5GoldGlovesOF,75

Battenfield is also a good name for a hitter who doesn't use pine tar.

The most positive thing about Sale today isn't his stats or that he beat the below-average hitting Guardians... ... it's that when the game was on the line, Sale toughed it out, came up huge and left the tying run on third. He left it all out there, hit 98 on one pitch on the NESN screen, jammed Bell into tapping a one-stitch heater and got Gonzalez on a grounder to first. Then he even came back out in the 7th to get one more lefty. Hopefully, he didn't hurt himself -- and I'm not joking. Sale may not be able to baffle the best hitters anymore, but today he showed he still has the balls to compete and contribute big time.

Eovaldi isn't Kluber, Sale or Paxton in their prime -- but he's better than all of them and a legit #2 right now. That's something the Sox don't have. How much better would Boston be with Nate, who started more games and with a better ERA than any Sox in April... and with Bogaerts (and the return of the juiced ball) at short?

The new schedule -- less AL East games! -- might help the Sox win more than last year... and I will be the first to applaud the entire franchise if they win as many as 81 and finish .500. But the sked, in my opinion, was always an overrated factor in the Sox making the postseason, simply because the Rays, Jays, O's and Skanks all play less games vs. each other, too. There are three wild card berths at stake for October, along with three division champs. The schedule doesn't make it any easier to qualify for the Red Sox...

What have we learned after the first month? The AL bEast is a monstrosity, with three best teams in the league plus a big Bronx cheer for the World Series favorites... ... and coming up last -- but neither slow nor fast -- are your extra ordinary Sox, riding the spin cycle in the incongruous throes of instability. If they spelled it Socks, this would be the year you can only find one when folding the laundry (the other foot will drop out of a linen closet later, after hiding in a fitted sheet). With key pinstripes catching up to Boston on the IL, the New Yorkers are only one good starting pitcher better than the cellar dwellars. Imagine the stark changes in the outlook here if Bloom and Co. could acquire just one, reliable, consistent, healthy top-of-the-rotation starter? Just one...

I gotta say you are being very rational with your summaries lately. I want to be optimistic, too. I want the Red Sox to at least be alive for a postseason berth into September. I have high hopes for Bello and his stuff, but realize it may be a year or two before he strings together quality starts or better yet months of quality starts. As for the rest of the rotation, I just don't see such a happening for any of them... unless improvement is defined by two good games in a row. Houck has been ok, but is he already at his ceiling as a starter? For the others, we can hope and wish and pray... but this staff sure looks destined to bounce between a few games over and a few games under .500 into the summer.

Maybe I haven't been paying attention closely enough, but has Bleier ever had a good game for the Sox yet?

And yet, besides Bello's fingernail (growing pains?), when OB notes how this rotation is unlucky... do people say 90-year old drivers with vision problems and dementia are unlucky when they accidentally drive the wrong way on the interstate? Or are the unlucky ones the other drivers around them (those would be Red Sox fans during the Bloom Era).

Because it's no use complaining about the absolute worst starting rotation in the big leagues that's not a flock of lame ducks soon flying south to Las Vegas... The current Red Sox front office won't sign, draft or trade for any frontline pitching, so why even bother talkingsox about it.

Listened to the bottom of the 8th on the car radio driving back from my son's Little League game. When Devers got up with the tying runs on base, my kid -- who watches every game and pays attention -- said, "He's going to strike out on three pitches." When it got to 0-2, I mentioned that any pitcher would be crazy to throw him anything near his bat... because he'll still be swinging for the fences no matter what. After Raffy whiffed on the splitter, we discussed how much better he'd be as a hitter, and for the Red Sox, if he adjusted his two-strike approach and just tried to hit liners off the Monster (there's little doubt that a focused Devers can barrel more pitches in more locations than anyone in the line-up). It may be blasphemy on the boards to question the Raffy in the room, but his .231 batting average is now second-worst among full-timers to Casas, and he's third in Ks to Casas and Kike. Boston needs help in so many areas, and starting pitching should always be the priority... but since the Sox are so committed to Carita longterm, it almost makes sense to get another premium bat like a Papi or Manny presence to share the pressure and allow him to thrive...

