Chimpton

More serious is the thought that the 'years of success' promised during the rebuild appear to be over, the squad was not good enough to advance in the post season last 2 years and if anything looks worse this season, the farm system is empty so no possible trade chips there and there is no possibility of more money from Jerry, and there are too many underperforming players on big fat contracts who no one else would want, so I'm not sure where any improvement would come from. I know injuries are crippling the squad but the complete lack of depth was an issue for most on here but not the FO, and even if they were all fit that only puts us back where we were last season when the post season lasted one dismal series.

Makes you wonder if the Sox even have a strength and conditioning department.

Losing is one thing, every team, even great ones, go on losing streaks but it is the insipid manner of these defeats that is most worrying. They are playing like a team winding down at the end of the season who have nothing left to play for.

Agree on the pitching and 2B but I can't agree completely about Eloy just yet. He may be hitting badly at the moment but his BA is better than Abreu, Sheets, Robert and Grandal. Mind you all of the above named are doing badly at the moment, I'm just hoping the warmer weather has an impact eventually! With Eloy if he is still like this by the All Star Break then it may be time to move on from him.

The biggest worry is the lack of offense. Dallas Keuchel was worse than we expected and that game was gone after 2 innings but in the 2nd game the pitchers did their bit limiting the opposition to 2 runs and still the offense could only muster 2 runs across the 2 games. Yes the rotation is weak (hopefully Giolito is back healthy very soon) but unless the offense pulls its weight to help them out this season could go south very quickly.

Agreed, this team is good enough as is to make the post season, but unless the starting pitching gets strengthened before then it will be hard to progress. But a 6-3 start while missing your 1-2 starting pitchers and your starting 3B is better than I was expecting.

Which is why Leury is in the team, otherwise what would we have to complain about! 😉

I think the Burger is out of condition accusation is way out now, yes when he was out with his two injuries he did pile on the pounds but he is hardly a beached whale and so far has played 3B defense well and not shown any mobility issues. Having said that I would not move Moncada when he is fit and would not put Burger at 2B, playing out of position and being a rookie is not the best use of his talents. Moncada will need rest to avoid his usual injuries so Burger could get useful time covering for him and pinch hitting, whether that would be enough with the roster going to 26 soon is another question.

I thought Lambert did ok but last night the bats couldn't carry him. I may be wrong but I thought he pitched a little better than the bare stats and Velasquez was a little worse than his bare stats, but if we get away with a .500 record in their combined starts then we will be doing very well!

Oh no I agree the rotation is a potential lead weight on the season, but other teams will get SP injuries due to the short Spring Training and disrupted seasons. This season is going to be big time about the depth in pitching teams have and I agree the cupboard is beyond bare in the Sox farm system.

Yes but all the other teams also have their equivalent 3-4-5 pitchers as well so as long as the bats stay healthy we should be ok until Gio and Lynn are back.

I don't mind if they can contribute at MLB level, but if relying on rookies is the only tactic then it will eventually bite us, especially as the farm shop shelves are pretty empty!

He only had one collision yesterday, so surely he is improving! 😉

That is a mighty big 'IF' and we had 3 of those 4 last season and still didn't get beyond round 1 of the playoffs.

Our top two starters were hurt by the end of opening day so Rodon last until June would be an improvement!

A bit of an understatement he currently has given up twice as many hits as outs.

The way our SPs are falling that will be the 1-3 of the rotation soon.

I know but it is so much fun to overreact to one bad loss. 😂

With the Opening Day that we feared would never happen now upon us what do we expect to see against Detroit? I predict Giolito will give 4 good innings before things get a bit scary when the bullpen takes over and we hang on to a nervy win!

I'm just waiting for the first comment that trading away Kimbrel was a mistake 😉

I would be happy at the moment if they both stayed healthy and lasted the season.

Unfortunately until the scans it is hard to know, I am a football (soccer) fan here in the UK and have seen player walk off after a knee injury but then it turns out worse than expected and equally seen them stretchered off but be back in a few weeks. There are different levels of tear to the acl or mcl but even if it is 'only' an ongoing soreness problem it is not a good sign going in to the season and is a warning that relying on Lynn to last the full season would be reckless, another 1-3 SP is needed asap.

I stand corrected.

No it isn't it has just become culturally unacceptable.

It was also a top 5 'on paper' last year but didn't make it that far, I would be happy with a team that performs better than it is predicted 'on paper' even is that team doesn't win it all.