4:50pm: The Sox have also placed right-hander Luis García on the injured list, with righty Josh Winckowski recalled in a corresponding move. Chris Cotillo of MassLive was among those to relay that swap on X.
3:42pm: The Red Sox have designated right-hander Brad Keller for assignment and placed righty Lucas Sims on the 15-day injured list due to a right lat strain, per a team announcement. Keller’s DFA paves the way for lefty Rich Hill to be selected from Triple-A Worcester — a move that was originally reported earlier this morning. Right-hander Greg Weissert is up from Worcester to take Sims’ spot in the bullpen.
Keller, 29, has been up and down with the Red Sox several times this season. The longtime Royals hurler originally inked a minor league deal with the White Sox over the winter but latched on with Boston after being quickly cut loose in Chicago. Keller was summoned to the majors for a third stint with the Red Sox earlier this week and allowed three runs in four innings of long relief during yesterday’s doubleheader. He’s posted a 5.84 ERA with the Red Sox and an overall 5.44 mark in 41 1/3 innings between Chicago and Boston this year.
It’s been a rough decline for Keller, who from 2018-20 was a regular in the Kansas City rotation. He pitched 360 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball for the Royals and looked to be settling in as a solid mid-rotation arm. His production dwindled in 2021-22, however, and in 2023 he walked 45 batters in 45 1/3 innings of work. That alarming deterioration of his command led to an IL trip, and imaging/testing eventually revealed symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Keller underwent surgery last summer, and while he’s pitched well in Triple-A recently, he’s yet to rediscover his form at the big league level.
The Red Sox will place Keller on release waivers or outright waivers shortly. He’s already cleared a couple of times this season and figures to do so again. Once he clears, he can become a free agent and sign with any team, although last time he was in that spot, he simply re-signed with the Red Sox on a new minor league pact. A similar series of events this time around would come as little surprise.
Sims, 30, was a trade deadline pickup for the Sox but has been torched for nine runs in 10 innings since coming over from the Reds. That’s a far cry from the 3.57 mark he notched in 35 1/3 innings prior to the swap, which sent minor leaguer Ovis Portes to Cincinnati. Whether his rocky performance was due to injury or a change in pitch selection — Boston significantly scaled back the usage of his four-seamer in favor of a cutter — isn’t clear. Most lat strains require an absence of some note, however, and if Sims is out for any substantial period of time, that could spell the end of his time in Boston entirely. He’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.
Sox has such a better future than the Yankees. Amazing collection of young position players in MLB/triple a
Yet literally no good pitching prospects. Perales was the most interesting, but he got TJ in the middle of this season. Then most places rank Sandlin and Fitts who…. haven’t had the best seasons at their respective levels.
They look great when it comes to position players, they shouldn’t need to spend much at all there.
Their pitching on the other hand is a mess.
But they have 44 year old Rich Hill, the new Jamie Moyer.
Except for the fact that Jamie Moyer was relatively average most of his career. Rich Hill has been above average in his career.
Moyer also pitched more than Hill, so there’s that
But Moyer had a pretty bad career, to put in blunt. Never found fascination in the guy, whether he’s 21 or 45.
I disagree. Our pitching was a strength early on and everyone was raving about it. It does need work, but the offense needs just as much.
We can’t hit with RISP or in a game on the line. Just ask Devers if he can. Not one grand slam this year. We are just as bad offensively because the young guys can’t capitalize.
I think the league adjusted to their pitching. The pitching came back down to earth . They don’t have that true ace to strike fear in a lineup .
It depends on what you mean by pitching. In AA on up they have some potential serviceable arms except Perales who flashed potential ace type stuff but who knows what he will look like in 2026. I think in the upper minors they have back of the rotation and reliever types I think Sandlin has interesting stuff and potential. Most of the potential impact arms are in high A and below just my opinion.
All of their starters are at best a #3, at worst a minor leaguer. Bello, Houck and Crawford have potential to be effective starters, but Boston needs an ace and a number 2.
