The Red Sox dropped their third straight game against the Rays this evening, falling to 47-42 in the process. That puts them in a three-way tie with the Mariners and Blue Jays for the American League’s final two Wild Card spots (a game and a half back of Tampa Bay).
Despite the recent dip, Boston remains in the thick of playoff contention. They’ve spent the past few weeks down a handful of their top arms, but they’re expected to welcome a few pitchers back in the coming days. Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic tweets that Nathan Eovaldi, out for a little more than a month with back inflammation, is expected to take the ball Friday night against the Yankees. He’s likely to be joined on the staff by Garrett Whitlock, whom McCaffrey adds is also slated for a likely weekend reinstatement. Whitlock has missed a similar amount of time battling hip inflammation.
Eovaldi will step back into a starting rotation that has subsequently seen Rich Hill and Michael Wacha also land on the IL. Whitlock, on the other hand, is expected to transition back into a multi-inning relief role. An elite late-game arm during his rookie season, the righty has started nine of his 13 appearances this year. Club personnel have suggested in recent weeks they prefer Whitlock as a high-leverage stopper who’s capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen. He’ll team with closer Tanner Houck and breakout righty John Schreiber among the top options for skipper Alex Cora in the later innings.
Matt Barnes was formerly in that mix, but he’s had a nightmarish past 12 months. A deserved All-Star in 2021 after an excellent first half, the right-hander struggled enough down the stretch to be scratched from the initial postseason roster. That continued for the first couple months of this year, as Barnes posted a 7.94 ERA with career-worst strikeout and walk numbers before being placed on the injured list on May 31 with shoulder inflammation.
Boston transferred Barnes from the 15-day to the 60-day IL prior to tonight’s game. The move created the necessary 40-man roster spot to reinstate catcher Kevin Plawecki from the COVID-19 list. That rules Barnes out for 60 days from his initial placement, meaning he won’t be eligible to return until the end of the month. The 32-year-old figures to be ready for reinstatement around that point, as he’s made a pair of rehab appearances in complex ball over the past few days.
The Sox could also be facing an absence for Matt Strahm, who suffered a left wrist contusion after being struck by a comebacker last night. Chris Cotillo of MassLive writes that the southpaw is listed as day-to-day after x-rays came back negative. That’s also true of second baseman Trevor Story, who has a right hand contusion after being hit with a pitch in the same contest. Story told reporters he’s hopeful he can avoid the injured list, but that’s dependent on how he heals over the next few days.
Boston is surely hopeful Strahm will be able to dodge the IL as well, as he’s been arguably the club’s top left-handed bullpen arm. Through 27 2/3 innings, he owns a 3.58 ERA. Strahm has punched out a strong 27.1% of batters faced against a tidy 5.9% walk rate. He figures to remain in a high-leverage position for the remainder of the season, but the impending free agent is hoping to expand his role next year.
Strahm recently told Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic he’s hoping to land a rotation opportunity on the open market. That’s not completely unfamiliar territory, as he was a starting pitching prospect throughout his minor league tenure. Strahm has made 25 starts in the big leagues, 16 of which came with the Padres in 2019.
The 30-year-old pointed out to Rosenthal that he has an atypically deep repertoire for a reliever, featuring five pitches. According to Statcast, he’s used each of his four-seam, slider, curveball and sinker at a greater than 10% clip this season. Strahm has also consistently avoided free passes in recent years, and he’s never been prone to dramatic platoon concerns. For his career, he’s been a bit more effective against right-handed hitters (.230/.296/.397) than lefties (.254/.326/.402). That trend has continued in 2022.
That combination could make Strahm a dark-horse rotation candidate for clubs this winter, similarly to the Angels giving Michael Lorenzen a rotation job after a few years of bullpen work in Cincinnati. In the interim, he figures to remain a key reliever (assuming health) as Boston jockeys for a playoff spot.
Miracle that they have played as well as they have.
What do you mean? We’ve played terrible lately. Jay’s and Ray’s just haven’t played much better.
