Snopek

Aaron Ward is a really disappointing old timey baseball name.

Aaaand the boom or bust offense goes on

Did you just pick a random thread to say this in?

It really is. And this coming after last year's weirdo season which was another "throw the stats out the window" type season.

They are full season. But, honestly, there have been so many guys in and out of the lineup both pre and post ASB that it may just look wonky regardless. - Grandal missed more of his games post ASB - Tim missed more of his post ASB - Robert missed more pre ASB - Eloy obviously missed more pre ASB

The Sox are currently: - Tied for 3rd lowest launch angle in baseball - Tied for 3rd highest groundball rate in baseball - 7th lowest fly ball rate in baseball Oddly enough...as OP mentions, they are near the bottom of the league in sac flies post ASB, but they had the 4th most sac flies in baseball pre ASB. All while having a higher groundout to air out rate in the first half. What's it all mean? I'm not smart enough to know. Is it poor approach, poor execution, bad luck or all of the above?

Yep. I'm waiting to hear that Vaughn will be out through the playoffs due to an appendectomy or something.

This season has felt so damn long that I don't even remember the home series vs Seattle or playing Cincinnati at all.

Huh, I wouldn't have guessed that. Seems like the narrative of their incompetence playing in Oakland has overshadowed that a bit.

How many groundouts this inning? I'll say 4

I don't understand why this game in particular has brought out all the "they will get bounced in the first round" comments again. Pathetic effort and pathetic game? Yes. Surprising? Not really. This is sort of who they've been for awhile now. I don't think this ugly loss should change the way you feel about their chances in the postseason.

Imagine paying to watch this

I enjoy a good downhill coast on my bike. This is like coasting through trees and bushes.

Love all the groundouts guys. Real good looking stuff.

Great effort all around thus far

Don't worry, they'll put up 10 runs tomorrow. Followed by 2 total in the next two games.

Howzabout no groundouts this inning okay?

It felt a bit optimistic, but the way I see it: Robert, at the moment, feels like a threat to go deep every AB I think Eloy gets in a groove sooner than later, and his homers can come in bunches I can see Sheets hitting two more in the same game and then zero the rest of the way due to sporadic playing time Yoan...yeah I don't know. That's probably the most optimistic of them all

This is fun. I don't think Sheets gets the playing time to hold off Eloy and Robert (although every AB of his feels like it could go 440 ft). I'll say they finish like this: Yoan 13 Robert 13 Eloy 12 Sheets 11

Well the bright side to Robert batting sixth will be the 6-run homer he’s gonna hit in the first inning.

The "they're not great" comment feels really out of character for Stone. I read all of his tweets in his voice and when I got to that part my brain didn't know what to do.

Hoping Robert doesn't slide back to down to 6th or whatever.

It feels a little more nuanced than that. Alternating wins and losses while the focus is on resting players isn’t exactly thrilling to watch. It’s possible to appreciate the big picture and be excited about the team and playoffs, but still be bored with the loooong wind down of the regular season.