Autumn Dreamin

Do they win a few more games by saving Taylor for leverage spots? Maybe (assuming they want to prioritize that over whatever development path for him)....Though honestly I'd argue maybe they don't, if the starter variance forces Will to scramble with the pen anyway. We've seen those scrambles have a lot of negative domino effects already. Obviously it's impossible to truly know how the counterfactuals play out, but was Taylor going in the 6th or 7th vs. MIL really more impactful than having him in the 1st inning of these two games vs. Toronto? (Not by WPA, for what it's worth) Like if Taylor put up a 0 ahead of Burke's first outing vs MIL, that's probably a more winnable game. Potentially tied in the 6th? Even if not, does Burke simply going deeper mean they have a fresher pen to avoid the collapse in the finale? In that game, Kay was pulled in the 5th to dodge a 3rd AB for the cleanup hitter (who had already homered against him) with runners on. That created an extra leverage spot trying to even make it to Taylor, who was saved for the top of the order in the 7th. Sure, Taylor puts up a 0 there...but the 8th is now in Murphy's hands because they had to spend a better arm on that earlier fire from Kay's third time through. Murphy doesn't have his best stuff/luck in a back to back outing after covering for Burke's short start in the prior game, and now they have to rush Dominguez in...Yelich, who got a free look at Dominguez when he also had to cover an extra inning the night before, takes him deep and wins the game. Yesterday could have played out similarly. Vlad Jr just missed a HR in his first AB vs. Kay, then found the extra distance in the second attempt on a very similar pitch in his next one. But Taylor getting him out in the 1st meant the second look at Kay came all the way in the 6th inning, and another look wasn't even a factor. Venable got to pick his spot to pull Kay (with a lefty up for Murphy, bases empty) instead of the game situation forcing it, because Taylor's scoreless first removed both the pressure for more length from Kay and the looming threat of a third time through. Finding a pathway to the end of the game is a bit easier with this staff when it starts in the 6th or later, and all of the bullpen usage/matchups/leverage stuff becomes more projectable. The pen deployment yesterday felt relatively smooth despite using 6 arms, because there was no emergency need for length or leverage from the starter's exit causing unexpected ripple effects or forcing tough choices. Only one guy came in with runners on (Hicks). Same for the series opener (Dominguez). In Kay's first start, it was 4/6 arms coming in with inherited runners...which made that 4.2IP/2ER vs. MIL feel so much less effective than the 4.1IP/2ER vs. TOR. TLDR: The ability to append any quality inning onto a possibly less than quality start is pretty useful, Taylor as opener just locks it in at the start where Taylor as setup guy requires you to actually make it to that setup scenario first. It seems feasible to me that "How can we get to the 7th WITH Taylor?" is an easier puzzle to solve than "How can we get to the 7th FOR Taylor?" and smoothing out some of that variance could help a lot of other pieces fall into place more consistently. I think Vasil as swiss army pitcher had a similar effect at times last year. But despite all of my yapping, I'm not necessarily saying Taylor will/should exclusively open games from here on out. For this back to back specifically, I think a lot of stars just aligned once he was so efficient in Game 1. I do think being willing to do it at least situationally does have multiple benefits for this roster right now though: Guaranteed innings for Taylor, instead of waiting for leverage chances that may be harder to come by/bridge to Insulating a rotation of mostly unproven arms from third time through penalties Having more projectable/consistent bullpen deployment for later innings (even when that doesn't include Taylor himself) Providing a more natural path to eventual longer outings than trying to force multi-inning holds/saves Potentially helping with "momentum" in games, given an offense that often scores more early than late It's also just kind of cool that they just won back to back games with the same two pitchers recording the first 3 outs and last 3 outs of both games. Has to be a rarity.

If you want him as a future closer, then sure. But if they are leaving the starting door open for next season then they'll need to use him in more than one circumstance. Saving him for leverage only would make it hard to get to their innings target.

Just bad luck for Toronto, having to play the Pope's team on a holy weekend

oh no blue jays

Mune's reaction to Colson's HR

They are good friends lol, Mune just likes winning more

Mune and Montgomery simply don't care about your lefty splits

I don't even think prospect fatigue fully covers it. I think some people (within Sox fandom specifically) are trying to talk themselves into it being a tougher choice so that they can reserve the right to be mad later about the team making the "wrong" one. Roch being an uncontroversial clear consensus 1OA is boring to them, because it simply doesn't provide enough avenues to blame Getz/Shirley/the org for the pick in the future.

McGuire is starting to catch Kay, who he has history with (in Toronto, ironically). His last win in the bigs was caught by McGuire. Also, Fluharty isn't a starter, he's just an opener for an expected BP day. He might not even get to Quero's expected spot in the order. The bulk guy is a righty.

Thought it was interesting when he talked about how LRJ was very welcoming to him even then and trying to pay that forward to new Sox now Also he was apparently close with Yamamoto, who encouraged him to support Mune here

Love how these two have just been instant friends lol

Crafty cutter/sweeper lefty as TOR's opener tomorrow. Probably RHP Lazaro Estrada for bulk relief.

They want to get him innings for a possible transition to starting next year. I suspect the plan was for him to pitch into the 2nd today, but his first inning was so quick that they decided to just keep him available for tomorrow instead.

Braden just crushed a go ahead 3 run HR

Wonder if we see him this weekend, TOR had some TBA's coming into the series. Also...Corbin signed before Gio?

The home plate stream on CHSN is a pretty good vibe. Ballpark audio, including during commercial breaks.

Munetaka "Can he hit velo?" Murakami vs. 99mph from Cease:

Burke historically struggles in the first inning (5.73 ERA last year) and does better with an opener (<3 ERA).

Mets haven't learned that this is Luis' ball yet

Could be good for continuing to build the Sox brand in Japan

He's in extended spring to start