5GoldGlovesOF,75

Houck's has really honed his hangers this year. But it's still early!

That was my favorite NESN inning of the year. I just assumed they pulled the plug on Merloni's reaction to the first pitch. All I heard was swearing -- then realize it was just me. And as Houck got continually ripped by every batter, they just left the mics off.

Fans hate to admit Duran might be a trade candidate, but you're right: has there ever been any discussion by a beat reporter or NESN voice about a possible extension? He'll be 29 in September, and Abreu at 26 may be a more attractive deadline target since he makes minimum and has one more year of control. Or the Sox could just keep all their good outfielders and have Cora revolve them in and out of the line-up. But someone that wants to win this year might covet a primetimer a year removed from an 8.7 WAR and All-Star MVP... and make Breslow an offer he can't refuse. Bonafide starting pitchers like Cole Ragans and Joe Ryan were acquired for much older vets like Chapman and Nelson Cruz.

Finally, someone sane to talk us lunatics from jumping off the back wall of the Monster onto Upsidedown Street. The last thing any big league club would ever want to do is put pressure on young men they pay to play a kid's game. Don't ever promote a Bogaerts or Devers at age 20 or a Betts at age 21 or even a Kristian Campbell -- who at 22 has only played one full year in the minors and one year at D1. They might be ruined for life!

Makes sense. That way no one has to be traded, until they demand it or Brez feels he has to maximize value to fill areas of need. I'm just suspicious about Cora's recent quote that suddenly made Campbell a centerfielder. It's not like AC not to audition guys at various positions first...

GEEZ -- I can't believe you're echoing what other posters already suggested. How dare anyone talk sox on talksox! We should all be happy we can pay bad money to watch baseball. And no one in New England should be excused for banging the doldrums slowly because of depressing rain and cold for the entire first half of this month. But let it be known -- today on April 14th, Two thousand twenty-five -- the SUN IS OUT! (wait, I just took off my sweatshirt... and it's not yet noon, so it's still early... don't panic!)

Who's panicking? All the teams in MLB history that promoted top prospects to inject energy into lethargic big league line-ups? The fact is Roman Anthony is baseball's #1 position player prospect, and that he plays outfield. If the Sox want to make him a first baseman, such an experiment probably won't happen until next offseason. When he is promoted to the big leagues soon, he has to play every day, which means someone else gets replaced. Fans and posters have been speculating different possible outfield alignments since Spring Training. The obvious guy to get benched is Rafaela. If not, the corner outfielders are too good to sit, which may necessitate trading someone of value. It certainly won't be Anthony, because he has more potential than Duran, Ceddanne, Abreu, Refsnyder and Yoshida to solve one of Boston's biggest deficits: consistent power.

Nope, trading him. The Red Sox have to make room in the starting line-up for two good players: Anthony and Mayer. Anyone who watched Spring Training knows the Sox were a better team when both were on the field. Right now, Boston is not a good team. The errors and the strikeouts are less signs of early slumps and more exposure of who the current regulars really are. Meidroth taking measured swings to make contact against Crochet reveals the exact type of hitter the Red Sox are missing in the batting order. Boston's organization has no plans for a guy who can't reach the seats, even with an On Base Percentage of .600, but he certainly helped the White Sox win two out of three this weekend.

Another possible scenario when Anthony and Mayer both get promoted and have to play everyday: 2B: Mayer LF: Anthony CF: Campbell RF: Abreu It looked spontaneous when AC suddenly played KC in CF... but maybe it wasn't entirely Cora's idea and a surprise to him, too. If Campbell was a viable option in center before, you'd think they would've given him a few reps there in ST.

That's ok, a lot of Red Sox employees and fans still do.

The Red Sox' stats are irrefutable. They prove to analytics departments what dumb fans like me watching and coaching amateur baseball have known forever: when you try to hit home runs, you hit less and strike out more. Even Funky Winkerbean knows that.

The organization reportedly has at least one big sign posted somewhere -- minors, Florida, Boston? -- that says: "Hit The Ball In The Air" Now think back to all those years when line drive hitters were all over our lawns. Coaches -- from Little League, high school, college, and pros -- always stressed top-hand dominant swings, to hit down on the ball, because that's what kept heads down and eyes on pitches... ... because batters who instead tried to elevate always got into bad habits like dropping back shoulders, stepping in the bucket, and ultimately taking their eyes off the pitch by yanking their heads too soon to follow the flight of the ball they just got under (or missed). The modern strikeout epidemic isn't just because pitchers got better.

When a team leads the majors in both strikeouts and errors, it stinks. Ks and Es are the two most embarrassing failures on the diamond, immortalized in pop culture from "Casey at the Bat" to Charlie Brown. There's no "it's still early" if you can't catch the ball or hit the ball. That's a personnel issue. It's not like when the temperatures warm up, they'll activate some heat-attracting magnets in glove pockets or bat barrels. Swing-and-miss haunts the Red Sox in the field and batter's box more than any other team. Maybe by summer, Boston players can develop softer hands on defense and harder hits at bat -- but then opponents will also. Some want to blame the manager for not motivating his roster. But what can be more motivating than playing to keep a job? The infielders and outfielders know there are guys in Worcester just as good or better than they are, just waiting for the call...

