The Red Sox announced they’ve reinstated ace Chris Sale and closer Matt Barnes from the COVID-19 injured list. Ryan Brasier was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, while Michael Feliz was designated for assignment to clear roster space.
Sale and Barnes become the two latest players to return after testing positive for the coronavirus. The Sox are still without Christian Arroyo, Yairo Muñoz, Jarren Duran, Jonathan Araúz, Danny Santana and Phillips Valdéz for virus-related reasons. Sale and Barnes were perhaps the two most impactful players yet to return from the outbreak before this evening, though.
After missing all of 2020 and a good portion of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Sale returned to make five starts before testing positive on September 9. He turned in a few vintage performances before contracting the virus, working 25 innings of 2.52 ERA ball with a quality 27.5% strikeout percentage and a tiny 5.5% walk rate. Getting a few more great starts down the stretch would be critical for a Boston team that enters play tonight tied with the Blue Jays and holding a half-game advantage over the archrival Yankees for the American League’s two Wild Card spots.
Barnes missed a bit more time than Sale did, as he tested positive on August 30. That couple weeks on the shelf required him to make a pair of minor league rehab appearances this week before returning to the active roster. One of the league’s best relievers in the first half, Barnes had a disastrous August and will be looking to return to his early-season form down the stretch.
The Red Sox signed Feliz to a minor league deal near the end of August and selected him to the major league club a couple weeks later. He made just four appearances for Boston, tossing 5 1/3 frames of two-run ball before losing his spot. The Red Sox will place the 28-year-old on waivers over the next few days.
Feliz has split the 2021 season between three teams, pitching for the Pirates and Reds in addition to his work with the Sox. He’s posted a 7.32 ERA in 19 2/3 innings between that trio of clubs despite solid strikeout and walk rates (25.3% and 6.9%, respectively). Opposing hitters have popped four home runs off the fly-ball pitcher in that limited body of work.
What a wild ride this year for the team. The bottom line is this team has overachieved and has an excellent chance to make the one game playoff and after that you never know.
Only those who weren’t intelligent enough to realize the difference between 2020 and 2021 bought into the asinine predictions of a losing record.
In 2020 there was no Sale or ERod, Devers played hurt all year, and JD had a horrendous anomaly season because of the in-game video rule change, Over the winter the pitching staff was much improved thanks to Bloom.
Pay attention to the differences between last year and this year, and you’ll realize the team merely played to it’s capabilities as best it could with the Covid outbreak.
I have been saying this all year. Last year was an unusual situation. The team started in such a hole it was impossible to do anything. The reality is they were playing much better ball at the end of last season and I believe that if there was a full 162 then that team would eventually been around a .500 team but I’m happy they got the really high draft position they did get.
FPG- I remember that there was not a lot optimism around the beginning of the season by a lot of people. I was cautiously optimistic because they were not nearly as bad as they showed last year. I thought they might challenge for a wild card spot this year but I was a little more optimistic then most. The bottom line it has been a fun year.
Bruin10125 mins ago
The reality is they were playing much better ball at the end of last season
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That was another source of optimism for me. No one remembers these things, but over the final 38 games, the RS had a better record than the NYY. That was most of the season.
You see how bad the Orioles bullpen is, right?
Last year’s Red Sox bullpen was even worse with a 5.79 ERA.
And last year’s starting rotation?
16 different pitchers started for the Red Sox during a 60-game season.
Recognize any of these names?
Robinson Leyer – Didn’t pitch in the majors before or after 2020
Matt Hall – Didn’t pitch in the majors this year
Mike Kickham – Only 2 innings pitched in the majors this year
Kyle Hart – Didn’t pitch in the majors before or after 2020
Andrew Triggs – Didn’t pitch in the majors this year
Nearly half (7 of 16) of the starting pitchers had ERA’s between 6.91 and 13.00
It was a year to forget, would have been 97 losses if it were a full season.
I tried to explain that too. The RS were 6-21 with guys that you were never going to hear from again.
JB – You should be a newscaster!! Their schedule was a joke when they won late last year. Dig into the details next time. Suggesting that you observed their uptick and plowed it into your prediction is self serving.
You are right JB Boston started very slowly in 2020 when it was a 60 game season. They also played 22 games against the Yankees and Rays. The Rays played in the World Series and the Yankees were very good last year. In other words it was an unbalanced schedule against 2 of the best teams last year. The Red Sox were 12-9 in there last 21 games after starting so slowly and those games were against Toronto, Philadelphia, Tampa, Miami, Yankees, Baltimore and Atlanta. 4 of those teams were in the playoffs and no it wasn’t a joke when they won. JB you were right it could be seen if the Red Sox played a full season last year they would of had a much better record last year no question if it was a full season. The Red Sox were much better then there record showed last without question. When you have a 60 game season and start as poor as Boston did then you are sunk.
Actually 5 of those teams were in the expanded the playoffs my bad.
Honestly last year was the first time since childhood that I didn’t get into the season. Not because they were awful, but because the season was such a farce. Sox still had a losing record during those final 38 games, but yes they weren’t as bad as their first 22 games.
KD179 hours ago
Their schedule was a joke when they won late last year. Dig into the details next time.
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Dude, why do you insist on embarrassing yourself like this? In the final 38 games that I mentioned, their opponents record was .519. Why wouldn’t you have checked this before saying the schedule was joke?
I get that most people don’t remember precise records and all, so that’s not important. What is important is that you should realize by now, that I check all the numbers. I do this as a profession and as a hobby.
You should’ve know that and not embarrassed yourself.
Had I thought about for a minute, I’d have used their last 36 instead of 38, in which they were .500. It’s hard to focus when you can see the prize on the horizon.
I totally agree Joe.
I spend enough time reviewing and correcting other people’s mistakes ITRW, it’s not fun wasting time dealing with false information given by others here.
Some things, like rating the Mookie trade, can’t be proven as fact.
But simple things involving statistics that can easily be found online shouldn’t be presented as fact when they are actually false. Whether it’s laziness or intentional deception, it’s wrong.
Fever Pitch Guy14 mins ago
But simple things involving statistics that can easily be found online shouldn’t be presented as fact when they are actually false. Whether it’s laziness or intentional deception, it’s wrong.
