CaliSoxFanViaSWside

One hell of a start by Sandlin ! Could probably go another but doesn't seem like he will.

We can only control our own destiny so just keep winning and it takes care of itself , grasshopper .

You must feel way better now 🙂

There's some aggressive baserunning that paid off big time !!

Blowing L to R so might be carrying out some to RF.

Beggars can't be choosers.

That's about right.I think he said it's been at 75 for a while but he usually had one bad inning with too many pitches that prevented him from getting past 4 innings.

Right Sox don't score many runs with base hits unless there's some walks in there and stronger hitters.

The immediate hit that scored 2 runs isn't good ? If it was 1st and 2nd and Hill Ks or pops out ,then Antonacci has infield at DP debt and possible DP grounder. I didn't like it because Hill hits decent against LHH and is fast and and bottom of order coming up and Acuna and Antonacci have very weak splits against LHP.

RF really didn't come close to catching it though.Maybe I missed some deke by the OF. I know because it's on the RF line the throw to 1st is short if he catches it so it limited how far he could go towards 2nd. I just think a lot of guys read that it was going to drop in better and are closer to 2nd when it does. At least he didn't pull a muscle so there's that .

So you were surprised he didn't make it to 3rd on the Quero hit too ?

Not real fond of that bunt. But it worked great.

You can see why he has reverse splits. Good sequencing had guys off balance .He settled down quickly.

Venablecamera shot in dugout has a long pointy thumbnail. Looks like vampire nail.

LFG !! Imperative to knock Prielipp around to win this game.

I think it's more the always getting hurt part than it is having very little of it. All the Tommy John surgeries caused a deficit and between injuries & inconsistencies of our top minor league starters it created a massive deficit in just around 15 months. There's only so much a GM with almost no money to spend can do combat that when you can only sign a pitcher to a 1 or 2 year contract. You added Fedde, Davitt, Sandlin, Kay, Shane Smith , Vasil, Houser,Yoendrys Gomez . Newcomb can't remember who else who was AAA or above that they added between the last 2 off seasons after the TJ epidemic started in spring 2025. But Vasil got hurt.Shane Smith lost it then got hurt.Jonathon Cannon was replaced.Gomez and Houser traded or replaced.Schultz not very effective rookie.Fedde cheap signing not effective. McDougal hurt, Hagen Smith no command. THorpe, Mason Adams TJ surgery.Martin and Burke the only 2 who survived from last years rotation. Newcomb was given incentives based on games started but it became apparent he wasn't a starter and has pitched effectively in the pen . Probably forgetting 3 or more no names who got some starts last year not counting openers.

Tanner Murray injury ( out for the season) hurt our RH infield depth as did trading Mead for Boston Smith. Lots of depth injuries to the 40 man roster especially among pitchers.

I should have specified the lineup is not as effective as it is against RHP, not in how they relate to the rest of the AL or MLB . But if it is let me know. Lineup isn't as strong but that may be the case with a lot of teams. Sam is much worse against LHP than RHP, Mune's OPS is .128 points lower but still pretty good . Colson pretty equal. Quero is very bad RH this year when last year he was considered to be stronger RH. He's hitting . .061 RH. Hill and Grichuk have hit LHP pretty good . Acuna also much worse vs LHP. Big difference with Vargas. Easily our best hitter against LHP . Didn't realize just how much better he is against LHP than RHP. Big difference with Meidroth also . Much better against LHP. Helps immensely that our big 3 don't lose much if anything with how much better Vargas is. The top 5 are still concentrated but looks like he dropped Colson down a bit to 5th behind Grichuk . 3 of the bottom 4 aren't very good at all against LHP.

2 Rookie Starting pitchers , Sandlin for the Sox and (LH)Prielipp for the Twins. Sox lineup always is pretty weak against LHP. Still no Hays (RH), Pereira (RH) or Braden Montgomery (SH) or even Korey Lee (RH). Sox showing no inclination to demote Quero or DFA Acuna just yet.

I hope @ptatc is doing well. Maybe its just the Soxtalk reconstuction server issues keeping him away . Or he could be fedup with all the Soxtalk medical experts talking crap even to this very day that act as if every Sox injury is an indictment of the medical staff. The paranoia is real.

Thanks I thought I remembered seeing a tweet that he'd start today but apparently not everyone got the memo even though that tweet was from yesterday and seems like thats plenty of time for those sources to be aware of it.

Was there a tweet somewhere that said Sandlin is starting today ? I still see Martin listed on MLB Gameday & MLB app on my TV but Sandlin listed on CBS Sports which usually has more updated info for gamblers.

Hes walking a fine line there is my point.And he just walked a guy to load the bases. Throwing an absolute out there like if you cant throw the pitch in the dirt you shouldnt be in the majors is a hot take . If that were truly the case we'd never see wild pitches. There's in the dirt catchable and in the dirt takes a funny bounce or catchers who arent good a blocking those even when they know its coming because its like any other pitch, you can miss the location and it goes to the backstop. Pitchers throw mistake pitches all the time and miss location in zone and out of zone. . Youre asking him to throw it in the dirt but not too much inside or outside so maybe thats why it was so center cut. So many variables there about what the catcher wanted him to do. Maybe there was even some pitcher catcher miscommunication In that situation you want to minimize the chance for a mistake. Maybe he wasnt even trying to throw it in the dirt.We can assume he was but cant be sure . He had just executed 2 high fastballs for strikes so Im fairly confident a 3rd one above the zone and away would ve been a better call. It's splitting hairs I know .You execute either pitch properly both are good calls but a sinker right down in the zone youre hoping he tops it into a DP more than youre looking for the K , though you would certainly take either result. So maybe was trying to throw it low enough to get a DP but not too low for a wild pitch . A pitch too much in the dirt could bounce away from the catcher and all 3 runners advance. It's like the next worst situation to grooving an off speed pitch down the middle to speed up his bat. Baseball not easy. 🙂

Plus its a rookie pitcher, bases are loaded. Asking him to bury it in the dirt with a runner on 3rd is a tough call 0-2. Hitter on the ropes . Go with the high fastball away.

After one successful bunt I expect a "Who gets the CREDIT ?" thread too.