vegasbob

The incoming throw was off line and eluded the cutoff man which would have enhanced the run scoring ability of Duvall. Duvall does not look "quick" in any sense. More of a pulling guard body.

Totally catchable ball if Duvall was looking the other way. Tough play when hit at you and you have to go back. Sale not a shutdown guy

Better hope they get down to Casas, because Devers sure isn't doing home delivery tonight

Stand at the base of the wall in case a puff of wind knocks the 400' flyball down, and let the Cf'er cover the rebound. Basic basketball

Story now has had 64 AB's , showing a .584 OPS with 2 rbi's beyond driving himself in with a single HR. And a 39% K rate. But his defense is pretty good. His pitch selection to swing at is really not good, but wasn't last year either

Hah, that's why we don't care about Casas' fielding.

Looks like the ball/strike calls will be a source of contention tonight. Really bad work in the first inning

No, there's a significant element on here that thinks his fielding is irrelevant due to his hitting. The extra outs do mount up.

In a critical series that will set the tone for September, is it not time for Sale to show up and be a leader for this team, by shutting down the Astros with his good stuff.

A different thought lightly touched on here is the concept of a team that supports each other in the field and the clubhouse. Players who have matriculated through a team's MiLB system and then to the parent club may have good friendship's... or not but they do know their strengths and weaknesses on/off the field. They also were trained , or not, by the same group of coaches who supposedly have a common thread, such as the Red Sox way, if such a thing exists. You know, win one, lose one. In this apparent reset year, and for many reasons, the clubhouse has had a revolving door with free bus tickets to Worcester. There is little continuity to the batting order, fielding positions are reversible jackets, and predictability is at a premium. I wonder if any of the shortcomings including defense, baserunning and plays-not-made come from poor communication, and unfamiliarity. Some have pointed out that our players are not "units" with plug and play characteristics. They are real live people who are looking for some consistent direction. This is more Bloom's issue of building a team than to Cora's use of them, but both have their foibles.

Could that be because Bloom was Friedman's man servant in Tampa ?

So, to summarize, the Sox entered a 10 game stretch vs good to excellent teams ( Astros-Dodgers) and are now 3-4 in that stretch. A 2- 1 series win over the Astros will give them a marginal net win over Houston, but we seem to be incapable of a 8-10 game winning run that would be the mark of a playoff team moving up the standings. The Mariners have done that well behind the very hot bat of J. Rodriguez. With 31 games to go, and if the teams ahead of the Sox play to .500 ball only, then Boston needs to go about 20-11 minimum to have a fair shot at catching one of them. GFL.. I'm focusing on just making sure they continue to bury NYY in the AL East. Not asking too much, so I won't be disappointed.

No way Gavin Stone should be shutting the Sox hitters down over 3+ innings, sporting a 2.47 WHIP and over 10. ERA. But this is the 2023 Sox who sometimes wait until the 8th to wake up the bats.

Muncy has an odd hitting line with a .201 BA and a .810 OPS. Tells you he is an all or none type hitter.

Without cross checking all the team stats, do Red Sox hitters get hit by pitch more than other teams ?

Verdugo is a 27 year old, 7 year MLB starting player with clear signs of immaturity . He should be seen as a veteran leader on a team and in the clubhouse . He is coming up on a good payday after next year bassed on his abilities. I believe the Sox should trade him over the winter, get fair value, and move on to the younger guys like Abreu and Rafael.

Houck delivers 3 credible innings on a reasonable pitch count. Looks like he has recovered from the impact of his injury. Let's see what happens in the 3rd go round.

Houck pitches his way out of a 1st inning jam that could have headed south very quickly. Good work

Picking up Zach Weiss on Angel waiver wire is another dumpster dive for WooSox depth. Claiming anyone from the single most jinxed MLB team is inviting darkness into your clubhouse.

Well, Verdugo and Crawford making the Betts trade look lopsided, which it may have been. Warning to some: Sarcasm present)

The intent of the comment was that we still needed ANOTHER starting pitcher, no mention of the quality/ability of the ones we have. Notice that TBD was listed as today's starter until fairly late. Seriously ??

6 more games to go in this 10 game Astros-Dodger exclusive. Knotted at 2-2 after 4 somewhat weird games at Houston which displayed the up-down of game to game comparisons for the Sox this year. Back at Fenway, the boys need to find a way to get 2 of 3 . Still in search of a legit starting pitcher it seems.

At this stage I would sit Yoshida for a few games, perhaps use as a PH'er

Bello shows how to execute a 100+ pitch, 7 innings, 1 run against a good but demoralized team .

I think of 0 as well rounded , as Bello completes the 4th.