oldtimer

Let's watch the situation through September and see who we should keep. Arauz is one of those on the edge at this point in my view.

Because that coincided with the period of the AS break on. If you remember my contention, I said that both he and to a degree Bogey had significant performance declines from that point onward. Surely I would not choose dates before that time, since I didn't indicate his performance was in decline before that time. My recommendation was for Cora to talk to both players and find out what if any problems existed and try to work out a path forward where they could help this team as we are in a pennant race.

And you are entitled to your opinion as well and neither does that make you right. Cora has direct access to the players and he can talk to them about what is bothering them and make appropriate decisions.Moonslav is a stat machine. I prefer to closely watch the game. Both have there strong points and weaknesses. I believe I also have Cora, so that is a shared value. Calling ideas flaky because you don't agree with them says something about you.

Right now it is closer by committee. Cora is getting plenty of examples of who is trustworthy and who is not. Maybe Barnes will find his mojo and regain the closer role.

All of us would like to see Kike in the leadoff spot and Arroyo in the lineup. This is a tough pitcher we face and Cora is trying to use a lineup full of lefties. Let's home we can hit this guy enough to win the game.

As Reagan would have said. There you go again. You love using OPS. Please look at the game by game logs. Very little from July 22 to the end of July and very spotty in August.

I want a guy who can consistently throw strikes yet has the stuff to challenge a hitter. Barnes fit that role for a good part of the season. I see no one else on the roster, other than Whitlock who fits that description. Getting Barnes back in form would be best. If that doesn't happen we may have a closure by committee. A different guy each night.

The tendency is to cherry pick stats to support an argument. OPS is one of those where a guy can have a couple of good days against weak pitching and the OPS will hide the fact that he was not so hot the remainder of the time. i include here the game by game logs for Martinez and in them I notice he really fell off from July 22nd onward. I don't know why but the results speak for themselves. He did have a couple of good days against Baltimore and maybe one against the Jays but by in large, not so hot. We need him to be better. The same is true for Bogey. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/hittinglogs.php?p=martijd02&y=2021

I would be asking both JDM and Bogey what they think about the situation because they are both very experienced players and hitters. If they can shed some light on the current swoon, then their opinion should be listened to. It's like AA, they first have to admit to the problem and identify the steps (probably not 12) to return to their former productive selves. Just throwing the guys out their without a plan to get better doesn't make sense during a pennant race. At one time Bogey's wrist was sore although that was some time ago. I don't know of any excuse for JDM.

With Ottavino pitching my heart was in my mouth. Could he throw strikes? Could he hold a runner on base? not so much but he did get the three outs. A miracle win with the lowly guys contributing and the pitching just good enough.

It is a miracle we are leading. The only base runner from the top 5 hitters in 20 AB's was a hit by pitch and we still have 4 runs. Now it would be nice to have a functioning closer

My facts are taken off the day to day game logs. They are what they are.

I checked JDM's stats. From July 22nd to Aug which was roughly from the AS game on. He had 5 hits, 0 HR and 2 RBI. No exactly robust. For the month of Aug to date he hit 3 HR and got 13 RBI, but 2 HR and 6 of those RBI came against the Orioles when we blew them out. During August he had 23 strikeouts and 8 walks. For the last 9 games he has no HR or RBI. Other than a few games he has been in a prolonged slide.

Fact is we are 1 for 22 tonight against relatively soft throwing lefties. JD is sitting because he needs a break to get himself together and Bogey had one yesterday for the same reason.

When two of your primary right hand hitters have been slumping and another out injured, it's difficult to put pressure on a lefty.

Sad to watch Bogey struggle. He and JDM have been a shadow of themselves following the AS break. Did something during that event change their confidence?

I wouldn't let E-Rod face the meat of the Cleveland order again. He was unable to get them out and it's risky to do that again.

A promising inning down the toilet.

E-Rod was having trouble putting hitters away. That led to him giving in and giving up 2 runs.

Again, I think this belongs in the 2022 discussions. Yes, the JDM decision is important for us. Yes, $19.4 million for a one dimensional player is a lot and he is 35. Is he washed up based on his extended slump since the AS break on top of his miserable 2020? I don't think so but I also don't think he is worth the money. We would be better off signing Schwaber for up to a 5 year contract while not attempting to extend JDM. This is an example of the hard decisions the front office faces. Could we wind up with both for a year? It looks possible and would handicap us and limit us in the FA market and also it might be difficult to play them both together, as it is now. Yes, we could use 2 solid starters while cutting loose or reassigning 3 of our current starters. I can see Eovaldi, Sale and Pivetta on the staff with one of Whitlock, Houck or possibly Seabold brought in to fill one of the open position. For the other, I would compare E-Rod with what we could get on the FA market and take the best of that choice. I would think of reassigning Richards to a short term long reliever/fill-in starter role, if that was possible financially. Very few have recommended getting rid of Dalbec but instead, finding a part time left handed bat to take a lot of the AB's against right handed pitching. The question of when Casas will become ready complicates that decision. We had that guy and let him go presumably due to his expense ($6 mil) but then filled in with a number of lower cost players, none of whom worked out. We also need a closer. It's interesting to see how many closers are now having serious problems getting the job done. I would think we should look to the up and comers in our own system for BP help but the closer to supplement Barnes might have to come from outside, probably an intermediate priced FA. As far as our outfield is concerned, we do need a 4th and Duran is that obvious low cost player who fills that need and should be able to improve given a reasonable amount of PT. Jiminez is a possibility but is much further away and has recently regressed. So I see no wholesale changes in the team but more of a transition from what we have this year to one with less holes and more home grown talent, particularly in the pitching department.

I've come to appreciate Schwaber as I watch his AB's and heads up field play for the Sox. Yes he is big and slow, which limits his field positions to LF, possibly 1st base and DH. He will only turn 29 during ST next season, so he is in his prime. He is the epitome of a patient hitter. Due to his power, opponents pitch him very carefully. He is well aware of that and due to his discipline and his pitch recognition ability you rarely see him striking out and you often see long ABs which much frustrate the opposing pitchers. In the last 15 games he has 10 BBs and 4 strikeouts which is great. If he does get two strikes, his mechanics allow him to foul off anything close while he takes obvious balls. Only swinging at strikes is what Cora preaches and this guy is the king of that idea. He should be a great example to all hitters on the team and especially young lefties who get to watch what he does. Devers is a very dangerous hitter in his own right but does chase a lot and because he has unique hand eye coordination and very good power, he can hit balls out of the zone. He does have a lot of strike-outs this year (111) and a fair amount of walks (51). Kind of reminds me of Adrian Beltre in the way he can get to balls outside the zone. Imagine if he could lay off pitches outside the zone at a higher rate. Verdugo is also a young lefty with a good hit tool. He has altered his swing to add more loft and he can do damage. He also expands the zone both on high fastballs and outside pitches. Just improving in those areas would help his offense. Duran is also a young lefty hitter who needs to improve his pitch recognition and plate discipline. I have heard extensive criticism on this site that I believe is short sited. He has cut down on his strikeouts during the last period and is working to get better although doesn't get into enough games to develop consistently. I hope to see him as a part of the Sox team going forward. Let's hope we keep Schwaber and that his example will be a help to all our hitters.

2 for his last 24 and no rbis. I have wanted to rest him. maybe tomorrow.

Good example of keeping the line moving. Don't need HRs to score.

He did a great job of getting out of that mess. Whitlock's performance is encouraging.

Sale was at 80 pitches and losing command. With Sano up I glad Cora made the move. Who knows how it will turn out though?