oldtimer

i believe we still want to be patient with Dalbec, but in more of a platoon situation. Cordero, Santana and Gonzalez were people who other teams didn't want where Casas is a top Red Sox draft choice, a left hander who also happens to be a first baseman. he has really good power and has an advanced hit took according to scouting reports. I think there is a word of difference between Casas and the other 3. The question of whether he can be ready by mid 2022 is a legitimate one. Duran is an example of a rookie finding his way in the majors.

The Sox had obvious problems fairly early on in 2021. Two of those were we were not performing offensively at first base and our lineup had only two left handed bats who were competitive at the ML level. Our brain trust, consisting of Cora, Bloom, the front office and our coaching and other resources had reached into the reject bin to get us Gonzalez, Santana and Cordero who were either switch or left handed hitters and who had a possibility of playing first base. I suppose they hoped to find lightning in a bottle. The results were not good with Gonzalez DFA, Santana oft injured and not providing offense when healthy and Cordero back in the minors after two bad stints on the team. Meanwhile, we waited a long time to bring up Duran who was touted as the CF of the future. He was held back saying he was not ready at over 24 years old and with the best speed on the team should he come up. He did everything in the minors a guy could do. Given the earlier bad choices by our so called brain trust, how much credence could you place in their evaluation of Duran. To date he has done fine in the outfield and struggled at the plate, as many rookies do. His offense has improved as they work with him to put more balls in play and use his speed once on base. The irony for 2022 is that we could have 5 players in the starting lineup by mid 2022. Since about 75 percent of starting pitchers are right handed, that would be an interesting feature for the team. If we sign Schwaber and bring Casas up mid season we could have Devers, Verdugo, Schwaber, Duran and Casas. With our existing quality right handed batters, Cora would have a great opportunity to mix and match based on the pitching we face. More on that later.

Arroyo had a contusion on his hand and another on his leg. Those are hazards of the game. His pulled hamstring came when he tried to play an unfamiliar position. Give the guy a break.

What I have read from fans is they like Schwaber for 2022 provided we can keep him. The issue was he was injured so couldn't play during a stretch when we were losing our lead and he also was not a solution for our 1st base issues.

I am hoping the coaches share these kind of discussions with the players and help them correct issues when they are headed in the wrong direction. I know they are working with Duran to stop chasing and to put the bat on the ball so he can use his speed as more3e of an asset to the team.

On base 3 for 3 tonight, so far.

Good they added 3 runs for breathing room. Some guys came through with RISP.

No. Verdugo has now sold out for the HR swing and is popping the ball up much more often> Ted Williams advice was to keep the bat in the plane of the ball as long as possible while in the hitting zone. Guys who try to loft the ball are looping their swings and have to have perfect timing to hit the ball hard. The results speak for themselves. Sell out for a HR while risking weak contact or a strikeout. HR's tend to get paid for by management but the price to the team is higher than the benefit in my view. Once they get down in the count, all hitters should go into the protect mode. The good ones do. Empty at bats have been hurting the Sox.

Cora's desperation move with Arroyo cost us 5 to 6 weeks of an important player for this team. If he still is willing to tempt fate, it seems to say Schwaber is not really being considered for 1st base as the Sox have discussed. In either case, Casas is probably being considered for call up in mid 2022.

I see that as a gratuitous comment by Brian O'Halloran. He said they had full owner support and the front office screwed up. Out of the other side of his mouth he indicated they think they made the right decisions while not adding more than they did. I don't buy his comment as an apology. They took Schwaber who was injured and two semi-cast off relief pitchers and followed it up with Shaw. Schwaber may work out for 2022 if we can resign him but who can say he fills a real need on the team for the rest of 2021? The rest are not much help for this team.

This post really belongs under 2022. My thinking is if we can't put up a better fight with these guys, what makes you think we don't have holes. I can see 1st base and catcher as weak areas, having and a better group of utility players who can actually be subbed in without compromising the team. Our starting pitching relies on Sale being good. So far the verdict is out on him. We may have 4 starters on the team now and 5 BP arms that can be trusted. Lets see how 2021 pans out to see where we are with pitching.

