Hugh2

Yoshida has definitely been a disappointment to date but his high BB% has me hopeful. His advance approach is what you want to see if a guy is going to figure it out. He doesn’t have to hit home runs but he needs to drive the ball more. Too many ground balls

People should also remember Bello had no spring training, he literally only pitched 2 innings. He probably should have pitched at least 2 more games in the minors. How quickly we forget Whitlock came back struggling and turned it around in one start. Bello might need 1-2 more to be up to speed.

That’s a pretty bold statement. Most pitchers aren’t. Bello sucks right now, he should have made 2-3 more starts in the minors. He had no spring training effectively.

Well this sucks. Let’s hope Bello can channel his inner Whitlock and come back strong next time. Runner up prize would be if he could settle down and give the Sox a few innings here You’d hate to destroy the bullpen just to lose to Ohtani

You won't see me placing any bets saying this team will finish first in this division, but I do feel last year's team underperformed against the A.L. East. I think it could be both true that they weren't as good as those teams, but could have performed better.

Well on this team, there's a few positions were sometimes you gotta just go with the guy who can field the position and hopes he hits, and if he doesn't hope they make it up elsewhere. I like a good platoon, and this team has plenty of opportunities for them, but I don't wanna see Dalbec at SS no more. It was actually surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still subpar enough to not want to stomach.

I know we are kind of just beating up on the bad teams early but if Bello turns out a good performance after what Whitlock showed today I think I can feel a lot better about this team.

Ok Ort has been better lately but I do NOT trust him yet. Not a 1 run game

But that double play was clutch, also allows you to face Trout with two outs and the bases empty. I love the ideal of being able to get trout as the third out and splitting him and Ohtani. Completely different inning with that GDP

Should I demand my Whitlock belongs in the rotation and not the bullpen tour now? Or wait a little longer?

It doesn’t always come down to money BUTit usually does. When it doesn’t come down to money, said player is still probably take the 2nd best offer to go where they want. And it has to be close.

Good thing we signed Jensen. Jensen haters be hiding in sand. Or waiting for an implosion who knows. Weird game

What else do we do in the off-season?

I mean, when I advocated it I was talking about packaging him up with prospects or involving a 3rd team to trade for an ACE. I value what Nick can do, but if you could subtract him and add a Lopez you do it in the off-season

I would like the record to state that I did advocate trading Nick Pivetta this off-season

I don’t care to argue semantics, but teams go into these games with a plan, the divert as needed

For the life of me I don’t understand why they just won’t play all the .400 guys.

It’s called PITCHCOM and I believe it’s being implanted in AAA this year.

Another concept we need to realize is if the pitcher is calling off the catcher a LOT, it could also be on the pitcher sometimes too. A catcher does a lot of homework in when and where to pitch a guy and goes over it with coaching and trainers before every game. It’s almost predetermined what they’re pitching. In the future, the near future batteries will wear headsets and can talk to each other. Or with the dugout and pitches will be called from there. Which at times they are now.

The more and more we think a catcher influences a pitchers outcome the worse and worse Vaz looks from 2022. Of course that’s not saying much about this battery this year then either. But we’re barely 2 weeks into the season. We will know more in a few months. While these things may matter to degrees we can argue about I’m fairly confident no amount of play calling can fix a pitcher who is just laying eggs.

Everything I’ve ever read about Reese from his time In Toronto to his scouting reports sings praises about his defense. This year will be telling. He has t looked bad at the plate too, consider catchers are late bloomers at the plate, I find that highly encouraging .

I think it’s wildly inappropriate to evaluate a trade by using a free agent to be free agent years. It’s never and apples to apples comparison. Also, years of control effects return. Two years of Betts rather than one would have resulted in a completely different return. When teams trade a guy like that away with one year of control it’s because they know they either don’t have the money to resign them or they do not want to resign. This has been wildly speculated with Mookie Betts, as it had been reported he was uninterested in staying with Boston. With Vazquez, I’m not sure that’s the point but if not then the Sox just wanted to move on from him. Regardless, we can’t compare McGuire to Vaz. Because not only were they not traded for each other, not only was Vazquez a free agent to be, but the Sox could have upgraded elsewhere in free agency such as signing Contreras. I’m ok with less offenses for good defense if the offensive is made up elsewhere. Not sure if the Sox did enough to strengthen the lineup this year but that’s certainly not Reese’s fault

Ok but Vazquez wasn’t traded for McGuire, so it’s not 100% fair to compare even though they play the same position. It’s also worth noting Vazquez was traded because he was a free agent. The Sox traded free agents to be they thought they could get something for. Not defending or attacking that strategy, just pointing it out. But for what it’s worth, McGuire was much better than Christian down the stretch so the risk paid off. If Vazque is much better than McGuire going forward he should still ultimately be compared to what he was traded for. Also, the criticism should come of the Sox not resigning, or upgrading the position

That’s fine, but guys need to accept change sometimes. A team shouldn’t be forced to accept a full time catcher who has a declining set of skills and hitting the market. I’m not saying that’s the case in this scenario with Vas, I think that’s true for any team. These guys are pros, they get that. You work with what you got. You have 2-3 guys, you find who you like better. Perhaps having Tim Wakefield in your rotation might complicate things.

I get that, but if there are pitchers who it doesn’t matter and batters who can shift their spot in the lineup without bother those guys add more value to your team. Then you can employ splits and platoons much more effectively. People can be creatures of habit, they like throwing to a certain catcher not because that guy is a better catcher….but because he’s less comfortable with a change. I don’t think it matters as much as people think in the long run. Managers appease players often. Doesn’t mean they’re not putting emotions over reality. They’re also managing people with emotions, superstitions, fears, and egos too. That could go a long way into their decision making other than it actually impacting the game. If a guy is a good catcher and a pitcher doesn’t like pitching to him. The guy either screwed his girlfriend or he’s just. It comfortable with change. Odds are, he’ll be fine after a start or two. Pitchers cant control who is on the roster.