5GoldGlovesOF,75

The problem with counting on the IL Red Sox to return and contribute at their past levels are that Story, Duvall and Mondesi are all out with injuries that will most likely have severe affects on their strengths -- or in Story's case, the shortstop position he was supposed to play at an elite level. Story's throwing elbow, Mondesi's knee, Duvall's wrist... Does it really make sense to expect Story to return to a spot he hasn't played in two years and gun people out from deep in the hole? Does it make any sense to think Mondesi will be as fast, even after healing from blowing out his knee, because of inevitable scar tissue? Will Duvall really be back at his full power-swinging strength, a few months after traumatizing half the arms that whip the bat?

No matter where one stands in the x-times-through-the-order debate -- if recent past means anything -- Cora sure doesn't seem like he wants to yank his starters and exhaust his relievers. Remember, there were a few times last year when a guy was really dealing and AC let his starter go the distance. Instead of being totally beholden to the analytics department (like in meccas of innovation like LA and Tampa), isn't it just as likely Cora pulls the hook more times than not because he knows his starters are gassed or just can't be trusted? Every game, the coaching staff and catchers are in constant communication about nuances of stuff and location that always supersede voices in the booth or in my recliner.

Lakers are big fat trout. Some guy in Colorado caught one this week weighing over 73 pounds (her belly was full of eggs, so he released her... doubt a hoop tank top would even fit).

I think the biggest risk of injury/burn-out is with #3. The multi-inning reliever who throws every couple-three days is a relatively new creation. Tendons and ligaments (and hammys etc) have to adjust to a different workload then they're used to since maybe Little League...

The state of the rotation directly affects the state of the bullpen. Starters have to go longer and deeper or Cora's go-to guys will be toast by the trade deadline. We've seen it too many times, and it's a peril that never seems to go away.

Imagine the city connect uniform ensembles if they were the Face Cards...

Was thinking same; Verducci just wrote an article how the Sox can't possibly stay this hot with their current starting pitching. His point is no one is very good (didn't even mention Pivetta), and only Sale has shown the stuff of someone who might be...

Las Vegas Dupes? Marks? Johns? Suckers? Paupers? Indigents? Just don't call them Poor Boys or Beggars... or horrors, the Card Counters (the entire roster could end up on the IL). Chumps... that's it -- Chumpions! Headline: "Chumps Win Chumpionship!"

Actually, I was envisioning Walter and his funky delivery helping the big club pen by mid-season -- but he's kind of regressed so far. Wonder if Matt Strahm is available? His team is underachieving... bet we could acquire him for a Song.

Sheesh, what a grinch (I suppose those don't exist, either). Google "unicorn lunch box" and then try telling all those kids that carry them that their hands are actually empty... Edit: what an idiot I am... of course their hands aren't empty; they're holding cell phones. The unicorn lunch boxes are in their backpacks.

Sheesh, what a grinch (I suppose those don't exist, either). Google "unicorn lunch box" and then try telling all those kids that carry them that their hands are actually empty...

This is why they need to hang onto Nick Yorke. If you check the prospect list, there are just not a lot of righties in the Top 20. Gotta hope at least one outfielder of Rafaela or Bleis makes it. After that, all the best hitters are lefty sticks, except for maybe Lugo or Blaze Jordan.

Hamilton has been good since joining the Sox org -- 70 SBs last year, .955 OPS this spring -- but no one ever seems to mention him as an actual prospect... not uniform personnel, front office types and definitely not those who cover and rank the system. Soxprospects.com currently lists him #19, while MLB.com has him at #27, behind 10 other middle infielders (though they may outdated, as Drohan is still #29). The mystery remains, as others have said, why he's on the 40 and not worthy of helping the big club in need. If his D was that bad, why is he the starting shortstop at the next level below the bigs? Are they showcasing Hamilton to make him more attractive as trade bait? I always assumed Bloom acquired and protected him in advance of the new rules revitalizing speed on the basepaths... but maybe it was a ploy to generate interest in clubs that value stolen bases more than one that plays jai-alai off the great wall of monster half the time.

NESN would call those sweeping sinkers slurving somewhere...

