sarasoxer
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 22, 2021 21:39:58 GMT -5
One thing that is apparent is Chris Sale is not going to be the shut down ace the Sox need. He may be next year but at this time he's not close to great. womp WOMP (he has a lower ERA than every qualified starter in the AL)
2021 Chris Sale 30 IP..31 hits...Womp, Womp...not the Sale we are used to as yet. Hopefully he is building back up for the playoffs.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 22, 2021 20:48:52 GMT -5
Agreed. This is a different Sale post surgery....He used to be 96-98. No longer. He is not dominant any longer...more crafty. Tough crowd. He's pitching in a blowout. This is not the time to put his stuff under a microscope. Prior to the game breaking open, he was dominant. Pitchers always pitch to contact in blowouts. My takeaway from this game is not that he'll never be the same. It's that in his 2nd game back after the COVID IL, he's up 4-5 mph from his last start. Wishful thinking. Two years ago and prior Sale was pounding the ball at 96-99 regardless of the score. Yup, he can reach back occasionally now...but that is no longer the norm. He has become more crafty and is giving up a lot of hits/innings pitched...not the greatest sign. Maybe with another off season of training, he can build back up.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 22, 2021 20:14:49 GMT -5
Not saying he needs it, but do you all think Sale's velocity will ever return? Agreed. This is a different Sale post surgery....He used to be 96-98. No longer. He is not dominant any longer...more crafty.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 17, 2021 8:00:14 GMT -5
Yankees finish the season 11-8 against BALT. And it could have been worse. Let's hope that is a true barometer of the Yankee team.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 14, 2021 8:28:59 GMT -5
Teams that swing for the fences all the time get lots of Ks and solo dingers. Plate discipline not a strength for this team The pendulum has 'swung'. Remember when (not so awfully long ago) our team was king of patience....running up pitch counts. Sometime after that it was felt that we took too many hittable pitches and needed to be more aggressive. And here we are. Devers has always been my pet peeve here. The eye test suggests that he is the consummate free swinger. Give him Schwarber's patience/zone judgment and you could Really have something. I'm getting a little tired of his continuously publicly chastising himself too.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 13, 2021 16:43:47 GMT -5
Yanks win 6-5 in 10th...
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 12, 2021 17:38:03 GMT -5
Yep but the Yanks have 10 consecutive games against the Twins, Orioles, Indians and Texas. That has to give them momentum (maybe 7-8 of 10) if they have any cred. Their last 9 games are 3 game series vs the Blue Jays, Rays and Sox.
It's amazing that a 162 game season will likely again come down to the final few games for playoffs.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 12, 2021 16:30:08 GMT -5
Welp. 3 coin flip games in this series and they went 1-2. That's about how things have been going, isn't it? So at worst they'll be tied for the first wild card spot after today and they have the easiest remaining schedule. Of course a little bit of a buffer would have been nice... Looks like that series against the Yankees is going to be annoyingly meaningful. Yanks have series against Orioles, Texas and Minnesota down the stretch...there for the taking.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 10, 2021 20:49:22 GMT -5
Murphy done after 6IP. AJ Politi coming in for the 7th. Looks like he's been converted to a RP. I was at the game with weather a harbinger of fall. Two things stood out. Murphy was fantastic with outstanding control and a FB that topped out at 95 (once), but was otherwise 92-94. As noted above, he had outstanding command of all pitches. There were a few hard hit balls early...longish outs that nestled into leather but otherwise lots of swings and misses. The other story was Casas. He walked his first two times up then lasered a shot to right center for a standup double. Later he hit a soft liner to right for a single. It's been mentioned before, but with 2 strikes he adopts a v-e-r-y wide stance. On first he takes a strange and unique lead. He faces second and hunches over as if waiting for a starter's gun. Odd. Politi was deceptive with his good curve in his one inning. His windup and delivery look as tho he is about to unload a 100mph effort then out comes a 79mph curve. It's like a change and curve combined and batter timing was way off. Fun night with lots of banter with Sox fans.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 9, 2021 21:25:56 GMT -5
Now if he can develop the "hit tool"....
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 9, 2021 15:29:24 GMT -5
I hope that they Will be Playing tomorrow. I have tickets to attend with my brother...
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 4, 2021 12:15:31 GMT -5
you know I’m here for the Cobra Casas nickname Contact John Sterling....
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 3, 2021 10:28:27 GMT -5
Is Elijah Green any relation to Elijah Pumpsie Green, first Red Sox black player?
