5GoldGlovesOF,75

Acquiring more pitching is the only reasonable way to stay competitive at this point. Relying on this offense is futile. There are too many Red Sox regulars who can't hit or even make contact with quality pitching, and Breslow can't replace the veteran whiffers or make the young hitters grow up faster or heal Bregman's leg in time. The best hope is to win as many 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 games as possible... just don't let any go into overtime!

The answer to the question is No. The last two nights vs. postseason pitchers burst any bubble blown in a winning streak forged vs. two small league pitching staffs. There are simply not enough contact hitters in the batting order to sustain any semblance of an offense to consistently contend. And don't be deceived by the four-game sweep of Tampa right before the All-Star Break, either. The Red Sox won those games because their pitching staff only gave up 8 runs in 4 games. Since the Break, Boston has scored 10 runs in 5 games. If the Sox have any hopes at all, we have to pray the arms are great for two more months, and Breslow trades for rotation and bullpen reinforcements asap. (Adding a home run hitter would also help, since the pitching just keeping us in the games won't be enough... because we all know if it goes extras, there's no chance our batters can move a ghost runner around the bases).

Believe it or not, that was a typo and not a joke. See what I get for trying to be serious... What may be harder to believe is that not one of the Biggest Billed Three have become Lynn or Rice or Nomar or Pedroia or Fisk or Boggs or Mookie or Bogey or even Greenwell, Burks and Benzinger. Heck, even forum punching bag Andrew Benintendi hit 20 homers and had 20 stolen bases in his 3 WAR rookie year.

The Big Three in the majors Kristina Campbell.... 229 AB, 51 H, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 29 BB, 72 K, .223 BA Anthony and Mayer 247 AB, 61 H, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 25 BB, 75 K, .247 BA

Looking at them right now, which guy is more likely to break down sooner in the next few years: Chapman the physical specimen or Bregman the hobbling hobbit?

Mayer has a 30% K-rate but nobody is saying he doesn't belong in the majors -- because on defense, he is clearly a big league infielder. That was evident even in Spring Training, where Mayer clearly outplayed Campbell on both sides of the ball. Marcelo wasn't bragging when he asked whether he thought he should have made the team -- it was pretty obvious to anyone watching, who was the best rookie infielder. Posters have speculated why the Red Sox instead awarded Campbell a starting position out of camp -- merit for 2024, willingness to sign a team-friendly extension, his right-handed swing, more AAA seasoning needed for Mayer -- but nobody knows for sure. The front office was too busy congratulating themselves for creating KC to tell us.

Boston's crack analytics department was willing to lose a game in the experiment to see if it worked, but starting today, Fatse and his staff will be conducting new BP in the cage, setting up a tee behind hitters... ... but instead of a baseball, they will affix a catcher's mitt on top for target practice. "We're 0 and 7 on the road in extra innings," said somebody, "... if we could just win 3 1/2 of those, we'd be .500 plating ghosts of TV viewers who died watching too many corpses K on check-the-check Strike 3s."

Or if he refuses to play 1B.

Yes, you were wrong. Loyal Red Sox fans always root for anyone playing an AL East club ahead of us in the standings... unless said opponent is also our rival for a wild card slot. (the preceding, of course, excludes Evil Empires that encourage rabid misanthropes to wear pinstripes and foam at the mouth, while hanging and banging over the wall down the rightfield foul line in the Bronx -- we must never root for them, even vs. a team we're tied with on the last day of the regular season, lest we risk upending the space time continuum).

Yes. I'll raise it to a 25-year old Rivas Chegal... blended whisky: $339.99 at Total Wine and More

Don't worry whether Payton Tolle can handle the big lights. In college he threw a 128-pitch complete game shutout for TCU at Oklahoma State. When he was at Wichita State he once threw a two-hitter with 10 Ks and also batted clean-up, going 5-for-5 with 6 RBI. Before that Tolle was always Almost Famous. His hometown is Stillwater...

Earl's O's also had one of the best defensive teams in big league history, with three fielders among the best ever at their positions. I agree with the adage about shaking the baseball tree -- where 10 gloves fall out for every 1 bat -- but if you're building a club around pitching, you'd better have good D to support it...

Quick: bring up Tolle before he ruins the psyches of minor league batters for life!

I prefer Yandy Diaz and his righty bat. He's had a little more pop than Naylor; with 15 HRs, only Abreu has more on these Sox. Think home runs are overrated? Boston blasted 15 in the 10-game win streak, then got blanked the first two games at Wrigley Field, when the Cubs scored 8 of their 10 runs on 6 longballs. But Abreu and Bregman went yard yesterday and the Red Sox won. 21st Century Red Sox World Series MVPS: Manny, Mike Lowell, Big Papi, Steve Pearce. All slugged home runs to help win rings. The 50-year celebration of the '75 Sox has put spotlight back on the two most memorable hits of their final Series: Fisk's walkoff and Carbo's 3-run game-tying pinch HR. And for kids growing up in the origins of Red Sox Nation as we know it, Topps baseball cards immortalized key moments from the 1967 Impossible Dream season in the '68 set: "Yaz Smashes Two Homers" (Gm 2, #152) and "Petrocelli Socks Two Homers" (Gm 6, #156). Collect them all.