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There was an article in Bloomberg on-line. maybe two years ago, by someone named Schilling(?). Brilliant mathematician, and created a model with someone else for houses prices.
I always looked forward to reading his columns, but this time, he wrote one of the obfuscated columns about the stock market, trying to draw a comparison to the 1890s and 1929. He really disliked Trump, and I felt almost certain that he wrote that column to try to undermine the market.
I’m not a market guy, but he wasn’t even in the ballpark in his column. And all I could think of was how many people he was talking out of the market, and missing out on one of history’s greatest rallies.
No matter what one’s likes and dislikes are, we all have an allegiance to the truth.
* Shiller, not Schilling.
Well said Joe. All too often people have ulterior motives and simply cannot be trusted. They let their personal biases control them, it becomes more important than spreading the truth.
I am a stock market guy, times were good under Trump. Covid changed everything, and the current administration is making things worse.
I remember people posting that they were pulling out of the market after Trump got elected. And they’d say so with conviction, like they know what they were doing. But what they were doing was pulling out because they were democrats. And the reasons why people of democrats or republicans is generally because their parents or friends are.
But they let that become their basis for long-term investing decisions.
On Election Day 2016 the SP for Apple was $27.11 (split adjusted)
Inauguration Day 2021 it was $139.07 which is a gain of 413%
In the 8 months since, it’s gone up only $6.99 which is a gain of just 5%
Yes, I was laughing at people like KD and all the gloom and boom predictions. The has remained very good for the Red Sox and Bloom added some depth. From the beginning of the season the Red Sox have been very competitive! Perez and Richards were always going to be fill ins until Sale, Houck, Seabold….were ready. Seabold got hurt, but Whitlock emerged. The front office has given the team enough depth to compete this year.
Mr bs right on schedule KD totally self serving.
Richards wasn’t meant to be just a fill-in though, not at $10M.
Andriese was supposed to be the fill-in long reliever, but he was awful.
…. – I thought you got kicked off this site. Why are you back under a new name? You might want to look up what self serving means. Nothing I write is self serving, it’s just facts about the Red Sox and their competition.
KD – Red Sox troll. All the AL East teams had basically the same schedule over the 60 game schedule.
KD – you are not a Red Sox FAN! Yoa are a Red Sox troll… just admit it. Lol lol lol lol
KD – oh no not kicked off! I do not waste my time reading your bs. There are other way better sites! I occasionally come to MLBTR to laugh at your bs – KD troll – you are still trying to explain that Bloom and the Red Sox are bad as they get ready to make the playoffs. Enough time wasted today…..back to a real site…
The new name is a smile. Which is something I bet you NEVER do. Grump old troll.
…. – You did get kicked off this site for making fun of my age and other harsher and more inappropriate comments to others.. I recognize your syntax. You have also followed me from other sites where you argued ridiculous comments about the Red Sox. You still think Bloom actually plays rather than fills the role of GM. You still don’t know what the job of a GM is and why he has failed miserably. 2021 has a been a fortunate mishap for Red Sox fans. Enjoy the moment smiles. Teams with this little talent don’t all have career years two years in a row.
Also, if you comment again about something I say. I will report you for breaking the rules of the website. You’ve been banned and creating a new id is not within the rules..
That was the source of all the discussions between me and KD.
We had a .586 OPS at 2B and .623 at DH. We figured to gain 150 points at each position.
Eovaldi had an ERA+ of 129 in 2020.
ERod had a 128 in 2019.
Perez had a 107 in 2020.
Richards had a 104 in 2020.
There was no way to figure out what Pivetta was going to do, but even if he melted down, we had Houck. And even if Houck melted down, Sale was going to return.
I don’t think there was any doubt whatsoever that we had real talent. My main concern was health, which kind of piggybacked my other concern that we were extremely thin.
I still can’t believe that LAA cut Iglesias at exactly the identical time that we needed both a SS and a 2B. It was like karma.
We were extremely thin with the position players because of Cora’s desire to have an ultra-small bench that included guys like Marwin who could play multiple positions but couldn’t hit.
The pitching staff was quite deep, best bullpen in a long time and five starters (not counting Sale or Houck) that had prior success.
Unless when you say extremely thin, you mean at AAA?
Mostly AAA.
On the offensive side, we had Dalbec, Arroyo and Cordero who were question marks, and Renfroe to a lesser degree. The first three didn’t have enough history and Renfroe was coming off of a bad season. Duran was the only one close, and I didn’t think he was anywhere close to ready. And maybe Arauz a little.
On the rotation, Houck started off on the IL, and Eovaldi, Richards, and ERod were all injury risks, and Pivetta was a performance risk. There was a real chance we’d need two SPs before Houck and Sale were ready.
The BP I was comfortable with the depth. Even without Whitlock’s performance. we probably had 8-9 guys that could show up every day. With the BP, my questions were more about quality than quantity.
FPG – Nice cheap shot.
2020 saw JD one of the three pillars of the team fail due to media room problems caused by Cora. It saw Devers play like 2018 until Sept. Bogey was simply Bogey. No Sale, No E-Rod. Eovaldi anchored the team.
This year JD is back with video availability, Bogey never left and Devers as inconsistent as he has been was 2019 Devers more than 2018 Devers. Rookie surprise Dalbec was being disrespected by Cora all year and finally got enough playing time to put up numbers that surpass Devers at the start of his career. Guess it’s good he wasn’t traded. The Benny f-up is coming back to haunt BOS and will for years. The Mookie f-up is yet another bad move that will haunt fans for years. So overall, just be happy they didn’t suck like last year and without new talent you better hope the big three don’t regress or get hurt in 2022. 2019 should have taught you that.
So did things get better in BOS or simply worse in NY? I think the later. TOR took a step forward and will again next year. TB lost Glasnow which helped BOS stay close. Sale came back late but is working his way back to being Sale. Barnes had a career first half. And a bunch of replaceable parts did enough to support the big three on the hitting side to put up enough runs to win games despite the failures of Perez and RIchards. Two young starters proved they should stick around going forward in Houck and Pivetta. Ottavino did what he’s been doing for a long time. There was a lot of fortunate events to bring the Red Sox into contention that should NOT have been expected. Just smile on the good fortune because things can turn in an instant.
