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4/20-4/22 Red Sox @ Athletics Series Thread
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Apr 21, 2018 0:45:14 GMT -5
Lol Sale the stopper goes on a 8 game winning streak. Teams have got to be like "Okay, now what?"
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ericmvan
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Supposed to be working on something more important
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Post by ericmvan on Apr 21, 2018 0:56:00 GMT -5
Best 19 games (all 17-2 except where noted). * lost game 20.
1918 Giants, 18-1, +75 run differential (16.5 Pythagorean wins) * Got to 18-2 before losing their 3rd game. 1981 A's, +64 (16.6) * 2018 Red Sox, +70 (15.6) 1955 Dodgers, +59 (14.5). Got to 22-2. 1911 Tigers, +51 (14.5). Got to 21-2. 1984 Tigers, +52 (14.3). Got to 19-2. 1987 Brewers, +40 (12.7). Got to 18-2.
A win tomorrow and it's the best start of the last 100 years. The Giants after 20 had 17.0 Pyth wins. We could match them by winning 13-0 or better.
All the others won opening day, so we already match them by going 17-1 afterwards.
I missed the '07 Giants and '02 Pirates on the list of teams that went 20-4 or better (Giants went 21-3). I'll repost that table at the appropriate time.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 21, 2018 0:59:19 GMT -5
Just wow.
Cora will take out some scorching hot batter for a day of rest - in this case Martinez and the guy who plays because in this case Martinez is resting - Moreland naturally whacks a grand slam, their 5th in 19 games and 5 more than last season.
Pomeranz was shaky. Probably could have used another rehab start.
Fortunately the Sox had their best spot starter/long man available today. Velazquez has been very useful.
And Barnes made the biggest pitch of the game. When you're winning those 3-2 pitches work out. When you're not, you walk the run in. Right now Sox are doing everything right.
They couldn't score any runs unless they hit HRs and fortunately they chose to do so with 2 men on in JBJ's case and the sacks packed in Moreland's case.
Everything is just going right thus far.
Still, they're not likely winning 112 games - unless perhaps they win 101 during the regular season, win the division, and then win 11 more in the post-season - that would work just fine!
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Post by Don Caballero on Apr 21, 2018 2:38:53 GMT -5
Dear God, the only words I can think of to talk about the 20 first games of the season is OMAE WA MOU SHINDEIRU!!
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Apr 21, 2018 5:03:21 GMT -5
This is my 62nd season of being a Red Sox fan. In that time they have never won 100 regular-season games. I'd like to see it happen once before I croak. Maybe this is the year, but maybe it isn't.
This past regular season Alex Ovechkin started with 7 goals in his first two games. I wondered if he could possibly reach 50 again -- I figured those days were past for him, but with a start like that..... He ended with 49, and about killed himself/the team killed him, leaving him on the ice at the end of the last regular season game to try for #50.
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Post by voiceofreason on Apr 21, 2018 5:25:15 GMT -5
I wouldn't worry about a division lead in April. Gotta hold the Yankees under water until the bubbles stop coming up. Gotta pile on as many losses as possible before the balls really start carrying in July. You'll eventually start seeing check swing HR's. "until the bubbles stop coming up" LOL I love it!
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Post by voiceofreason on Apr 21, 2018 5:58:20 GMT -5
I am no longer the voice of reason, call me nostradamous. Predicted 100 wins, most runs scored, fewest allowed, piggy backing the starters, Velazquez and BJ would be better than good. Should I keep going?
Sure is fun to wake up in the am to check the boxscore. I have even started reading the full game thread from you guys to get a feel for how the game went. Great stuff, many LOL moments, this is fun.
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Post by voiceofreason on Apr 21, 2018 6:00:04 GMT -5
This is my 62nd season of being a Red Sox fan. In that time they have never won 100 regular-season games. I'd like to see it happen once before I croak. Maybe this is the year, but maybe it isn't. This past regular season Alex Ovechkin started with 7 goals in his first two games. I wondered if he could possibly reach 50 again -- I figured those days were past for him, but with a start like that..... He ended with 49, and about killed himself/the team killed him, leaving him on the ice at the end of the last regular season game to try for #50. I hope you can kick this off your bucket list this year!!
