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3/29-4/1 Red Sox @ Rays Series Thread
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Post by patford on Mar 30, 2018 21:40:25 GMT -5
Price pitched about as well as would be humanly possible. Amazing efficiency.
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Post by Don Caballero on Mar 30, 2018 21:50:32 GMT -5
Holy nuts that Kimbrel inning was sweet. Kimbrel isn't the most consistently dominant pitcher ever and he will ugly up a game or two, but when he's on his stuff is just uninhabitable. I hope we keep him.
Edit: I meant unhittable but yeah his stuff is uninhabitable as well lol.
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Post by James Dunne on Mar 30, 2018 21:55:42 GMT -5
Price did a fantastic job tonight taking advantage of the Rays aggressiveness and that inch or two off the outside corner he seemed to be getting. I'm containing my enthusiasm a bit because the Rays are so bad offensively, but the Sale/Price duo has been as good as humanly possible the first time through.
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Post by marrcus on Mar 30, 2018 21:59:21 GMT -5
Three things: Price came through and pitching with no room for mistakes not what he wanted to see in first start ( had to come through).
JBJ didn't get the bunt down with no outs/2 on in the 7th. Did not square up, poorly executed.
RS face the pen tomorrow. Hope to see them mash but after tonight IDK?
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Post by patford on Mar 30, 2018 22:00:59 GMT -5
Holy nuts that Kimbrel inning was sweet. Kimbrel isn't the most consistently dominant pitcher ever and he will ugly up a game or two, but when he's on his stuff is just uninhabitable. I hope we keep him. Edit: I meant unhittable but yeah his stuff is uninhabitable as well lol. He is a bit like Kelly. Or any other pitcher for that matter. When he can't find the plate he gets bombed. Koji should have been an example to all pitchers of just how much pressure it puts on a hitter when they know every pitch is going to be a strike.
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Post by James Dunne on Mar 30, 2018 22:04:29 GMT -5
RS face the pen tomorrow. Hope to see them mash but after tonight IDK? So, I'd rather face a mediocre 3/4 pitcher than an intentionally-designed bullpen game where there's zero chance you're going to see a guy more than twice and folks aren't going to be pacing themselves. I understand the skepticism over the toll it will take on their staff over the course of the season, sure. But for one game, with a healthy/rested staff? That's definitely the tougher task for a lineup.
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Post by telson13 on Mar 30, 2018 22:18:25 GMT -5
Price did a fantastic job tonight taking advantage of the Rays aggressiveness and that inch or two off the outside corner he seemed to be getting. I'm containing my enthusiasm a bit because the Rays are so bad offensively, but the Sale/Price duo has been as good as humanly possible the first time through. I missed the game, but checked the box score a little while ago. Price was *incredibly* efficient. If he’d stayed in he had a good chance at a Maddux (CG, less than 100 pitches). Very, very encouraging. And Sale was excellent despite not having his best stuff/command. Valid point about the Rays’ offense, but as you say, even taking the results with a grain of salt, they were terrific. If Sale stays *Chris Sale* and Price has somehow rediscovered his 2015 self, they’re the best 1-2 in baseball (and that’s saying something with Scherzer-Strasburg out there). The offense has been anemic, but at least Bogey looks good. And tbh, I have little concern re: the offense long-term. It’s super early, but I’m wondering if this is gonna be one of those Aprils where they bust out to a .650 W% based on terrific SPing covering for a struggling offense, and then in May the rotation has some bumps but the offense comes alive and picks them up. Barnes had some trouble finding the plate, but I’m also hopeful that he becomes that reliable 8th inning guy they need. I think Smith might do, but it would be a big boon to the ‘pen to have 8/9 locked down. Especially if the rotation is strong, and can pitch deeper into games. Excited to see Pomeranz and Rodriguez come back. Hell, I’m curious to see if Johnson has finally figured it out.
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Post by telson13 on Mar 30, 2018 22:32:58 GMT -5
Holy nuts that Kimbrel inning was sweet. Kimbrel isn't the most consistently dominant pitcher ever and he will ugly up a game or two, but when he's on his stuff is just uninhabitable. I hope we keep him. Edit: I meant unhittable but yeah his stuff is uninhabitable as well lol. Idk, you’ve got a pretty high standard there lol. Kimbrel owns a career 1.80 ERA, a .266 BABIP, over 90% SV conversion rate (Rivera was an ungodly 93%+), and K/9 of almost 15. He definitely coughs a few up in ugly fashion, but it’s tough to pick nits with those numbers.