The Red Sox won the first game of a series against the worst team in the division by 35 games with their ace Chris Sale. Those that have trained and played in sports should know to stay level headed it’s just one game. That’s not the case in today’s comments. It’s all about the great year as if the Red Sox have clinched a WC spot. They haven’t and you should know better than to gloat this far before the finish.
Wake up there are 13 games left!!
Remember, whichever team sweeps jumps to WC 1
9/17 – TOR vs MIN, NYY vs CLE, BOS vs BAL .KEY RESULT – TOR LOSS
9/18 – TOR vs MIN, NYY vs CLE, BOS vs BAL
9/19 – TOR vs MIN, NYY vs CLE, BOS vs BAL
All that matters is whether NYY and BOS can sweep. Otherwise, everyone is right back where they were before the three games!! The chest thumping should happen after the sweep not after the first game with your ace on the mound!!
Honestly KD who was chest thumping? I read the comments in this section and no one is chest thumping. I think most people take the season for what it is a pleasant surprise. I think Boston has an excellent chance of making the one game playoff but it’s certainly not guaranteed. I will say this that your prediction of a low 70’s win total at the beginning of the season is completely wrong and for that I am thankful.
I’ll leave you with this very few teams are as good as they look when they are hot and very few teams are as bad as they look when cold and Boston this year certainly resembles this as well as all other teams in the AL.
KD what on earth are you talking about accusing me of a cheap shot? I didn’t direct any comments toward you, nor did I respond to any of your posts.
I was responding to bruin1012 and some people’s belief this year’s Red Sox team overachieved because of Cora. He doesn’t deserve credit for the huge improvement from last year because he was given a much more talented and healthy team, of course until the Covid outbreak.
Can’t believe you’re offended because I’m saying Cora didn’t turn this year’s Red Sox into a playoff team, they already were one on opening day.
FPG – “Only those who weren’t intelligent enough to realize the difference between 2020 and 2021 bought into the asinine predictions of a losing record.” Your words.
Who other than me made an asinine prediction of a losing season? See how I might consider it a shot at me? If it wasn’t please explain.
All the fans like JoeBrady were mouthing off about a good season and I predicted 67 wins because Bloom did NOTHING in the off season to improve things. I also didn’t expect JD to bounce back like he did and I didn’t think 2 guys could carry the hitting and 1 guy could carry the pitching but they did. Just shows the strength of the players remaining from 2018. If it was possible to add back the other guys who have been tossed aside by Bloom, this team probably finishes ahead of TB and is the favorite in the AL. Instead, they are the 4th most talented team in the division with the 2nd best record with 2 weeks left.. So big time over-achievers.
Ownership gets obscene profits this year thanks to the efforts of a handful of guys who watched their championship team get ripped apart. Hardly seems fair but nobody promised them fair when they signed with Boston.
Lots of good signs for 2022. Big three hitters may not regress. Sale, Eovaldi, Houck and Pivetta are back. Dalbec might take another step forward and be an all-star. Duran might get a proper opportunity to prove himself and do it like Dalbec this past year. Mata will be a year closer to coming back and moving toward the MLB team. Ottavino, Hernandez, Taylor and a few of the pick-ups this year will be back in relief.
A closer is still needed, a #2 SP and a solution for the 3 DH issue needs to introduced that strengthens the team at the weak positions like 3B. I sure hope Bloom is handing out huge bonuses to JD, Bogey, Devers, Eovaldi and Barnes for saving his job. He might want to toss a bonus check to Dalbec to compensate for the disrespect he was shown this year.
You can’t set a precedent with Devers of sticking too long with a guy and then crap on Chavis, Benny and begin to crap on Dalbec without some serious ethnic questions arising. The team simply can’t get the bias out of their decision making. Mookie was right to want out. As was Price. Benny is probably relieved as is Chavis. You could tell how much they loved playing in BOS, too bad that love wasn’t reciprocated by ownership, management and the front office.
KD I couldn’t help but laugh when I read your first paragraph.
Dude, I wasn’t around here January thru April. I’d read some of the articles and posted very few comments back then, if at all.
The past couple months I’ve been posting a lot because I’m in a period where I have the time, but that will change in the next month or two.
So I had no idea what you thought or predicted six months ago.
Who other than you? Do you even realize how ridiculous that assumption is?
Does every person on this planet who had a pre-season prediction of the Red Sox post comments here? Seriously dude?
You tend to go overboard with the Bloom-hate so I won’t repeat yet again point-by-point all the things he did to improve the team. Ignoring the acquisitions of Ottavino, Sawamura, Whitlock, Hernandez and Richards certainly doesn’t help your argument. Neither does ignoring the late-2020 acquisition of Pivetta who was absolutely dominant in his two games last season.
Your bad for not thinking a guy with an OPS between .879 – 1.066 for six consecutive seasons wouldn’t rebound from a .680 OPS abbreviated farce of a season, especially knowing how the temporary video rule change impacted him.
Here’s the 2019 numbers of 2021 Red Sox hitters:
JD MARTINEZ .939 OPS
DEVERS .916 OPS
BOGAERTS .939 OPS
VAZQUEZ .798 OPS (including 23 HR)
RENFROE .778 OPS (including 33 HR)
VERDUGO .817 OPS
And since Dalbec didn’t play in 2019, here’s his 2020 numbers:
DALBEC .959 OPS
How on Earth did you think the Sox wouldn’t hit with those seven guys in the lineup?
You really want to add back guys that Bloom tossed?
You want JBJ’s .505 OPS? Seriously?
You want Moreland’s .701 OPS and constant IL stints? Really?
You want Leon’s .497 OPS?
You want Hembree’s 6.38 ERA?
Bloom brought back Workman, how did that work out?
And BTW Nunez, Pearce and Porcello are all retired. You want Bloom to lure them out of retirement?
That’s my life-long mantra. Baseball is amazing in its capability to make a team look like a WS contender, or an also-ran, and often within a relatively short period of time.