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Post by Guidas on Apr 21, 2018 6:11:54 GMT -5
Great Win!
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Post by voiceofreason on Apr 21, 2018 6:14:52 GMT -5
I have stated before and will again now. Joe Kelly can be a dominant reliever, he is currently looking like the Sox answer to the 8th inning. Yes I know that the word currently is the key word but maybe he finally puts it together. I think that fight with the mfy and the fans response has lit a fire in him.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Apr 21, 2018 7:56:42 GMT -5
This is my 62nd season of being a Red Sox fan. In that time they have never won 100 regular-season games. I'd like to see it happen once before I croak. Maybe this is the year, but maybe it isn't. I carry the same dream of seeing the same exact thing. I actually want to see a Sox dynasty along my lifetime too. At least we will hopefully get to see a 100 win team at least this year with good fortune. I want to say definitively that I'll take the 2018 Red Sox team and take them against any championship team ever assembled, including the raging and roiding 1998 Yankees team.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 21, 2018 7:57:09 GMT -5
Pre-wedding party at a hotel here in Albuquerque last evening. Great fun watching all these really sharp young people chatting it up, catching up, meeting up... I tracked the score but I've only watched the highlights, so I'll probably pick a few spots to look a little deeper.
Cora comes across to me as a "manager" in the truest sense of the word. He manages a talented team of specialists, in a very open-ended way, to provide the services the organization needs in order to thrive. Watching JBJ and Moreland going over data provided by those specialists - realtime - is really revealing. Is that why they powered the team to a win? It certainly can't hurt to have that info in hand. That is what the best organizations do, provide everyone with the tools they need to thrive and then stand aside.
There will be difficult decisions, but only because of the abundance of resources, not for lack of them. Dombrowski and his team will have a fine line to walk as they farm people out, and likely move the excess, what with different players returning to action. Insuring that they make the right moves to shape the roster and keep the wins coming will be crucial.
But it's certainly a good problem to have! Given the choice the FO made, for the person to put a management team in place and lead it, I'm very confident they'll figure out this puzzle as well.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Apr 21, 2018 8:05:09 GMT -5
I have stated before and will again now. Joe Kelly can be a dominant reliever, he is currently looking like the Sox answer to the 8th inning. Yes I know that the word currently is the key word but maybe he finally puts it together. I think that fight with the mfy and the fans response has lit a fire in him. Meh, I have higher hopes in Matt Barnes than I do for Kelly, but they really are the same animal. Barnes is younger though and if he can find consistent command, he could have a higher ceiling. Whether he reaches that ceiling or not is another question however. I'm really hanging my hat onto Thornburg and Smith to a smaller extent. Smith seems like he'll be the right handed killer specialist that Ziegler was when he was here. Thornburg seems like a total wildcard and a mystery box filled with high velocity and good stuff. In the end, the bullpen will come down to Dombrowski. It's the last piece to go get if they can't figure it out by July. I have no doubt he'll target the right guy and get him for a good or a high price. Hopefully the Sox don't give up too much when that time comes.
