vegasbob

Vazquez hits what would have been a decent hit and run type ball, but JBJr wasn't going to draw the 2Bman to the bag. As a result you see a DP when the guy playing second intentionally drops the line drive to create the DP

Not sure the team would be missing too much by leaving Chavis as the 2Bman (except salary), and cutting Nunez . The option is to send him back to Pawsox for more work at 2B and assume he'll be back reltively soon IF Pedroia has to face the fact he may be done.

3B is typically a power hitting position . For Devers to be a month into the season, 89 AB's and have 0 HRs and only 7 rbis is not a good showing. But he is not the only one. Still think there could be a nagging physical issue in the left shoulder from watching his swing.

Glad some people enjoy watching Devers play the game

I recall seeing Ted Williams hit 2 three run homeruns vs the Orioles to win a game 8-6 in the mid 50's. No Sox pitcher could hold a lead then either.

Why don't people focus on the real problem---Any ownership or FO who risks players like TSW, Yaz, Rice, Manny, Beni or Swihart in a left field featuring a rollup garage door , 3 feet off the foul line deserves to get slammed for organizational incompetency . There are better and safer opening closures than what Fenway has. Oh wait, is Swi the only one of that list of HoF All-Stars that ran into the door?

Meanwhile, Joe Kelly continues to blow up in LA. Cody Allen has been demoted from being the Angels closer. There will come a time in a couple months when there will be some changes made by the Sox. But if the bats stay reasonably alive they can manage with most of this bullpen.

He's getting 6 with a reasonable pitch count if he drops Hicks

Jackie may be the most perfectly defended Red Sox hitter of all time. Even his hard shots are at'em balls

Buck Ninety-eight working on JBJr

Rick is really good when he gets loosened up.

All this negativity on Talksox is a real bummer in the dugout. Please hold it down as a courtesy to the patrons.

Rick truly cannot help himself and neither can Leon. Gets 2 run lead and craps up 3 without an out in the third. Another potential short start.

Sandy stays oh for the year, but his OPS is .125 higher and he can really catch and throw. Keeps Porcello from doing his Porcellos

Everytime JBJr takes a walk instead of a chasing swing is a victory in itself. Get on base in front of the big hitters

i think the rest of the 2B contingent can make other future plans with Chavis around. Maybe not so much this year but certainly next season. Or it may not be 2B, but it will be somewhere. Power plus a cheap price. Pitchers may find the hole in his swing, but for right now, he's pretty helpful

E-5. The worst part of that play was it was the type of awkward off line throw that gets the 1Bman crushed by the runner.

I betts you are correct. Too bad Mike T. signed for a lifetime with an organization whose players cannot stay on the field The Angels have a longer IL list than lineup. Trout may never get to the playoffs again.

Personally, I did agree with passing on Joe Kelly who showed big potential earlier but failed to ever become a highly reliable full season power reliever. His showing in LA furthers the point. Kimbrel was not going to be worth choking off the money for others and had his own peculiarities. So those two weren't DD's failure, I think he made the right decisions on them. The fail is more like failing to bring in someone maybe better than Colton Brewer and assuming Tyler Thornburg would make a full recovery and be a stud. Holding on to the injured Brian Johnson and having to babysit the untradable Steven Wright and counting on Hector Velazquez as your #6 starters was a wish and a prayer too. With EO out, the gap widens further until Hernadez and others are fully MLB ready. For all the talk about the 2020 or 2021 "cliff" , I don't doubt and have said before that the WS win bought DD and ownership a grace period (2019) where they could buy a year to further develop some of the AAA'ers (who are now filling some IL gaps) , resign some guys to extensions and still have a credible 95+ win season. The s***** start for whatever reason put a spotlight on the effort to buy time in 2019, while avoiding the luxury tax.

I think that was Dombroski's, Cora's and the players game plan for 2019 as was mentioned often during the winter . Roll the bats and balls out there, dress them up like it was 2018 and win 90 by not forfeiting any. Could still happen, but likely need to get to the 96-97 level to keep playing in October.

When even casual observers can see the mistakes (physical and mental) being made and the team is losing big as a result, it's a pretty fair shot to call the player on it. Especially when you saw virtually the same guys win the 119 last year. When professionals fail to pay attention to details, and consistently fail to play up to their proven non small sample career , why be a cheerleader squad ? The 11-4 beatdown of the Tigers was the first game of this year that much resembled last year. Won't happen every night, but that one felt good. Until Barnes floundered but without giving up a run and Thornburg crapped his pants. Given their lead and the team's tough start that was a place to shut the Tigers down and establish something other than DD's ignoring the BP during the off season.

Some of his swings recently have been very short armed as if an alligator is holding the bat. A couple of us speculated the other night , when his awkward swing was pronounced, that his left shoulder must have been hurting. Maybe from one of those diving fielding play on the rockets allowed by some pitchers .

So Thornburg got a pass for his 9th inning effort . He and Barnes extinguished themselves, but the hitters finally set the stage for a laugher, while the BP coulkd let the fire burn itself out, no help from them.

Well said. His courage tank was lower than the lion in the Wiz.

Quickly 4-0 after JD's hard hit to left. Erod's start quality is most welcomed