Snopek

No. I think he’s just not very good.

Patino is a pretty highly regarded talent. We have the scrubbier pitcher of the two at this point.

Such a welcome sight from all the groundballs. I was curious if they were actually hitting a lot of groundballs this season or if it just seemed that way, so I decided to look it up. Turns out 1) they are hitting a lot of groundballs, but 2) they sort of always have (at least as far back as the data goes): Year: ML Rank (GB%) 2021: #2 (47.7%) 2020: #5 (45.9%) 2019: #4 (47.1%) 2018: #8 (46%) 2017: #4 (48.2%) 2016: #10 (47%) 2015: #3 (50.3%)

On top of that, Bummer seems to have found his groove as well. He hasn't given up a run since July 23 (9 appearances, 8.2 innings, 13 K, 2 hits!)

Let us build on the momentum of not being the team that felt the need to sign Jake Arrieta.

Not meant as a comparison between the two, but this calls to mind the days of Dye in RF. Seemed like he was always making running/diving catches out there, but they would have been routine balls for most RF's.

Fair enough. I generally try to steer clear of game threads during the game. Seems exhausting.

These are great points that I admittedly overlooked. I 100% agree with all of this. The quick dismissal of concerns just gets annoying.

No one is getting criticized for LIKING the team and I think you know that. The criticism comes from our different comfort levels currently with the team that we ALL LIKE.

What am I misunderstanding about the below?

Why do you hate the Sox?

I intentionally exaggerated, since that seems to be the level of discourse needed here. Expressing concerns over losing to a team you might see in the playoffs means you don't like the Sox? Cool, good talk.

The refusal to acknowledge flaws is equally astounding.

This is basically how I feel about the team, but I'm just surprised at how controversial of a thought the bolded part seems to be around here.

What about with Rizzo, Sanchez, Urshela, Gleyber and Chapman all available for the Yankees? Also, they still lost all those "coin flip" games. Oh, except for the Field of Dreams game. They won that coin flip.

Maybe it's a low bar sort of thing when compared to Collins. Not that that makes it any better.

The arrogance is a little off-putting. Like, it's weird to me that some folks just can't entertain the idea that there might be some AL teams better than the Sox. I've seen the Yankees quickly dismissed as non-contenders, despite the fact that they're only 2.5 games back from the Sox in the W-L column. Don't get me wrong - I think this is a VERY good Sox team and I'm beyond excited for the potential playoff run. I just struggle to understand the cocky posts that state one's hopes as fact (and then invalidate those that don't see it the same way).

It's so obnoxious.

By that logic you should never bring in a relief pitcher ever.

Fair enough. Maybe I misinterpreted the post I initially quoted.

Here’s what I don’t understand: If the Sox lose 2 of 3 to a team and some people are upset, they’re told it’s a long season, doesn’t mean much, stop being negative, always something to complain about etc etc. But if the Sox win 2 of 3 it’s supposed to be conclusive as to which team is superior over the other? For the record, I don’t see Cleveland as a threat at all, but it has nothing to do with this past series. I just don’t follow the logic that a series can mean nothing or determine the better team, depending on whether the Sox won the series.

I'm not sure I believe that. Are they good enough to do that? Perhaps. Have they proven it? No way.

It sucks, but better now than October. I wasn’t expecting a perfect and seamless return from the IL for any of our guys.

I’m as cautious as they come, but this is a healthy perspective to have. This is how you take advantage of the huge lead/terrible division.

You and your high standards. Don't you know you're supposed to be content?