vegasbob

Far better to have JBJr in front of Betts than a thick legged catcher. Another reason Blake Swihart hitting 8th, when catching, can be a real bonus for the top of lineup guys.

Meritocracy at its best. Play well or sit down. The real test and tough decision for DD/Cora is whether he is kept on the first 25 man ALDS roster, assuming his hitting/fielding find their rhythm in September.

Brian, get 5 innings in the books so you can get credit for the win. Don't let Cora short you. if he comes out for you after 14 outs, throw the ball into the stands !

Given the overall pitching and the hitting, I do not think you can overrate tonight's wins as anything but significant. Could be the start of a run towards securing the ALE early. But 4 up with 3 to go is just fine too.

I would take Jon Lester's competitive attitude at anytime but his performance this year may be indicative of what happens in late stages of career. Good luck to Jon, as long as we don't meet the Cubs in the WS. That would be a classic.

Mookie knows where you live.

Can't even comment here, since I have expressed my uninformed eyeball opinion on Barnes's ability to to get guys out consistently. He does have ability but can't figure out his inconsistency or inefficiency factor.

So, Mr. Upton sucks ? Hope we can avoid him.

On balance, I would prefer to keep JBJr as well, but do not lose sleep over his departure if that leads to a situation where the Sox pitching is upgraded with younger guys. JBJ will be here through the playoffs, so no need for immediate resolution. Let the guy perform as he has recently and the future will take care of itself.

Smokin' Joe Kelly shows up too, with a very efficient inning.

Giving some credit where due, Matt Barnes responds to the challenge with a good inning

Extremely encouraging and much needed/appreciated Erod

Mark it done.

You are right with that. Missed a high zone strike that could have been a flyball and then chopped a sure , non run scoring out to Rodon who blew himself up big time, good for us. Beni has some work to do.

It's September 1, 26 games to go , a 7.5 game lead. 9 of the 26 are against other division leaders ( not terribly meaningful based on their comparative records ), but they are teams the Red Sox could meet later in the playoffs. The other 6 games are against NYY who is also a very possible first round opponent. The other 11 games are scattered among the current White Sox series, the Orioles and the Mets. The Braves series in Atlanta precludes 3 games with the DH operable. The one conclusion you can draw is that Boston will win the ALE and have the best overall record, even with a 13-13 finish. The major area of concern, starting and bullpen pitching, is far less certain. Here's some reality--- You cannot predict how or for how long Chris Sale can perform at a top level. He may be great or back to the trainer's room. David Price may or may not be affected by the shot to his left hand. Could be a great #2 or revert to disabled. Porcello provides no clue, only a negative trend based on 3 recent starts. Erod--- If Sale and Price are unknowns due to injury, why would Erod's return be predictable. At a minimum he needs to get back to speed and try to stretch out to 6 innings potential. Eovaldi is Jake Peavy in other clothing. I'm sure he tries but has not shown any consistency , except another negative trend over multiple starts . Velazquez and Brian Johnson generally do what is asked but are marginal guys, not the core of your playoff plans. So the conclusion is that on Sept 1, the starting pitching for the best winning record in baseball is a total crapshoot. They could win it all with health returning and a turnaround in the trending. Steven Wright could make an unexpected but huge contribution if he can get his knuckleball working well, but again it's more wishing and hoping than knowing. The bullpen may be more settled than the starters. Start with Kimbrel as the given and despite some recent misses, he is still your go to closer who is expected to perform well. Brasier, if he maintains his good work seems to be reliable in getting outs. Joe Kelly, maybe is in a positive trend but still unpredictable game to game. Barnes and Hembree did not have good August's . Who knows with these two ? Eovaldi going to the pen ? Tell me what that does based on his recent throwing, another Barnes/Hembree ? Thornburg shows very little and may not be usable except for mopup . Workman is another ??? I want them to win it all as much as the next guy, but some of the posts about the pitching as a strength right now, leave me wondering.

Finally gets his first HR in almost 150 AB's in a place that matters not.

Pom with 4 innings, 7 hits, no walks , apparently a few OF plays on the run. He is no real factor looking towards playoffs. Everyone send Zimmerman of the Tigers congrats for giving up 3 HR's in an inning.. Maybe the Tigers managerial team for leaving him in.

The Splinter's lifetime FAwas .974 , only 30 DP's in 19 seasons but he did catch 3796 fly balls while in the field. Played 169 games in RF with notably less success than LF (.948 FA, 20 of his 93 errors in only 8% of his total games. But I think they kept him around for his bat.

Looking back over a few weeks, the team certainly struggles early and can't beat the starting pitchers but devour the bullpens. Our opponents score early on our starters and sometimes devour our BP and sometimes not at all. The LH'ers and soft throwers still cause problems with change ups and slow curves, while the hard throwers get us out on sliders. But put the FB over the plate and every Red Sox can get to it .

You are right. Trout has not played under pressure on the field to win nor in a rabid fan/media market. Nice guy by all measures , but not an MVP for a losing team.

If you would have known that JDM would be hitting .336/1.063 with 39 HR's and 114 rbi, I think most would have been very satisfied with the signing. If you then learned it was only August 31 with those numbers, you would wonder why this guy was given an out option in his deal after 2019. Incredible performance an a prime reason the Sox are 51 games over .500. Come out with guns blazing, JD.

Good warmup for the playoffs because you will need to beat two of the above to get to the Series. Really don't know how to categorize this team lately. One or two explosive innings after 5 or 6 innings of nothings. Weak starts followed by excellent/terrible BP sessions. Cannot count them out of any game but make you wonder. Huge win with the NYY loss. Keep it rolling.

4 runs is far from insurmountable, but always waiting for the 7-8-9th and playing from behind is tiring. I guess they think that letting the other team hold a lead for awhile and then pound them late, demoralizes the opposition. Odd strategy.

i appreciate your stuff because it is often what I'm seeing to with respect to hitters.

leon takes one for the team. Now need the GS which was so prevalent early this year but has been missing in action lately