oldtimer

Dalbec was pathetic tonight so Cora brought in a rookie who had not faced live pitching for days. The hope was he would walk or get a hit and get his speed on the bases. Can't fault the call. We had a chance, but 0-16 with runners in scoring position and 0- 5 from JDM didn't help the cause. Cora has so few strings to pull right now.

Had thee leadoff man on first and couldn't advance him one base. What do you recommend in the 9th? Plaweki, Dalbec or someone else?

That injury has taken a good bat out of our lineup. No word on his return yet.

A-Rod was saying on the broadcast that some teams believed Schwaber wouldn't be back until the end of August so lost interest in him.

JDM is slumping now so teams might not be interested in him for $20 mil for 2 or 3 years.

Of course

Dalbec swings at pitches out of the zone and often looks pathetic. We really have no first base answer at this time.

Pivetta pitched fairly well, getting jobbed on two strikes (1 to Zinnio and 1 to Lowe) before giving up the HR. He did give up 2 hits and a wild pitch that Vasquez might have blocked. Not so bad tonight in almost 5 innings.. I agree about Dalbec, but no reinforcements were brought in at trade time so he sits there a rally killer. The game isn't over but the Sox offense is not hitting with runners in scoring position so it doesn't look good now.

I am guessing Casas gets a cameo late this year and then has a chance to make the 40 man by mid next year. If JDM opts out, we need to sign Schwaber to take his place. Schwaber can play left field against national league teams in their stadia. I don't think we hold onto Dalbec for 2022, especially if Casas is projected in. Andriese, Ottavino, Richards, Gonzalez and Santana are most likely gone and we don't know enough yet about Robles.

I think you are correct in your evaluation based on what has transpired. The Sox are looking at the longer term goal and as a result were unwilling to exceed the CBT and also unwilling to trade away their best prospects, which are still in short supply in our minor league system. The management were well aware of our needs for one or two starters and a first baseman. Despite being well up in the standings in the East, except for the Rays, the management didn't see a way for this team to go far in the playoffs. As a result we were uncompetitive at the trade deadline while others in our division made solid moves to help themselves. The Yankees move may not help them reach the playoffs so may be seen as questionable. We may wind up quickly losing our road to the playoffs as we have a major weakness with starting pitching. We will have to thin down our roster going forward into 2022. Who will we get rid of. The fans have many suggestions and they are no fools. I just wish that Bloom was more up front with his approach at the trade deadline, but i suppose he couldn't give off the kind of information which has become evident by his actions.

Kiss this one goodbye.

The relievers are doing their jobs but our starters have been poor for a while now and we suffer from too many holes in the lineup. Not much that can be done.

Our one solid starting pitcher gave up 6 runs in 6 innings. Another disappointing start.

Another lost opportunity as we have too many swing and miss guys in the lineup.

Vasquez had to know fastballs were coming at 0 and 3 and needed to get the ball to the outfield. Big lost opportunity. Dalbec is just strikeout prone.

How do you suggest that can be done with our existing personnel?

And I was a fan from 1947 to present. Ted Williams won the triple crown that year and I was hooked from then on. I'm not as patient as you wen I see a glaring need and management doesn't find a way to make improvements.

I take it you don't consider yourself aa quitter unlike all the rest of us?

Depending on where the Sox are sitting in Sept., we might well see Casas up to get some experience at 1st base. If we are still in the hunt by then I doubt he would get more than a cameo appearance.

I don't see Schwaber on the 40 man roster. Can they delay putting him on until he is clears medical exams and gets off the IL?

I don' think we can remove both Houck and Whitlock from relief roles. Houck has success as a starter so I would keep him there. His problem is that he wastes too many pitches so has trouble lasting more than 5. Maybe he can improve that with coaching. We have 4 pitchers who have struggled getting past one or two innings. Of those I trust Richards and Perez the least so would have Pivetta and E-rod as the 4th and 5th starters and use Richards and Perez as long relievers in games we are significantly behind.

We needed a front line starter but didn't have the chips needed to get one who could be a big improvement. Big handicap to us for the rest of 2021. We have to hope that Sale will be in good form, Eovaldi holds his, Houck continues his upward trajectory and Pivetta gets back to his best form. There are a lot of ifs there. In the mean time, all of our competitors improved so August will be interesting and perhaps disappointing.

Maybe Schwaber will be kept on in case JDM bolts in 2022. He is mainly a DH player with some possibilities in LF at Fenway and an unknown at 1st base.

I agree with your assessment of our starting pitching. It puts a lot of pressure on Eovaldi. If we face top level pitching when he starts, we could be held down in runs. Notice that JDM is struggling now and both Arroyo and Schwaber are around two weeks away, maybe more. I really wonder if Schwaber can be effective at 1st. Maybe he can give JDM a rest. I hope there is more said about our lack of performance in the trade market. We did very little to help ourselves. What were the reasons we didn't compete?

Do you know where we are at this point against the CBT. We lost Chavis but picked up Schwaber and Robles? I am hoping we stayed below the limit.