hankchifan

Absolutely right. Last in the AL in average # of runs per opportunity while being first in number of opportunities is unacceptable.

Just watched the Astros successfully hit and run with Brantley hitting and Altuve running. It is not a dead art. We have speed in TA, Robert, Moncada normally hitting ahead of Abreu, the leading DP hitter in the majors. It should be a no brainer to hit and run whenever feasible with Abreu at bat.

It is more like cronyism that nepotism. TLR is not related to JR, but he is his crony, good ole boy buddy.

Agree. He gets the ball up in the air often. Lefty power and can also play the outfield. Cubs were stupid to let him go.

Schwarber would have been a good addition. Lefty power, could play outfield and DH. Postseason experience. Iglesias would have been better than Cesar. Most any deal would have been better than the Kimbrel deal,

Right. My bad.

One player never mentioned is Adam Duvall for RF. Maybe the Dodgers would trade him. He has the highest fly ball rate in MLB - 53%, a major Sox need, plus 38 homers and led the NLin RBIs. Down side is average .228, righty, and 33 yrs old. Food for thought.

The Red Sox are hitting a lot of homers and not many double plays, so they don’t need to hit and run. On the other hand, White Sox hit a lot of ground balls and hit into many double plays, and Abreu has led the majors in double plays hit the last three seasons. So hit and running with Abreu at the plate makes sense.

I played baseball through college many years ago and hit and run was an integral part of the game then. Hit and run forces the hitter to focus more, puts pressure on the defense, opens holes in the infield, avoids double plays, can put a man in scoring position.. With the Sox high ground ball hitting rate and double play hitting rate, it makes more sense particularly with Abreu at the plate. A guy getting thrown out at second is better than a double play. What is your opinion?

We wish.

Red Sox are beating the crap out of the Astros with three grand slams in 2 games. Sox will need to get more balls up in the air next year or and/or hit and run more to stay out of double plays.

Or hit into double plays.

Astros shut down Red Sox in the 9 th with the shift.

Chris Sale not looking good tonight against the Astros.

Agree we gave out two young promising players for an aging expensive rental that ended up pitching one inning in the playoffs, and sucked during the regular season. The best trade would have been staying pat and not make the trade. We already had a closer. FO wants to be cute at times and they screw things up.

Fans are an important stakeholder for the Sox, and should be listened too. I guess many players would not prefer a hard driven hard ass manager. Would prefer a low energy manager not pushing them too hard.

Madrigal trade was a big blunder. We had control, he is a .300 contact hitter which the Sox lacks and needs. A first rounder.

I don’t have the stats but my concern is if you want to hit home runs you need to get the ball up in the air. Sox have the third highest ground ball rate in the majors, not conducive to many homers. Sox do not play small ball or have a running game to balance out the many ground balls they hit. So we need to adjust our strategy next season having more runners in motion, be more patient to look for pitches to get up in the air and to take more walks. We need to activate more small ball as needed when we are not hitting the long ball.

Like Kimbrel.

Homers or strikeouts or double plays. No running game whatsoever. Pure station to station baseball. No homers normally no wins. We need to adjust that strategy next season. My concern is that TLR hardly ever adjusts. He is set in his ways. It is a shame.

I am rooting for the other Sox. Will not root for the Astros

Sad but true.

Right on. The HFA was there for the taking. Too many punted games, Sunday lineups, Keuchel starts, over reliance on a resting strategy. Furthermore, it did not get the team into an aggresive, winning mode. .500 baseball was accepted as OK, as we would then have rested players for our 4 game playoff. That strategy was a bust. We needed to keep the foot on the pedal going to the playoffs.

You mean Yolmer?

Can we get Salvador Perez instead?