5GoldGlovesOF,75

The left side D of Bregman and Story now looks as good as any in the league, but it sure helps the confidence of the entire infield to finally have a legitimate MLB first baseman like Nate Lowe stretching and scooping to finish the plays. With Anthony out for a spell, the question today is who should bat leadoff? Assuming we don't want to mess with the successful #2-3-4 of Bregman-Duran-Story, or RBI guys like Lowe, Romy and Ref, the candidates are narrowed down to Say Gone Rafaela or Mass Attacka Yoshida. Some fans can't stand watching Ceddanne hack at every pitch, but it's an approach we have to accept -- or where would we be without his timely home runs? Masa is a better contact man, and may be heating up, but right now both have season On Base percentages below .300... Nate Eaton, Roman's replacement last night, will probably bat first when he plays. Prediction: Cora will try about 10 other leadoffs down the stretch, based entirely upon nightly match-ups -- including who he has planned to pinch-hit later in the games. It's what we do...

Breslow may always be defined by his prediction of improvement after trading Devers (unless the starting rotation all wear Tommy John underwear and the Sox fold)... And it's fair to believe this salary dump was part of the plan for signing Bregman. The front office had a young core they knew needed to be locked up if they wanted to sustain contention and avoid kajillions in taxes. How would all those extensions fit into the budget? Hmmm... who makes the most AAV, taking up funds we'd love to spread around the roster? It just defies logic that all those execs with advanced degrees never thought for one second to give their sensitive man-child superstar the respect of discussing their offseason plans for him before they acquired his replacement! All those meetings, all those Assistant VPs, considering all the angles -- the idea must have occurred to someone: "Hey, maybe we should contact his agent... or at least have Cora talk to Raffy... if not, he may throw a fit!" Reply: "Ya, if we don't, he may speak out to the media, sour on the org, maybe even force us to trade him..." Superior: "Exactly- everyone at this meeting is now forever forbidden to repeat this with anyone."

Who was so fast they used to say, "He runs like a human!"

I intentionally ignored Devers' post-trade stats because I think his pre-trade impact -- in the dugout, in the clubhouse, on the road trips -- had a much bigger effect on his teammates, coaches and front office. I have no qualitative data to cite, but zero quotes says a lot. Not one Red Sox employee mourned his absence once he was gone.

Hey -- you're no Yankee fan, growing up tainted by four banners flying in Boston -- snap out of it. I'm just spitting on the low and outside slider that lands in the dirt of the lefty batter's box.

Barring injury, the rotation has solid citizens who are reliable. We should be alright. There were no wild cards in 1978, when a Red Sox club with 99 wins is remembered as the best Boston team that never won the pennant -- and for losing a big division lead over the world champs from the Bronx. The Sox didn't have a great September, going 14-15, but they didn't technically choke because they recovered from 3 1/2 games back to win their final eight and force a playoff for the playoffs. Hall of Fame caliber starters Luis Tiant and Dennis Eckersly stepped up to lead the way. The true all-time gaggers were the 2011 Red Sox, who entered September 31 games over 500. Then the pitching staff allowed over 6 runs per game in their last 27, when they went 7-20. That rotation included familiar names: Lester, Lackey, Beckett and Wakefield... (reportedly, some of them may have been distracted that month). Others who started and failed were Eric Bedard and Kyle Weiland. It got so bad that if the Sox had to play a one-game playoff, they were planning on signing journeyman Bruce Chen for the start. A key to this month may be if Cora and Co. can find someone from the bullpen to provide some decent multiple middle innings. The brass is going to want to limit the workload for the starters to save their arms for the intensity of the postseason. For that to work, a few relievers may need to be stretched out...