Pedey – You are 100% correct.
Some people who shall rename nameless are pointing to the Red Sox injuries as an excuse. Well, look no further than all the Rays injuries:
Franco
Zunino
Margot
Lowe
Glasnow
Kiermaier
Kittredge
Springs
The Sox have been blessed with just one significant position player injury, Hernandez.
Fact is Cora has completely lost the clubhouse. Baserunning errors, throwing errors, fielding errors. When you’ve got players throwing to the wrong base, and not backing up other fielders, and losing fly balls, and getting picked off third base, and striking out several times on just three pitches, and your best relievers are sitting almost all the time while your worst relievers are always getting put in high leverage situations, that’s a really bad sign the manager has lost control.
When all is said and done, 2022 could go down along with 2019 as one of the most disappointing seasons in Red Sox history.
“…..Baserunning errors, throwing errors, fielding errors. When you’ve got players throwing to the wrong base, and not backing up other fielders, and losing fly balls, and getting picked off third base, and striking out several times on just three pitches…..”.
Fever Pitch Guy;
I don’t see enough of the Red Sox to know if what you’re writing is true. But I assume it is as so many here have been writing similar things recently.
When teams play like you wrote – or alternatively play smart, fundamental baseball – it’s because of much more than just the manager. It has to do with the entire organizational infrastructure. There was a saying in business in the 90’s: “Tone At The Top”. Those at the top of quality baseball organizations let the coaches / instructors, players, and managers throughout the minors and majors know what they expect on the field of play. What I’m saying is that I believe this is a systemic thing. In todays professional sports it often comes from ownership that prioritizes marketing / cash flow / the selling of players personalities and not wanting to offend them for fear they’ll leave in free agency. I see this in teams such as the White Sox, Jays, Angels, Padres (although Melvin is trying to bring that to a halt), even the Rays this year, and others. Conversely, I see the opposite in the Astros, Brewers, Braves, Dodgers, Orioles, and a few others.
I read posts here saying maybe Henry wants to cash in. Could be. Than again, under his ownership this has happened before – specifically when the politics in the FO spilled over to Epstein, Francona and their staffs. In any business, when the people in charge don’t back their managers / supervisors that are trying to enforce fundamental standards, the people doing the work cut corners and the product goes to crap.
Al true, but the lack of fundamentals is fairly widespread, but particularly for the RS (imho). Devers struggles with fundamentals, as does Dalbec and Duran. I go back to the ’60s, and remember every prospect coming up had between a reasonable glove to a Gold Glove.
That said, you can’t teach Devers getting thrown out at the plate. You have a split second to decide.
Agree Joe but the reality is the team has gone into a funk at the wrong time. Boston has not recently led the league in pitching or team defense. Sometimes, mistakes can be hidden. Reinforcements are coming so there is hope.
“I assume it is as so many here have been writing similar things recently.”
FPG has about 10 accounts. Thats why it looks that way.
Red Sox health problems are the pitchers, and pitching is a lot harder to replace when you have a rash of injuries. Yet, when FPG talks about the injuries, notice he specifies —–“The Sox have been blessed with just one significant position player injury, Hernandez.” —–Don’t you find it a bit disingenuous to reference ONLY ‘position players’ when discussing injuries, when one of the teams has a rash of pitching injuries?
Every stat he sites skewers to making his narrative, that is ‘ The Red Sox are Bad’— If they’re hot, he points out overall record, if they’re playing bad against AL East, but still are in the playoffs, he points out division record, etc. Players who are hot, look at overall numbers, good on-base percentage, look at homeruns, etc.
Im just stating the obvious. FPG does not reflect the average Red Sox fan. After all, ALCS last year, in the playoffs as of right now, all while rebuilding the farm and clearing payroll. Whats not to like?
Samuel – Great post, I appreciate it.
You are right about backing the manager, but it’s different in MLB.
In the real world, incompetent management gets backed by the people in charge and inevitably there’s a high staff turnover because of it.
But in the World of Baseball, as they say you can’t fire 26 players therefore the manager goes.