“Bloom did nothing to improve the team”
Enrique Hernandez “ having a great season and probably his best free agent signing especially when consider the salary”
Hunter Renfroe “ Very solid signing and season”
Garret Whitlock “ Maybe the most important pitcher on the Red Sox this season and stolen from the Yankees”
Sawamura “decent pickup”
Perez “he has been serviceable”
Schwarber “ has looked like one of the best deadline pickups”
Iglesias “ looking like a genius pickup”
Has Bloom swung and missed yes yes he has but so do all and I mean all GM’s. Of course probably three of the very best players on the Red Sox Bloom inherited but they are also three of the elite players in all of baseball and when we look back and see that Bloom spent around 35 million in free agency this year then we’ll he did a hell of a job putting together the pieces to help this team compete. Let’s see what he does this offseason to fill some holes. So far he has done pretty well his drafting has looked excellent his free agent signings have been pretty good overall. IMO Bloom has done a pretty solid job building this team. This offseason will be big he can either continue to build towards a championship team or he could take a step back. Should be a very interesting offseason.
Forgot to add Richards he was also a decent pickup but maybe a little expensive.
denny is chest thumping. If the Sox make the Wild Card game, he’s going to say it’s because of Cora. if they don’t, he’s going to say it’s not Cora’s fault. Either way, he thinks Cora will be directly responsible for at least 20 more wins this season.
FPG – All that was needed from you was a simple “my comment wasn’t directed at you because I wasn’t on the sight at that time” but you reacted as if I offended you because those of us on the sight at that time know I was the only guy preaching 67 wins (comparable to 2020). Unlike you, I have been an active participant for years and in March I got lots of people saying optimistic things when I projected another season like last year.
Thinking JD might not rebound at age 33 after having a terrible 2020 was not a stretch by any means. In fact his OBP in 2021 isn’t comparable to any of his other seasons in Boston. As far as having the other players that I specifically mentioned that got replaced by Bloom, there were 5 and Leon was not one of them nor Hembree nor Workman so why you dragged those names into the conversation doesn’t make sense. It seemed like an angry response not a normal logical response.
The point is Benny, Chavis, Mookie and JBJ are better than Cordero, Hernandez, Verdugo, and Renfroe. The future is not as bright by replacing the former with the latter.
My Bloom hate is grounded in the removal of Betts who I considered the best home grown talent since Yaz. The removal of Benny for no reason whatsoever except he wasn’t brought there by Bloom. The removal of Price because it cost the team $16M in available payroll for 3 years. The constant stream of worthless players given tryouts when a need for substantive improvement existed.
My hatred is for Bloom’s inability to perform his job just like Cora. I’ve never met him or Cora so I have no grounds for hating either except their performance at their job which has been hugely substandard. Just like pointing out all of Devers errors doesn’t mean I hate Devers, it means I am completely dissatisfied as a fan of his defensive performance. Thus, a huge need to move him to DH where he hurts the team less. That triggers yet another issue with Bloom since he was fully aware of the two DH issue in Boston but he went out and got a 3rd DH. That’s pure incompetence.
So, if your comment wasn’t directed at me, I’m sorry for thinking it was. I don’t have an issue with you other than the one I inappropriately perceived about the preseason predictions. I am shocked that we haven’t exchanged comments before this spring. Maybe someone else used the same moniker in the past. It stands out due to the movie.
One last point. In predicting a season I look at personnel. The key to the Red Sox scoring runs during DD’s reign was the OBPs of the top hitters. Players like Mookie got on base 260 times a season. JD got on roughly 250 to 260 times in roughly 650 PAs. In 2020, JD got on 67 times in 54 games. That’s significantly down from 250 in 150. In Detroit he got on roughly 200 times in roughly 140 games. That’s quite a bit less than in Boston. In Arizona he got on 94 times in 62 games. That was close to the same number of games he played in 2020 but his ability to get on was about 50% better.
So, was JD performing at the high level playing with Mookie, Benny and Devers or were his team mates irrelevant. He played with Miggy but didn’t get on at such a high rate. Without Mookie I wasn’t sure how many long time Red Sox players slumped from the heartbreak of losing Mookie from the clubhouse and how long that slump would last. Assuming everyone would be fine a year later seemed very presumptuous. I expected JD in 2021 to be more like his Detroit days and less like his Boston days. As of today, JD has been on 201 times in 135 games. Will he make it to 250 in his next 15 games? Probably not.
Here are the numbers of the players in 2018 and 2021.
Mookie – 261 in 136 games – Verdugo – 199 in 136 games (62 less)
Bogaerts – 203 in 136 games – Bogaerts – 197 in 131 games (more)
Devers – 146 in 121 games – Devers – 206 in 143 games (62 more!)
JD – 257 in 150 games – JD – 201 in 135 games (10 to 15% less)
Moreland – 149 in 124 games – Dalbec – 121 in 122 games (close)
Nunez – 143 in 127 games – Hernandez – 165 in 121 games (slightly better)
JBJ – 157 in 144 games = Renfroe 165 in 131 games (slightly better)
Benintendi – 239 in 148 games – Cordero 32 in 48 games (HUGE drop=off)
(obviously one sided so lets try Arroyo 83 in 53 still huge drop-off)
In 2018 both Vazques and Leon caught and this year the combined catchers have better numbers. In 2018 catchers were on base 127 times for the season and in 2018 Vazquez was on 144 in 126 games and Plawecki was on 52 times in 59 games. Together 196 in 185 games played. Catcher productivity up 50%.
Obviously Benny’s numbers were never replaced and Mookie’s numbers were never replaced from an OBP perspective. That makes a huge difference in scoring runs..
The 2018 Red Sox were on base 2078 times in 162 games and in 2021 they have been on base 1783 times in 149 games. The decrease in OBP from .339 )2018) to 327 (2021) reflects the 150 less times the team will be on base compared to 2018. For me, that’s a good reason to expect less run production (876 in 2018 compared to 759 with 13 games left).
The estimate of the offense falling off from the 2018 level before Bloom dismantled the roster was a good assumption and it has proven to be true after the fact.
The current “better than expected record” for 2021 clearly has more to do with the pitching than the hitting or does it?. Lets start with should the Barnes performance in the first half been predictable? Nope. He reverted back to his old numbers in the second half. It was an anomaly.!! What about Eovaldi? For me, he deserves a lot of credit for the success of the Red Sox in 2021 They needed an ACE and he stepped up!!
