What Do We Think?

So what do we think?  The first 3 1/2 months of the baseball season went pretty well for the local nine.  The usual ups and downs but a 3 game lead at the break, a favorable schedule, generally good health and it was looking good for a first ever repeat division title.

Instead things have gotten away from the Sox a bit.  A few losses in winnable games, injuries particularly to Bogaerts and now David Price have made things dicey and the Yankees are hot.  Suddenly the Sox are in a “4 teams for 3 ...

What Can We Expect?

The Red Sox have made the highly anticipated and hoped for move of calling up hot prospect Rafael Devers to try and address the issues at third base.  The good news is that Devers is almost certainly going to be an upgrade over the .228/.280/.320 line our third basemen have mustered in 2017.  According to FanGraphs his rest of season forecast is .270/.310/.436.  By way of comparison Brock Holt projects as .269/.332/.367 and the two players both are roughly the same in terms of WAR (0.0 for ...

That’ll Do I Guess

It wasn’t exactly a dominating performance but the Sox picked up a split with the third place Yankees and lead the AL East by 3 games with 70 to play.  A few thoughts on an entertaining weekend of baseball;

- One thing that struck me this weekend is how well played these games were.  This was four solid baseball games, good pitching, some great defense (more on that in a moment), clutch hitting and pitching at various moments and all close games.  When these teams ruled the AL roost in the ...

Halfway* Home

* OK, 54.938% of the way home.

The Sox reached the unofficial midway point of the season with a disappointing loss to Tampa.  The Sox seemed to take off for the Break a bit early dropping 3 out of 4 in fairly sluggish fashion and leaving Tampa tied for second just 3 1/2 games off the pace.  Despite that the Sox sit with the second best record in the AL and on pace for 91 wins.

To give that some perspective last year at the Break they were in second place, 2 games behind Baltimore, tied with ...

Minor Moves

With the draft over the Sox are in the business of shuttling their various draftees to new locales while at the same time putting some players already in the system in motion.  One thing the Sox did during the Cherington era is generally leave players at one level throughout the season.  It didn’t appear to be a hard and fast rule but there wasn’t the internal movement we often saw during the Epstein era.  Let’s just take a quick gander at a few notable moves (and one particularly notable ...

Red Sox Retire Rich Garces’ Number

He was a large man, with a larger persona and a nickname to match. When watching him work, one couldn’t help but be amazed at his accomplishments. He wasn’t appreciated enough in his time with the Twins, but after moving to the Red Sox he found his groove and won the enduring love of the Boston faithful. He was legendary.

Tonight, Boston retires his number 34. Thanks for many years of excellence, El Guapo.

Media Notes

It’s the subject on the lips of every Red Sox fan out there.  The issue raging across Red Sox Nation from Caribou, Maine to Sonny McLean’s in Los Angeles…what does Jose think about the way the Sox are being covered this year?  Well, wonder no more, Jose is here to lay it on you!

NESN - NESN has done some nifty things this year.  The recent change where they show highlights of a player while he’s at bat in a small window at the bottom of the screen is a neat little way to give quick highlights ...

Just Keep It Rolling

The Sox picked up a second straight walk off victory on Tuesday night.  By just about whatever measure you want to use the Sox are winning regularly; 4 out of 5, 7 out of 10 and 15 out of 22 since losing three in a row in Oakland.

What is great about this is that the whole team is contributing.  Of all the contributors though you cannot say enough about the bullpen.  I have to admit, I still feel wary of this group but they are pitching well entering the game on Tuesday they were third in ...

Feeling A Draft - Part II

I was hoping to dig into this a bit more than I did over the weekend but if the weather is going to be that nice damn you all, I’m sitting my butt on the patio with the grill going.  Anyway, here is a short look at some names that might be relevant to the Sox tonight;

David Peterson - LHP - Oregon - #17 Baseball America - Peterson was a 28th round pick by the Sox coming out of high school so he’s been on the club’s radar for awhile (though that was a previous administration).  The penultimate ...

Feeling A Draft - Part I

One week from today the Red Sox (and 29 teams no one cares about) will be making their selections in the annual draft.  Thanks to last year’s division title the Sox do not have an early pick (which is how I like it!) and will make their first three picks at 24th, 63rd and 101st.  Thanks to Baseball-Reference I thought it would be useful to look at what these picks have yielded in the past.

Pick 24:

Top 5 WAR (29 of 52 made MLB)
Alex Fernandez - 28.9 - 1988
Rondell White - 28.1 - 1990
Chad ...