Of course I made it up, because the last thing we need is for anyone to try to mimic Breslow speaking to the press (sometimes his replies to questions are so drawn out that I think it's intentional -- in order to distract from not giving a literal answer the team doesn't want made public). Brez knows the average attention-span is an endangered species these days. Maybe that's the biggest problem for Cora and his coaches when trying to help younger players improve... and also why the org loves Campbell so much: he listened!

Now that Meidroth is in the majors with an On Base Percentage of 4 THOUSAND (4-for-4, 1 H and 3 BBs), just remember this today when you watch the Red Sox' defense: There's another guy still stuck in Worcester who may be a better all-around infielder than anyone starting for Boston right now. He has sure hands, can play solid to spectacular D at 2B, SS and 3B, and has by far a stronger throwing arm than Campbell, Story and Bregman. He also outhit just about everyone in Fort Myers last month. When is the cutoff date again before clubs can call up homegrown bluechips and retain that coveted extra year of control?

I was rooting for Zavala instead, because at least his throws can reach second base before midnight. So what if Seby can't hit -- just about no one can anyway -- we need a catcher who can catch the pitch and not the hitter's damn bat. The dumb thing -- certainly to an ignoramus like myself -- is that Seby bats righty, and so does Narvaez, but Sabol bats lefty -- and OMG, we can't carry an unbalanced catching duo that both whiff righty.

Cora just has to do better with his cliches after crap losses. Brez sent him a book of quotes from Yale, but this isn't molecular biophysics. Though it may be harder to get the molecules moving when it's 20 degrees with the windchill...

The manager is always an easy target, but he's only playing the team the front office built. Sure, Cora has input of who gets added or subtracted, and obviously who plays where on the field... but are there any better options on this roster? 1B: Casas -- has always had a negative dWAR. 2B: Campbell -- not smooth anywhere yet. Luckily, he's a quick learner... though fans and reporters with World Series predictions should exercise caution, and patience. SS: Story -- stable fielder with an unstable throwing arm. 3B: Bregman -- not the problem: no third baseman has more putouts or assists, or started more DPs, and his range factor leads AL hot corner men. C: Disaster. Narvaez looks the best, but apparently they're not confident in his bat, so they called up Sabol? from Worcester -- obviously the wrong choice; they should've activated Coach Rich Gedman, age 65. OF: the greatest fly chasers in the history of last month -- all have made errors so far... some web gems, too, but these guys at times look disinterested, distracted or probably just frozen immobile (like ballplayers at any level shivering in the winter). P: Red Sox pitchers the past half century have always been required to make errant throws to bases and stumble like their infielders so they don't show up the front office for its team-building. DH: Fact -- no full-time designated hitter has made more Es on D than Raffy Devers.

It's still early... on a Saturday morning. But the Red Sox defense isn't going away. A team that leads the majors in errors isn't going to change unless the roster changes. Breslow tried by acquiring Bregman, but really, the biggest boost to the D was getting Crochet and Chapman -- strikeout pitchers. The rest of Boston's rotation and bullpen pitch to contact. And that's a problem. The Sox lead the majors in double plays turned, but they also lead in chances. AL East Errors: New York 6, Toronto 6, Tampa 7, Baltimore 8... Boston 19.

Meidroth's batting average is a thousand and his OPS is two thousand.

A year ago (before Doctor Drivenline created Kristian Campbell), the baseball world predicted the Big Three prospects next to get promoted to Boston were named Mayer, Anthony and Teel. Of course, only we discerning diehards knew that one of their unheralded minor league teammates -- a guy initially known more for his glove than his bat -- would make the majors before all of them: Chase Meidroth.

It's been mentioned Mayer may have just as many holes in his swing as Story -- or MLB pitchers will find them, and even create new ones. But Mayer's arm is such an upgrade at a key position for a ground ball pitching staff, that he could make the difference in Boston making the playoffs. No infielder on the Sox' current roster has a stronger throwing arm.

If you ask her, that's fine, everything's fine, even if she's caught driving 97 and has to pay a fine fine. On the grading scale, a baseball card or comic book in fine condition is better than very good. But on the marriage scale, husbands know that when things are fine, they're not very good at all.

That could've been his defense -- if he really had supernatural powers, it would only take him an hour, flying by broomstick.

I don't know Chapman, just what I read about some stunts in the past. I sure can't harbor any ill will towards a guy who factored into some Yankees' playoff losses -- tough for them -- or for dissing New York at the end of his time there. Again, too bad; Bronx cheer. As for personal issues, I'm not throwing stones (especially, since he can throw them back twice as hard). All I know is when he signed in Boston, they showed a pic of Chappy with his dog. I'm a dog guy, too, and willing to give him a second or twenty-second chance in Boston. His new teammates are in awe of him, so he's good for the clubhouse chemistry. He's going to blow some games for the Sox because he's human and drive us all crazy, but so far so good.