Agreed on few arms at AA and above, but it’s very few and mostly reliever potential, other than Fitts, Sandlin and my wildcard.. Connelly early, who is just fun to watch dice up competition, but may have trouble doing it with his collection of junk at AAA and above.
Grant Gambrell and one of the red sox fand base favorite prospects.. Wikelman Gonzalez would be best served converted to relief ASAP. Gonzalez because he has an awful time of it 2nd time thru an order and Gambrell due to his velo being so much better in shorter outings. Hunter Dobbins finally getting some praise from within and about time. He’s always shown me guts in games have seen (no a lot, granted) and maybe can continue as a starter.
Another pair of injured guys.. Isaiah Campbell, being 1 hope they hang onto roster wise over the winter. His slider, to me was just nasty before got hurt and tried working thru it and hasn’t pitched in 2m. Sits mid 90’s with his FB doesn’t hurt either.
Too early, for me to get mny thoughts on some like Juan Valera (A ball) and recent crop of pitching drafted some are high on. There are some pitching bright spots, but Fitts is the only SP see as possibly helping heading into ’25. Relievers? You bet, those named and several more, some who may get swiped in upcoming rule 5 (Luis Guerrero). Boils down to Boston has really neglected drafting pitching in the rule4 draft last few years and been worse in the IFA period. It’s biting them big time for the negligence right now.
Bello is an AAAA pitcher. He has fantastic stats in AAA, but he throws blocks of hittable jello in MLB.
Problem is we baby these pitchers and shut them down at 5 innings a game, so we will never have an ace if they only break 130 innings. We don’t get the full potential of any of our pitchers
Sorry, but you’re wrong bro.
The Red Sox are third in MLB in RISP.
Red Sox are third in OPS in MLB.
Red Sox Are 16th in MLB in WHIP.
Red Sox are 21st in Batting average against.
Not to mention all of their top prospects are position players.
It’s always amazing when a fan thinks his favorite team is really bad at something they’re actually really good at.
True critical thinking skills.
Stats may show your story, use them all you want, but losing one run games doesn’t. You have to win one run games with offense. Players have not been great at scoring runs when it matters. It’s not just pitching. We have pitched some gems when bats went anemic.
We lose so many extra inning games, even at home. We have the advantage and still can’t get runs across. We are terrible against left handed pitching, which I’m sure those stats don’t show. We are also horrible against relievers on other teams who actually know how to close games.
RISP also means nothing if you’re up by 10 runs or behind by 10. How many times has it actually mattered? Guaranteed we didn’t come through…
See my below post. Also, we rarely ever hit homers with guys on… OPS might be true but so many of our homers have been one runs. No grand slams all year. OPS does not equal runs.
Use all the stats you want. We’ve been great at hitting several times and anemic at others. There is little consistency, and they’re incredibly streaky. Been like that for 3 years. If we had better hitting we could actually pick up a bad bullpen, but there’s no timing in our hits and we have too many undisciplined guys at the plate.
No stats will change these facts.
Devers is crazy and can hit the ball massively, but he came up short when it mattered quite a few times in games we needed to win. That’s not dependable.
Use all the stats you want, call me a loser, but the offense isn’t right. Too streaky and bad timing. It’s a huge issue.
But I didn’t disagree with you on pitching… it’s not good but the offense isn’t great either.
How about listen to all my thoughts and hear me out? You just want to make judgment calls. I agreed about the pitching, just saying the offense has been horribly inconsistent, despite being a plus. It hasn’t been great the last three years
You obviously didn’t read all my posts… how about the fact we play in a hitters ballpark and we can’t even win home games? Use your stats, but there’s something messed up there. This team just can’t on all levels. Offense isn’t good enough.