I agree. Making the pitcher throw strikes, making contact, speed and good base running are positives. Big, slow guys with long swings who want a HR and don't adjust after getting down on the count. That is what we are headed into. Bogie and Kike are exceptions on the current team.

Red Sox hitting seems to disappear at time. Stat heads tell us what happened but not why it happened. Hitting ML pitching is a tough thing to do with the best getting on one in three times. No wonder in that is average velocities are up, starters seldom go a full 3 times through the order and a bevy of RP's follow. In addition, all clubs collect reams of data on hitter's weaknesses. It behooves our hitters not to help the opposing pitches by chasing pitches outside the zone. It is particularly bad when chasing on a 3 and 2 count. We keep losing base runners due to guys who chase for both strikeouts and weak contacts. Cora mentions it often but some guys can't help themselves. I am not talking about debatable strike calls but balls inches high or wide or even in the dirt. I am guessing we would gain several base runners a game with just better plate discipline.

It's not about blame. It's just giving credit to those who did or did not take any action.

I am not a quick to find excuses for managements handling of this team in 2021. The fact is, we were good when compared to the teams we needed to beat. At the beginning of the season a lot had to go right for us to be in that position and it did. It was clear and oft comment on in this site that the team had weaknesses. It looked like first base and some pitching issues existed. Really, Cora stuck with Gonzales, Santana, Cordero, Chavis and to some extent Dalbec when it was clear that they were not contributing. It was like pulling teeth to get any action at all. Management got us an injured Schwaber and two weaker relief pitchers and then Shaw. Cora played Arroyo at first in desperation and look how that turned out. The other competing teams got better, meanwhile several of our players have gone into extended slump like periods. Some have nagging injuries but more so they seem deflated and lethargic. A lot of what has happed is on Bloom and Cora. We might have gotten Rizzo and one solid relief pitcher and the message to the team would have been "Were in it to win it".

Pivetta is getting a bad rap. His defense let him down and he got at least one bad call on a walk.

We had 2 hits tonight until the final inning. Munoz is worth a try to give us more OBP. Yes, he doesn't provide stellar defense but then we have two very slow DH's who can play outfield badly. Schwaber may be able to play some 1st base but probably not even as well as Dalbec. We need to shake things up. Arroyo will help but until our hitters practice better plate discipline we will continue to have issues. We chase balls out of the zone and on 3 and 2 counts it often costs us base runners. I

There was talk about the Red Sox coming back to the team of the first half following the sweep in Baltimore. Wiser heads said wait until the Yankee series is over before congratulating ourselves. All the warts showed up and we lost our once big lead. The Sox relief pitching on day one along with very poor base running and inability to get hits with runners in scoring position.. No hitting in the second game and almost none in the third with poor defense. Throughout, the Sox chase balls out of the zone. Cora has talked about it but it doesn't change. We got 5 runs total in 3 games and it is difficult to win that way. I don't think the move to pickup Shaw solves anything. Another Cordero with a little better defensive capabilities.

Neither Wong or Arauz can hit so i go with Munoz. He should have been up long ago. We don't need Shaw but we have no one else we can bring up so he stays.

The Sox are hard to watch. Lead off walk with the meat of the order coming up. The only way we get a runner in scoring position is a wild pitch. This is the same team that destroyed the Orioles. The yankee pitching is not that good tonight. I think the Sox swing at more ball fours than at any time in the past.

Sox defense is tough right now. Need to think about how we fill positions with defense in mind.

Pivetta gave up a bloop hit that a better right fielder would have caught. Next batter (odor) he had a third strike the umpire blew. Rafi made an excellent play and the kid hit one through 2nd. Then a ball Dalbec should had handled resulted in 2 more runs. Not much support for Pivetta. The Soxx defense as configured leaves a lot to be desired.

If it takes an easy schedule to get to the playoffs, what happens when the schedule then gets tough?

After reading all the CERA blather, I'm sorry I brought the question of catching needs or 2022 up in the first place.