Here are the pitching staffs compared:
2018 = 162 games
Sale – ERA+ of 209 with ERA.2.11 and WHIP 0.861 IP 158.0
Eovaldi – ERA+ of 133 with ERA 3.33 and WHIP 1.278 IP 54.1
Price – ERA+ of 123 with ERA 3.58 and WHIP 1.142 IP 176.0
E-Rod = ERA+ of 116 with ERA 3.82 and WHIP 1.265 IP 129.2
Porcello – ERA + of 103 with ERA 4.28 and WHIP 1.176 IP 191.1
2021 – 149 games
Eovaldi = ERA+ of 135 with ERA 3.52 and WHIP 1.156 IP 168.2
Houck – ERA+ of 127 with ERA 3.75 and WHIP 1.197 IP 57.2
Pivetta – ERA+ of 104 with ERA 4.55 and WHIP 1.318 IP 140.1
Richards – ERA+ of 103 with ERA 4.60 and WHIP 1.589 IP 129.0
Perez – ERA+ of 99 with ERA 4.79 and WHIP 1.514 IP 109.0
E-Rod – ERA+ of 95 with ERA 5.00 and WHIP 1.377 IP 1421
Looking at these 2021 atrocious numbers compared to 2018 it’s clear the pitching didn’t improve either. Yes, there is more juice in the ball during the 2021 season than the 2018 season and that accounts for some of the downturn in numbers but clearly the juice didn’t impact Eovaldi’s numbers. Yes, there was an improved grip during the first half of the season so the numbers were better then for some of the pitchers but overall this staff is nowhere near as good as the 2018 staff based on numbers.
So how can we explain a big drop in hitting and a big drop in pitching leading to a season with over 81 wins? There is only one answer that jumps out immediately – The Rest of the other ball clubs experienced even bigger drop-offs in hitting and pitching than Boston did.
Could anyone have predicted the huge drop-off in the Yankees? Yes, Boone haters or Girardi lovers since the current talent dwarfs many of Girardi’s last years but until DD showed up the NYY were perennial division winners. It has been argued by many Yankee fans that Boone is horrible and based on results alone with respect to the talent level on the roster that’s a fair assessment.
Even Baltimore who looked horrible in 2020 and was thought to be on the rise but instead went in the other direction. TB is the only team that seems to have not fallen off like others. TOR didn’t fall off as much as they didn’t rise to expectations. They may still start to click based on their huge talent level but overall they have to be disappointed in their lack of a break out season as was expected.
As I have stated many times, fans should just be thankful for all the luck that has occurred this season. Will this be a magical year when they win a ring? Maybe but the odds are against it. Has the ride up until this point been magical? Absolutely.
KD, do you think anyone read your 1,000 word rant? IMO, your best strategy is to simply admit that you made the worst prediction of all time and move on. Your 70-wins-is-a-fantasy end a month ago. You should’ve been able to come to grips with it by now.
The entire betting world and almost all of the predicting world “weren’t intelligent” enough to see this. I guess you are a genius. So how much did you bet? A 50-1 odds for WS, and I’m sure decent odds to make playoffs, before the season started. You must of laid some serious cash on the Red Sox. You know since you were one of the very few “intelligent” people who saw this coming.Did you bet $10,000 or maybe a million? What’s that you bet nothing? Because you didn’t see it either.
Dumping on the team only works if they were suppose to be good. So if they played better than expected, it shoots a big fat hole in your ‘GM sucks’ and ‘manager sucks’ crap you spew every post. Give it a break, or show me where all the the “intelligent” people hang out and talk this garbage.
Just like clockwork, Sox win a couple games and Denny re-appears!
Like I said, I’ve never bet on sports. I’m too emotionally invested in the Sox, no way could I ever bet against them.
Who prior to the season didn’t think the Sox would have a losing record?
Fangraphs had them at 86-76
Jen McCaffrey had them at 85-77
Steve Buckley 82-80
Steve Hewitt 84-78
Chad Finn 83-79
Enough time on your sad questions.
I don’t live on MLBTR. Shortly down this page in another thread, you say you disappear for months. So its okay for you I guess. But, when I don’t, its because I went into hiding. Hypocrisy much?
I case you don’t realize. NOT ONE of those records puts the Red Sox in the playoffs. And the Red Sox will certainly blow away every one of those predictions.. Wow, you are pathetic.
Jen McCaffrey – Red Sox beat writer for Athletic, originally MassLive write
Steve Buckley – Boston Writer, and WEEI Talk show host
Steve Hewitt – Boston Herald
Chad Finn – Boston Globe
Newsflash: Hometown Beat Writers are paid to be overly optimistic, and none of them could be that optimistic to put them in the playoffs.
Now for some national predictions:
Sports Illustrated: 80-82 (3/29)
CBS Sports: 4 writers all predicted 4 place finish in ALEast (3/31)
ESPN: Power Ranking – Red Sox 19th place (3/30)
Baeball Americal: 4th place in ALEast (3/30)
Funny how when you take out the “Beat Reporters” you brought in, the predictions are far worse. AND YOU COULDN”T EVEN FIND ONE that had them making the playoffs.
denny I think I know why you have comprehension issues, so I’ll be polite here.
1) I never said you live here. What I said is you show up only when the Sox have won at least a couple games. When they are on a losing streak, you’re nowhere to be found.
2) I still work, my schedule doesn’t allow me to spend much time here at certain points of the season. I hardly posted at all until a couple months ago. There is absolutely no correlation between wins/losses and my posting habits.
3) The original point I addressed, which YOU disagreed with, was “Only those who weren’t intelligent enough to realize the difference between 2020 and 2021 bought into the asinine predictions of a losing record.” I didn’t mention anything about making the playoffs. I was criticizing only those who predicted a losing record on the season.
4) If you think Boston media is always biased IN FAVOR of the Red Sox, you must be totally unfamiliar with the Boston media. I grew up reading Boston papers and listening to Boston sports radio, they are the most cynical media personalities in the country. Google “Curly Haired Boyfriend” and learn about the person who comes up in the search results.
5) How you missed the first source I listed, the popular national website Fangraphs, is beyond me. Ask those who read and post here, they are the most valued and respected source online. Even I rely on them quite often, despite the fact I don’t care for many of the advanced statistics they publicize.