You “The Red Sox are awful with RISP”
Me “They’re 3rd in MLB with RISP”
You “Why are you talking about RISP? That doesn’t matter”
Also, the Red Sox are 16=9 in one run games, better than the Yankees and Orioles. espn.com/mlb/standings/_/view/expanded
It doesn’t matter if you’re up by 10 runs. How many close games have they been successful with RISP? Probably not many
Stop putting words in my mouth, you overlook context
Either way, I could be wrong there, but the offense is highly inconsistent. That doesn’t win you games. Losing 3 to 2, 5 to 4. We know the bullpen is horrible but the offense should be coming through.
We know pitching is an issue, I’m not denying that, but as great as you show the offense is, it’s come up short in several close games we could have won.
It’s very ironic too because the people crying “poor pitching” were praising pitching early on, as they bought into sample sizes. We still lost several games when we did pitch well, hence the offense.
Our offense statistically is good, but not for winning close games.
And maybe I was wrong with RISP, but I never used the word “horrrible,” you misquoted there. I said we couldn’t hit with RISP. At times we have, not in close games.
We are in a hitters park at Fenway and we get out hit at our own park… enough said. We can’t even win extra inning games in our own park.
Here’s a stat: how many games have we lost where we’ve only been a hit or two away? I’ve counted at least 5 and that’s 5 away from a Wild card spot. Devers has been the highlight of a lot of those losses too
@Claydagoat
And not sure where you are getting your stats from but baseball reference had Sox at 13th for RISP for team splits in 2024 when I just checked. .253 team BA. Middle of the pack, slightly better
@Occams
It’s also great when someone says we are 3rd in RISP and two sources say 9th and 13th but nowhere close to 3rd, so no clue where he got that info from, but you just post and don’t read everything, so that’s on you. That’s not great critical thinking either when you just take a small sample size and run with it and don’t hear people out.
But they’re not third in RISP according to my sources. They’ve still come up in close games they could have won and lost them… seen at least 5 wins where offense has failed to come through.
That one I’ll give you but I’m truly mystified we have a winning record in one run games. Maybe it’s just every game I watch they lose because I’ve seen them lose some Heartbreakers this year
We know the record at Fenway you can’t spin in your favor. They’re terrible in a hitters park at home.
Hopefully it’s just this year and we can fix pitching but their offense is inconsistent this year
—Devers is crazy and can hit the ball massively, but he came up short when it mattered quite a few times in games we needed to win. That’s not dependable—
Devers has been playing hurt since the opening series in Seattle with his shoulder issue. he was picked for the AS game, yet sat it out to rest it, has reinjured the shoulder several times this season and plays thru it even tho can tell from grimmaces on some swings it’s causing big pain and still he’s putting up big offensive numbers.
Devers and Duran are NOT the cause of the offense you mention, tho can look at solo HR guy and ultra streaky O’neil as a problem. Pitching in general has been the doom of this team
@johnsilver Agreed, I’m just pointing out Devers had missed opportunities but I had forgotten he played through injury. I don’t think it affected him too much.
Our timing is off but that could change next year
Johnsilver I think the interesting arms will be in AA next year for the Red Sox. You will see Monegro who has swing and miss stuff and his fastball continues to gain a tick or two every year. ERC a hard throwing 96-97 with sink and more projection imo he has that loose long arm action that should be able to throw an excellent changeup get him to the DR working with Pedro this off-season. He does also throw a potential plus curve and he’s working on his slider/cutter still there’s the makings there of a mid rotation arm possibly more if he continues to maintain velocity can’t wait to see what the lab does with him this winter. Jedixson Paez is a control pitcher but his fastball is ticking up he’s more 93-94 but he has an arsenal of pitches that he can throw a strike with at anytime. Early was also mentioned think he will start at AA Portland he’s a lefty that controls the strike zone has a pedestrian fastball but an entire arsenal of off speed pitches he might move to AAA quite fast.
I have watched all of Juan Valeras starts at Salem the guy is 18 playing in A ball and more than holding his own. He already throws it 95-97 he has a nasty slider all he needs to do is develop that changeup and he could be a fast riser.
