oldtimer

For those of you who bash Abad, he came in and got the job done last night. He has really good velocity (95 mph fast ball) and a killer curve. I for one hope they keep him next year as finding good lefty relief pitchers is not that easy.

He has 7 stolen bases in 9 attempts this year which is a good success rate even though they aren't sending him as often as in the past.

Good catch. I meant to put him in. Lets hope his hitting keeps him viable for the team, his defense is superb.

Holt did fine at lead off last night. Betts has the power to hit in the 3rd or 4th slot and the management thinks his best slot is 4th. I tend to agree since on this team you go right, left, right in the order. It is even more that way with Pedroia bating first.

JF acts like the Buddha, sitting there in serenity while E-Rod was obviously out of synch. Not the first time he has left a starting pitcher in too long. Maybe us older guys have seen it all happen before and realize that inaction in this case and other similar ones may lead to this club becoming an also ran. When the starting pitcher obviously can't get the job done, at least try something else. My dad, who would be 120 had he lived, would often stew about bad decision making and why the Sox could never win a title. They finally did, but too late for him to see it.

What about Ortiz, do you think he is better suited to cleanup or third in the order and why? Ortiz is a great hitter but he is also a very slow runner these days. Where you bat Betts should also account for where Ortiz bats in my opinion.

John Henry is a business man and expects real value when he makes an expenditure. When he sees his real baseball people making decision like Panda, Castillo, Hanley and Craig he has to wonder and question whether the decision makers are competent. The Yankees went and threw a long of money at seasoned players with long term contracts and it didn't buy them much either. It rarely works to put out big money in the form of a long term contract to a seasoned (older) star player. Arguing the money doesn't matter doesn't make a lot of sense as we soon will be trying to retain young stars and add pitching depth and will need to put a lot of money into that.

Really. What if the coach leaves the starter in too long and then goes with a weak RP because we are already in an unwinnable game. The point in the coach can lose the game with poor decisions no matter the score.

JBJ did go into a log slump, but do you think there were no other possible causes than that he was too high in the order? In his recent slump? I noticed he had moved into an uppercut swing, which players sometimes use when they are trying to hit the long ball. Slumps are easy to get into but hard to get out of. I would think there are many possible reasons for slumps and the one I mentioned is also just one of many possible.

These are word of wisdom. We a trapped with huge contracts on players that have not been very productive nor are good trade prospects going forward. I think Ben Cherrington put us in that position but DD is having to live with the consequences. A huge long term contract for Encarnacion might yield good results for a year with less likely production in follow on years but is probably more economic commitment than John Henry would like and is risky to say the least. My solution would be to use substitute players on the roster to fill the DH position and try to shed the contracts of Panda and Hanley. While we will not get the hitting of Ortiz going forward, we at least increase team speed and get some production at a lot less money.

Whether we use him as backup catcher or as a sub in the outfield, the kid can hit and he is a good athlete. Team speed is a big advantage. He adds one more along with the 3 currently outfielders and Beni plus Bogaerts, Pedey and possibly Moncada. This team becomes one of the most athletic teams in the majors.

Ziegler is a good RP but is also a FA I believe. Kimbrel has done a fairly good job, Buchholz has looked better with the bullpen work, Ross is a valuable BP asset, Barnes just isn't getting it done despite the good velocity, Tazawa has been used an awful lot and then was injured (maybe his career is on the downside but he deserve much credit for all the past work he has done), Abad in my opinion, has very good stuff and is acclimatizing himself to the new position (I would definitely keep him). Do we have enough relief pitching to get to the Playoffs? It hasn't looked good and in combination with JF's reluctance to pull pitchers until the damage is done further harms our chances.

After the debacle tonight it is hard to love our pitching. With a hard earned lead the Red Sox get an E-Rod who loses the plate and gets left in too long. When Barnes is brought in he gets unlucky and then is bombed for 5 earned runs, then Robbie Ross who also gives up hits and more runs. Hard to pin those on Farrell, just bad luck and poor pitching. A loss is pretty much assured on a game that we had a good chance of winning. I'm going to bed as this one is decided. Maybe we need to get our own lucky mascot. Darn shame that we lose games in such a discouraging way. Can't trust Tazawa, can't trust Barnes the litany goes on.

I'm most concerned with this year, since we are still in a position to make the playoffs. With only 4 days before the call-ups, the lineups may indeed change shortly. Our 3rd base situation and left field both could use strengthening. Moncada is clearly the likely addition to play against left handed pitching at least as Hill hasn't done the job and JF seems to be against using Hernandez for that role. Left field can go to Holt with more substitute players available. It will be interesting to see how the lineup is configured in Sept.

Only innovation tonight was to move JBJ to the 9th spot. Pedey has been amazing, Bogaerts is starting to hit, Betts continues to hit and even Hanley showed some life tonight. A much needed win.

I don't blame Pedey for the injury to Beni but with runners on 2nd and 3rd, he should attempt to hit the ball to the right side. Easier said then done of course.

What happens when our best hitters get cooled off by really good pitching> Stay tuned tonight.