We just saw that in Toronto and Philly, right?
A lot of the errors and poor play is directly attributable to Cora. Look at how he put Arroyo in RF at Fenway against the Yankees, and Arroyo made a huge blunder by losing track of the ball.
Look at the 1-0 loss up in Toronto back in April, when Arroyo instead of Story replaced Xander at SS and he made a costly error.
Look at Franchy, he never played anything other than OF until Cora started sticking him at 1B.
Same deal with Schwarber when Cora began sticking him at 1B.
Here’s the thing, Cora insists on having a bazillion relievers on the active roster so he treats his very few bench players as if they are Ben Zobrist. When you have so many situations where players are forced to play positions that they aren’t comfortable playing, it not only contributes to poor defense but also it causes the players to lose focus and confidence at the plate.
But yet Cora the hypocrite refuses to allow Story, a GG-caliber shortstop, to play even an occasional game at SS. It’s insanity and people are starting to wake up about Clueless Cora.
Dewey – Do you truly think it’s a coincidence the team has gone into a funk now that they are playing opponents who don’t suck?
I expected Joe’s ignorance with regard to strength of schedule, but I think/hope you can see the correlation.
Hey Joe – Back in the 60’s how many players were moved around the diamond like Cora is doing now?
Yes, when you play just one position and play it often – guess what? You become better at that position. Shocking, ain’t it?
Devers and Dugie, as much as I love them, are two of the worst baserunners in MLB. They are mentally challenged on the basepaths, and that likely won’t change anytime soon.
I’m not concerned. When Whitlock returns, then Sawamura becomes out #5 RH out of the BP. I’m not sure anyone goes that deep. Our LH BP is serviceable, but Diekman & Davis get exposed if they face too many righties. But the ERA of the top 8 guys in our BP, over the past 28 days, is 2.85. If you take Danish off the top-8, assuming he is replaced by Whitlock, the ERA of the other 7 is 2.49.
On the rotation, it hasn’t been as good, but hat’s because Seabold & Bello have 5 GS in the past 28 days, with ERA’s north of 10.00. Once Eovaldi returns, then we’d have Sale, Eovaldi, Wacha, Pivetta & Hill/Winckowski. That should be well above average.
Past that, we need a 1B. Had Dalbec shown up with a better glove, I might able to overlook his suspect bat. But you can’t have a 1B that doesn’t hit consistently and can’t field. I’d love to get Bell, but it will cost us something. We got lucky last year since Schwarber was on the IL, and no one other than Bloom was bold enough. But this year, Bell should get some serious interest.
LOL! I know more about scheduling than you will ever know. I have long said (and you can look it up) that most long winning and losing streaks are primarily comprised of scheduling and the results of one-run games.
Fever Pitch Guy
Here’s the thing, Cora insists on having a bazillion relievers on the active roster
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Here’s the thing; Cora is not the GM.
And here’s the other thing; every team carries 13 pitchers. I’m a little surprised you didn’t know that. And most teams carry 5 SPs. I’m a little surprised you didn’t know that.
So, if every team carries 13 pitchers, and most teams carry 5 SPs, guess how many RPs they carry? That’s right, 8!
FWIW, this is when I know someone is trolling. They make stupid remarks like ‘a bazillion RPs”. You just wanted to make a negative remark, regardless of the fact that it made absolutely no sense. If you’re posting on behalf of KD, then you need to proofread his posts. He knows nothing about baseball.
Joe – Then why, right before this stretch of AL East games, were you bragging the Sox were the third best team in the league? Why were you mocking those who pointed out their record against AL East teams? Why were you insisting the Sox definitely would make the postseason?
Red Sox are the only team in the division, and only team with a winning record, to have a losing record in 1-run games.
I said they are the 3rd best team because, imo, they are the 3rd best team.
But I’ve often found that the easiest way to settle these things is with a wager (it’s a Bronx thing). It can be a simple wager of honor. At the end of the season one of us will be right, and the other wrong, or it can end in a tie. So here is the wager (and anyone can take me up on this).