The guy I really want to lay eyes on is Dalvinson Reyes a 17 year 6’5 kid who hasn’t given up a run in the dsl. He just came back from injury but he’s got got the stuff and already the command and control apparently which is very unusual in a young tall kid can’t wait to see him. This the international signing that got the most as a pitcher in the Breslow era. He probably will go the way of FCL then hit A ball as an 18 year old he’s the guy I want to see the most.
Im sure I forgot a couple of guys and it’s to early to tell what Breslow brought in other then he has a type big bodied, long extension, potential hard throwers with projection. He seems to of drafted a lot of those guys. I think the pitching is going to take a dramatic turn in the next few years with quite a few impact arms matriculating and Boston will no longer have the reputation of never developing arms.
No stats will change these facts. Great line. Throws analytics under the bus where it belongs.
Right there with “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit.”
Bruin: Good post. The Red Sox should also be able to trade some excess position players and prospects for pitching.
All there going to have to they just can’t keep all these guys.
Dumb statements like that is why so many good people have left they are 15 in obp with risp and 14 in ba with risp or are you just lying probably both
He lied about risp ignore him and icon
Your not wrong he’s full of crap
15 in obp with risp and 14 in ba with risp the moron didn’t even say what stat he was claiming third because he’s full of crap and bello was great tonight but against a lousy lineup
Devers is hurt he didn’t play tonight or yesterday
Obvious to everyone except suits
You mean I shouldn’t finish the Andrew Bailey statue quite yet? Everyone was saying early-on that he was our savior and best off season acquisition……. dag nab it!!!
People don’t know what sample sizes are…
The pitching lab is going to take time for real change I expect that Bailey, Willard, Boddy etc will get to work this off-season and we will see more improvement next year. Let’s give it some time.
Bruin – I agree, give them one more year. Ownership has already said they don’t plan to compete until at least 2026 so they will continue relying on projects and old washed up pitchers until then.
With Pivetta almost certainly gone, wonder who the 5th SP will be next season? Criswell and the 45-year-old Hill?
Ownership has not said that.
@claudagoat just a thought here and not sure if the fan or organization for either club would be willing to do this
Pittsburgh gets Anthony and Sox get Ashcraft in a straight up swap
No one wants Ashcraft
Isn’t the point to get good pitching? Ashcraft is terrible
@bello And you probably said that about Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. From what I read, you are a bit biased on a lot of things and it’s hard to take you seriously. I don’t have a clue where you get this logic or what makes you tick like you do. I disagree with majority of your “hypothesis” on this page alone. Ashcraft has the ability to be top of the rotation piece for any club. I hate to see what you think of Thompson or Solometo of the Bucs and other pitching prospects.
@Piratesfan
I actually like Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. Not sure where you made that one up. They’ve been solid but when has Ashcraft been good? He has an ERA over 5 and has not been good this or last year. I’d take him but not for a top prospect
Ashcraft has a career 4.73 FIP… not good. That’s not even unrealistic to say he’s been bad. He’s had three years and none of them have been better than average and you want us to trade a top prospect for another mediocre pitcher on our roster? Get real.
Mitch Keller and Jared Jones are nowhere near as bad as Ashcraft. Look at the stats because that’s way off… they’re actually pretty good. You heard me say it. Ashcraft is bad in comparison
@Pirates
FYI I didn’t notice it was biased to say a guy with a 4.73 career FIP was bad… that’s news to me. Not worth Roman Anthony at all.
@bello Ashcraft is a top 100 baseball prospect. Chandler and Thompson are others inside the Top 100 pitching prospects in the minors that the Pirates have. The kid is still developing and like Chandler, looks like a promising top of the rotation piece. Ashcraft has similar number to Tallion coming up through the minors and league. And Tallion is one of the better top of the rotation arms in the league. Again, you are being a bit biased and reaching for the stars here
Yankees always find ways to win. Sox worry too much about the future that it may never happen
frog – Let’s see who can stay healthy and who the Sox decide to trade. I’ve seen it all over the decades, things don’t always work out how we expect.