6) How can one predict making the playoffs without predicting the records of every other team in the league? Newsflash: At this very moment the Cardinals are in a Wildcard Spot in the standings. They have a .527 winning percentage, which projects to 85 wins at the end of the season. TWO of the sources I provided had the Red Sox winning 85 or more games.
Anything else you want me to correct you on? Or have you had enough?
Fever: I gotta say the same thing about your comprehension
Responses:
1) I said “I don’t live here”, thats it. But you took this as if I was saying something about you. Get over yourself. You want to correlate it to Red Sox winning – knock yourself out. I don’t care what you think of my login patterns.
2) Same point as 1, I don’t care.
3) I bring in ‘making playoffs’ because it’s so easy to find betting odds on that. If people are betting their hard earned money on baseball teams and we’re the 21st worst chance of winning the WS, then that means the gamblers believe 20 teams are better, The 21st placed team WILL HAVE A LOSING RECORD.
4) Local sports media is biased in every town. Your fabled Boston is no different. You don’t get listeners/readers for a full season, by saying the hometown team sucks before it even starts. That what you call cherrypicking. The FIRST FOUR WEBSITES I went to all say they would have a losing record. No cherrypicking, just facts.
5) The Red Sox are projected to win 92 games as of right now. Fangraph didn’t predict that. I don’t get the Fangraph point? Red Sox will blow by their prediction, by Sunday or Monday. I was pointing out all the bias in your sources. COME ON 4 reports from Boston. What about ESPN, FOX, MLB.com, Baseball America. Nope, FeverPitch uses Fangraph, and 4 Red Sox reporters. Give me a break.
6) Cardinals are in the National League in case you didn’t know. AL beats up on NL almost every year. So it usually takes less wins to make the playoffs over there. A quick check of AL playoff teams reveals: One team in the history of the AL made the playoffs with 86 or less wins. ONE TEAM.
Accept the truth, your hate for Cora and Bloom is overwhelming, and your arrogance (intelligent people knew this) blinds you.
Denny sorry but I don’t have the time to continue correcting everything you write.
As Joe mentioned not too long ago, if you think you can lie about statistics such as “A quick check of AL playoff teams reveals: One team in the history of the AL made the playoffs with 86 or less wins. ONE TEAM.” then you picked the wrong guy to do it with. When it comes to easily verifiable statements, particularly involving numbers, I DO VERIFY what others claim.
AL PLAYOFF TEAMS WITH 86 OR LESS WINS:
2017 Minnesota Twins = 85 Wins
2015 Houston Astros = 86 Wins
AL vs NL INTERLEAGUE WINS:
2020 – TIED 149 WINS EACH
2019 – NL 166 AL 134
2018 – NL 158 AL 142
Now do you have the integrity to apologize for your most recent two lies?
So, it was 2 teams that made the playoffs with such a bad record, in the history of the AL, instead of 1. So what. During my quick search I missed one team and you think this changes anything? Teams don’t usually make the playoffs with those records PERIOD. To say that someone predicted 85 wins and expected that to be a playoff birth is disingenious and ignorant.
Your AL vs NL. You serious have too much time on your hands. I said “ALMOST ALWAYS”. Because I knew it wasn’t 100% of the time. Im not going to bother looking it up, but clearly all the other seasons were won by the AL. That would be where my “almost” applies.
I can show you FAR MORE predictors of sub-.500 records than over. I’m talking about honest predictors, not your Hometown Fanboys. Give it up and admit you were wrong. You know it to be true.
You know what truly changes things?
MLB going from one Wild Card in each league to two Wild Cards in each league.
And that happened in 2012.
So your “history of the AL” nonsense is extremely disingenuous considering the current Wild Card format has been used only eight seasons.
Now do I also have to spell out WHY the number of Wild Cards would impact the number of wins necessary to win one of them? Or do you got it this time?
And again, you can try to change the topic all you want … but it’s right upthread for all to see, I was talking about people like you insisting the Red Sox would have a LOSING RECORD.
You say the AL won the most interleague games each year in ALL the other seasons? Want to wager on that?
Regardless, the RECENT records are the ones that matter most. As talent continues to shift from the AL to the NL, you can expect the NL to continue winning the most interleague games. It’s common sense.
I’m really starting to feel sorry for you, everything you come back with is wrong or illogical or both.
And it’s BERTH, not BIRTH.
Learn the difference between landing a playoff spot and bringing a baby into this world!!
FPG and dennyd – The unforeseen “better than expected” season should be attributed to the players not the GM nor the manager because they didn’t hit nor pitch during the season.
Several players did well and rather than insight a riot by pointing out which ones instead I will simply say as great as it was that they did well the Red Sox are fighting for a playoff spot because other teams have failed miserably compared to expectations. The NYY have been extremely inconsistent yet loaded with one of the best rosters in baseball. TB has done it’s normal thing of performing well compared to their talent level TOR had huge expectations thanks to the influx of 3 sons of MLB players but hasn’t performed to expectations.
I think the success of the Red Sox has far less to do with what they have done and far more to do with how badly others have done. The team didn’t climb to a new level, they watched others drop behind them by not living up to expectations. They still have the 4th best talent in the division but they have the 2nd best record as of today. That’s huge, unexpected and an anomaly caused by the league dropping off much more than the Red Sox did so it almost appears that Boston got better. In relative terms they did but factually they are far inferior to the 2018 team as I documented in a different comment.
Ownership screwed the fans beginning in 2019 by dismantling a team in their prime. 20 years of treating the fans to excellent talent levels that could compete with the Yankees has turned around and now the ownership team is reaping profits by going to the TB approach to baseball. Who benefits? Ownership Who doesn’t? The fans. So to be able to have the feel of a good season with substandard talent is an even bigger bonus for ownership. Yes, they are still paying off past mistakes but the money invested in the current team is extremely low compared to the previous 20 years.