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Post by James Dunne on Mar 30, 2018 22:36:00 GMT -5
Price did a fantastic job tonight taking advantage of the Rays aggressiveness and that inch or two off the outside corner he seemed to be getting. I'm containing my enthusiasm a bit because the Rays are so bad offensively, but the Sale/Price duo has been as good as humanly possible the first time through. I missed the game, but checked the box score a little while ago. Price was *incredibly* efficient. If he’d stayed in he had a good chance at a Maddux (CG, less than 100 pitches). Very, very encouraging. And Sale was excellent despite not having his best stuff/command. Valid point about the Rays’ offense, but as you say, even taking the results with a grain of salt, they were terrific. If Sale stays *Chris Sale* and Price has somehow rediscovered his 2015 self, they’re the best 1-2 in baseball (and that’s saying something with Scherzer-Strasburg out there). The offense has been anemic, but at least Bogey looks good. And tbh, I have little concern re: the offense long-term. It’s super early, but I’m wondering if this is gonna be one of those Aprils where they bust out to a .650 W% based on terrific SPing covering for a struggling offense, and then in May the rotation has some bumps but the offense comes alive and picks them up. Barnes had some trouble finding the plate, but I’m also hopeful that he becomes that reliable 8th inning guy they need. I think Smith might do, but it would be a big boon to the ‘pen to have 8/9 locked down. Especially if the rotation is strong, and can pitch deeper into games. Excited to see Pomeranz and Rodriguez come back. Hell, I’m curious to see if Johnson has finally figured it out.As the driver on his bandwagon for a few years now, I'm not sure "finally figured it out" is really the right way to look at Johnson. He's been a very, very good pitcher in every year except 2016, which was the year he was dealing with his anxiety issues. His career minor league ERA is 2.69, and it is 3.18 in 260+ innings at Triple-A. The problem is that he always seems to have a nagging injury or two that prevents him from getting the run in the majors that he's capable of. 2014 is the only season that he surpassed 120 innings. So I absolutely wouldn't be surprised to see him post like a 3.75 ERA as a starter if he's given a clear opportunity, I'm just skeptical that he can give the innings that would allow a team to depend on him.
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Post by larrycook on Mar 30, 2018 22:49:40 GMT -5
Price was amazing. Kimbrel dominated!
Devers, Nunez and bogey really swinging the bats well.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Mar 30, 2018 22:56:38 GMT -5
Price did a fantastic job tonight taking advantage of the Rays aggressiveness and that inch or two off the outside corner he seemed to be getting. I'm containing my enthusiasm a bit because the Rays are so bad offensively, but the Sale/Price duo has been as good as humanly possible the first time through. The offense has been anemic, but at least Bogey looks good. And tbh, I have little concern re: the offense long-term. It’s super early, but I’m wondering if this is gonna be one of those Aprils where they bust out to a .650 W% based on terrific SPing covering for a struggling offense, and then in May the rotation has some bumps but the offense comes alive and picks them up. Archer and Snell were really really good. I think them pitching lights out is a good reason why the bats haven't come alive yet. I never seen Snell hit 97 before this game and he even touched 98. Today was the best game I've ever seen Snell throw. He's probably a good breakout candidate this year.
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Post by telson13 on Mar 30, 2018 23:11:09 GMT -5
The offense has been anemic, but at least Bogey looks good. And tbh, I have little concern re: the offense long-term. It’s super early, but I’m wondering if this is gonna be one of those Aprils where they bust out to a .650 W% based on terrific SPing covering for a struggling offense, and then in May the rotation has some bumps but the offense comes alive and picks them up. Archer and Snell were really really good. I think them pitching lights out is a good reason why the bats haven't come alive yet. I never seen Snell hit 97 before this game and he even touched 98. Today was the best game I've ever seen Snell throw. He's probably a good breakout candidate this year. Very fair point. Archer is an above-average pitcher and had a solid game. Snell is very talented and, as you say, a candidate to become a very good pitcher (better than average already), and had a very good game. So I shouldn’t undersell that, particularly given that the team would be 2-0 barring a catastrophic bullpen collapse yesterday.
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Post by telson13 on Mar 30, 2018 23:24:09 GMT -5
I missed the game, but checked the box score a little while ago. Price was *incredibly* efficient. If he’d stayed in he had a good chance at a Maddux (CG, less than 100 pitches). Very, very encouraging. And Sale was excellent despite not having his best stuff/command. Valid point about the Rays’ offense, but as you say, even taking the results with a grain of salt, they were terrific. If Sale stays *Chris Sale* and Price has somehow rediscovered his 2015 self, they’re the best 1-2 in baseball (and that’s saying something with Scherzer-Strasburg out there). The offense has been anemic, but at least Bogey looks good. And tbh, I have little concern re: the offense long-term. It’s super early, but I’m wondering if this is gonna be one of those Aprils where they bust out to a .650 W% based on terrific SPing covering for a struggling offense, and then in May the rotation has some bumps but the offense comes alive and picks them up. Barnes had some trouble finding the plate, but I’m also hopeful that he becomes that reliable 8th inning guy they need. I think Smith might do, but it would be a big boon to the ‘pen to have 8/9 locked down. Especially if the rotation is strong, and can pitch deeper into games. Excited to see Pomeranz and Rodriguez come back. Hell, I’m curious to see if Johnson has finally figured it out.As the driver on his bandwagon for a few years now, I'm not sure "finally figured it out" is really the right way to look at Johnson. He's been a very, very good pitcher in every year except 2016, which was the year he was dealing with his anxiety issues. His career minor league ERA is 2.69, and it is 3.18 in 260+ innings at Triple-A. The problem is that he always seems to have a nagging injury or two that prevents him from getting the run in the majors that he's capable of. 2014 is the only season that he surpassed 120 innings. So I absolutely wouldn't be surprised to see him post like a 3.75 ERA as a starter if he's given a clear opportunity, I'm just skeptical that he can give the innings that would allow a team to depend on him. Yeah, “figured it out” wasn’t the best choice of words and wasn’t exactly representative of what I meant. I probably could have said “is putting it all together,” meaning, finding the means to translate some very good minor league results (I was pretty hyped myself when he followed up an excellent AA run with his AAA season in 2015) to MLB. 87-88 is almost assuredly not going to cut it in MLB, but if he’s sitting low-90s like it sounds like he was in ST, I think you’re right. And, of course, health is the big issue...that run of near-dominance in the minors was given 1 1/2 years of health after some nagging and freak injuries. I’m not sure how much the ulnar nerve relocation counts as “freak,” but it was relatively unusual. Here’s hoping he does put it all together health- and consistency-wise, because he’s a valuable pitcher if he translates his prior success.