There’s already injury concerns with Mayer, which I’m hearing is why he dropped so much in the draft.
Fitts has been looking a lot better recently. Sandlin has been up and down but has great stuff. I wouldn’t give up on either yet. Dobbins had a really good season.
But most of the pitching talent is in the lower minors.
tff – How is the big pitcher acquisition Priester doing?
I know Yorke is tearing up AAA even more than he did with Worcester.
Yorke’s overall wOBA is similar with Pittsburgh (Indianapolis?) but it is all BABIP. His walk rate and his power have evaporated. If he were brought up to the majors today I would expect a .650 OPS. I hope he eventually puts things together, but his current AAA line isn’t going to cut it. Was far more balanced with Worcester.
Priester isn’t a “big” pitching acquisition, he is an advanced pitching prospect with a chance of serving as a back end starter next year. The Red Sox already have four SP (Houck, Giolito, Crawford, Bello) as well as a serviceable swingman in Criswell. The hope is that they sign a front end starter this winter, in which case Priester and Fitts serve as minor league depth. If they don’t, then one of those two probably takes the fifth rotation slot (assuming Whitlock and Winckowski in the pen) and the other serves as minor league depth..
Teams will typically give 10+ starts to 7 different pitchers. Only five for the Red Sox this year, but that’s because Giolito and Whitlock didn’t even make it to May. So always important to count to at least 7. Ideally Priester and Fitts are #6 and #7 in 2025.
They’ve reportedly been tinkering with a few things, including trying to get his velocity up a tick, but I’m not seeing much change in the data. Similar pitch mix and only slightly higher velocity. More whiffs, but only what you would expect for AAA vs. majors.
He needs to put it all together, and with pitching that is never a sure thing, but he has the potential for a mid-4s ERA as a starter next year. Similar to Fitts, except that Fitts is showing signs of that final step. Much more consistency with his command in August, a 2.89 ERA with 10.29 K/9 and 1.29 BB/9. A month isn’t proof of anything, but it is usually enough to earn a guy a chance.
Never even heard of this guy. We just have a revolving door of relievers
Of course you haven’t. I read your book on this thread.
This all makes sense you haven’t heard of him, you don’t know what you’re talking about, why would you recognize a baseball player?
You’d like to think. Guess I’ll leave this place again.
too bad about Sims.. can’t cut a guy on the IL. what an absolute waste of a trade he turned out to be (no surprise)
ditto for Garcia for the same reasons
Bad? Sims is terrible. His replacement is probably better
yes, he’s horrible… I’m saying his going on the IL sucks because the Sox can’t cut him, which they already should have done… same thing for Garcia.
Paxton the de-limbed Maple quietly sits with in the trainers room with a towel hiding his face.
I’m just bummed they couldn’t keep it together long enough to catch any of the ALC teams.
I’m excited for the future, but it’s so far away. Sucks to know that none of their remaining games mean anything in the standings.
Go Sox.
By the time the future comes, these guys are free agents. Our window is now or never
Looks like that Luis Garcia trade for the Angels is paying early dividends Zeferjahn is being called up he’s the guy throws triple digits and was starting to put it together. I’m not sure what Kavadas is ultimately going to be in the bigs but pretty sure Zeferjahn is going to be a steal.
That trade was a steal for the Angels. I thought Lugo alone was a slight overpay.
Kavadas I think will strike out too much but he could be an interesting bench player.
Damaged goods all around the deadline. Thanks Angels, thanks Reds. And so it goes down the drain.
Sims was terrible before they made that trade. All fault on the Sox for that
Jello doesn’t thyme with Bello. So, pffft.
I call him bell-o
This may be blasphemy/a videogame proposal. But the Soto $500M number got me thinking….wonder if there’s a world where the Sox trade some combination of Duran/Abreu/prospects for a young arm and then go big on Soto.
