oldtimer

Weak starting pitching, lack of depth in the BP, inconsistent hitting with RISP of late. Thes make for a team going no where. Even Cora's moves are questionable. Travis for Holt with a runner in scoring position and us in great need of a run. Taking out a hot hitter (336 and pinch hitting with a 194 hitter, just because of the lefty/righty idea?

Reminds me of the last game against the Dodgers. We create a lot of opportunities but no one can come up with the key hit. We are close to losing this one. Just one more chance to perform.

Two innings in a row with runners in scoring position and less than two outs and nothing to show for it. Can't come away from these opportunities with nothing.

Would you switch a 336 hitter with a 196 hitter just based on left/right pitcher/hitter. Hope it works.

Generally you are on the same wavelength that I have been on for some time. I would add that the time to make a decision on the direction for 2020 and beyond is the end of July. We will play both the Yankees and the Rays by then, The trading deadline will have passed and we will know if we have a realistic chance of making the POs and of any hope of making some noise after a WC game. If after Aug 1st we decide we have to sell, I would bring some of our best prospects up to get a sustained look at them for either a low cost alternative next season or for trade bait. My absolute keepers are Bogie, Devers and Vaz. My probable keepers are Beni, Holt, JDM if he doesn't opt out, Betts if he is willing to accept his true value in a contract, Marco, and Chavis. I listen to offers on any of those and particularly the ones making serious money. To me JBJ should be trade bait as he is likely to command serious money and his worth is questionable. Moreland is gone based on his inability to stay healthy, Pearce has nothing left, Nunez is gone as is Leon if we can get a replacement that can hit at all. The pitching side is pretty open with more to be seen. We have Price and e-Rod havig good years, Sale under contract, Porcello is probably not worth what we would have to pay. Eovaldi is under contract and worth a look through the end of the season. Cashner is a FA but again we can look at him through the remainder of the season and offer him if he looks like a 4th or 5th starter. The BP need shoring up. We have some decent arms (not heads) in the pen like Barnes, Workman and Hembree. Do we keep Eovladi there or does he return to starting with time to prepare for the new season? I would look for several BP arms, including a closer. My idea is to bring the team salary below the 1st level of the competitive balance tax by making strategic trades and trying to get some good young players who can come on in 2021.

I agree. He is probably worn down and a period down may help him get ready to help in August.

The Yankees and Rays are in a pitchers duel in the 7th. Two to one. Would that we had pitching capable of holding strong offensive clubs down like that.

4 runs and counting in 3 innings. That would amount to an ERA of 12 against the Jays. Ugh

We are at a point in the season where something has to be done to get this club to play better ball. Last night there was a lot of good effort by many players yet we came up short. So perhaps the message had to be sent that if you don't perform, you may be gone. Nunez and Velazquez certainly fit that category and with Moreland coming up soon, room had to be made. Velazqez was one of the weakest links in the BP, so we need to try a different path.

I don't see any way that we can make this team a WS contender with anyone we can logically get through trades this year. After we get through the month of July, we should be in a position to say whether we can reasonably get into the PO picture or we go to plan B, with major changes to the team for 2020.

Beni's not hitting with authority and his body language, like throwing his bat on the ground powerafter striking out seem to indicate he is very frustrated with himself this year. He is still young and is not yet paid like he will be in future, but to put a realistic value on him we have to look at his overall game. Defensively he is a good but not great outfielder with good speed and a good arm. Otherwise, we could say he is a good but not great defensive outfielder but he can play LF at Fenway effectively. As far as his hitting is concerned, Beni doesn't pull the ball that often nor does he have much HR power. Since he isn't a power hitter, to be of special value to us as a hitter, we need him to have a solid on base percentage but this year he has a lot of swings and misses and his BA is down and falling. My take on a young homegrown player is that he may improve his OBP but is unlikely to ever deliver much power. As a result, he may be a player we can use for trade bait and replace him with someone at least as good. If our fortunes don't suggest 2019 will be a playoff year, it is a place to look to improve for 2020.

Ever the optimist!

The Sox played well enough to win yet came up short when they got into their weakest BP late. They hit two homeruns to tie and had numerous chances where a hit would win the game. The last of which, a man n 2nd with nobody out was mismanaqed into nothing. A bunt was called for and not taken followed by bad baserunning. Bad baseball resullts in more bad baseball. I went to bed after that and what resulted was predictable. Our worst BP broke down.

I went to bed and missed what I saw as inevitable. Sox down to their worst relief pitchers. So, they pllayed good ball most of the night but threw it away when getting a man on second and nobody out. It called forr a bunt to third with Mookie and Devers to follow. Instead, Cora decided to hit away, JBJ ran on a ball hit in front of him and the subsequent long fly to right was wasted. They can always walk Devers and it came down again to one man trying to hit (one in 4 chance). Bad base running and bad game management. The team should have won this one.

I play in a league in the morning. Last inning was badly managed by Cora. I am off to bed.

Despite the claims otherwise, Leon did not seem to raise the level of Sales effort. Vaz would have done as well, except he would have been blamed for Sales subpar effort.

We face the ASG starter tonight with a lineup that struggled last night. Price has been good and if he stay in that groove for 7 innings we will have some chance. I wish Beni and Betts were doing more. Tough to watch our hitters taking called third strikes with men in scoring position. We need our guys to get out there and play aggressively tonight (Pete Rose could be a model). I hate to see some of the guys losing aggressiveness and focus.

Our performance last night indicated that we have multiple problems with Pitching, offense and focus. I doubt if we are in a position this year to make sufficient trades to be a factor in the playoffs, even if we get there. We have Porcello and Sale underperforming, our BP is on the weak side and we have guys like Betts and Beni underperforming. By the end of JUly our situation should crystalize and we should know whether to still try to supplement the team this year or go to plan B and try to strengthen for 2020. The waqy we lost last night left me with negative feelings.

Another enigma is the oft presented theory that Leon is a magical potion as far as Sales pitching is concerned. It's really up to Sale to pitch better and Leon makes little difference in the equation, except Leon doesn't help the offense.

Just another example of the Sox not hitting and the pitching, both starting and relief, being weak. Losing one game to the Dodgers is not in itself a disaster, but the way it took place demonstrates the weaknesses of this team.

Hate to see us take 3 strikes in a row.

Yes, he got out of it with not a lot of damage. Not a terrible start.

He is still our best performer this year.

On the surface it looks like a decent move. We didn't give top prospects and the money is reasonable. Even if he is a rental, it is probably the best move that we could have made.

Moreland will be back as will Eovaldi. The goal is at least to play even with the Dodgers, Yanks and Rays and win the series against the Jays and Orioles. That would leave us around 13 games over 500 at the 1st of August. To do that, we need Price and Sale to Pitch like quality starters, the BP not to blow decent leads and DD to find us a 5th starter. Time is not on the Sox side. This stretch will be key to the Sox ambitions this year.