vegasbob

Nothing changes, Sale K's them all and Devers has a .000 fielding average.

Apology accepted, check via an administrator if needed. Let's just enjoy another winning season with the Sox. Done deal.

And you would be completely wrong , as well as an irritating individual, but then you live in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Call me if you want confirmation on the Stork thing.

Hembree in rare form vs the Cubs--hits the first guy, walks the second, walks the third batter , followed by a quick hook from Levange. The first 11 road games will be a small sample but we'll see how well some of these throwers come around when the results count. Don't hold your breath when a few come in unless you enjoy oxygen deprivation. Workman relives Hembree, gets a swinging K. Maybe a DP saves the inning----Brandon gets the groundball but it eludes a diving (late??) effort by Nunez at SS, rolls through for a 2 run single. Good thing it is still ST. Followed by another groundball single burying the Sox in their last ST game of 2019. But Swihart homered !

Meanwhile on the playing field today, Swihart threw out Ben Zobrist trying to steal 2B and in a later inning 3B. Has anyone seen a quote or other comment attributed to Leon or any of the pitchers since the move on Leon ? Based on the available information , it looks like there is a good chance Sandy Leon would clear waivers and could then accept the minor league assignment to preserve his guaranteed money , as Alan Craig did a couple years back. Since the Red Sox are on the hook for his salary anyway, this may work out to the club's advantage by having Leon in the system but not taking a 40 man roster spot. And available in case of injury or failure to perform by the other two guys. It would seem that the same circumstances would have applied to Swihart , except the money owed was less.

With all the discussion centered between Leon and Swihart, CV snuck through ST with the most AB's of these three and displayed the worst results by far of the three, hitting .133 with almost 28% K's. Despite Blake's good hitting this Spring, he will not get a lot of time behind the plate or at bat so the question as to where his upside could be is not likely to be determined soon.

"P.S. Ignore at your own peril. " Great article in the WSJ about the total failure of the Orioles, under Dan Duquette and Showalter, to develop any analytic abilities until GM Mike Elias took over last year . He is now trying to build an data base and systems via Sig Mejdal as his ass't GM. The O's also had no int'l scouting capacity. The aging Peter Angelos, 90, finally turned things over to his sons, who brought Elias , who now will try to mimic his success with the Astros developing their high level model of analytics. Of course, Showalter had to go and current manager, Brandon Hyde , formerly with Theo's Cubs, believes in using the available data.

Just a guess towards the future but something tells me that Sale is more the team player than Betts will be.

Colton Brewer also whiffed his 3 batters with a very good 12 to 6 curve ball. The bullpen wars continue as the team gets ready to head west on Sunday. The hitters showed up with some 2 out rbi's by Pedroia, Martinez and Devers

Also , should acknowledge Matt Barnes was sharp with 3 K's in his one inning.

Thornburg walks 3 in relief , using 25 pitches but K's Kiermeyer with the bases full, allows no runs, bounces 3 pitches off Swihart. Must be working on a new pitch. Does not look to have much command at this point, inconsistent motion, poor follow through falling off towards first base side. D. Hernandez similarly wild with 3 walks but again no runs allowed .

Porcello with a good start vs. the Orioles today, but Mejia looking like a fire drill.

Not really, but I do believe what Parcells did say several years ago. I think the Sox will win 100+ games again over a full season, JDM will go .325/40/120, and that the record after the first 11 road games will 5-6 or 6-5, as opposed to last year's incredible 17-2 run. Slower start, excellent finish in September.

Could Swihart being behind Moreland at 1B provided enough coverage to avoid paying Steve Pearce over $6 million, which in turn probably made the overall bullpen what we see today , an unsettled situation ? Pearce brings the power hitting threat from the RH side, and Moreland has trouble playing a full season without injury, so the backup guy does need some decent skill/experience level. If Sale and Price prefer pitching to Leon, let's survey the infielders on who they want at 1B to snag their errant throws. First up, Rafi.

