5GoldGlovesOF,75

Perspective on the Boston offense: some think it's good, some think it sucks... stats can show both. The Red Sox are second in the AL in runs per game, runs scored, and hits -- but they also have a team batting average of .252. That means fans watch Sox batters make outs an average of 3-out-every-4 at bats, all season long. A playoff-bound club, where hitters fail 75% of the time. The league average is even worse: .245. Compared to all Sox pennant winners since 1967, the 2025 version has the lowest team batting average -- including the Impossible Dreamers who led the AL at .255 in a decade when the mound was 50% higher than today. Basically, we're rooting futilely, witnessing a sport of failure. There are only five qualified batters in the majors hitting .300 or higher, including only one in the National League -- Freddie Freeman, who is exactly at .300. This could be the first year in MLB history where someone with an average in the .290s is crowned as the batting champion.

Says the Red Sox, who just promoted Sogard today to start at second base over Hammy.

The Sox are doing Walker a solid. Released means he can rejoin the Dodgers before Sept. 1. If so, he'll be on a mound in a meaningful moment this autumn... hopefully, not vs. Boston, where few have the patience to take a base on balls.

This game, on screen... ballparks are now paperless! I know, because when my kid wanted concessions, I had to concede my debit card -- so he could use it, abuse it, and lose it (for a minute).

Sogard's a better infielder than Hamilton, and Ceddanne's a better centerfielder than second baseman. The Sox D tonight is as tight as they could make it, behind the rookie and any weak contact he causes.

You just made Rich's Little League son, Benny, feel old.

I just have a feeling if the Sox wind up close to winning it all this October, that they'll be willing to fork over some Devers' dough to sign another top starting pitcher -- I think they'd prefer that over trading the farm again for one. The thing is, this front office relies heavily on the odds, and lately, that's about 50-50 that whatever ace stud you ink, he's going to shred his elbow ligaments by Memorial Day. How do you feel about Framber? WAR shows he's as good as ever, but you'd know how effective he really is because you're closer to the action.

Alonso is a guaranteed 30-40 home run man -- the Red Sox have no one they can say that about. Most of Boston's best winning weeks this summer were keyed by the longball, but a consistent power threat would boost their status for sure. We've seen how most of this batting order fares vs. elite pitching, and postseasons often feature showdowns where one or two big swings make the difference in contenders advancing. Everyone has the right to bear arms, but the Sox could use a few more grizzlies in their well-regulated militia.

Work is just something to do in the daytime while awaiting what really matters: under the lights. Fenway Park. Friday night. Wearing green.

The big worry is that he may ruin the Pirates for life!

Someone correct me if I'm wrong: taking out the 14 Ks... when he made contact, Anthony went 11-for-18 on the road trip... for a .611 BABIP.

This might be better on an Unrealistic thread: the Red Sox just went 7-1 on a road trip to New York and Baltimore. Most of us were hoping to go 4-4 and just stay in the race. Some said they'd be happy with 3-5. My kid predicted 2-6 or 1-8. Let's not forget how just a week ago, the season was teetering, coming off a three-game skid that began with the Isaiah Campbell Game (when he didn't pitch), and then two losses at home to the O's when the Sox went 1-for-789 with runners in scoring position. Praise the pitching staff, and Trevor Story, and Cora for using the right line-ups and match-ups. Big hits by many, including Romy and Ref, Ceddanne and Jarren, Connor and Carlos, Hammy and Nate, and Justin Sin (his first). And then there was this guy: 11-for-32 = .344, 8 runs, 6 RBI, 1 double, 3 home runs, 3 bbs, and 14 Ks. Imagine what will happen when Anthony starts making better contact?

Don't worry if the Sox are pitching a rookie making his MLB debut vs. the NL Cy Young favorite tomorrow night. It will also be a Friday with the good guys wearing GREEN!!!!!! The match-up should be fun, but we all know both starters will be long gone by the time Boston walks it off in the 9th...

It would be great if he didn't opt out because he's a good guy and is grateful for getting paid for an entire season of rehab. That and depending on how he fares in the postseason would make him a fan favorite. Then again, in about 10 years when he's retired, he may feel worse about not making millions more in NY or LA.