I don't see Hanley exhibiting the kind of contact or power we should expect at DH. He is okay at 1st base defensively but his metrics don't look great and I don't think he is a good base runner. At his age, he is likely to trend downward. The main argument for Hanley is his big contract and how difficult it would be to get any other team to take him for nearly that money. We have another big contract guy in Sandoval who might DH, but is even more iffy than Hanley. Shaw on the other hand is a relatively new player who is good defensively and has show flashes of power. Can he be helped to improve his offensive production? If so, he might be better off at first with Moncada coming along to handle 3rd. I don't think leaving a player in a position where he doesn't show much positive offensive production over a long period is good for the team. All players have slumps but when does a slump become too much for a team to bear?

Rutledge is coming off knee surgery so he might not be as sure a bet as you propose. I also wonder about Elias, otherwise I agree with your list of sure returnees. In the probably keep list, I would assume Abad is likely as he has good velocity and a great curve ball. Workman is coming back from injury so he will have to prove he belongs but has what is needed to do that. Sandoval's big contract and past competency will give him a chance to make it, but that will depend on how much he wants it. I can't see keeping Holaday and Brentz and have no opinion on Jerez and Cuevas.

I think Rutledge is still on the DL. I know he was awhile back.

With what we have seen this season, I think your assessment is interesting. I would slim down the number of options to make it more useable. C: Leon, Vazquez, Swihart 1st: Shaw, Rameriz, Travis 2nd: Pedroia, Holt, Moncada SS: Bogaerts, Hernandez, Holt 3rd: Moncada, Shaw, Hernandez RF: Betts, Benintendi, Swihart CF: JBJ, Benintendi, Betts LF: Benintendi, Swihart, Young DH: Rameriz, Swihart, Young I kept the depth chart down, but Holt would be on the list on many positions if I went to a 4th option. I am ruling Sandoval out at this time until he can prove that he belongs. Putting Moncada in is a stretch at this time but the competition for him is weak and he is the #1 or #2 player in the minors this year. I think he will make it. I would get rid of Rameriz if possible but am resigned to the fact that his salary might make a trade impossible. Rutledge, Castillo, Marrero, Hill I see as trade bait. No comment on pitching at this time.

After Betts the bottom 5 guys went 2 for 21 with 10 strikeouts. If you give Leon a bye for an off night in an otherwise strong month, then the question is what to do with the others? Your suggestion is one thought. Hill is no threat, can Hernandez be worse? With Hanley and Shaw not doing much meaningful, platooning them might help a little, but our lefties weren't hitting their right handed pitching either. We need JBJ defensively but I think he can get back to hitting better if he ditches his uppercut swing. Small sample size on Young but he looked absolutely lost in his one at bat. Holt at least looked like a major leaguer. Even Ortiz is struggling in the clutch and he is so slow the double plays are hurting. Can't move him as he is likely to win the next one. It's too close to Sept 1st to bring someone up now, so JF's hands are tied and he needs to play Buddha until some viable options arrive.

Even though they lost tonight, I didn't see what JF could have done differently to change what happened. I think he needed to stay with Wright and that will help Wright's confidence in his next start. He used Tazawa as the game was somewhat out of hand and Tazawa showed again that he looks like a tired pitcher with his velocity down. He also used Abad who showed again that he has really good stuff but sometimes tries to get too fine. Pretty good result by him. JF put his best lineup out there but some of the guys are just not hitting. Our substitutes also look weak at the plate. It doesn't look good for the Sox unless the front office and JF do something to bolster this lineup.

It was another tough night for the Sox. Unfortunately, Wright had to shake off some rust and that resulted in giving up a big 1st inning. After that, he settled down and looked like himself. The major story was how the lineup from the 5th through the 8th hitters did nothing until Hanley blooped a single in the 9th. Pedey had 4 hits and a walk, Bogaerts had 3 hits, Mookie had 5 hits and both Ortiz and Holt had one hit each. In most cases this was righty on righty so the Royals pitchers could be hit. Our middle to bottom of the lineup just doesn't look good and pinch hitters Young and Hill looked weak as well. What can be done? The only thing I noticed again that might be corrected is that JBJ has gone to an uppercut swing. From the Ted Williams book on hitting, he advocated swinging on the same plane of the ball as it comes into the plate by gravity. JBJ's approach means he needs to be right on the ball to get good wood on it. He is something like 1 for last 15 or so. He needs to get over it soon to give this team some punch in the bottom part of the order. Leon gets a bye as he has been hitting of late. Hanley still looks bad at the plate and Shaw hit one ball very hard but to straightaway center. He still might add some punch. What else can be done? I don't know other than call ups. The good news coming out of the Sox front office is that there is no structural damage to Beni's knee and it will only require the time for the swelling to go down and a rehab period. Great for the kid and good for the club.

Vazquez is around 26 years old and is a proven defensive catcher. Would he prefer to be in the majors? I can guess the answer to that one. How much more development can be expected from a guy with his experience? Bryan Holaday on the other hand is batting 174 for us so we need an improvement there. Did we bring Holaday in to catch for Pomeranz? It seems like a bad deal to me.