Three Questions: June 2017

1. Can Boston win the division if they continue getting so little out of 3B?

2. What additive moves should Boston make?

3. Wasn’t this supposed to be a great defensive team?

Just A Short Update

With summer officially* upon us I wanted to take note of where the Sox stand and offer up some random observations.

* officially = not officially

1. David Price looked good in my opinion.  It wasn’t a gem of a performance but for a first start after missing time he looked more than good enough.  His command was a bit off but that is to be expected and save for the one pitch to Melky it is hard to be disappointed in that outing.  At the very least that start is an awfully big upgrade over most ...

Is That The Trigger?

It was just one win to extend a winning streak to a mammoth two games but it is a win that felt very good indeed.  A team that has almost been what MCoA might have called the platonic ideal of a .500 team winning one, losing one, and having just one winning streak of more than two games on the young season the Sox picked up a thrilling come from behind win against the first place Cardinals to take a two game sweep of the Redbirds.

There was a lot to like in this game, most of which I watched ...

A Nice Weekend John

After a frustrating loss Friday night John Farrell went to the well and shook up the lineup for Saturday.  As Jerry Remy noted in the broadcast that kind of shake up on a day when Nick Tepesch is the opposing starter is stacking the deck a bit but they came back the next day and against the one guy who has actually been better than Chris Sale continued to swing the bats well.  Things looked even rosier after a big ninth inning broke the game open earning Craig Kimbrel his second career hold ...

Opportunity Knocks

After an eventful home stand the Sox hit the road for a six game trip that is part of a 12 road games out of 15 stretch.  Despite that travel schedule the Sox may view this as a bit of an opportunity to start making hay.  On top of the injuries, illnesses and family situations that have arisen the Sox have opened the year playing 15 of their first 28 games against teams that made the playoffs in 2016 going 8-7 against those clubs.  They now have reached a portion of the schedule that may ...

That Was Fun

The Sox finished off an entertaining weekend set with the Cubs (see y’all in October!) ((I hope!))(((Knock on wood))) with a nice 6-2 victory that had a little bit of everything.  All in all it was a fun series.  While the Yankee series, and likely the upcoming Baltimore series, come with intense rivalry feelings this series had the feel of my buddies and I playing shuffleboard at the local bar.  Just two good teams and their fan bases joshing back and forth and enjoying the respective changes ...

A Short Observation

The Sox played game number 20 last night falling to the Yankees to drop their record to 11-9.  My general feeling given the injuries and illnesses is that this about where you’d want this team to be right now.  But one thing I was thinking about was the general idea that the Sox acquired Chris Sale to replace David Ortiz.  It is no secret that the offense has struggled at times in the early going and that was one of the big concerns coming in.  I decided to just do a quick check versus where ...

Witty Minor League Thread Title Here

After a busy weekend in Baltimore and then a couple of off days (thanks rain!) I figured today might be a good time to throw up a minor league thread.  The Red Sox minor league system is probably as uninteresting as it has been in several years with graduations and trades emptying things out.  That does not mean there is not anything to talk about.  Without further ado…

1B - Josh Ockimey - Salem (Hi A) -  The big 21 year old lefty swinger has come out of the blocks quickly.  He earned Player ...

Chris Sale Is A Terrible Person

I mean it’s the only excuse right?  The four runs they got on Thursday is the highest total they’ve gotten in one of his starts.  He is probably lucky to be 1-1 despite a 0.91 ERA with that kind of run “support.”  In games he has started the Sox have actually scored more runs in extra innings (6) than they have in innings 1-9 (4).  The only explanation is that he is a terrible person and everyone on the team hates him.  With that out of the way I figured I’d throw up a few random thoughts as ...

Feeling Groovy

After a pretty nice win on Thursday the Sox sit at a neat and tidy 5-4 after a week and a half.  Small sample sizes and all but wins is wins and that’s a start.  Thinking of it this way, a 5-4 start in 2011 and the Sox would have clinched a playoff spot before going to Baltimore.

This is encouraging because after a season when the Sox were absurdly healthy they have played only two games with a full team.  According to NESN in 2016 none of the quartet of Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, Jackie ...

The Fenway Experience

This isn’t really about the Sox as much as it is about going to Fenway Park.  I have had the good fortune to have season tickets for the last seventeen years and there has never been a time when I regretted it.  Fenway has its flaws but there are very few, if any, places I would rather be on a nice summer evening than the self-proclaimed “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” (I don’t know how to add a little trademark symbol there). 