Whether the lucky year is a reflection of the remaining talent from 2018 or the additions made by Bloom or both is not really the issue. The fourth best talent level is my concern for the future. You can’t count on luck so talent needs to be added. Yes the farm system produced Dalbec and Duran and will do more in 2022 but in the end the 3 DHs, the defense at 3B and the #2 SP and Closer issues need to be addressed this off season. Pedroia’s money rolls off but $16M for a phantom Price is still being paid. Can ownership turn the corner and reinvest in the future of their club? To me that will allow fans to move forward optimistically toward 2022 whether the team is one and gone or wins a ring.
I think not giving any credit to the GM for making some solid personal decisions with about 35 million to spend in the offseason is short sided. IMO you also have to take into count what ownership let the GM, Bloom, spend in the offseason and for approx 35-40 million he did well. If you want to be upset with ownership for not allowing a bigger budget then I can get onboard with that but the team Bloom is pretty decent when everything is taken into consideration.
KD I agree somewhat with your stance.
Up until the month of August, absolutely the Red Sox benefited from the misfortunes of their rivals.
Yanks had several key injuries and a Covid outbreak.
Jays had several key injuries, obviously Springer being the biggest one.
Rays had several key injuries, obviously Glasnow being the biggest one.
And miraculously, the Sox managed to avoid the injury and Covid issues up to that point in time.
But the Sox did perform up to their capabilities until the trade deadline, and they did clinch the season series against both the Yanks and Jays very early. So they do deserve some credit not only for their wins, but for the losses that they pinned on their rivals.
I’ve got your back on Cora, but Bloom is not the horrible CBO that you make him out to be.
And I’m telling you, John Henry has been a factor. He has changed a lot since 2018. He has a lot going on, and there’s no doubt in my mind it’s impacting the team.
Chris Sale was a show stopper with the CWS. The first 2 years with BOS he continued. For baseballs sake I hope he can get it together again. He is a talent.
Sale has put up historical percentages and ratios and averages over his career. Sale and Eaton are 100% baseball and 0% bullsh!+. White Sox traded Sale and Eaton almost five full years ago. Both are World Champions now.
Yeah, but how are those throw back uni’s doing??
One more win by the RS, and an unexpected loss by TO. Finally looking human after a 15-2 stretch.
This AL WC battle is going to last until the final game. We may even witness a tie-breaker game.
Yankeesbleachercreature, that would be pretty sweet. I love the one-game wild-card, I think it’s pretty exciting game seven situation immediately. And then the play in game would be incredible also. Win or go home, I love it. A Red Sox Yankees play in game would be epic. Hoping for good TV in the next few weeks.
I’d like to take a minute to thank mlb trade rumors for this great platform! If I disagree with something written I can politely state my case, and it’s easy. Usually I am reading articles from MLB, Over the Monster, the Globe, Yahoo Sports, and the like. Often enough the author is full of crap, but we are fed it, with no opportunity to respond, without jumping thru major hoops in the internet. Those Sporting News companies just want us to think what they think, and not question it. So thanks again to MLB Trade Rumors, you’re the best!
Wholeheartedly 100% agree. The site does not get enough credit for what they provide which includes great articles and the chance to chat about it here in the comments with other fans.
I am especially thankful for polite, intelligent and a little bit of development of a thought. You can keep the drive by comments like Yankees suck or Red Sox suck. That does nothing.
But even a guy like KD17, and I can’t stand his comments, at least he develops His Thoughts with reason and often time stats. I have to respect that no matter how much I cringe when I read it. We’re all entitled to our opinion. The few times he’s called me an idiot I’ll let pass because generally he’s polite. Good stuff mlbtraderumors !! Keep it rolling !!
Gary – I enjoyed your comment. This is a difficult site to exist on because when an opinion is disagreed with an insult is often the response. I try very hard to not insult people for their opinions, just their insults to me. I also get lots of negative feedback for doing what you like, documenting WHY I believe what I believe. The twitter type contributors don’t want to read long dissertations. Common sense would suggest to simply pass on any comment that exceeds your word limit but instead an insult usually happens instead. That’s just a lack of maturity on the part of the impatient reader. It takes very little effort to skip over comments.
So if I initiated an insult rather than responded to one of yours, I apologize. That is not my intent. Cyber bullies tend to insult and I find the only way to reduce the bullying is to respond in kind. I look forward daily to the true discussions on the site and I’m thankful when someone disagrees and is willing to explain why and have a normal exchange of ideas. I am also very impatient when people make up data, rewrite history or comment on things out of context. That’s happened a lot lately and I now realize I have to be less aggravated by the intentional acts of others to mislead people with comments. Paid influencers and bull crap artists are a pet peeve of mine on these type of sites and I hope to address these issues more calmly than I have recently because nobody should have to read the original fabricated information nor my feedback I provide related to it.
I agree good stuff mlbtraderumors!!
You’ve only called me an idiot once or twice. I probably deserved both of them LOL. Good stuff KD.
KD, as I said before I enjoy reading your posts. However I do think you’d benefit by not taking things so personally and not getting so aggressive towards others.
Stay focused on the content of the posts, not on the people who write them.
Fever Pitch Guy17 mins ago
Stay focused on the content of the posts,
====================================
He can’t. His predictions were born of hatred. There is an old saying ‘you cannot reason a person out of an opinion, if he did not use reason to arrive at that opinion in the first place’.
KD has no opinion other than he hates Bloom and Cora. As you mentioned, there was really almost no one that did not know this was, at minimum, a 78-win team, while some had them at maybe 87 wins. KD’s predictions were more like wishes that did not come true.
Hey boys I know we don’t like KDs opinion but I just wanted to take this little opportunity here in this little section to say you know what, I hate his takes but he’s entitled to them and he develops them and he gives us quite a few stats to back up his opinions.
He’s pretty polite unless he is jabbed with a spear, and in that case then he may job back. It’s all good, he has just as much right to be happy or grumpy, fair or unfair as we do. I don’t like his posts and I’m with you guy’s with the Red Sox Outlook.
But I thought I’d take a moment and say kudos for the positives someone brings, including you guys, who are not so positive here. But it’s all good boys.., like you, I just took a little second to give my take. I’m not saying I’m right. Go Sox !!
JoeBrady, Is KD in Cali?
That would explain some things. LOL
Gary, I’ve said the same in the past. KD does put a lot of effort into his posts, I do appreciate that.