Breslow signed or traded for many players who helped this season, and drafted others who might someday. That's a CBO's duty, and I can't ask him to take a bow for doing his job. But 2025 will always be judged by June 15, when Breslow the surgeon removed a big lump that was impeding the full range of motion for all uniformed personnel. Call it a salary dump if you want, because unless Kyle Harrison steps up, the Raffy return wasn't just bad, it was basically Jordan Hicks and Dustin May. But the bottom line is that Brez had the balls to get rid of a massive problem for the organization. Boston was 37-36 when Devers was exiled 3,094 miles away to San Francisco. At the time he led the Sox in home runs, RBIs and OPS. Since then, the Red Sox have gone 40-26.

Not even with a runner on 3rd and less than two outs? While I can't say for sure, I'd bet that bothers a lot of fans watching from home or in the cramped seats of Fenway. LOBsters striking out is a job requirement for Red Sox batters in the 2020s. Modern pitching may be harder to hit than ever -- (unless you ask every single Hall of Famer still alive) -- but batters with a two-strike mindset of making contact is a choice of practice. Lynn, a lefty swinger, intentionally feasted on the Green Monster. We all know Duran is better when his focus is on going oppo. Anthony has shown he can do it, too -- but he's yet to make a consistent adjustment to look away down in the count, and it has led to a ton of Ks lately. Lynn really only had two great seasons where he was the best hitter in the league. But he made the All-Star team nine straight years. If Anthony can replicate that, we'd all take it. Ted Williams was also tall and a left-handed hitter. But he averaged 8.6 WAR for 19 years, and missed 5 primetime seasons serving in the military. BB-Reference considers 8+ WAR as "MVP Quality"... but Ted: every season for 19 years?!?!?

No worries, the TWO SEPTEMBER CALL-UPS for the stretch run are Ali Sanchez and Zack Kelly!!!!! Reinforcements are here.

In his rookie year, Lynn led the league in runs scored, doubles and slugging, with a 14.9 K-rate. It was a different era: the only Red Sox batter with a worse K-rate in 1975 was Jim Rice, at 19.9... Denny Doyle's for Boston was 3.3. Overall, in his 17-year career, Lynn averaged 25 HRs a year with a 14.1 K-rate. A lot of fans may not want to hear this or read it, but Roman Anthony just tied Trevor Story for the worst K-rate on the club among all regulars: 27.8.

Red Sox just went 17-11 in August. First winning record in August since 2019. Most August wins since 2018, when the eventual curse-breakers went 18-9. 76 wins with 24 games left. Playoffs are likely with a 12-12 split, but nobody wants to play an entire three-game wild card series in the Bronx. The next dozen games could be key for Boston to get ahead of New York. The Sox host Cleveland, then travel to Arizona and Sacramento, before returning to Fenway with a showdown vs. the Yanks. None will be easy -- at least any we think will be -- but it's vital to win now because the Yankees finally have to play contenders with legitimate pitching staffs: Houston, Toronto, Detroit and then Boston... The last dozen lines up patsies for NY, while the Sox finish with stronger opponents and spoilers...

Don't forget Payton -- who Brez drafted and then promoted a year later... in a wild card race! The #50 pick is only the sixth player from the '24 draft pitcher to make the majors, and second pitcher after #2 overall Chase Burns. Holy Tolle.

Sometimes it's pointing at me and wagging in my face so I won't show any shred of confidence in my team, no matter how many they win in a row. Other times, it's pointing straight up... and I think it's a different finger. Oh, wait -- it's foamy and says "We're #1"

The 12 made by the '04 Sox. The following sacrificed themselves to the baseball gods so that Boston could end a century-old curse and have the greatest comeback in history vs. the New York Chokees along the way: Pokey Reese -- 6 times -- which gave him the mojo to make the final play that won the pennant in the Bronx, and also allow him to be on the field for the final out of the World Series in St. Louis. Others who also sacrificed themselves once each for an opportunity to play in that historic title game: Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo, Orlando Cabrera, Gabe Kapler and Mark Bellhorn. One other sacrificed himself once during the season, so he could have the most memorable non-hitting moment of any position player in Red Sox history -- Dave Roberts.

