I can see them picking up a starter. The offensive and defensive improvements are very real, but as much as i love the rotation, I can see them getting burnt out before the season. Right now there is zero margin for error on that side. But it doesn't merit a splashy acquisition, just very solid depth.
I agree - this seems to be the obvious upgrade, especially if Casas is actually able to come back. Stunned to think, I mean, if they are where they are now in a month, you kinda gotta be a buyer, eh? Still not convinced this team could make a deep post season run, so in a way I have mixed feelings about that given that there are a few trade-able players on expiring contracts.
The new rules put in place have made stolen bases more valuable than previously. Stolen bases are up significantly from 2 seasons ago. Even good hitting teams such as the Brewers and Phillies have been utilizing thefts to their advantage, the former more often than Boston, the latter about the same.
Right - League-wide SB totals are up about 40% since the new rules were implemented.
Of all the unexpected, near bewildering, things about this season to date, this has to be at the top of my list. I used to follow Sox teams where our season SB leader would be under 15. This amount of running is kookoo town.
You mean footspeed master Marty Barrett?
Yes, our bullpen is legit, as is our entire team. The question, as I understand it, is how the Sox can be even better (including the bullpen). And, yeah, Kenley has been better this year and outstanding as of late, and that's very encouraging.
Another part of the equation is that overall offense is so down this year over last that the single run a stolen base can help create is more worth the risk.
Yes! It's about putting pressure on the defense. India doesn't throw that ball away on the relay to first if Rafaela isn't running. Pitchers aren't missing spots trying to be too careful about giving Hamilton a walk if it weren't effectively a triple. Nobody is comfortable out there facing this lineup.
Bunting definitely has it's place in the game. The biggest issue I see with bunting is that it seems more and more players lack the skill to properly lay down a bunt when called upon to do so which must surely skew the statistics in an unfavorable way.
I also think so many pitches now have late movement that sitting out there with your bat already half "swinging" really is a terrible strategy. When pitchers threw almost nothing but fastballs I suspect it was easier to pull up or down for a bunt, with all the sliders, cutters, slurves, gropers, putters, and poopers being thrown with late lateral movement the liklihood that you'll just drop a terrible bunt (or weak popup the pitcher or catcher) is higher
Story's no slouch on the bases either. He doesn't have the wheels the kids do but he's probably the smartest runner on the team. He stole 10 in 43 games last year.
The vibes are really something. I don't know if the Blue Jays plain and simply bungled it or if the Sox are just an unstoppable force.
Yeah, "fun" is the operative word with this team. And after the C's winning #18, I find that I am more or less fine watching a fun if ultimately undermanned Sox team for the rest of the summer. I will say that TB's mediocrity and Toronto's pretty shocking terribleness raises Boston's ceiling this year.
Maybe there don't appear to be any clear holes but that doesn't mean that certain spots can't still be improved/upgraded. Adding another bullpen arm is never a bad idea, for example.
But Valdez has OPS'd 1.044 in June. Seems to be unplayable against lefties, but right now, at least, the production as the strong side of a platoon is very good.
This. I mean, they don't have a lot of holes, but they also don't have a lot of top-of-the-line players that you can really count on, either. Some guys may be playing way over their heads right now. I suspect that's the case with several of them. But the way they're going, and especially at their current salaries and ownership's unwillingness to really go above and beyond in that area right now, I don't know how they improve.
Agree. It was more a response to the idea that they shouldn’t be buyers because they have a lot of holes.
For me, it was mostly to address a post earlier in the thread, and to maintain that the one thing I'd really hate is the "do nothing" approach.
A big point is that for the positions that could be improved (SS, 2B, CF), they need to figure out what they have already, and they won't be able to do that if they bring in a vet who is a marginal improvement over the rest of the season. Rafaela is signed for a while, they need to know if he keeps playing if he will start to hit consistently. At 2B they need to figure out if Grissom (when he gets back) is a viable starter or if they need to spend some capital on another player there, or maybe if there is a viable starter out of the rest of the MI guys they have. SS is probably the only spot where they know none of these guys are going to be long term starters as a SS, even if they turn out to be viable utility players or future 2B. Hamilton could continue to hit, but if he does I still don't think they look at him as a future starter at that position. As you note, long term they have options for this, so they're not going to spend capital bringing in a guy with a few years left. I don't know how many rest of the year rental SS are going to be available and an improvement on what they have right now.
Yeah, I'm with you on this. Most of the trade-deadline "buying" upgrades are short-term players. But you make those trades to get an in-year boost. If the boost is happening with someone you have on staff anyway. . .why make the short term trade?
Given the position the team is in right now, and the outlook for the future, I don't see why they need to "pick a lane." At least if the only two lanes are "buy" or "sell". I think there's room to both get better and possibly go on a deep playoff run and to build pieces (which could be as simple as clearing way for existing future pieces) for the next team.
In 2019, 10 teams won 7-6 while getting exactly 11 hits. They averaged 3:42. Excluding the 3 extra inning games, it was 3:24. Excluding the games with 10+ pitchers (the remaining 5 each had 7-9 pitchers), it was 3:13.
I watched the 9th inning of the College World Series championship game and it was excruciating.
Doesn’t hurt that the yanks are 3-7, orioles 4-6 while the Sox have gone 8-2.. winning streaks are really nice.. when you pick up multiple games as well it adds to the fun.
Fangraphs gives the Sox a 1.2% chance to win the division (Yankees 64.9%, Orioles, 33.6%). So that's not a dream even I can get on board with. The Sox have climbed to a 40% chance to make the playoffs at all which I think we all would have taken 80 games ago.