Exempting the Astros and Yankees, I will wager that the Red Sox have a better record than any team you can name. Pick a team, any team. If they have a better record than the Red Sox at the end of the season, I sign off for a month. If the Red Sox have the better record, then you sign off for a month.
I’ve been on both sides of these offers, and usually someone blinks hard. Are you interested, or am I likely to be right?
Nick Anderson, Feyereisen, Fairbanks, Chargois, Chirinos, Kittredge.
The Rays A bullpen has been decimated. Tampa Bay leads MLB with games missed on the IL
Joe – Sorry but my position hasn’t changed, I have never made any wager on sports. There’s no way to predict injuries, Covid, trade deadline moves, etc. I’d rather bet on horses than athletes.
How many times do I have to write, if everybody comes back and stays healthy (Sale, Nate, Wacha, Whitlock, Devers, Taylor, Hernandez, etc) I believe the team can make another run.
if everybody comes back and stays healthy (Sale, Nate, Wacha, Whitlock, Devers, Taylor, Hernandez, etc) I believe the team can make another run.
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Then we’re in agreement. We’ve been set back by injuries, and if/when they recover, we’re a team that can make another run.
So I assume that this question has been answered “were you bragging the Sox were the third best team in the league?”?
“But yet Cora the hypocrite refuses to allow Story, a GG-caliber shortstop, to play even an occasional game at SS.”
Fever Pitch Guy;
1. It seems to me that the Red Sox are walking on hot coals trying not to offend Bogarts in any way. There’s no way from the ownership down that Story plays any SS this year. Of course he’s better than Bogarts at SS. But we’re dealing with ego in a walk year.
2. If Cora doesn’t have players on his roster that can play positions he needs filled at times, then the problem rests with the people filling the roster.
Poohbear;
The Rays have been burning out pitchers for years. They’re making them do extremely unnatural things to get the ball to move. It’s why they “find” guys that can’t make the bigs elsewhere but show up with them (usually in the bullpen) and do great for a season or so.
Were I an agent I would discourage any pitcher signing to play for the Rays, and if the Rays get his rights I’d point blank tell him not to cooperate with the coaches if he’s feeling even any sort of new strain throwing pitches.
Joe – You’re the troll here, don’t try to hide it. I’ve caught you plenty of times writing total BS to try and get real Sox fans worked up. You are the Baghdad Bob of Red Sox threads.
I don’t care what other teams do, why should I?
And once again, YOU’RE WRONG.
Not every team carries 13 pitchers.
The Giants are one example of 12 pitchers
mlb.com/giants/roster
Where did I question the use of 5 SP’s? You’re making up crap again, typical.
No, Joe.
You said they are the third best team because at the time they had the third best record in the league. But you failed to acknowledge that third-best record was due in large part to an extremely easy schedule and relatively good health.
Now that both no longer apply (good health and easy schedule) we are seeing what the team is really like. Fact is, when Xander and Devers are not carrying the team and Story is not on one of his rare hot streaks, they have way too many holes.
Dalbec and JBJ shouldn’t be playing as much as they have been.
Diekman and Brasier shouldn’t be pitching in as many close games as they have been.
Fix those problems, and the team *could* turn things around … especially with the return to health of several key players.
Fever Pitch Guy13 hours ago
The Giants are one example of 12 pitchers
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LOL. You searched all 30 teams, and found one that had only 12 pitchers. And why? Because they dropped McGee 15 minutes before you made your post.
Unless you can find a few teams that regularly carry only 12 pitchers, then my point still stands. In fact, if you look back, the MLB had to change the rules so that teams could only carry 13 pitchers. At that point, everyone was carrying 14 pitchers. You have a -0- chance of being right.
IRT you not caring what every GM does, then you are implying that all 30 GMs are wrong, and that you are right. If all 30 teams carry 13 (or 12 or 14), I am going to go out on a limb here and say that their opinions carry more weight than mine.
