vegasbob

Good one. I can picture Doc sitting in the wet seat waittng for the next CLANG

Ball/strike umpiring sets new lows with every game

O'Brien and Eck again totally focused on the K total. They ought to look at the scoreboard once in awhile. Maybe with men on base, Sale's brain overrides his arm and shorts him a little.

It's only eyeballing but Sale has trouble regaining his command, if he had it at all when things don't go right for him. The big slider is not a strike pitch, it's almost always out of the zone (intentionally, I'm sure)

Then Pearce and JDM can take turns massaging each others back

Tell me again how Leon helps Sale. I know the ERA is better than with Vaz but but Sale is about to blow back through the 5.00 ERA level if he gives up another run

0-2 on Hicks a weak hitter, and then give up a 2 run single to him. Could not put him away.

Sale is simply not the dominant pitcher many think he is. He seems to have problems stopping the bleeding when he gives up a couple hits. The K totals, in his case, are deceptive

Colossal, and for many years, like Jeter before him

NYPD, I'd like to report a missing person. Julio David Martinez. Happ has yet to throw him a strike but the impostor is swinging at anything. Something not right.

Other than our basketball team of pitchers , the Red Sox feature some of the smaller regulars you will see

Sorry, I missed an inning, what happened to Pearce ? Shortens a somewhat short bench quickly

Not a cheap RF HR by Devers.

The lineup looks very circa 2018 especially with Betts leading off in front of Beni, and Nunez at 2B, I assume because of Happ

If the only thing you knew was that Chris Sale had 1 win on May 31, you would guess that his arm fell off. Not so, just pitching without any luck ans weak support . I trust Leon is catching.

Personally, I saw Cora's quote earlier and was kind of surprised at it. I have mentioned before that on occasion it seemed to me that Cora is managing tomorrow's game or something on the weekend. You can only win the game you are playing and if burning a relief pitcher while you are 2 runs down in the 5th inning is not worth doing, find a new line of work. Part of the 14 runs scored by Cleveland were Alex getting ready for the Yankees. I didn't think Tito deserved his firing in Boston but that was the culmination of 40 other things out of his control. Cora has been regrettably for all of us and his team been snakebit by some situations which worked out well last year. Reversion to the mean is tough.

You are right on what the plan may have been. Had to laugh a little. Completely forgot Carson Smith even existed.

Unless you have a natural tendency to hit the opposite way from either side, like a Boggs, maybe Beni or Moreland on occasion, it is a very difficult thing to do and almost impossible on any pitch middle in. To microtime and adjust your swing precisely, away from the tendency to swing hard, pulling the ball with your body momentum is a true skill for a mature hitter. Xander has shown good bat control going to right often, and Vaz seems to be able to execute a part of the time. The real success comes when the hitter realizes the ball is on the outer half and can drag his hands through the zone slightly behind the ball. That sometimes happens when the swing is late anyway. IMO, Jackie does not yet have the plate discipline, pitch recognition and overall skills to consistently poke the ball up , up and away or on the ground to the left side. If he did, and made defenses play him straight away, one extra hit per week over the season would be worth a lot. 125 hits in 600AB's is .208BA, add 1 hit per week and it magically becomes .252 . The OPS should certainly rise as well as some of the 26 hits will be extra bases. If JBJr is expecting to get a decent FA contract, the best thing he could do is hit oppo and make the defense honest.

Hang in there, get to the WC game first. Didn't Erod and boys just beat Verlander and the Astros ? Anything can happen in a one game play-in. It's more about what do you do next.

Sorry, that's TWO confusing. Each pitch could be both a ball and a strike, validating the principles of quantum mechanics.

Go back two months to the first game. The pen was being questioned all winter and ST. 2 months later look at the IL list and the active throwers who comprise the pen, including the ones who have been up and down, some multiple times. That was not the plan, my friends. 22 pitchers have recorded stats . Hernandez, Weber, Smith, Lakins, Taylor, Shawaryn and finally Eduardo Nunez were not being counted on this early. IL tours so far : Eovaldi, Price, Thornburg, Johnson, now Velazquez. This group was being counted on. Price is back, but got ill and effectively missed one more. Clearly, this hot mess falls on Dana LaVangie so we need a thread ripping him.

I'm so ready for this Yankee series on many fronts : When done , it will be June; no longer "early". Should have cracked the 30 win barrier, with 108 still out there in a galaxy far, far away. JBJr has started his hot hitting streak. Hope he gets the winning hit in 4 straight to push pie at NYY fans faces The outcome will influence just how likely we are to catch the NYY'ers DD can better assess just what he does need to do to solidify the BP, setting up some targets for deadline trades Want to see how many players post game quotes including : " I/we just need to be a little better. I/we am/are working hard on it" Devers get 4 HR's, and JDM wakes up with 3 to the RF porch. Other wishes for the next 4 games from the peanut gallery ???

How about a 4 day rainout, with a marathon quadruple header on Monday (off day) to see once and for all if baseball is a sprint or a marathon ? Let's see who has the will to win. Teams allowed to dress out the entire 40 man roster. It would be epic. Oh, and no umpires. Batters call their pitches and fielder's call their outs, all subject to 24 replay opportunities by eacj manager.

Nunez, Senor Pops Sr.

But I stayed positive, it is still winnable