Highly unrealistic, but just so frustrating how deep the lineup/position player farm is, and how thin the pitching is. Part of me feels they gotta blow it up a bit to rebalance.
The Sox can’t even afford Montgomery and you want them to sign Soto?
dirty – I think it’s time to accept the fact this is not the Lucchino or Dombrowski Red Sox anymore, those days are long long gone. Never again will John Henry give out the biggest contract in MLB or raise the team payroll to Top Three, it simply will not happen.
And really between Abreu, Duran and Anthony who needs Soto? If they are going to spend big, it needs to be on pitching.
BTW – Carlos Febles is either STILL the worst third base coach in MLB, or he’s doing some big favors for Cora tonight. Two Jays thrown out at the plate and a third thrown out at 2B, thank you Carlos!!
I guess that’s kind of where I’m coming from though. Other than Burnes is there anyone worth truly breaking the bank for? Maybe Fried? I don’t think it’s (or I hope it’s not) Snell, Flaherty, etc.
Fact is Sox need good, young pitching, and it’s not going to come from within anytime soon.
Marry/meld Mariners starting pitching with Red Sox offense, that would be a fun team.
dirty – I’m getting a little concerned about Burnes, he’s given up 20 earned runs in his past 20 innings (4 starts). Hopefully he’s not injured.
Ignorant – Honestly I look at Seattle pitchers the same way I look at Colorado hitters, cannot ignore Park Factor.
Seattle is #1 in Home ERA and 20th in Road ERA, that’s a huge disparity. It did not surprise me when the Sox scored 23 runs during Seattle’s 3-game set in Fenway, and they scored only 14 in the 4-game set in Seattle.
I really think Seattle’s pitching is overrated, and their offense is underrated, because of Park Factor.
Fever, I understand what you’re saying, and it’s definitely worthwhile to delve into those numbers…but based off the eyeball test, “good stuff” normally plays & you can’t really fake it; even at T-Mobile. Quality starts, pitching deep into games, hard to fake that. I think they’ve had hard luck on the road this year and definitely issues serving up the long ball…even if they’re a bit overhyped, it’s not too crazy to say they’re still the best starting five in MLB, no?
I’m partial to the Phillies rotation…
dirtyjog
It would be a big mistake to trade Duran, the 2024 Red Sox’s best player, after he proved he could be the leader and heart of the team and his breakout season in 2023 was no fluke.
The only player in Major League Baseball history to hit 40+ doubles (42), 10+ triples (13), 20 home runs, 30+ stolen bases (32) and still have a month to improve on those numbers.
Duran is on Ellsbury’s 2011 trajectory.
2011 Ellsbury 27Age
158G, 732PA, 660AB, 119R, 212H, 46 Double, 5 Triple, 32HR, 39SB, 52Walks, 321 AVG, 928 Ops, 146Wrc+, 364TB, 83XBH, 230 ISO, +9Rdrs, 8.3WAR (AS, MVP-2, GG, SS),
2024 Duran 27Age
131G, 607PA, 550AB, 94R, 162H, 42 Double, 13 Triple, 20HR, 32SB, 49Walks, 295 AVG, 882 Ops, 140Wrc+, 290TB, 75 XBH, 233 ISO, +18Rdrs, +8 OAA,8.4WAR (AS, MVP-?, GG – ?)
Duran has an excellent chance to win a Gold Glove as a centerfielder.
Development of the Duran Defense
2022 :
-9 Rdrs; -2 OAA (CF)
2023;
-5 Rdrs; 0 OAA (CF)
2024;
+18 Rdrs!!!; +8 OAA (CF)
The Red Sox have a 5-tool player for the next 4 years.
A team is built around such players.
I guess Carmine Ragusa got banned? I don’t know, he’s not here anymore to talk about the Sox. Only reason I’m sticking around
Can we please just flat out get rid of Garcia. I’ve seen him pitch a few times now and each time was downright embarrassing.
