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Post by klawrencio79 on Jul 28, 2020 14:12:39 GMT
Rey Kahuka TheGoodMan19 millar70 Oh yeah, it's time boys. The clash of the titans. If the season goes the way of the dodo, at least we'll get what we've all been waiting for - a Mets/Red Sox home-and-home. (I meant to start this thread before the game last night but got sidetracked. Alas.) Good to see Alonso with some good swings after looking like he was pressing in the opening series. He can make any park look small. Assuming the DH is here to stay forevermore, the Mets have a great in house DH tandem in Dom Smith and JD Davis. Smith is a decent 1B, but there's no way Alonso is sitting, barring injury. Having Smith and Davis (who is awful defensively) split those reps in 2021 and beyond is a pretty good situation. JD Davis was brilliant in a breakout year last year, but I wonder how good he'll be over the course of a full season, or whether he's one of those guys better suited for 400 ABs in order to maximize his production. I guess we'll find out this year. Zack Godley pitched really well in relief, tossing 4 shutout innings. I can't find a clip on youtube of where Boegarts ran down Amed Rosario from behind and tagged him out trying to advance to third on a McNeil grounder to 3B where nobody covered the bag. Nice try by Rosario, but incredible play by Boegarts to catch him. You guys can speak to this better than I can, but the Sox looked terrible on defense last night, aside from the aforementioned Boegarts play. Is that normal or just an aberration of a game? Either way, the Mets are the worst defensive team in baseball. They have some good gloves on the bench for late inning replacement, but among their starters, I honestly don't know who their best defender is. Wilson Ramos? Nimmo is OK for a corner OF, but they have him manning center. Conforto is passable, Davis is terrible, Cespedes has a rocket arm but he doesn't give a shit and he can't run even if he did give a shit, McNeil is eh, Rosario and Cano are like two peas in a pod, Alonso is a proto 1B (but admittedly better than we all expected him to be coming into last year). Game 2 from Fenway coming at you starting at 7:30. The Sox are going with Matt Hall making his first major league start and the Mets have yet to announce a starter, presumably going with a bullpen game.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jul 28, 2020 14:18:34 GMT
I don't think they're terrible defensively, but I do think they've already mentally checked out on the season. Management made it clear this was a throwaway year and the core players aren't used to being on a bad team. Add all the chaos with Cora's firing, and the team is just rudderless right now. I don't expect much from them this year because frankly, I don't think they expect much from themselves.
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Post by Rufus-T on Jul 28, 2020 15:58:04 GMT
I love watching Dom Smith hits. I wish the Mets plays him more.
As for the Sox, they are having some pitching problem.
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Post by klawrencio79 on Jul 28, 2020 16:08:41 GMT
I love watching Dom Smith hits. I wish the Mets plays him more. As for the Sox, they are having some pitching problem. I used to be very anti-Dom Smith. He always seemed to be fat and just a trash hitter with no defensive ability. Turns out, he's a decent first basemen and last year he did really well in a limited role. I imagine that once Cespedes isn't on the team anymore, Smith will slot in as the regular DH next year. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jul 28, 2020 16:25:48 GMT
Rufus is right, the Sox definitely have pitching issues. I saw it coming, which is why it isn't as aggravating as it could be. You know it's a weird year if I'm not upset with my teams for something.
Where is everyone today? What do these people have lives? Do they not poke around the internet in the office?! You, Millar and Goodman have probably forgotten more about baseball than I'll ever know, yet you're stuck with me, Klaw.
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Post by klawrencio79 on Jul 28, 2020 16:28:31 GMT
Rufus is right, the Sox definitely have pitching issues. I saw it coming, which is why it isn't as aggravating as it could be. You know it's a weird year if I'm not upset with my teams for something. Where is everyone today? What do these people have lives? Do they not poke around the internet in the office?! You, Millar and Goodman have probably forgotten more about baseball than I'll ever know, yet you're stuck with me, Klaw. To be fair, my OP was such a staggering work of articulated genius that I don't see how anyone else could have anything worthwhile to contribute. They probably read it, nodded in agreement and absconded into the ether. |
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Post by millar70 on Jul 28, 2020 20:40:11 GMT
The Red Sox pitching is atrocious. Quite possibly, the worst of my lifetime. There has always, I mean always, at least been one guy in the rotation you could trust (Tiant, Clemens, Pedro, Schilling, Beckett, Lester, etc), but with Rodriguez out, we have an apparently very confused Nathan Eovaldi and nothing else.