Sorry, but it can’t work that way. When he started with that 70-wins-is-a-fantasy insanity, I offered to make him a friendly wager. More or less than 70 wins, and the loser stays off the site until 2022.
The reason that I make offers like that is to establish a winner and a loser. This is how we settled things as a kid. You could talk all day, but if we had a half-keg go to the winner, you could accept or you could shut up.
So KD ran off his mouth for months. And now that he lost, and lost badly, he still won’t admit he’s wrong. There has to be consequences to being wrong.
So he can either admit that he was badly wrong, or I can keep reminding him that he was badly wrong.
I’ve done the same thing with others IRL, proposed wagers. I view it as a form of accountability, and it did get others to think a bit harder and longer before making statements and taking stances. The wagers involved anything from money to the loser having to wear the hat of the other person’s team (I made that bet with Yankee fans a few times)..
Wagering on posting rights is kind of hard to enforce, isn’t it? He could easily sign up for a new account with a different handle.
FPG – You are right but posers bother the crap out of me. JB is so full of crap and I feel obliged to present the facts when he misrepresents them. At first I thought he was a young kid full of himself who didn’t know any better but now it’s clear he’s just a bs artist who takes pleasure in making up things and trying to sell them to others without any documentation of his bizarre thoughts. He’s not fixable so I am going to ignore him going forward and I hope people can filter their way through his bs.
He’s not fixable so I am going to ignore him going forward
===================================
I don’t need to be fixed. I only need to be right. And I was. And you were wrong, very wrong, and you cannot ignore that.
I think accountability is a good way to put it. When I was a kid, I had some acquaintances that would like to think they were better than me in pool. I wasn’t a pool hustler, but I liked playing. I’d offer to play them over in Fieldston’s, on the west side in The Bronx.
We wouldn’t play for much, like $10 or $20, but prize at the end of the rainbow was that the loser needed to pay for the table. Feildston’s had professional tables, and wasn’t cheap. So I’d offer to play to 100 or 200 count. I could see the look in their faces. My lead would build slowly but surely. I knew they didn’t want to quit and concede that I was better. And I knew that they didn’t want me practicing while they were stuck with the bill.
But, sooner or later, their common sense would catch up with their bravado, the cues would be put away, and they would settle their tab and the table charge.
That’s why, if I feel I am right, I am always willing to wager.
Well I like you both, so I’m gonna be Switzerland in this feud.
Hopefully you can both at least be civil to each other.
In the end we are all Sox fans and Americans, right?
I needed to be fixed, but that’s only because I didn’t want any more kids.
FPG – Very diplomatic and noncommittal. Somebody with cojonies that size should really align with him!!!. I’m good with that.
Fever Pitch Guy
I’m gonna be Switzerland in this feud.
===================================
No, you can’t be Switzerland.
1-Decided to be neutral when Hitler was rampaging all over Europe. Good for Switzerland, bad for the rest of the planet.
2-“We must abide by centuries-old Swiss banking secrecy” is just a way of saying that they take money from the world’s worst people-mafia dons, African dictators, drug lords, and billionaires from the world over looking to evade taxes.
3-Worst of all, it wasn’t bad enough that they were the Nazi’s bankers. With the Nazi leadership dead or in hiding, and most of the Jewish people murdered, they decided to keep everyone’s money. Al D’Amato’s legacy is that he haunted the Swiss until they gave up at least a little of their ill-gotten gains.
/end of rant/
KD – I’m my own man, I don’t align with anyone. If I did, that would mean always having to agree with everything they say. I’m nobody’s female dog.
I never really understood that Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, can be all of one or all of the other,.
Bobby Valentine, whom I disliked as much as anyone, left Lester out to dry against the NYY. His message was basically that Lester has to figure out, and he wasn’t going to drain the BP picking him up. And he was 100% right.
I disliked Elizabeth Warren for pretending to be a native American. But she also said ‘in what world can HSBC be allowed to operate?’, and she was 100% right.
I disliked Toronto’s trade for Berrios, but in maybe two weeks, there is a pretty good likelihood that I will be proven wrong.
The idea that things have to be 100% one way or the other, imo, is a waste of intellect. Humans have to encouraged to think through every decision and opinion.
/end of rant/
FPG – Align and agree are two separate concepts. I’m not interested in you agreeing with me. I was interested in exchanging ideas but if you buy into the bull crap that JB spews daily, then go for it. I’m not interested in talking baseball with someone who wants to exchange ideas with a bull crap artist.
So, let me be very clear. I never want anyone to agree with me because they feel they have to, I look for opinions that are based in fact not bull crap and if you prefer the bull crap, I’m good with that but it’s like the old saying I wouldn’t join a club that had JB as a member. I’m tired of sifting through the bs that he makes up,, I’m tired of the falsified data, I’m tired of the lack of comprehension of baseball concepts and most of all I’m tired of his weekend tirades that make no sense. His view of the world, baseball and himself are so distorted it’s scary.
You obviously are free to comment on anything you choose. I’m no longer interested in responding to those comments. Enjoy JB and his alternate reality. I’m just here to talk baseball with stable baseball fans who grasp the concept of how to support their viewpoint with facts. I don’t care if they agree or disagree, I just enjoy reading the argument that supports why they believe it.
KD I have disagreed with Joe plenty of times, not sure how you could have missed it all.
If you dislike him so much, why not just mute him?
FWIW quite often I reply to posts without even seeing who wrote it. That’s the way it should be. Everybody has at least some good contributions.
I don’t have the long history here that you do, but from what I’ve seen he’s one of the more reserved posters here.
The Sox are in a good position right now, everyone should be happy and chill.
I do something similar. I will comment on something that someone writes, before I look at what others have written, I don’t like to have my thoughts influenced by others, as it makes them less authentic.
And yes we are in good position. My latest, since Friday, has moved the RS up one notch,
BOS 92.4
TOR 91.8
NYY 89.2
OAK 88.4
SEA 87.5
I am also adding TB into my spreadsheet since I think we are now within 100-1 of winning division. I have them at 98.7. They are almost impossible to catch, but just the fact that we have closed to within 6.5 games means that they cannot completely ignore their games against Toronto & NY.
Nice. It’s a good site, and I’m not sure people appreciate the work some of these sites, like MLBR, FG, Rotoworld, etc., do for us.