I wouldn't disparage Volpe just yet as he adjusts to the big leagues... here are his power-speed numbers in two full seasons in the minors at four levels: 27 HRs-33 SBs in A; 21-50 in AA/AAA. If Marcelo Mayer (who already has the D) posts stats like that by the time he's 22, he'd better be called up to Boston...

Good point, and other guys with dugout jobs or futures may have been likewise influenced: Cash, Roberts, Kapler, Varitek, Mueller, Pedroia, Lowell, Julian Tavarez (kidding)

Lying, cheating -- oops, that's my ex-wife... Good modern managers aren't so much seen as strategists, but people-people -- guys players want to play for. Cora and Francona have been the best in that regard in Boston the past half-century, and the words of actual Red Sox players back that up. The anti-Tito was Bobby Valentine, for calling out his guys in the press. Other historic hardasses met with mixed results: Duroucher, Mauch, Martin, Williams, etc.

It can be a harsh label for people feared for some reason or another by others who consider themselves more rational or logical (or are seen by still others as overly sensitive). The word is better used in debates as the verb it is, like when I once typed (paraphrasing me), "I hate the Bloom Era for what it represents to fans of the Red Sox team and players, because a lot of fan favorites are leaving Boston." Never hate the person, but his actions and words are free game on forums, and always subject to praise and ridicule through good and bad (though as far as we know, to posters, Bloom's no groom nor Supreme Court justice, so it's not a life sentence). What I would love is for our CBO to somehow land a top starting pitcher right now, while the team's on a roll. Big time free agents are all signed elsewhere, and most of them are busts so far -- good job, Chaim. The best one to date acquired in trade looks like Pablo Lopez, but the Sox didn't have a .400 hitter available. There are underachieving teams that may be primed for dealing... if only Bloom could get a guy like Joe Ryan, who the Twins stole from the geniuses in Tampa for aging DH Nelson Cruz a few years back...

Bludgeon the curmudgeon! Send him to the dudgeon! Wait -- he's been bailed by Forrest Grump, recruited by the LA Codgers, on a dinner date with Misanthrope... ... I want to root for the Old Red Sox... but just cant... ankerous...

Agreed, but almost all big league pitchers grew up being The Guy. And no one wants to be an official loser.

For pitchers on the IL, are there more older guys not used to the clock? Younger arms that came up the past few years must have all made adjustments in the minors (pitching with a clock, they all made the majors). For increased velo hurting modern pitchers, does anyone really think the smaller-weaker-slower old-timers from the 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, etc. still didn't throw as hard as they could? For ghost runners skewing stats: imagine you're an effective relief pitcher doing your job, inducing two routine 4-3 ground-outs... the winning run scores, though he doesn't go against your ERA -- but let's hang a big fat L on your permanent record.

The shift ban definitely helps, but the '23 Red Sox are better because they feature different batters making better contact. Yoshida and Turner are pro hitters, along with an improved Verdugo. But the recent hot streak also includes guys who were playing in Worcester at the end of last summer: Duran, Wong, Valdez, Casas. Boston has the fourth lowest strikeout rate in the league, with only 14 more Ks than Cleveland, the best contact club. Last year the Sox struck out higher than the league average, with 251 more whiffs than Cleveland... '23 Ks, AL leaders: #29 Casas, #38 Kike '22 Ks, AL leaders for the year: #15 Martinez, #34 Story (in 94 games), #41 Bogaerts, #42 Dalbec Where's Raffy? He didn't make either top 42... he's tied for #43; last year was #48. Devers is Devers, leading the league in homers, while 42 others fan more (when Judge broke the AL HR record, only two guys struck out more times).

I'll bet most of our Uncle Georges are the better players we've known who didn't go pro. But if we agree all those who make the majors are the best of the Georges, how many have repeated heroics in the big leagues more than a couple times? For those who argue that those few are the very best, can we at least agree that it usually takes more than just superior physical skills to reach potential? And if that's a given, then what defines that X factor that allows rare athletes to slow the game down at the same time it's speeding up on everyone else? Do some guys actually have a way to sharpen their focus in big moments... or are they just lazy in the MLB because everyday at anything becomes a boring job, but then just try harder when it matters most on a big stage?

It was a hanging curve -- they should'nt have thrown it anywhere near his bat... that pitcher gagged.

Dunno, but on baseball dinosaur reference.com, Wong is a TriCERAtops