While the lineup still seems dangerous, there are still issues there. Jackie Bradley walked last night, which was the first walk for a Sox batter in like 75 at bats, VERY un-Sox like. And someone has to explain why JD Martinez is hitting 2nd in the lineup. I'm sure there is some nerd analytical reason for it, but it seems pretty dumb to me.
Mix in some shitty defense, a new manager that no one seems to care about, and an empty no-energy Fenway Park......and it all adds up to a pretty crappy Red Sox team. Kind of amazing when you think of how dominant they were in 2018.
And no, I don't think this is just about Mookie Betts. The cracks were showing last year as well.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 29, 2020 20:41:35 GMT
Fun time is about to end for the Mets tonight as this series moves to Shea Stadium (or whatever).
The Sox take things much more seriously on the road. NOW you'll see some pitching! I believe the Sox found Casey Fossum working at a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, and have convinced him to start tonight's game.
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Post by klawrencio79 on Jul 29, 2020 20:44:34 GMT
Fun time is about to end for the Mets tonight as this series moves to Shea Stadium (or whatever). The Sox take things much more seriously on the road. NOW you'll see some pitching! I believe the Sox found Casey Fossum working at a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, and have convinced him to start tonight's game. I thought Eovaldi was pitching tonight? In a way you're right though, because the Mets inexplicably refuse to ever score any runs for Jacob deGrom, so the game will undoubtedly be 0-0 after 7, at which point the battle of the pens shall ensue. |
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Post by Rufus-T on Jul 29, 2020 21:04:11 GMT
Fun time is about to end for the Mets tonight as this series moves to Shea Stadium (or whatever). The Sox take things much more seriously on the road. NOW you'll see some pitching! I believe the Sox found Casey Fossum working at a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, and have convinced him to start tonight's game. When deGrom is pitching, you can bet on great pitching against the Mets.
What happened to Benintendi? He looked terrible. He has been one of the most consistent players the last few years. See if he can break out of it soon, but hope not tonight though. |
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Post by millar70 on Jul 29, 2020 22:13:42 GMT
Fun time is about to end for the Mets tonight as this series moves to Shea Stadium (or whatever). The Sox take things much more seriously on the road. NOW you'll see some pitching! I believe the Sox found Casey Fossum working at a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, and have convinced him to start tonight's game. When deGrom is pitching, you can bet on great pitching against the Mets.
What happened to Benintendi? He looked terrible. He has been one of the most consistent players the last few years. See if he can break out of it soon, but hope not tonight though. Benintendi really hasn't been that great at all during his short career. He definitely shows flashes, but there really hasn't been much consistency. Lord knows I hate to bring this kind of crap into a conversation, but Benintendi is a good looking white dude playing in Boston, so his leash with Sox Nation (and the press) is a little longer. Sox fans are always looking for a new Fred Lynn. |
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Post by millar70 on Jul 29, 2020 22:15:31 GMT
Fun time is about to end for the Mets tonight as this series moves to Shea Stadium (or whatever). The Sox take things much more seriously on the road. NOW you'll see some pitching! I believe the Sox found Casey Fossum working at a Dunkin Donuts somewhere, and have convinced him to start tonight's game. I thought Eovaldi was pitching tonight? In a way you're right though, because the Mets inexplicably refuse to ever score any runs for Jacob deGrom, so the game will undoubtedly be 0-0 after 7, at which point the battle of the pens shall ensue. Sox will score at least 4 runs off of DeGrom, book it. Of course, the Mets might score 12 off our guys, but that's irrelevant. |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 29, 2020 22:22:12 GMT
Good thing we aren't playing a 162 game season. It would pain me to see the Sox lose 110 games. Still paying for 2018.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 29, 2020 22:25:02 GMT
