for a long while, but the Sox just have not used him which seems like they see that he lacks a key ability, such as hitting. I too agree that we should concentrate on RP help going forward. Deciding who to keep, whether to try to resign some FA's and so on. I would expect a minimum of two new RP's added/changed in the offseason. SP may be impossible to find and almost certainly will be bid up due to the shortages. A FA lineup player is not out of the question, but I hate to see us tie up big money in long term contracts for ageing players.

What works well at leadoff is a guy who makes regular contact and can hit to all fields. That describes Pedey pretty well although he is not the fastest guy on the team, he is not that slow either. Beni is still unproven. I like what I have seen to date as he also extends the count, makes contact and runs well. With Bogaerts capable of 20 HR and a higher average hitter, he is okay batting 3rd and probably Betts 4th with Hanley 5th. An alternative to that would be to put Betts 3rd, Hanley 4th and Bogaerts 5th. My personal preference, assuming Beni can hit for average is as follows: 1 Pedey 2 Beni 3 Betts 4 Hanley 5 Bogaerts Just about any way works but we do have a stacked righty, stacked lefty lineup anyway you cut it unless we can find another power lefty bat like Cano.

Having solid hitting through the 5 hole with each having good years to great years makes this team formidable. After them we aren't bad, although Leon is slumping a little after being red hot earlier. Shaw is probably a 250 hitter, Bradley will get his hits and has given us 25 HRs and now Benintendi who looks very composed batting 9th. With Young and Holt as backups we have tools everywhere. The way the lineup is stacked together now (heavy right handed hitting, followed by heavy left handed hitting, Showalter tried to take advantage of that by bringing in matchup relief a lot tonight. It didn't help him since the damage had alteady been done.

Why advertise your failures? You provide many valuable posts here so trying to be Nostradamus is not your forte. Go Sox!

We won tonight at Camden Yard and I noted, since this is a Benintendi thread, that he looked good even against left handed pitching. NO easy out since he forces the pitch count up and got one long double off the center field wall. The kid has some pop.

Porcello was on tonight and with good hitting, including home runs by both Betts and Ortiz we won and are now up on the Orioles by 4. We need to get at least 1 of the next three games at Camden Yards.

I too have been a Red Sox fan for a very long time and know how easy it is to lose a lead. Still, I'd much rather be in our position than Baltimore, Toronto or New York. Just before the commencement of the last 23 games, I opined that I would be happy if we could either win or at least split every series going forward. We managed 2 for 3 vs Toronto, lost our series 2 to 1 vs Baltimore but bounced back to sweep 4 from the Yankees. Now we take on a 10 game road trip vs Baltimore, Tampa Bay and the Yankees. I would love to take at least 2 from Baltimore, and win both the Tampa Bay and Yankee series, leaving us with probably a first place standing when we return for the final 3 games at home against Toronto. We have been very fortunate to have Hanley get super hot during this period and have Uehara return to his top form. They are both giving us a tremendous lift at this critical time. Be fun to watch them tonight.

We probably will go with Young in the lineup with Sabbathia tonight. With 4 of our first 5 solid hitting righties, Sabbathia will have no cake walk. Young and whoever catches will also be righties. That leaves Shaw (our options at 3rd are not good) and JBJ to try to deal with the big lefty in tougher matchups.

Trumbo is a free agent to be. Why not go for him. He is what, 31 and could be an OF/DH for us for years to come. Getting a 40 HR guy and weakening a major competitor would be good to do. Probably cost a bundle but at the same time we could leave Hanley at 1st.

Price didn't seem to have it last night and was getting hit pretty hard. Good for us and him that the Sox were hitting enough to sink the Yankees again. Price seemed to revert to his performances earlier in the year when his command wasn't sharp.