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ericmvan
Veteran
Supposed to be working on something more important
Posts: 8,962
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Post by ericmvan on Apr 21, 2018 9:03:15 GMT -5
Pre-wedding party at a hotel here in Albuquerque last evening. Great fun watching all these really sharp young people chatting it up, catching up, meeting up... I tracked the score but I've only watched the highlights, so I'll probably pick a few spots to look a little deeper. Cora comes across to me as a "manager" in the truest sense of the word. He manages a talented team of specialists, in a very open-ended way, to provide the services the organization needs in order to thrive. Watching JBJ and Moreland going over data provided by those specialists - realtime - is really revealing. Is that why they powered the team to a win? It certainly can't hurt to have that info in hand. That is what the best organizations do, provide everyone with the tools they need to thrive and then stand aside. There will be difficult decisions, but only because of the abundance of resources, not for lack of them. Dombrowski and his team will have a fine line to walk as they farm people out, and likely move the excess, what with different players returning to action. Insuring that they make the right moves to shape the roster and keep the wins coming will be crucial. But it's certainly a good problem to have! Given the choice the FO made, for the person to put a management team in place and lead it, I'm very confident they'll figure out this puzzle as well. The replay of the conversation in the dugout, combined with the post-game interview with Moreland, seemed to make it pretty clear that Moreland was expecting the pitch he got. Of course, it still had to be a bad pitch. The smarter teams are going to start looking at what they do and trying to change it up ... but that means mostly playing away from their strengths. From the time that Lucchino ordered all the baseball ops consultants laid off at the end of '08, I've been adamant that I saw no signs of unusual sabermetric orientation. I think that by the time they built the analytics unit up to good strength again, they had a manager who wasn't particularly eager to embrace their recommendations. You don't want to merely say they've pulled a 180 under Cora -- you want to seek out some non-Euclidean geometry where there are more degrees that that in a half-circle. I'd say about 235.
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Post by jimed14 on Apr 21, 2018 9:15:16 GMT -5
Sooner or later, Cora is going to need to drop Moreland down in the lineup. He isn't a cleanup hitter Cora. *Gem of the night* .333/.400/.615
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Post by jimed14 on Apr 21, 2018 9:25:07 GMT -5
Fortunately the Sox had their best spot starter/long man available today. Velazquez has been very useful. There's no way that's an accident with this team. I am so impressed with how f'ing smart they are this year. I don't know who could possibly miss Farrell and the rest of the non-sabermetric guys surrounding him.
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ericmvan
Veteran
Supposed to be working on something more important
Posts: 8,962
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Post by ericmvan on Apr 21, 2018 9:39:55 GMT -5
Fortunately the Sox had their best spot starter/long man available today. Velazquez has been very useful. There's no way that's an accident with this team. I am so impressed with how f'ing smart they are this year. I don't know who could possibly miss Farrell and the rest of the non-sabermetric guys surrounding him. Theme for the new regime. The whole team could use this as a walk-up song. Only one line of the chorus actually makes sense in this context, but that's par for the course for these guys. (Not a criticism--nobody did that "obviously makes sense to the songwriter but I'm not sure what the story actually is" thing better.)
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Post by soxfansince67 on Apr 21, 2018 9:39:59 GMT -5
This team is as much fun to watch as last year's team wasn't. (of course, winning brings joy, enthusiasm, and optimism). How much is the Cora effect - his former great history with the team, his first managing assignment after last year's great experience in Houston, parting ways with John Farrell (who clearly played out his hand in Boston)....how much is one more year of experience for Boston's young stars...the addition of a power bat (JDM).
Losing streaks, slumps, a few head shaking decisions and plays are inevitable - but this is a magical start and far exceeds my expectations, that's for sure!
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Post by iakovos11 on Apr 21, 2018 9:47:05 GMT -5
Eric, I figured you would already have some stats on all the grand slams the Sox have hit so far. 5 in 19 games must be some sort of record, no?
