8/17-8/18 Red Sox @ Yankees Thread

Yes I know they lost 2 of 3 in Detroit in Detroit. That doesnt mean they'll lose every remaining non AL East game though. The Yankees have been beating everybody lately having won 8 straight series. They're on a 28-11 run.

Dude, I'm ticked too, but that doesn't mean they're going to go 0-39 to end the season. I can see them going 3-7 against NY and TB and going either 17-12 or 18-11 against lesser competition while playing well at Fenway.

Of course beating those lesser teams give them a shot at the playoffs but once there they are showing they can no longer handle the good teams, which is why I don't think they'd last beyond the wild card game against NY if they qualified.

The book is out on the Sox batters, take advantage of their aggressive plate at bats and nibble around the edges as they will chase. It doesn't help when the umps are calling balls strikes and messing with their ability to be patient. I know it goes both ways but I have seen a lot of bad calls recently.

The staff and the pen look like they can compete, Richards has been a good addition to the 3 inning crew and I'm hopeful the rest of the pen will get right. The bats need to come around and start hunting good pitches to hit and stop chasing, they are too good to continue to struggle. There is still hope.

Reverse Buckys Dent, bottom of the 9th 3 run jack to win the game.  

Why would I forget? The division title chase is gone. Just because the Red Sox collapsed doesn't mean Tampa will. I think they will take the division rather easily. All that's left is playing for the Wild Card game. Toronto, for whatever reason, can't get out its own way.

So that leaves NY, Boston, and Oakland vying for the wild card. If the Yankees weren't going to make it they would have rolled over and died a long time ago, so I have no doubt, while I don't expect them to play .700 ball the rest of the way, they will play well enough to make the wild card, so that leaves Boston and Oakland. The Sox have a relatively easy schedule, so I think they'll play better than .500 the rest of the way. Will 89 or 90 wins be enough? I don't know. Maybe the Sox and Oakland will wind up tied and have to have a playoff game just to get into the wild card game with NY.

Likely, if the Sox are the wild card, they wind up in NY. If they win the Wild Card game, that means they eliminate the Yankees, and if the Sox then get discharged with honor against TB or Houston or Chicago - as long as they don't choke away a series, then it will have been a very successful season, eliminate the Yankees, make the playoffs. I could definitely be happy with that. Satisfied, no. Happy for 2021, yes, and that would more than get them off the hook for blowing this huge lead to the Yankees. Anytime the Sox engage in Yankee elimination day, it's a badge of honor.

If they lose to the Yankees in the Wild Card game, then the season will have been a kick in the crotch. I'd rather they were either mediocre and had been able to take advantage of a seller's market and been non-competitive than to surprise me, make me buy in, get emotionally invested, and then yank my chain, especially against the Yankees. You want to choke to TB like they did in 2011? Not good, but ok. Toronto? Ok. But not them.

The law of averages would suggest that both TB and MFY will regress a bit and the Sox will win a little more often. Expected results would say the same. The bounce of the ball, exit velocity, barreled balls. Pretty sure all of the those move toward the mean over time. It is close but I have not given up hope.

Doesn’t this seem to kind of refute the “batting average doesn’t matter” argument? Just think how many situations in that series we’d have given anything for a punch’n’judy .300 hitter.

I’m *shocked* that a team full of low OBP guys has streaks like this.

Geez, the Yankees really have everything going their way. I just looked at the schedule. They get to play their favorite patsies at home for 4 games, the Minnesota Twins.

The A's have it tougher. They get the White Sox today and then play the Giants for the weekend.

I would anticipate the Yankees take at least 3 of the next 4 while the A's might be fortunate to split the next 4.

The Sox have 10 games against weak competition. They've had issues with Texas recently. That has to stop. The Sox have played well at home recently. They really have no excuse not to take at least 7 of 10.

Well, all of the pitching match ups sure look favorable for us for the next three series. We need to make it so!

Haha indeed!  Have a great day, my friend - we ALL deserve a day off!  

I feel like this team would find a way to lose on a day off.

The game plan to get our hitters out is just so obvious at this point: keep throwing them outside off the zone

I'm not happy with how they're playing, but it's more in line with what I expected from the team this season. Too bad after a hot start. I hope they can get back on track and find a way into the playoffs.

That said, I love when a baseball team struggles and fans think they should anger, effort and scream their way out of a slump. That's not how it works. Its not football where you can run through the guy in front of you when you're struggling, or basketball where you can set a pick and pass, or hockey where you can hustle after a loose puck...

You can't manage a team, or lead a team, based on what you WANT to say to them - you manage or lead based on what the players NEED to hear to improve and find themselves. Do you want the Sox to get back to playing good baseball? Or do you want to see them scream at each other so YOU feel better...

There is only one way to snap an individual pitching or hitting slump - and that is to hit or pitch better. You can't do the 'little things' to help the team while you wait to find yourself like you can in other sports. That means focus, work and repetitions to try to get back to what you do well. It means confidence and belief. It means being honest, but it absolutely does not mean making everyone miserable when they come to work or bitching just to vent or point fingers.

You don't go up to the plate and emotion a ball into left field, you execute an at bat. In a game where you become a legend for making seven outs in 10 chances, a good leader should scream at guys for making eight outs in ten? Baseball is a grind, you've got to try to pick guys up over a long season and support them as they fight to get better. It doesn't mean they don't care. 

It's frustrating as fans, I get it - but I'm pleased Cora and team leadership continue to manage with calm and honest accountability in hopes of rebounding and not a screaming tantrum in order to appease SoxPropects.com...