vegasbob

It was 118 at 4 pm

Skating on very thin ice

Watching 11games on big wall monitors at Westgate LV. Our guys look better by comparison to several of these games. Orioles defense tonight was atrocious

Rays losing in 8th too

Jay's lost, O's losing big in 9th, NYY trailing Angel's by 1 early. Would be nice to pull off a comeback here

Climbing the ladder on the Jays next. Keep the line moving.

He was with the Tijuana Toros in Mexican League before Seattle used him, then gave him the DFA. Not a young guy at 31. Originally had a MiLB deal with Cleveland , before being sold to Tijuana. He actually called on teams in the Phoenix ST group in 2019 begging for a chance.

Also somewhat unnoted is Bernardino's 2 innings giving up no walks and just a single. He set the tone for the game, Pivetta followed up in incredible fashion

And well on his way to a full season of good work with a mixed bag pitching staff

The problem with Pivetta is that he won't be up for doing the same tomorrow night.

Astounding how some guys get their chance and totally prove their inability to rise to the occasion.

It may also mean he is much more comfortable realizing he really only needs 5 good innings to get the Sox into their "good" bullpen guys. If he is starting and goes 5 innings, he is falling short

Turner is fairly amazing at 38. Appeared in 91 of 95 games through tonight, played 1B, 2B, 3B and DH . Over past 30 games has an OPS of 1.034

I recall one year when the Sox had a 14 game lead over NYY in mid August only to make a legend out of B.F. Dent in the 1 game playoff

Notin's promotion of Blackburn for a trade candidate may be fading.

Bernardino and Pivetta have now combined 3 times for excellent pitching efforts . Kind of amazing that a starter/middle long reliever is a mainstay in our rotation. It may be just the A's but it can be a W in any case. What would be the outcome if you flipped Nick and Brennan so that Pivetta started for 5 innings, then Bernardino for 2 ?

Those cats would cost Bloom a quantum against the cap.

I do recall that game well and it was a watershed that should have influenced the non-moves at trade deadline, but enough discussion on that situation. A sell-off didn't happen and to some of us that was a missed opportunity. Others say we were only 3 games out of the WC with 2 months to go.

Regardless of whether certain current players or high level prospects came from DD's regime or Bloom's tenure, the 2023 season, especially May-June-July to date, has established a MLB level core of players, with more upside possible. Connor Wong at catcher, Duran in CF, Casas at 1B and Devers at 3B are a good, young, cost efficient group , accepting that Raffy's deal is not an overpay. If Story is able to fill the gap at SS as a power hitter and plus fielder , the majority of the infield is set for multiple years. Yoshida is locked up and a good hitter so whether in LF or DH, he fills another slot for 4 more years. Verdugo could be extended at less than A-S level prices and secure RF . That core is , in fact, the bulk of your 2024 team. Turner may lend some veteran AB's and be a plug at 1B/3B/2B. Refsnyder is under contract for 2024. McGuire is under control . Duvall, Hernandez , Chang, Valdez , Alfaro, Arroyo ,etc are all highly expendable and replaceable, though Arroyo may be a keeper for another year at 2B. On the pitching side, Bello, Crawford , Houck, Whitlock , Jansen , Winckowski are their own core . Sale is Sale for the final time, who knows what he brings. Is Pivetta an asset or not ? Bloom's job will be to replace Paxton, Kluber with capable starters, under club control for a couple years . Maybe one established FA. So the point is that "A Realistic View of 2024 , Part 1" is already on the monitor and could be a serious contender.

I'm staying out on my limb with a chainsaw in hand believing that Kluber will make a major miracle comeback and be an effective pitcher for August/September. It is incredible that his prior failures, along with Sale being Sale , Houck's batted ball incident, and Whitlock's general fragility have taken out 4 guys who should have been full season starters. Any of them could be expected to miss 15 days(IL) of basically aches/pain/fatigue , maybe 3 starts, over the course of the season but to lose all 4 for months at a time is beyond bad luck. Let's lock up the first 2 in Oakland, then go for the sweep. Red Sox could be the hot MLB team in July, unlike last year.

Crawford did take big steps because he induced 2 DP balls to survive a shaky first 3 innings. Marginal command and control. After that he was lights out and picked up a nice win. It helps when the bats go batty and score 11, 55% by Masataka

Orioles win, BJ's win, Yankees leading 3-1 in 7th, Rays getting beat in 9th , 8-4 . AL east down to 1 game lead if it holds

What a pitiful pitching exhibition by Faria. 65 pitches to get 6 outs giving up 5 runs. Need to demote him or DFA just to let the rest of the guys at MLB and MiLB levels that that this garbage will not get you a paycheck.

But enough about Faria getting outpitched by Barnhart

Faria looking muy powerful now. Glad we have him.