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 21, 2018 9:48:59 GMT -5
Fortunately the Sox had their best spot starter/long man available today. Velazquez has been very useful. There's no way that's an accident with this team. I am so impressed with how f'ing smart they are this year. I don't know who could possibly miss Farrell and the rest of the non-sabermetric guys surrounding him. No it was not an accident. I noticed that in the last game against the Angels Cora did the more conventional short stint multi reliever approach. I knew he was saving Velazquez for Pomeranz's start. It's just amazing the quality of long relief options the Sox have in the pen. It's a different style of pen. I'd still be happier if there was a consistent go-to guy in the 8th that I trusted. Kelly and Barnes will always be on the edge type of guys, particularly with their control. I'm still hoping Smith and/or Thornburg can assert themselves as that guy. But the ability to bring in quality guys as spot starters/piggyback/long relievers is amazing. I know that the 78 Sox went 62-28 thru their 1st 90 games. If this team, now 17-2, was 62-28 I'd be over the moon, but we know the 78 team played just .500 the rest of the way as they suffered injuries. The difference with this team? Our manager uses his entire roster and has quality depth to use, all around whether it's pitching, defense, offense, whatever. The 78 manager ran his regulars into the ground until they got hurt and the bench rotted away, and they gave away their best pinch-hitter in Carbo. The point of this is that this team does things differently than its wildly successful predecessor and by differently I mean night and day smarter. So that bodes very well. This team, in my mind, is a 95 - 100 win team that if everything went just about perfectly, could challenge their team record of 105 wins. I think that's expecting too much, so I'm still with my 95 wins with a legit shot at 100, which would be awesome. And truthfully, I'd like another division title and I'd be more concerned with 11 wins in the post-season more than whatever number they land on during the regular season. But man, what a fun season it's been for these first three weeks!
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radiohix
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'At the end of the day, we bang. We bang. We're going to swing.' Alex Verdugo
Posts: 6,518
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Post by radiohix on Apr 21, 2018 9:51:40 GMT -5
Fortunately the Sox had their best spot starter/long man available today. Velazquez has been very useful. There's no way that's an accident with this team. I am so impressed with how f'ing smart they are this year. I don't know who could possibly miss Farrell and the rest of the non-sabermetric guys surrounding him. Don Cabalero?
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Post by jchang on Apr 21, 2018 9:58:44 GMT -5
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 21, 2018 10:11:07 GMT -5
Appear to me as emerging trends besides even more prominent use of shifts and emphasis on launch angle:
* Giving regulars more rest- using entire roster if only for that purpose
* Removing starters even earlier continuing the trend
* Corollary- having good relief pitchers able to go 2-3 innings and not the guys to mop up when your starter leaves in the 3rd behind 8 runs
Question...Does Devers hit off his front foot? It appears to me his hips turn but his weight ..upper body...moves forward not back as do many hitters. If so, does it matter?
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Apr 21, 2018 10:37:21 GMT -5
I am going to enjoy my Saturday afternoon and get ready to enjoy my Sale day tonight.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Apr 21, 2018 10:51:40 GMT -5
Appear to me as emerging trends besides even more prominent use of shifts and emphasis on launch angle: * Giving regulars more rest- using entire roster if only for that purpose * Removing starters even earlier continuing the trend * Corollary- having good relief pitchers able to go 2-3 innings and not the guys to mop up when your starter leaves in the 3rd behind 8 runs Agreed on the starters coming out. Every starter has been pulled before 100 pitches thrown besides Eduardo Rodriguez (he has gone over twice) and one or two other starts. Having mostly big leads has helped contribute to this however. It also helps to have Johnson, Velazquez, and Walden type of relievers are on your roster for the reliever part instead of Boyer, Abad, and Workman types on the roster so far. Not being afraid of going to a guy like Kelly on back to back nights helps too. I really don't know why Farrell ever felt like doing the things that were important to him was actually related to winning. I mean really, Sale has pitched really well with Vazquez catching him (Ohh no, what is Sale going to do without his personal catcher in Leon?). Joe Kelly couldn't pitch back to back days for some reason under Farrell. Players had to play through injuries instead of being at 100 percent like Xander last year. They had to work the pitch counts under Farrell. Everything *had* to be left and right lineup mixed up with Farrell. Ohh and the running and fielding mistakes were at a all time high last year too. Everything was half backwards with Farrell and made no sense whatsoever. Cora is awesome and all, but really anyone with common sense would have been a better place to start over Farrell really. I was one of the first for hoping for a complete changing of the coaching staff last year, and thankfully it came true. Sorry for all the Farrell venting, but it was so abundantly clear that he's the reason why this team hasn't reached it's full potential in a lot of ways. The approach, the strategy, the game planning. It was like having a drunk man planning your ride home.
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