Starting pitcher. Home run hitter who actually plays first base. The Cubs just kicked the Red Sox ass the first two games back with starting pitching and power. One run allowed, 10 runs scored -- eight on HRs. Raffy's recent attitude won't be missed in Boston, but the instant offense he can provide needs to be replaced... We all know the inconsistencies of the Sox' runs per-game, and the imbalance at times that is exploited without a legitimate longball threat. The two best teams in the National League -- Chicago and LA -- are also tied for the lead in homers.

I can't believe Cora coached Giolito into walking the first two batters and then throwing a meatball to the Cubs' home run leader who leads the NL in RBIs! And why didn't Cora run out on the field and shove Toro back to second base when the sap stumbled twice without tagging up on Bregman's liner? Boston's playing at Wrigley Field, and Cora can't write out a batting order with more HR hitters? There's gotta be someone with power in the dugout or in the minors somewhere? Let's go!

Giolito can't be a legitimate surprise, since he was paid to eat innings and replace Sale with not superstardom, but quality starts. It just took him two years to do it -- which to those who liked his contract can now vote him the Sigh Young Of Relief Award. For those who objected to his contract -- since he was coming off a brutal final couple months where he led the league in home runs allowed, and suspect the Red Sox jumped at the chance to sign low -- he's been a pleasant contributor.

I've already said the rent's cheaper in Samba Pa Ti than the House of Naylor. It's also better on a nice post-ASB morning with a breeze blowing away the humidity...

When assessing baseball players, it may be pertinent to preface by noting "offense only" or "all-around play." Mayer and Campbell have both been difference-makers in the infield for Boston... one good, one bad. I'm sure someone can pull from a million stats to show how either was better than the other; I know I read that some metric shows that Campbell was the worst second baseman in the league. As for the eye test, mine aren't as sharp these days, but with glasses I can still read bb-ref that shows a positive dWAR for MM, and a negative for KC.

Increase in April, decrease in May... ugh. This is just like why last winter I told Moon that nobody would want to trade for Rafaela, because he was no longer making MLB minimum wage after signing a $50 million extension. Boy, that dynamic has shifted.... Bet someone would gamble on Campbell. Mike Kingery and Rusney Castillo didn't win awards for Minor League Player of the Year.

Yandy Diaz may be a better fit over the three guys in the article. He's a righty stick with oppo pop, and a batting champ who doesn't strike out much - exactly what will make this line-up better. Naylor will cost the most in prospect talent, because Breslow will also acquire one of Arizona's starters on expiring contracts: Kelly or Gallen. This trade should be engineered asap, so the Sox will be fortified for the upcoming stretch vs. good MLB teams. The Snakes can wait until the deadline for the best package, so if Boston is serious about contending this summer, Brez has to overpay to make it happen sooner, before the thin rotation is exposed. This one-stop shopping is the best scenario, because Joe Ryan alone -- if he is actually available -- is an overpay probably not worth investing in... unless the front office really believes the Young Sox are already ready to go deep into October this year. Again, IF the Twins are dealing Ryan, we need him now, not the first week of August. And Red Sox fans need to understand that any chance of him meeting the Sox at Wrigley Field this weekend will require a Crochet-level 4-for-1 trade that waves bye-bye to another quartet of legit prospects.

Anthony might be, too, according to most evaluators. He's not Betts in the field or on the bases, but his low K-rate and high Hard Hit % are the closest we've seen in the batter's box since Mookie made the majors. Roman's early combination of plate discipline and barreling his pitch have already outperformed the last two Red Sox players to reach #1 overall prospect status: Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi.

The mad scientists in their batting laboratory created Campbellstein -- they can just build a new one. Almost forgot: three cheers for the R & D department!

I wouldn't trade Anthony for Skenes straight up. Teams simply cannot afford to swap a top-rated position player who can impact every game for at least the next six years for a guy who might play once a week during that time -- if that pitcher doesn't suffer one season-ending elbow surgery or several shorter IL stints that are now typical of virtually every modern arm. Anthony may be the Red Sox best offensive player by the end of this season, and for years to come. His plate discipline and hard hit rate are already a combination that promises stardom... Mayer looks like a future Gold Glover somewhere with decent pop; The Password could supply power but have holes in his swing; Campbell may figure it out in the box, but never find a position on the field -- but of all them, Roman looks like the real deal... in every sample size he's had as a pro so far.

There's no i in team, but there is me in time.