Good thing we aren't playing a 162 game season. It would pain me to see the Sox lose 110 games. Still paying for 2018. I hope the baseball Gods don't punish us for too long, at least not as long as they punished us for that Babe Ruth transaction. |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 29, 2020 22:31:35 GMT
The Red Sox pitching is atrocious. Quite possibly, the worst of my lifetime. There has always, I mean always, at least been one guy in the rotation you could trust (Tiant, Clemens, Pedro, Schilling, Beckett, Lester, etc), but with Rodriguez out, we have an apparently very confused Nathan Eovaldi and nothing else. While the lineup still seems dangerous, there are still issues there. Jackie Bradley walked last night, which was the first walk for a Sox batter in like 75 at bats, VERY un-Sox like. And someone has to explain why JD Martinez is hitting 2nd in the lineup. I'm sure there is some nerd analytical reason for it, but it seems pretty dumb to me. Mix in some shitty defense, a new manager that no one seems to care about, and an empty no-energy Fenway Park......and it all adds up to a pretty crappy Red Sox team. Kind of amazing when you think of how dominant they were in 2018. And no, I don't think this is just about Mookie Betts. The cracks were showing last year as well. The idiotic contracts come home to roost. Sale, Price, Eovaldi, Rusney Castillo. The team is still probably paying Pablo Sandoval. I don't care what team you are, you can't spend like you have a money tree in the backyard. Yankees learned this after being swept by the Tigers in 2012. They rebuilt the farm, suffered through one playoff game in five seasons and righted the ship. There might be a few lean years in Boston. A lot of money comes off the books after this season, hopefully they won't throw it a mediocre pitchers.
Pitching is the root cause of this. Why in the name of all the saints can't this team develop a decent pitcher? Who was the last, Clay Buchholz? We really have to go back to 2007? The "blind squirrel finds the nut" argument doesn't seem to apply.
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 29, 2020 22:33:52 GMT
Good thing we aren't playing a 162 game season. It would pain me to see the Sox lose 110 games. Still paying for 2018. I hope the baseball Gods don't punish us for too long, at least not as long as they punished us for that Babe Ruth transaction. I have a lot of faith in John Henry. Whatever the GM's fuck up, we have good ownership.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 29, 2020 22:55:30 GMT
I hope the baseball Gods don't punish us for too long, at least not as long as they punished us for that Babe Ruth transaction. I have a lot of faith in John Henry. Whatever the GM's fuck up, we have good ownership.
Very good point. It's much easier for a once dominant team to return to glory when you have an owner that cares. |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 29, 2020 23:09:25 GMT
I have a lot of faith in John Henry. Whatever the GM's fuck up, we have good ownership.
Very good point. It's much easier for a once dominant team to return to glory when you have an owner that cares. After Harry Frazel sold the Sox in 1923, the team had what amounted to no ownership at all. A group of out of town millionaires bought the Sox and let Robert Quinn run the team on a shoestring. hence the dismal teams until Tom Yawkey bought them. Yawkey was rich but a drunk who knew shit about baseball. Instead of building a farm system like the Yankees, he just threw money at aging stars like Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove. young stars were brought in, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, that Williams fellow, but they still didn't have a pipeline. And after the team failed to beat out the Yankees in the 40's, he quit giving a shit. And he let his racism block tapping the Negro Leagues for talent, like Willie Mays. John Henry is, far and away, the best owner of the team in history. And the fan base has changed. The "Nation" wouldn't stand for a period like 1925 - 1932, where the best they did was 90 losses.
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Post by Rufus-T on Jul 30, 2020 2:08:48 GMT
deGrom couldn't hold a 1-0 lead. Not only the Sox pitching is better, their hitting is giving the Mets bullpen a spanking.
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Post by SportsFan19 on Jul 30, 2020 2:39:46 GMT
Where is everyone today? What do these people have lives? Do they not poke around the internet in the office?! You, Millar and Goodman have probably forgotten more about baseball than I'll ever know, yet you're stuck with me, Klaw. Took one of my cats to the vet for his vaccinations, and worked OT. |
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