It’s fun to watch the development of the farm it’s one of the best both for top end talent and for depth. It would be tough to find a system that is this deep.
Anthony is destroying AAA pitching he went 4-5 last night he’s leading off and has been playing good outfield defense. He’s going to be in Fenway soon as the right fielder.
Campbell has just continued to hit, he has an unorthodox swing but his results have been outstanding. Imo he has surpassed Grissom on the depth chart as the likely second baseman of the future. I’m not convinced he can stick at short defensively but it doesn’t matter because a healthy Story plays short defensively he’s by far the best defensive shortstop the Red Sox have. By the way Cambell crushed a ball to left center last night and if you know Polar Park left field is the deep field and his ball was a no doubter.
Kyle Teel is learning defensively he’s struggled offensively since the promotion but I think he’s really concentrating on his defense. It’s not easy to become a big league catcher. I’m not concerned by Teel’s slow start.
Marcelo Mayer is a concern he just seems to injury prone and hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a full season yet. No question he can hit when healthy but he needs to show he can stay healthy in order to be the shortstop of the future.
That’s a lot of talent but the cool thing there is more coming on the position side and the pitching is starting to sneak in there.
It was unfortunate that Cespedes couldn’t join Arias as 18 year oldsat Salem after breaking his hamate bone but all he has done is rake at every level. He owns a .319/.400/.615 slash line he absolutely raked after also raking last year in the dsl. The list really goes on and on. Arias, Bleis, Garcia, Romero, Castro the list goes on.
They aren’t going to be able to keep all this talent so know it is going to fall on Breslow to trade the right guys and build the pitching depth even more. It’s a good problem to have all this depth but it needs to be managed correctly. Let’s see if Breslow is up to the task he was certainly left with full coffers in the farm let’s see what he does with it.
I still think you’re being a little too hard on Mayer with the injury prone label. he’s still very young and the talent is apparent not to mention that many major leaguers with more checkered injury histories have gone to be fine at the MLB level,
I’m just concerned Acell I’d like to see him play a full healthy season next year. I still think he’s the Red Sox future shortstop. I would just like to see him with a full healthy season at Polar Park but be ready if and when Story gets injured again. I do think Story is the shortstop next year and I could easily see a Casas, Campbell, Story, Devers infield to go with Duran, Rafaela, Abreu/Refsnyder until Anthony is ready which might be out of spring training.
The base on this team looks to be excellent for years to come the development and or trading for pitching is the obviously the key. In a perfect world Bello becomes that ace pitcher that his stuff says he can become. Bello just scratching the surface of what he can be. last night was just a taste of what he can be. I would still like to them go get a tor arm in free agency this off-season but we will see what ownership allows Breslow to do in the off-season. The future is very bright for us Red Sox fans.
Remember how so many here were trashing Bello earlier this year, complaining about that HORRIBLE contract extension and his inability to go more than five innings?
He leads the majors in innings since the start of July. Working effectively, one of the top 25 starters in MLB over that span by pretty much any measure.
Yet nary a peep of apology from his detractors…
People forget that these are young kids, still learning and growing. If everybody stopped maturing at the age of 25 we would be in REAL trouble!!!
And you know what? I had that Bello username for maybe two weeks. You probably have no idea what my original name is… you actually were fine with me months ago. Since I said one thing that disagreed with you (with a different username), you turned on me
If you are talking to me, I’m still fine with you as I am with anybody and everybody here. But no, I’m not certain what your original name was. Does it matter?
The team needs two front end pitchers that go 6+ innings every start and will pitch 180 innings each. They don’t have to be great, we will score runs next year with this squad. They do have to be good enough to get to the 7th because the other 3 probably won’t. They give the bullpen nights off during the season. Our pitching hit a wall, many of our pitchers are on career high innings which is crazy. September hasn’t even started yet. This is why Giolito even though he’s not great losing him sucked. I haven’t kept track but is Sale going to get 180 innings? At this point I’d consider trading Casas and prospects for an Ace in the off-season. Gotta give something to get something and we can kinda replace his bat in organization.