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Post by Don Caballero on Mar 30, 2018 23:30:41 GMT -5
Idk, you’ve got a pretty high standard there lol. Kimbrel owns a career 1.80 ERA, a .266 BABIP, over 90% SV conversion rate (Rivera was an ungodly 93%+), and K/9 of almost 15. He definitely coughs a few up in ugly fashion, but it’s tough to pick nits with those numbers. Oh absolutely, his numbers back up the eye test very well. What I meant is that the only way to beat Kimbrel is hoping that he's off because on his good days there's no chance of touching what he throws, and while that's true for most closers I think Kimbrel is somehow even more untouchable when he has it.
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Post by telson13 on Mar 30, 2018 23:56:02 GMT -5
Idk, you’ve got a pretty high standard there lol. Kimbrel owns a career 1.80 ERA, a .266 BABIP, over 90% SV conversion rate (Rivera was an ungodly 93%+), and K/9 of almost 15. He definitely coughs a few up in ugly fashion, but it’s tough to pick nits with those numbers. Oh absolutely, his numbers back up the eye test very well. What I meant is that the only way to beat Kimbrel is hoping that he's off because on his good days there's no chance of touching what he throws, and while that's true for most closers I think Kimbrel is somehow even more untouchable when he has it. Haha! Yeah, I got that from what you said, just busting your chops a little. I completely agree. Basically, he’s not so ridiculously consistent as Rivera, or, say Kenley Jansen. In a way he reminds me of a pumped-up RH Billy Wagner (my all-time favorite Sox cameo). And his clunkers are atrocious...the wheels don’t just come off, they roll flaming into crowds of spectators and the wagon explodes in a white-hot cloud of fire. But most of the time, he’s on...and “on” means absolutely ZERO chance. Like, moral victory for the opponent is he doesn’t whiff the side in order. He’s the game’s best bet on any given day for an immaculate inning. It’s a lot of fun to watch.
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Post by Guidas on Mar 31, 2018 14:21:58 GMT -5
I'd be a little better with this line-up if they'd won Game 1. Defensively it's got some liabilities that I hope aren't exposed; offensively you're swapping Holt for JBJ and Leon for Vaz. Personally, I'd rather have Swihart catching.
Mookie Betts RF
Andrew Benintendi CF
Hanley Ramirez DH
J.D. Martinez LF
Xander Bogaerts SS
Mitch Moreland 1B
Eduardo Núñez 3B
Brock Holt 2B
Sandy Leon C
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 31, 2018 15:09:55 GMT -5
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Post by dirtdog on Mar 31, 2018 15:10:23 GMT -5
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Post by Coreno on Mar 31, 2018 15:12:50 GMT -5
Kind of surprised to see Devers sitting before Nunez. I know its his first full ML season, but Nunez's recent injury history would probably require rest more. I also think sitting Devers game three seems weird to me considering how many more rest opportunities there will be around the infield later in the year, when Pedroia comes back.
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radiohix
Veteran
'At the end of the day, we bang. We bang. We're going to swing.' Alex Verdugo
Posts: 6,585
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Post by radiohix on Mar 31, 2018 15:50:21 GMT -5
While Barnes has been delivering in terms of results, I'm not sure he was impressive doing so, Rays lined out sharpely twice off him in the 2 innings he pitched and his curveball was mediocre, I hope he corrects that ('cause we'll need him) but he's not in my trust zone for the time being.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Mar 31, 2018 16:44:45 GMT -5
The Blue Jays need to stop being a bad ballteam.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Mar 31, 2018 17:25:27 GMT -5
Xander may God bless your new swing.
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Post by voiceofreason on Mar 31, 2018 17:26:35 GMT -5
My man!
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Post by chrisfromnc on Mar 31, 2018 17:28:45 GMT -5
Anyone want to hop on the “Xander for MVP” bandwagon? I’m driving.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Mar 31, 2018 17:30:43 GMT -5
I think I'll wear my #72 Bogaerts shirt to church tomorrow.
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