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 1, 2021 22:05:13 GMT -5
“The Red Sox released 1B/3B Danny Diaz. After signing for $1.6M in '17, he topped out at no. 14 in the #SP60 after hitting 6 HR in the DSL in '18. He never hit stateside, getting demoted back to the DSL in '19 after struggling and hitting just .173/.264/.320 in the FCL this year.” International Free Agency such a crapshoot. When I saw him in 2019 in the then GCL, he had an apathetic aura. He looked almost disinterested.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 1, 2021 13:55:29 GMT -5
I think Duran's swing is just all over the place now and shouldn't be judged at the current time. I wouldn't mind him going to Arizona with a plan in the offseason. For a guy who seemed to play to his batting average, the switch to power hitter, regardless of how much time he spends in the weight room, seems to have unsettled Duran more than a little bit. I wonder whose idea it was to use a split grip? There is one of those every forty years or so. I seem to remember Earl Torgeson, Boston Braves 1B did that. Cobb? In any event, I expect Duran to be a near average OF at best, and as we all agree, if he does not hit at a significant level, he cannot/should not be a starting OF for the Sox. One point about base stealing. He was 13 of 15 at Worcester this year in about a half season. That equates to maybe 30 for the season. That is a useful, not mind blowing rate. But it aint nothin if he does not get on base. Finally, his race is not yet over. But it looks like an uphill slog to the finish line. Split grip... "Daddy Wags"....a/k/a Leon Wagner.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 26, 2021 7:08:42 GMT -5
At first i was like ok that was a good play but than i saw that throw 😱😱 Oh and that sound that yorkes bat made almost sounded like a gunshot Me too. He had great presence of mind jumping up with no hesitation and making a JBJ throw. Guy has a cannon...
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 25, 2021 9:55:58 GMT -5
I think I have a Dick Radatz autograph somewhere. Way before my time but what a legend Hitters probably didn’t see a lot of 6’6 230 back then. The Monster. Well, he was the reason to watch the Sox back then. He Was a Monster too. I saw him at Fenway and had this fantasy to stand in against him (in full body armor). He had the unique celebration of thrusting his arms skyward after closing out a game. He and Ryne Duren were the fireball relievers of that era. I often wondered what Radatz' velo was...He was basically a one pitch pitcher...adopting a weak slider to very occasionally give a different look. Edit: Sorry ...saw this was off topic...
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 20, 2021 22:54:14 GMT -5
A few other thoughts on Sea Dogs as my phone died late.
Reed is a B-E-A-S-T. Wiki has a picture of him under the definition of slugger.
Hernandez and Baldwin are other lineup hulks. Hernandez tho was fed a heavy diet of low, outside breaking balls to great effect. His rep must have preceded him.
Fitzgerald had surprising pop as he lined an oppo double halfway up the left field wall.
Granberg is a charter member of The Beard. He didn't do much tonight but his confident, relaxed demeanor suggests he knows he belongs.
Rio Gomez was 91 with the FB and low 80s with breaking stuff. He had trouble locating tonight...only 1 walk but often long in counts...otherwise I would have put him in the crafty lefty column. From my vantage point behind the plate, it appeared his breaking ball had sharp bite and he threw a tailing FB to righties. Both pitches had discernable movement.
Thomas popped 94-95 but did not generate swings/misses. There was some loud contact...so maybe he is on the straight side.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 20, 2021 18:53:07 GMT -5
If they can get Santos to sit 93 they may have a back end guy Santos still in...has gone to more off speed. FB 91 some at 92 in 5th. Sox lead 3-1 scoring 2 on bases loaded error. Casas has a wall scraper double to left and a hard GB single b/t first and second plus a walk. Baldwin hit a rocket shot 2/3 up left field wall...missed the exit velo but it was up there. Rosario had a LD double to RF corner with 100 EV.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 20, 2021 17:07:51 GMT -5
At Tonite's Sea Dog game... Victor Santos starting for Dogs....23 pitches in first inning....line out, ground out, line single, BB, ground out on excuse me swing. Santos was 93 with FB, 83 with slider.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 20, 2021 7:56:20 GMT -5
Actually, it’s the exact opposite. I know how rare a first place position in July is. And, given what you lived through you do, too. Because it’s so rare, I believe when a team finds itself in that position should absolutely go for it. The majority of the folks here indicated they were willing to let that slip away as long as the FO stuck to the plan. My challenge then was, “OK, if you’re willing to give up a very rel opportunity now for a theoretical opportunity coming from the plan, when does that occur and how long do we have to wait after letting this one slip away in service of that plan?” I absolutely hate wasting a rare, positive opportunity for some maybe in the future unless that future is better, visible, and relatively close. I don’t let believe the Sox are lined up for the latter two (yet), and should’ve gone for it, but I’m in the minority. That’s it Wah wah...im older I know more. That's what I heard. Well, I don't think that you were listening carefully. Voiceofreason has a forest for the trees perspective. He was frustrated by the "wah, wah" complaining....demanding a championship or bust every year. With a measure of financial constraint and off where we were last year, ownership took the course of trying to compete while not compromising the future. I don't know of any available trades that could have forestalled where we are. Voice was not insulting your intelligence....I don't think.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 18, 2021 19:34:21 GMT -5
Got it. The Sox scored 3 runs in yesterday's 14 innings. Surely they can score 3 or more in the last 6 innings Tonite while stopping any Yanks scoring......oh yeah, not bloody likely.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 18, 2021 19:15:31 GMT -5
Good job garret, just hold them for a few innings You and I plus the rest of fandom realize this game is most likely in the books...
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 18, 2021 19:12:56 GMT -5
A bloop and a blast. Yanks are on their second extended roll this season. We are collapsing in another Boston massacre. Yanks have very solid pitching...We don't. They win close games because of their pitching and power. But we didn't expect much so...hey wait until next year ... or the year after.
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Post by sarasoxer on Aug 11, 2021 22:19:34 GMT -5
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago here that it seemed Downs was overmatched. The replies at the time were to let him play thru it. I am worried that this year may set him back mentally and psychologically. We'll see. Worried about him mentally? I’m worried he just can’t hit. That too.....
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