oldtimer

Pitching in 2021 generally utilizes a strong starter whose aim is to last twice through the lineup (5 or 6 innings) and then give way to hard throwing relievers to carry through. There seems to a plethora of guys who can reach the mid nineties and get good movement. Small wonder that is increasingly difficult for hitters to succeed. Add to that the shifting and the stats available to identify hitters flaws and it is a wonder when any hitters still put up good numbers. Only the truly gifted guys can do it and it helps to be experienced. Guys like Franchy and Dalbec are up against it and may not ever succeed or perhaps gaining experience will start to contribute. I have been an advocate of trying some of our best and brightest prospects in the hope that one or more of them will demonstrate special abilities. Maybe they come up and struggle as Moncada did, only to develop at a later date. One can only guess. The alternative is to keep playing those who are essentially a black hole. I'm in favor of trying to improve with the main risk of swapping one black hole for another.

In the Olympic qualifiers today USA beat Canada 10/1. Duran went three for 5 with a double and triple and Casas went 1 for 4 with a double. They are in the super round and need to one more win the get the Americas bid.

Pe3titioning against Duran again?

doesn't Three Red Sox Starters in a row have been very good. Astros starters were also good but also caught Sox hitters in a bit of a slump. Bogaerts was quoted as saying Astros pitchers were on the corners or outside the zone and he for one had to get back to making them come over the plate. The same was probably true for others in the lineup. They need to stay mindful of what got them here and get back to good sound plate discipline. With the good pitching news comes the bad news for a few of our hitters who appear to be lost and maybe nearing getting sent down. Dalbec struck out 4 times today. To bad for him but the argument of letting him work it out doesn't make sense for a team in contention. I not as much of a stats guy instead preferring to watch batting sequences closely. He is taking average fastballs down the middle way too often, some for 3rd strikes. Kiki is in a serious slum as is Marwin. Those two have longer tract records and will no doubt be given extra leeway.

Can any of hem hit?

I am with you. Lets try to improve. Who knows if Duran is ML ready. One way to tell. Same with Casas.

The question was asked what would happen if our primary hitters went into a bit of a slump. The concern being we had little from our leadoff and little from our 7 through 9 hitters. Well, Verdugo is hitting, Renfrow is coming on and Vaz still gets his hits but Dalbec is slumping, Gonzales hasn't done much and Kike doesn't look like a lead off hitter. Some of the experiments haven't worked out. Cordero is in the minors. The hope that I have had is that Bloom and Cora would recognize that we have weaknesses and attempt to shore up those areas before we drop from our good record to a middle of the road team. Our hope would apparently lie with Duran and Casas who are currently unavailable at the Olympic Qualifiers. That pair might help or be a bust but I would have liked to see if they could help. Duran went 0 for 4 last night was Casas was 2 for 4 with a double in a second win. There is still time for the Sox and our quality hitters won't slump for long, but it might be time for Cora to rethink his lineup. Maybe Bloom can look outside.

Luke Williams and Jarren Duran combined for six hits out of the top two spots in the US order, and Mark Kolosvery homered as the United States piled on late for a 7-1 win over Nicaragua on the first day of the Americas Baseball Qualifier from Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Looks like a very rainy weekend at Fenway.

Three walks and a passed ball. Doesn't engender a lot of confidence. Fortunately, that all from him for tonight.

Now up 3 due to some good hitting with the Verdugo homer.

Nobody has been talking about Jeter Downs but he is still very high on the prospect list. He doesn't really project at 1st or the outfield but might make it up if Gonzales and/or Arroyo struggle. Kike can then play the outfield. If Jeter picks up his hitting, the Betts trade looks that much better

I don't see Casas getting a look until September, so Dalbec may have as much as 3 months to make adjustments, albeit platooned. I don't think Okaimey gets a look.

ML BB is a tough business. Players are constantly competing for their position. So it is with Dalbec, Chavis and all the others. When they get outcompeted they are at risk of being sent down. traded or even find themselves out of baseball altogether. The situation is always dynamic and all players at the ML level can do at least some things well. It's up to them to make adjustments and prove their worth. If they are unable to, sadly they are gone.