Anyway, last night I went to the game on what was a close to ...

Let’s All Overreact!

With their victory on Monday the Red Sox are 1-0, on pace for the first undefeated season in MLB history.  I will assume this is statistically meaningful and expect it to happen.  For now a few stray observations and opinions based on the first 0.61728395% of the season.

- So that outfield is kinda good.  That really was the blueprint for how this team wins.  JBJ made a wonderful catch off Cervelli in the triangle and Benintendi’s grab in the 7th probably was a game saver.  Both players made ...

Last Minute Thoughts

So 26 hours and change is all that is left.  I have a few final thoughts about the 2017 Boston Red Sox;

- Honestly I’m a bit concerned about how this season will start.  The rotation is in flux with injuries to Price and Pomeranz, Hanley has looked good but as we’ve seen with shoulder injuries there is no sure thing.  My biggest worry is the bullpen.  As others have noted the presence of Ben Taylor, while a feel-good story, highlights the lack of depth in that area.

Beyond that I think John ...

Musical Interlude

With apologies to The Nails;

Mookie was a superstar
He came through in the bitter end

Dustin was a unique type
He got out what he put in

Chris was the brand new guy
Hitters were afraid of a guy like that.

Hanley’s new position was sitting down
Just like the Papi sat

Pablo was a guy with no aim
And his own gravitational pull

Steven was a knuckle-freak
Pinch running was a misery

Sandy had this special way
Of turning metal into gold

Christian couldn’t hit
But stopped the steal and ...

Sox Therapy Predictions?

With just over 144 hours until first pitch I have a few items rattling through my head.  Presented with some comment are some over/unders on the coming season (over/unders generated from the warped and often wrong mind of Jose);

Hanley Ramirez Homers - 25.5 - UNDER - We have seen Hanley play with a bad shoulder and it did not go well.

Sandy Leon Most Starts as Catcher - UNDER - I am not sure who winds up with the most but I don’t think it’s Leon.  If Vazquez hits even a little bit I think he ...

The Roster - Third Time’s A Charm

13 days peeps, 13 days until actual competitive baseballing by the Boston Red Sox.  The roster is a work in progress and I think it’s worth an update;

Position Players:
1B - Mitch Moreland
2B - Dustin Pedroia
3B - Pablo Sandoval
SS - Xander Bogaerts
LF - Andrew Benintendi
CF - Jackie Bradley Jr.
RF - Mookie Betts
C - Sandy Leon
DH - Hanley Ramirez
IF - Brock Holt
IF - Marco Hernandez
OF - Chris Young
C - Christian Vazquez

So far so good on the positional front.  Everyone has stayed healthy ...

Springing Into Action

Hey everyone!  Some pretty rough weather yesterday, a bit windy and cloudy it was rough. I had to break out the sweatshirt last night. Oh did I mention I’m at Spring Training? No? You thought I was talking about the foot of snow and bitter cold you were dealing with? Hey, it was rough here too.  For some reason no one seems interested in extending me any sympathy.

Anyway I’ve made my way to a couple of games so far and I’ll be going to a couple more.  I thought I’d share some observations ...

Early Spring Overreactions

The AL East champion Red Sox are back at it and of course spring training is a time to hear a story and wildly extrapolate nonsense from it.  And when you need nonsense, you need your man Jose to step in and fill the breach.  Thus the breach shall be filled.

Sam Travis - Great Hitter or Greatest Hitter - The righty has picked up where he left off before getting injured last season and has already slugged a couple of homers.  Admittedly one of them (against Northeastern) doesn’t count in ...

The Roster - Part Deux

With pitchers and catchers officially in camp, winter transactions pretty solidly wrapped up and health issues starting to clarify I figured today might be a good day to run through the roster again and see where we are.

Starters:
1B – Mitch Moreland
2B – Dustin Pedroia
3B – Pablo Sandoval
SS – Xander Bogaerts
LF – Andrew Benintendi
CF – Jackie Bradley Jr.
RF – Mookie Betts
C – Sandy Leon
DH – Hanley Ramirez

Bench:
IF – Brock Holt
IF - Marco Hernandez
OF – Chris Young
C ...

Third Aid

First aid is immediate help given for an injury that will suffice until full medical treatment can be given. I don’t think second aid is actually a term people use, but let’s say it’s the full medical treatment that was sought after first aid was administered. That should be the end of it, right? Well, yeah. Third aid shouldn’t exist because full medical treatment should solve the problem.