IRT the 5 SPs, it was simple math. If you carry 13 pitchers, and 5 are SPs, then you are carrying 8 RPs.
Fever Pitch Guy12 hours ago
No, Joe.
You said they are the third best team because at the time they had the third best record in the league. But you failed to acknowledge that third-best record was due in large part to an extremely easy schedule and relatively good health.
Dalbec and JBJ shouldn’t be playing as much as they have been.
Diekman and Brasier shouldn’t be pitching in as many close games as they have been.
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1-Nope, I have always acknowledged the varying levels of competition. This is an issue I’ve followed for decades.
2-JBJ hasn’t been playing that much. But without Kiki, we are getting squeezed. And we need a new 1B, hopefully Bell. It would matter to me whether Cordero or Dalbec had to go. Your sensei KD put the forever hex on Dalbec when he said Dalbec was a much better player than Olsen, one of the more insane things he’s ever said.
3-IRT to Brasier & Diekman, I like Brasier, but not Diekman. I wouldn’t bet the farm on him, but Brasier has been pitching well since his return from the IL.
But these guys are situational pitchers. If you need a righty in the 5th inning, you bring in Brasier or Sawamura, regardless if the game is close. Of course, if the SP issues a single, HBP, and a 4-pitch walk, with -0- outs, then it is time for Whitlock.
Similarly with Diekman, it really needs to be a situation where he is coming in for a lefty with 2 outs, or having a L-R-L situation to face the 3-batter minimum. His peripherals are abysmal. If Taylor returns in good shape, and Strahm is healthy, I can’t see any way we keep Diekman, 2-year contract notwithstanding.
Joe – As usual you have no point. You’re just trying to attack and discredit me as usual with nothing to back it up.
You accused me of not knowing it’s customary to have 5-man rotations, when I never wrote or implied otherwise.
I’m never shy about voicing my displeasure with some of the ways that the game has evolved, but NEVER have I criticized the 5-man rotation. It’s always been a 5-man rotation going back to when I was a kid, and I fully support it.
You think I’m the only one that believes an 8-man or 9-man bullpen is wrong? Then why oh why is MLB setting pitcher roster limits? Why have they pushed for a 12-pitcher limit or maybe even 11 pitcher limit?
And as usual you made another false claim, as I did NOT “go searching through all 30 team rosters”. I don’t have the time or desire for that.
You simply aren’t man enough to admit when you’re wrong. I’ve been posting regularly here for about a year now, never have I seen you acknowledge that you were wrong. That says a lot more about you than everyone else.
Joe – When the Sox had the 3rd best record in the league, you mocked people like me and Pwndroia for expressing concern about the team. and you totally discounted our valid points about the schedule. But whatever …
JBJ is definitely playing too much, especially on the road. Have you looked at his road numbers? Horrendous is too flattering a word to use for them.
They don’t want to IL Story, which is fine. Then drop one of those 8 relievers and bring up someone who can play a position and at least have a chance of getting a hit on the road. I think Franchy’s hitting is getting affected by all the moving around too. The constant lineup and position shuffling is hurting the team in many ways, whether you admit it or not.
And stop with the KD references. I didn’t choose his side on many issues and you know it.
If ever a player needs to be sent down right now, it’s Dalbec. Sure Bell would be a nice addition, but based on Henry’s recent comments about this being a “building year” I doubt Bloom will be willing to give up what it takes to get Bell with all the likely competition he’ll be facing. And of course Casas will likely be up once his injury heels. As I always say, timing is everything.
Brasier has never been consistent. You can’t go by just ERA for relievers, their job is to prevent inherited runners from scoring and he’s not been very good at it. I wouldn’t say get rid of him, but definitely don’t use him in high leverage situations.
I find it hard to believe they will cut bait with Diekman, unless they find a team willing to take him for half his salary.
On a positive note, I was very happy to see Darwinzon back and hope he continues to pitch well. He’s always been a favorite of mine.
I’ve been posting regularly here for about a year now, never have I seen you acknowledge that you were wrong.