There have been 20, 27, and 25 pitchers in the majors with 180+ innings over the last three years. Barring injury, Houck will reach that mark this year.
Not a whole lot of teams with two guys like that… Except for the Mariners who have FOUR guys on track for 180+.
Just our luck the Mariners could use a DH/1B that can hit like Casas. He’s exactly who they need it’s a win/win
The Red Sox aren’t trading Casas I just can’t see that. I’m sure they are going to actively shopping for pitching and with one of the deepest farm systems in baseball they will be looking to trade prospects. I just hope Breslow trades the right guys.
Trading Casas for a similarly valuable SP would resolve a lot of issues… Devers could shift to 1B, Mayer to 3B, positions to which they might eventually be better suited anyways? Would be a very different defensive look.
bum – Have you noticed Casas seems to be in a fog all the time recently? I’m not talking about just the poor performance like yesterday’s hitless game, he is taking very awkward swings and falling all over the place. He made zero effort to get out of the way of that ball that hit him in the knee last night.
We all know he’s a headcase, and with the possibility of future rib injuries I’d definitely be okay with trading him and finally moving Devers to 1B where he can stay healthy.
Last night Quinn Priester pitched for the Worcester Red Sox and if you just looked at the stat line he was awful last night. He pitched 4 innings he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits but they clearly working on his stuff. They are trying to get him to increase his velocity and he left a couple of those pitches right down the middle and he gave up some hard contact. The veli was up to 95-96 but his slider was nearly unhittable it seems whenever it was thrown the Toledo players whiffed at it. He does have five pitches but it’s obvious the plan for him is increased fastball velocity work on his curve and slider. I think they are going to have to develop his changeup to be really effective against lefties perhaps in the offseason that will be a focus. It’s clear they want that fastball to sit 96 or so with his plus slider and plus curve you can see why Breslow likes this guy.
Its reason 10000 that reminds of the Keith Law quote “ DONT SCOUT THE STAT LINE”
Bruin – Thank you for the update and yes I totally agree with you, it’s awful how the Sox are always pushing their pitchers to throw harder. Haven’t they ruined enough pitchers that way? A pitcher should throw only as hard as he’s comfortable with. Max velo is not always necessary to get hitters out.
I go back many years to when Law worked for the Jays and he pushed for the release of Chris Carpenter. Ricciardi was a fool to hire Law.
FPG I’ll tell you who liked filthy last night in AAA Worcester it was Zack Penrod he was throwing 99 with a filthy slider and wicked change up 3 up 3 down via the K they couldn’t even touch his pitches he was downright nasty last night.
He’s going to be a lot better in relief than he ever was as a starter. I’m excited there!
Bruin: FPG totally blew past the point of your post to insert his own take.
But go ahead and hate. People change their names. i got bored of mine, which is why I went to the Bello one. Wasn’t my best, but at least it was original
They tried to throw Penrod a second day in a row and his stuff was quite diminished. His fastball only hit 94 and he had real trouble with command and control.
Sinker, right? He throws a fastball too, but throws the sinker more regularly from what I recall?
Sick of all the hateful commemts to me. I’m leaving for good now. This place isn’t worth it and everyone is a know-it-all
No. Do not go.
this isn’t an airport you don’t need to announce your departure. Also Mi casas is getting mad that you’re trolling harder than he is.
I wasn’t trolling to be honest. Now I am
Why you being so hateful? I defended you
How am I a troll? I sincerely posted my opinions
You want a real troll now? You turned me into one. I wasn’t trolling before. I defended you too against FPG. Now I know why he had issues with you. You just scream troll at anyone
so you’re just chiam breslow then? Dude the screen name was tacky. now it’s just getting sad. IF you’re going to leave just leave. no need to get this upset about things.
How am I a troll? I sincerely posted my opinions about the Sox