Sacrifice bunts (officially called sacrifice hits) are going out of style, but I have a theory why. In ancient times, when batters choked up and made contact with dead balls, it made sense to bunt runners into scoring position, because guys with bat control could be trusted to poke a grounder to the right side and plate the run. Nowadays, however, bunting a runner to 3rd base doesn't guarantee anything. If you're a Red Sox fan of the second-best statistical offense in baseball, it's more likely the next two batters will strike out, thus rendering the sac bunt as a wasted out. Teams like Boston would just rather let three hitters swing from the heels and hope one of them will connect with an RBI knock. Three outs gives them better odds than two outs. Correlations, with a few MLB season stats for the average team -- starting with 1954, when sacrifice flies were officially counted, separate from sac bunts (in case there was any confusion): 1954 sh 83 Ks 638 1968 75 957 2004 58 1061 2024 15 1373

Maybe the miracle is his boss dumped the teama donna and his whole salary in exchange for Hicks and his.

When did any team ever have a great 5th starter? But is it too much to ask for a mediocre one, a win some/lose some .500 kind of guy? ERod in 2018, and Bronson Arroyo in 2004 each had 2.6 WARs with ERAs hovering around 4.00. Rodriguez' was actually 3.82, while Bronson had a 4.03 in the ROID Era. Not great, but not bad...

Certainly didn't expect the worst offense in baseball -- the Pirates (had to clarify) with the lowest runs per game and OPS in the majors -- to come in here and OWN our $12.5 million dollar reliever who we will also owe $12.5 million next year and another $12.5 million the year after that.

Expectations are our weakest area.

His facial expressions are just like Tolle's, only opposite. Tolle dares batters to try and hit him, while May pitches like he hopes no one will swing.

Let's see if they still hit 15 home runs a game when they face teams with major league pitchers, as soon as the calendar turns to September Monday.

Great breakdown. Usually, the Red Sox offense at Fenway has always learned how to take advantage of The Monster -- and not for homers. An article comparing the impact of rookie debuts for Anthony and Fred Lynn shows the latter tailored his swing early for easy opposite-field doubles, averaging 43 per season in his Beantown career. Wade Boggs, another lefty batting champ, was even better with 45 per. Research also shows this: the last time Boston didn't lead the league in team doubles was 2017. Yes, even in all those crappy last place seasons, the Sox had more doubles than anyone... this will be the eighth straight year they are Two-Bag Kings. Just wait until Anthony starts regularly feasting off the wall.

Bregman's slump only lowlights what is always a very shaky offense. Bregman and Anthony are the only reliable Sox hitters that provide consistent at bats... When one is down, it basically cuts team production in half, because even when they don't come through, working and stressing out pitchers increase the chances they'll make mistake pitches to subsequent batters. Great contributions by batters #3-9 have helped all year, but come crunch time vs elite stuff, we know we can't count on a Duran-Story heart of the order, on even contact by Rafaela and the rest. We all know the Red Sox starting pitchers and relievers have to be the beacons to and through the postseason.

too obvious... plus, at an event where (let's just say) a few fans get primed at pregame bars and never make it to their seats, shouldn't guys like us who don't work for Kennedy round down?

Tolle may not have six pitches like Skenes, but his arm extension and release point make it hard for hitters to even see his fastball before it's halfway to the plate. Tolle's explosive potential hasn't been seen by a Red Sox pitching prospect for decades and maybe more. Scribes are calling him the most exciting homegrown lefty since Lester, who wasn't a star until 2008, his third (and first full) season because of obvious health issues. As far as any homegrown pitchers, righty Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter the month he got called up at the end of '07. But he then he struggled for two more years before finally figuring it out. The best homegrown Boston pitcher since Clemens in the past four decades was easily Jonathan Papelbon. Fans and media seem to forget how dominant Pap was when he agreed to become closer in his first full season in '06 when he earned 5 WAR at age 25. According to fangraphs, at the time it was the 5th best reliever season ever.