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You said “Cora insists on having a bazillion relievers on the active roster”. Besides being wrong by implying that it was Cora’s decision to have 8 RPs, instead of Bloom, you are wrong that we carry a “bazillion” relievers.
TB carries 13 pitchers
NY carries 13 pitchers
TO carries 13 pitchers
BA carries 13 pitchers
RS carries 13 pitchers
MN carries 13 pitchers
CL carries 13 pitchers
WS carries 13 pitchers
DE carries 13 pitchers
KC carries 13 pitchers
HO carries 13 pitchers
SE carries 13 pitchers
TX carries 13 pitchers
LA carries 13 pitchers
OAK carries 13 pitchers
So 14 of the 15 AL teams carry 13 pitchers, and the 15th team, KC, has only 25 guys on the roster, so we don’t know if the 26th guy will be a pitcher.
So we have pretty much determined that everyone carries 13 pitchers, though if you want to check out the NL, please do so.
But you think that, not only does Cora make the roster decision, by inference, you also imply that every other manager carries a bazillion pitchers since they all carry the same amount of pitchers.
FWIW, this is just like KD when he insisted that the RS picked up all $2.25M of Robles salary last year, even though he was laughably wrong.
Just admit that you were wrong about the number of RPs the RS carry. There is no way out.
I was very happy to see Darwinzon back and hope he continues to pitch well.
==============================
I forgot completely about him. Since you don’t seem to be able to recall me saying I was wrong, I thought Darwinzon was going to step into the closer’s role without a hitch. After that one start in 2019, he had 46 Ks in 25 innings. The 20 walks in 20 IPs were ridiculous, but with almost 2 Ks an inning, it seemed impossible to hit him.
And he’s actually exactly what we need. Strahm can be left in against righties but Dikeman and Davis are weak against righties.
Like you said, dump Diekman and eat half his salary. Or eat all of it and get a prospect back.
Not like it matters. The top wildcard spot belongs to the Orioles soon enough
Honestly, I wouldn’t doubt it.
It’s going to be awkward when the O’s signal to their fans that they still have no interest in competing by trading away Mancini and a couple bullpen arms, including Lopez, in the next few weeks.
Lord – I completely agree. It would be a cruel, cruel twist of events if the O’s become sellers while in the thick of the WC race. If they don’t want to be buyers that’s fine, but allow the players a taste of a playoff run and possible postseason experience. That will benefit them a great deal in future years.
Most Os fans don’t expect them to mortgage future for this season. Still building. It’s the returns that make the difference. Lopez has years of control left, don’t trade him for a Dominican teenager
I agree. This isn’t like early in the rebuild, where everyone needed to be traded. That’s no longer a necessity. But imho, they still need to see what the market is.
Every year, at least one rebuilding team derails themselves by thinking they need to make a run, when they aren’t ready for it. As much progress as the O’s have made, there is still a decent chance of them finishing last, albeit with a very good record.
In the middle of a Sox post an all Os thread breaks out. Crazy. Lovin’ it!
Jeff – That’s because most Sox fans are not like Joe Brady, we acknowledge how well Baltimore has played and we don’t arrogantly think the Red Sox are guaranteed to finish ahead of the O’s by default.
If the Sox get eliminated from playoff contention, I’ll be rooting for the O’s. It’s a great underdog story.
And BTW directly across the street from Tropicana Field, there’s a huge Orioles flag hanging from a 5th floor condo.
It’s all these pitching injuries this season that make me wonder why teams like KC and COL wouldn’t want to be sellers in this market.
strangely loyal. refreshing if not misplaced at times
trust me they arent playing that good, recent weeks aside, they are unable to beat their own division which will completely f..ck them soon enough, think about it, if they played Baltimore right now, they would be favored to win.
optimistically though, strahm has been incredible
Strahm has always been good out of the pen, but then someone moves him to SP and he struggles and the gets injured. Some guys are just better in the BP.
Let’s not forget Josh Taylor should be coming back soon too.