He's repeating game-winning feats. If I say the guy has a knack for big moments, someone else will surely say if a player swings a thousand times, the ball is bound to hit his bat once in awhile. As for it happening in the late stages of the game, that must be randomness -- and not a cool cat beating a nervous reliever, who is often not as good as the starting pitcher. Ceddanne may only think he's following a song by Billy Joel: "Swinging too hard can give a heart att- hack-Hack- HACK!"

"I was ready to spit on any pitch thrown outside the Chesapeake Bay."

So true. When Bloom signed Devers to play third base for the next hundred years, he explained to fans at Winter Weekend, "You know what's coming!" We thought we did, and they're here. Or were. Some will flop, some will improve. Few will star. Here's how I know you're right: my son, who knows so much about minor league prospects that he should be working for Baseball America, has no interest in attending a Portland Sea Dogs game for the first time in half a decade. Their current batting order has one guy with an average higher than the .220s (Castro, .267). The Sox need to promote them all to WOO asap so they can pad their stats and get overhyped by the PR machine!

Can't you just round it off? 35,990

The concise version of my post... Brez has built a roster to contend -- that's his job. He also did it while trading a key member of the roster in-season, a move arguably more risky than when Epstein traded Nomar. Then Theo's team won it all. Breslow's club still has a few months of trying, to go...

It has to be because when Ceddanne is in his swing-at-every-pitch mode, no viewers can reach through our TVs and hold his arms back. And no matter how loudly we yell, "TAKE A PITCH" he can't hear us -- or worse, ignores us.

What was obnoxious about Bloom filling the shopping bag from the bargain bins is that for the price of just two Klubers, the Red Sox could have had one Eovaldi-type instead. Nobody is guaranteed; maybe none of us would have given Jordan Montgomery a ride from the airport to Fenway a few years ago, but I bet we'd all have chipped in a dollar each to hire Uber. And now Nate is injured again, after a great year -- just like Sale before the playoffs last season... but everyone knows what I mean. What we really don't understand are all the actual changes that Bailey and his staff make to improve new pitchers. There are stories behind everyone. Why is Bello better? Why are Pivetta and Priester better elsewhere? Why hasn't Harrison -- a guy Bailey worked with in the past -- evolved like Logan Webb? Did Giolito's body finally accept the alterations his mind bought into two years ago? Whoever the Sox sign or trade for this winter to help the rotation, we have to trust they're guys management believes it can remodel into upgrades.

Team's in a steady position right now. But a week ago we were wobbling. No one expected to win 3-of-4 in the Bronx, and now no one expects to lose a series in Baltimore. Things change fast, and while I'm satisfied with Breslow doing his job, there should be no bows until the Sox officially clinch a playoff berth. One more W vs. the O's, or Pirates in Fenway this weekend, and August will be a winning month for the first time this decade. Guys are stepping up. Hamilton drives me crazy sometimes, but last night he popped a homer and actually laid one down (and then Narvaez touched the ball and scored the runner from 3rd). Hammy also used his speed to rob a few singles in the hole vs. NY. It would be great if he could contribute consistently so Ceddanne can stay in a CF -- where he's a difference-maker and superior to anyone else on the roster.

I can see Campbell having a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. type career. When I saw the loaded Fisher Cats' Double A team featuring the sons of greats -- Vlad Jr, Bichette and Biggio -- Lourdes played shortstop and batted clean-up. He played SS and 2B in his first year in the bigs. Soon he morphed into an All-Star leftfielder, with an eight-year, 162-average of 24 HR, 92 RBI, .275, .775. Would we take that over the course of the team-friendly contract that KC signed?

We know Bregman and Chapman can perform in the postseason. Buehler and May also have rings, but when they throw them on their dressers at night the jewelry sometimes winds up under the bed.

Kody has some assets and versatility, like a lot of players already on the 40. But he isn't a full-time second base solution. But I probably do this deal if you take out Clarke, who early in the Spring was looking like the Sox' best starting pitching prospect in decades (before Tolle grew his mustache).