Like any hitter, Valdez needs to get regular ABs to learn pitchers, adjust to their book on him, and get in a groove. He might benefit as a DH full-time somewhere on a club not pretending every year to be a contender. The Red Sox invested in Turner to be their DH, and are otherwise too left-handed already. Bad starting pitching can't afford sub-par defense on the diamond. But like others have posted, why doesn't Bloom see the value of good, available, affordable glovemen for any of his rosters?

What is true about the adage "shake a baseball tree, and 10 gloves fall out for every one bat"... 1. it's an old saying that I didn't invent; 2. if a ballplayer can hit -- "the hardest skill in sports" (another adage) -- some team will find a spot for him on a roster So what's more likely in the case of Enmanuel Valdez being tried at virtually every defensive position on the diamond except pitcher in his pro career: clubs see his potential as a versatile utility man... or dude can swing the lumber?

Also notice if a Rays guy doesn't do the job with the leather, they don't keep him around very long. Maybe that was Bloom's thinking about Renfroe...

Thanks, but other than Yandy, none were/are key guys for Tampa's annual playoff contenders... Meadows for a few years... Not trying to make you do more research, but it'd be interesting to see recent lists of positive Rays vs. Red Sox...

Good point; the Rays are known for solid defense as a unit -- which is important for a team that prides itself on churning out endless pitching depth. If they're the heads on that coin, then Bloom's Red Sox are definitely tails. As for whether good gloves are always available, just shake the ole baseball tree... 10 gloves fall out for every one bat. Fielding a line-up of fundamental professionals shouldn't be that costly, and it's the fastest way back to respectability. Maybe Bloom ignores it because according to him, rebuilding is unacceptable in the Nation.

Here's a line from milb.com on Valdez' career fielding stats (the 2s are Games and Games Started, the 17 is innings, the 1.000 means he didn't make any errors there): Minors Career - - Minors SS 2 2 17.0 7 4 3 0 1 -- -- -- -- 1.000 Nobody cares, but it looks like he's played every defensive position professionally except pitcher and centerfield... link: https://www.milb.com/player/enmanuel-valdez-665839?stats=career-r-fielding-minors&year=2023

1. He was in Houston. 2. He's a good enough player at something to make the majors... ... which brings up another tangent in the Bloom Era: in my old-guy memory banks, there haven't been as many players promoted by the Red Sox who looked so hopeless on defense as in the past four years. Maybe it's just because so many are groomed to play out of position: Dalbec, Franchy, Duran (at least his first two seasons), Kike at SS, Verdugo in CF, Duvall in CF, Valdez -- Hey, at least Wong leads AL catchers in dWAR!

Nobody. I watched him up close at a AAA game and said he looked like a competent professional that day, because he made the routine plays and even turned a DP. If you watched yesterday's game, Valdez actually made one good play with quick hands and throw. I'm not defending Bloom, but do you think Houston -- the club that goes to the ALCS every year by replacing Cole, Morton, Springer and Correa with prospects -- would deal an actual good player for a back-up catcher?

You sound like a teacher trying to reason with teenagers. How dare you put winning over payroll?

Not yet, first they'll try him in the bullpen, like they did with Richards. They already tried it with Paxton in Worcester, and that didn't go so well, relieving in early innings...

That's what Bloom basically said about Story that would make up for his bum arm when he made the move to shortstop. These sly Sox staffers probably devised an entire formula calculating ground ball velo vs. cross-infield footspeed to justify bad-armed post-shift positioning.

With one of the worst starting rotations in the majors, hopefully someone in payroll doesn't get to decide that the next option is to leave the Sox' best arm in the minors and instead call up the exoskeleton of Paxton.

Can't say I'm disappointed after a tough stretch of playing first-place or contending teams. After getting swept out of the Trop, to go 8-5 vs. the Angels, Twins, Brewers and O's, the Sox have staved off elimination for another month. No time to wallow in the mire.

There comes a point where teams have to show faith in young pitchers with good stuff by giving them regular turns through the rotation. Bello has nothing more to prove in AAA. Chances are his development in the bigs will follow a similar trajectory as in the minors. He struggled a bit at a very young age in his first stints in A and AA, then dominated each level the following season. If Bello is allowed to work his way through the ups and downs of a full MLB campaign, soaking up the knowledge of the old pros on the staff, he may emerge as a future ace as early as '24. His arm is already better than the vets Boston is counting on in '23...

Don't worry, the next game the Red Sox starter, whoever it is, will have a good outing. And the next starter the next day will be bad.