Dalbec's problem appears to be pitch recognition. He backs himself into a hole by taking fastballs and changeups early in the count and then swinging at balls off the plate. He no doubt is getting coaching to help him with that, but like Chavis is having problems adjusting. As Moon mentions, Casas is knocking on the door with a better hit tool and natural power and is a first baseman. His issue is lack of experience at even the AAA level. Still, if Dalbec continues to look lost at the plate, Casas may get his chance. If so, it might not happen until September with Dalbec platooned until then. The Sox excellent start this year has made me anxious for them to work on their weak spots, including the outfield, first base and relief pitching. If they are reluctant to exceed the CBT limit this year, it leaves only a small list in the prospect pool who offer much hope of improving the team. Duran, Casas, Bazardo, Brasier and Sale are the leading candidates to do that. Does the Sox management really believe they can be contenders this year? I wonder.

What should be considered was whether Duran was possibly better than Cordero not some paragon of baseball perfection. Duran was MVP of the Puerto Rican and has been demonstrating his quality since. In 24 exhibition games prior to the start of the 2021 season, Duran slashed .340/.352/.702 with three home runs, seven RBI, 10 runs scored and 16 hits (six doubles). Why not try him instead of going with a guy who has demonstrated he needs more work? I would say the performance of the Sox main club should come before the Olympics considerations. Dalbec has also regressed and Casas should be developed for a try soon. Quoting stats on Dalbec when he is clearly lost at the plate to me is foolishness.

We won't see Duran until the completion of the Olympics which would be at least into August. Casas is in the same boat but he is only at the AA level. These are the only two guys who might have bolstered the lineup and now they are unavailable. During the last 7 days some of the guys are carrying weak batting averages: Dalbec .135, Cordero .208, Renfroe .115 and Gonzales .063. Very few teams, if any, are strong offensively 1 thru 9, but to your point, the team should be making every reasonable effort to improve. Santana was one of those moves but Duran looks like an obvious one as well.

They faced excellent pitching last night and got beat. It happens. To me the loss against the Phillies was worse, since we came at them with a weakened lineup. Let's hope for a rebound today.

Tough to see our top three hitters go down so easily.

Mookie seems to have looked for the best financial deal for him. Taking $30 mil for 12 years was a windfall for him. I'm just as happy the Sox felt the risk of such a deal was greater than the potential benefit. Time will tell which approach was the best. The Sox offered a big contract but Mookie chose not to accept. Would $30 mil for 10 years been too much to risk? I think so but can understand those who believe the opposite.

He certainly appears ready and was selected to play in the Olympics qualifying round which will keep him off the roster until August. Casas is being treated similarly, although in his case he hasn't played at the AAA level as yet. Meanwhile, the Sox had a surprisingly effective, nearly ist third of the season and are in the hunt. They did this with a very weak hitting Cordero in the lineup, a Chavis for s short time who appears to still be a sucker for a high fastball, a right fielder who is good defensively but is weak hitting against right handed pitching and Dalbec, who appears to be lost at the plate. I didn't understand why they refused to bring Duran up. This business about him not being ready defensively sounds like a lame excuse. The real reason may be to give him a chance to play in the Olympics, at the expense of the ML team. In addition, one could question why Casas shouldn't be given a try while letting Dalbec be platooned. Of course we also have Houck waiting in the wings for another chance. In his case, he had a slight injury so his help was not available. If the Sox feel that they can't be competitive this year, then not trying hard to solve their shortcomings makes sense. Based on their record, I really think they should have made moves which at least have a shot of making the club better.

Not necessarily. Chavis had more chances yet still had not gotten past chasing high fast balls. Franchy could be the next to go down. It doesn't appear Duran will be coming up any time soon with his appointment to the Olympic baseball qualifying team and I see no other outfielder in the system who is likely to be brought up, so if Franchy is sent down it more likely will be for a pitcher. (Sale?)

Related question. What will Duran and Casas selection for the team to play Nicaragua in the qualifying round for the baseball Olympics do to their availability for both their minor league teams and the possibility of them making the Sox club this season? I understand that 2 of the current 28 players selected for the team will be dropped from the roster, but assuming they are still part of the 26 man team, what does that mean?

I hope Cora will use our best lineup going forward. Today was a bad joke.

I wasn't the person who said he had legendary power. He doesn't need to provided he can help us with his speed and be more consistent offensively than Cordero or Chavis.