Interesting fact : there are only 8 pitchers in this decade that have achieved 120 victories ( or more). Rick Porcello , at 30 yrs old, is the youngest. Kershaw, King Felix and Gio Gonzalez are the next 3 youngest. Kershaw is opening the season not on the mound but on the IL, Hernandez is somewhat washed up in Seattle, and Gonzalez , at 33, got an incentive laden $3MM guaranteed, incentive laden minor league deal with the Yankees. Gio hasn't missed a start since June 2014, sporting a 3.75 ERA over that timeframe. Don't dismiss big bat Rick P yet. He may not rank with Mookie or Chris as a premium signee but he should get some love as a mid rotation , starter after this year. The Sox, known for developing their young pitchers, could do worse than offer Porcello an extension. I hope Rick's mound slot comes up in Arizona so he can hit again.

Living in So Cal , it will be easier to go to Phoenix for the D'back series and see Rick Porcello rake for one game. Definitely will see 2 of those games.

Do you really play like you practice, a la Parcells ? Or do they have a switch they can throw and wipe the clubhouse latrine with the Mariners, A's and D'Backs. Don't think so. A 6-5 record going home to Boston would be a win, given the ST performances.

No, perhaps they can afford a 12 year $430MM contract from a funding point of view. But from a realistic viewpoint being married to a mega-contract for 12 years, consuming about 20% of your salary cap is not a way to have a consistently competitive team. Has Mookie Betts so impressed you that he is deserving of the #1 contract of all time ? This isn't the NBA where 2 or 3 players can keep a team at the top (GSW) for multi-years. Betts , Harper, Trout hit 5 times a game, 150 times a year if not injured. They fail to move the runner, if any, 65% of the time. Trout will now play for the rest of his games on the same team that has reached the playoffs once in his HoF career , and may never again. One or even three players does not make a baseball team. The 2018 Yankees should have cleaned up in the AL East with Judge, Stanton, Severino, etc, but they failed to notice the 108 game winners from Boston who had Vazquez, Leon, Swihart catching and Nunez/Holt playing second base, 2 of the 4 key positions on a team

The Pearce signing at over $6MM was an unusual decision for this team. Regrettably Sam Travis put no pressure on the situation to make a break through. He's now another of the Sox professional AAAA'ers. I still think that the WS win took huge pressure off DD & Henry to do something to get over the top. This non-decision on signing any closer stems from the pass that the WS win provides, Kimbrel's performance and contract expectations, luxury tax avoidance, and the need to try and sort out Sale, Betts, etc first as far more important pieces. The closer can come later, say July 30 since the Sox will be in the AL East and WC competition unless the whole starting lineup goes to sleep, which is always a possibility in a post championship season.

Even with Vazquez missing several weeks last summer , Sandy Leon appeared in 89 games, while Christian still chalked up 80, and their AB totals were fairly similar. Swihart played, in various roles including PH/PR, 82 games with about 60 fewer AB's than Leon. It would not be surprising for the Sox to keep Leon to satisfy Sale for this year, and likely lose Swihart for no asset in return. However, Leon will be over 30 this year and unless he delivers a miracle season at bat, do you think the Sox are likely to sign him again going forward ? If they get serious about signing Sale to an extension, is Sandy part of Chris's package ? Obviously we do not know Sale's true pressure on management to keep Leon as his caddy, but the loss of Swihart's still to be realized upside, his positional flexibility, ability to be a runner when needed, and marginally lower contract cost over time is a lot to lose for nothing added. Tough decision for Cora/DD.

yes, Cora said 13 pitchers indicating some of the marginal guys will still be in "earn the job" mode during the first 11 road games. The move with Pedey was highly predictable to keep him out of the cool, often wet opening road trip . Not a bad idea at all, let him open his season back in Boston. With the 13 pitchers being carried, the Swihart-Leon pick'em goes down to the wire.

Good performance by Barnes, Brasier, Thornburg today in relief of Sale who was sharp. Hope springs eternal

Ironic that JDM is 1 for 16 , bit of a late start, while Pedey is hitting .500 ! However, that's 2 for 4 AB's, not exactly in full playing mode yet . Could easily start the year on DL for the initial road trip, show up more ready to play in Boston .

If nothing else Swihart's hitting so far this ST may make him a little more tradable. It will be interesting to see how the "contest" plays out.

Workman and Hembree both had effective one inning stints today striking out 5 of 6. Watched Feltman throw and he has an odd motion which may show the grip or ball early. Hard to tell. Command was not great, his breaking pitch down and in to lefties, sinking away from RH'ers looked good.