I hope Josh figures it out, he has done terribly so far
Aside from the garbage bullpen and Frankenstein starting rotation, they also can’t hit and have a terrible manager.
Milt – You are 100% correct. The rotation should soon become good again with Sale, Nate, and hopefully Wacha all healthy again. I’m not counting on Hill though.
But the managing has been God-awful. Cora refusing to use JD the other night as a pinch hitter was inexcusable … pinch hitting Wong instead? Unreal. And his insistence in using Brasier and Diekman during winnable game situations is disgusting, it’s Robles all over again. You’ve got two excellent relievers in Schreiber and Houck, use them for multiple innings! But with Cora it’s never about winning, he’s a total joke.
LOL!
2nd in RPG
8th in SP ERA
8th in RP ERA
Joe – Please stop trolling the real Red Sox fans.
Pretty sure Milt was talking about RECENTLY … ya know, when they’ve actually been playing against good teams instead of crap teams.
Their OPS in July is a pathetic .687 and they’ve scored just 54 runs in 13 games.
Compare that to May when they had an OPS of .822 and scored 159 runs in 28 games.
Okay, over the past 28 days then:
OPS is #6
SP is #8 in ERA
RP is #8 in ERA
Not that much of a difference.
That said, I assume that you have been in touch with Milt if you know that he was talking about recently.
Joe – There you go again, providing bogus information like Baghdad Bob.
They played only 3 games against the AL East in June, the last three games of the month in Toronto.
19 of their 20 June wins were against Non-AL East teams.
Only 5 of their 20 June wins were against teams with winning records.
Your intentional attempts at deception don’t work with me, you should know that by now.
I see the haters are in full celebration mode again.
I don’t remember when I started joining these discussion groups, but even as far back as 2007, it’s always been the same. Lose a few games, and the haters saturate the joint. Win a few games, and they disappear like a fart in the wind.
Maybe so but it’s why players come to Boston because the expectation level to win is so high. You do want to win right?
You think fans hating on players/coaches helps win championships. Now thats a new take. Many players put Boston on their ‘no trade’ list for this very reason. But, whatever helps you sleep at night.
badco – You are, of course, 100% correct that real Red Sox fans want the team to win. We don’t like losing and aren’t pleased with the management and direction of the team, obviously.
11-23 against the AL East is disgusting.
You do want to win right?
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Of course, but I fail to see what my wanting to win has to do with the haters coming out every time we lose a few games.
Joe – Where are the haters here? I see Pwndroia, Samuel, Dewey, Badco, Milt posting here. None of them are haters.
Okay Amanda is, but she’s always around.
Good thing you aren’t supervising or managing anybody. You’d be too afraid to point out mistakes or call out poor performance because of your fear of being a “hater”.
You’d make a great DA in a liberal city like NYC or Baltimore though. No arrests and no charges, don’t want to be viewed as a “hater” right?
Time to start banging on trash cans to keep your job
Unfortunately they cannot beat an AL East team in a series. They needed a closer and to sign Schwarber in the off season. They did neither. Dalbac should not be allowed anywhere near a batters box. He cannot hit period and strikes out way too much. Schwarber’s 28 homeruns would look great about now. Dalbac needs to be in the minor leagues and Bloom went “Cheap” on the first base position.
Every night when they are winning the 9th inning is an adventure. They have no consistency at the closer position.
Story killed this team with his struggles early. His 220 batting average is not cutting it either. Bloom had better sign Boggarts or they will burn him at the stake in Boston. I have had enough with this team letting their good “homegrown” players leave via free agency or trading them away.
Al – I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Henry seems to be spending resources on Liverpool instead of the Red Sox because he views this year as yet another “building year” and he said some of the decisions could be “painful” he feels signing homegrown stars is not a priority, he said keeping teams together is difficult and they have to make tough decisions at times.
Sure sounds like he’s preparing Red Sox Nation for a selloff or at least trying to stop fans from expecting them to GFIN.
Henry seems to be spending resources on Liverpool instead of the Red Sox
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You know, most people probably think the Red Sox are over the payroll cap.