5GoldGlovesOF,75

The point is modern ballplayers may be superior athletes compared to old pros from bygone days, but they are not more skilled at all baseball skills. Of course, modern "instructors" might call some of those skills obsolete; the kind who tell a Hall of Famer like Jim Rice not to talk hitting with a prospect. As for batters who'd rather constantly strikeout by two feet rather than cut down their swings to touch the ball, try to get on base. and move runners so maybe their teams can score more runs? I'm not telling them to get off my lawns, but they can stay off my screens.

Today they're more talented -- bigger, stronger, faster than ever -- including the strength to throw faster than ever. But skills are also associated with doing more nuanced baseball deeds, like learning and mastering new pitch grips, which has always been on the list. Rare now are batters who advance baserunners without swinging from the heels... by bunting, hitting behind the runner, choking up with two strikes and cutting down swings to STAY ALIVE (maybe choking up would help stop some whiffers from flailing when they realize they can't reach an outside pitch breaking three balls off the corner). Watching Duran strike out last night on a slider that started at the ankles and burrowed underground is a sign modern hitting is so impossible that big leaguers have to just guess on every pitch.

Early in Boston is still a prospect? But Campbell in Woo is no longer a prospect? And what does that say for his prospects...

Whenever I think of IKF -- already in his 30s, barely a regular in a handful of seasons, ex-Yankee, never won -- as one of Breslow's key additions, I hear in my head: Isiah Kindofa Failure

No matter what fans might think of Contreras, he at least seems like a guy pitchers and opposing managers might fear a bit more than Story... batting directly after a 21-year old with all the pressure of New England expecting him to crush any pitch near the zone. I'm not saying Story is a bad hitter, but which guy is more apt to obliterate a mistake pitch: WiLLson or Trevor? As for protecting Anthony -- or forcing pitchers to throw something to hit instead of pitching around him -- which guy seems easier to whiff: Contreras or Story? Their career K-rates are close, 24% to 28%, but this year's SSS is more stark: 23% vs. 45% -- mainly because Story is third in the majors in Ks through the first week. Roman is tied for 7th. Batting 1-2, Anthony and Story are the two who get the most Red Sox at bats every game.

AC will never diss Story, his anointed Team Leader of the position players now that Bregman is gone forever. Like I said, for any major move to happen this year, the Red Sox would have to be a complete disaster, like 20 games out by Memorial Day... which would probably mean Regime Change. A new guy wouldn't have any issues implementing new ideas, though.

Breslow and Company are counting on Contreras and Durbin to be average to above-average hitters -- but even then, this offense isn't better or even as good as when it had Bregman and Devers. At this point there's not much they can do to improve the O except hope for young guys to blossom. And reshuffle the batting order... I don't like Anthony leadoff and hate Story 2nd; maybe Contreras can be the righty batter that can best protect Roman, and if Abreu continues to mash, the Sox can bat a 1-2-3 of Anthony-Contreras-Abreu. If Durbin settles down and shows his 2025 was no fluke, they could even go Duran-Durbin 1-2, and follow with that trio to keep the L-R-L-R-L. A Globe article this AM said the Sox made moves this offseason to improve the D. What -- got a first baseman who can actually catch a low throw? Sign a bench-warmer who once won a Gold Glove? Trading for Durbin only because they choked signing Bregman is no upgrade. Sorry, but the only way this defense will truly improve is if the Sox totally tank for two months and are forced to make drastic changes, starting with replacing Story at shortstop with Mayer full time.

Hah! A preview of Friday's press conference, when he has to answer to the Boston media about the offseason: "I was in the pool!"

"Who needs pitches down the middle -- it's all about Do Damage -- we're looking for sweepers that break outside the zone that can do damage to us."

Guaranteed: they'll wear green one day and yellow another.

They can't go for a field goal, because you know a leg would swing and miss.

Getaway Day -- looking like Red has half their Sox on the plane already.

Crochet gives it right back in an open up inning!

Red Sox take a lead for the first time this week!

But the WooSox have the only guy where the crowd chants his name in unison every home game at the end of the 7th inning stretch song: "So-gard! So-gard! So-gard!"

I was all over the under of 87.5 and C- because Brez never replaced Bregman in the batting order. He finally replaced Devers with Contreras, and I don't accept that Anthony was a replacement last summer because Roman deserved to make the team right alongside Raffy last spring.

We're all patients of history. I swear I read posts on some forums recently where typists gave the CBO a grade A and predicted 95 wins. But we'll never know if those anonymous posters were Brez loyalists planted there to deceive the base.

Maybe he caused his own spasms from throwing his hands in the air watching too many pitches fly over the fence.

Yoshida: zero hits, .500 On Base percentage. But we don't want a guy like that on this offense, because he'll only clog the bases and set up the defense for a double play.

Kudos to your optimism -- I implicitly invited the forum to respond about losing to star power and road crowds, and you're the only one to reply. Sox have their brightest star starting on the mound today and have their home crowd on Friday. Early will be pitching in the weekend series, too, so momentum could turn. Maybe even Sam Kennedy will be there (if he really wanted to be there, he'd be there). But kudos also to drewski for calling out Breslow for managing to not re-sign Boston's one All-Star position player and team leader when the guy clearly wanted to be a Red Sox the rest of his career. We don't have to be April Fools to note we're already feeling the impact.

It's easy for fans to overreact when their favorites start the season in dead last place. And people who post 365 days a year about a baseball team may possibly be prone to overanalyze... (some who used to hammer me no longer post here, so I'm glad to take shots at myself). So if we excuse the opening series where the home team got a boost from a giddy crowd at a time when hope springs eternal, what's left to describe the two Houston debacles? One serious take: star power. Altuve and Alvarez have as many home runs in the two Boston games as the Red Sox do in their 6-game season. And it's no fluke, because the first guy is a Hall of Famer, and the second is one of the most feared sluggers in the world; the Sox can't match either. It's also folly to blame 25 strikeouts on tough luck running into two good Astros starting pitchers. Maybe the front office is afraid to admit that the Red Sox offense is bad enough to make McCullers and Brown look better than they are. They're talented pitchers, but so are Suarez and Bello...at least they're paid that way.

Agreed. If they move to the NL Central.

Anthony needs a day. The first three Ks were an immaculate sombrero: 3 strikeouts on 9 total pitches. Just for bad measure, he whiffs for a fourth time. But there is hope: the last three ABs each produced a foul ball. As for Breslow's six NL Central imports, at least Contreras can play first base and mix in an occasional line drive. He looks the most likely to earn legit AL East status. Regarding the others, heed the words of a famous rock band from Boston: Life's the same, it's Monasterio Life's the same, except for my shoes Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo Life's the same, it's all inside of you

Confession: I call him "son" -- with American Legion stats from an app last summer... and no, I wasn't the official scorer. I'm not sure how it calculates "hard hit" but suspect the input is "line drive" or "liner" -- though I dunno how a hard one-hop grounder or deep flyout that is crushed factors in.

What would you call a guy with zero Ks who leads the team in hard hit balls?