CaliSoxFanViaSWside

Friday and Saturdays games are both Tim Anderson Bat Flip Bobble Head games . End of the video has a photo of the bobble head.

Or just looked in the Future Sox 5/26 games thread if it was there when you looked for it. But it is in there, too.

Also stole a base.

I saw this when it happened but it happened so fast I couldn't tell who the player was. Now I know . Decided not to mention it. But it's a thing now ? This is from a few days ago .

Burger looking real good so far. Got the batting avg. up now to go along with the high SLG. and OPS, 17 hits ,6 doubles 6 HR's

Abreu, Giolito ,Madrigal and the rest ! Hendriks ! I'm tag teaming it with Hogan.

It was amusing that's it. I was commenting more on how the mood changes from loss to win and win to loss. The season has a long way to go . As of now you can't count out Lynn, Giolito or Rodon as a game 1 starter. I just want there to be a game 1 for the Sox. I don't take anything for granted. There's been a bunch of bad luck or just "hey that's baseball" moments already so I doubt we are finished with them. For what it's worth I like the comments after the wins more than after losses.

Never change Soxtalk. Get a win with dominant starting pitching and extend him and he should be our game one starter in the playoffs talk starts. Plus Rodon would laugh at a Qualifying offer. It's almost as if the playoffs were in a week instead 4 months away. I feel like I missed the announcement that it's a 60 game season again.

Because one side inevitably says something insulting like you don't know Baseball, or it's dumb, stupid, idiotic, moronic , you know those trigger words.. I once had the whole board against me on a subject ( it's actually happened on a few occasions in 15yrs+ here) and I found stuff from Cal Ripken that supported me. I heard repeatedly it's Baseball 101,yet even Cal Ripken was on my side .

Lynn, Vaughn and all the rest ! 1st day of 60% capacity. Go Fans !

It really doesn't matter. It's like asking if a HR was a solo shot or with men on base or came when you are hopelessly behind. Getting on base with a walk is a good thing. Of course a hit is better but what happens next is really of no consequence. Tons of runners get stranded but the more guys that get on base a lot ,the better the offense becomes. This is why the Sox are the leaders in run differential. The offense isn't really as good as it appears but having a very good OBP definitely makes it a lot better. HR's win a lot more games now with hitter stats down throughout baseball so getting on base means a lot more multi run HR's . Now we just need more HR's .

Lamb got off to a slow start that made everyone hate him despite the SSS . In the last 28 days he is hitting .261. OBP .393 SLG .565 and .963 OPS. Of course this is only a slightly larger SSS but he's not the pariah everyone seems to think he is at least for the last month.

I spoke in generalities and when you do that of course you can pick out instances where it isn't true. That is common sense. Plus I also said LaRussa isnt a good manager so that also applies. I never said LaRussa handled the BP perfectly I just that his options are limited. If you want perfection it can't be found. Things do vary from series to series as you pointed out . Maybe Bummer and Hendricks just need more work to get back into a groove and the others less but it still hurts not having Kopech and Crochet when you need them more than you need the Foster, Ruiz, Marshall, Heuer. Maybe get Detwiler back for a multiple inning role to free Kopech . But if you free Kopech for a more prominent late inning role, he won't be prepping for a late season role as a starter. But as of now if you want to win more games Kopech should be used in a different role and once the Sox grab another reliever and get Robert and Jimenez back you can think about getting him to starting if they need him for that. Crochet will still be babied to keep his arm healthy butmaybe soon they start giving him more innings. We have no idea what the Sox are actually doing with him this season.

While this is true. It's just one of the problems. Yes TLR has been bad but I don't think every time the BP melts down can be blamed on him. The Sox have 2 guys in the pen , 2 of their best who are being used in ways to keep them available for larger roles down the stretch in Kopech and Crochet . Most of the time they can't be used every other day . That's why we are seeing the other guys pitching more than 1 inning or in late inning crucial situations. It's not that TLR doesn't know the limitations of his guys . It's how they are using Kopech and Crochet that have forced the others into roles they haven't been able to handle. The Sox just need better relievers than what they have been getting from Heuer, Foster, Marshall and Ruiz. But any new relief arms will basically inherit the same roles as they have now. The Sox are just going to have to muddle through relying on the starting pitching , outbursts from the offense and the weak division that have got them this far. Another arm or 2 in the BP would be nice or a good quality LH power hitter but that's a big get that I doubt the Sox are willing to sacrifice very much for. Ride the starting pitching and hope Rodon can pitch more innings than expected but some arms would help in that regard too. Rodon, Kopech and Crochet all need to be there at the finish line and the BP is suffering because Kopech and Crochet can't be used in late innings on a regular basis. That leaves us seeing way more than we expected to see from Ruiz, Marshall , Foster and Heuer. Kopech and Crochet are more than likely to continue in the roles they have now til at least the end of August and that's a long way off. That puts a lot of heat and innings on the others that, so far, they can't handle. Bummer and Hendriks not being as good as we all thought hasn't helped either.

Thanks. I think when most envisioned the Sox BP being great a lot of it had to do with 4 arms in the late innings, Kopech, Crochet, Bummer and Hendriks but because of innings limits and the desire to have them both (Kopech and Crochet ) available and healthy late in the season and for the playoffs for larger roles, they've had to rely on the other 4 guys I mentioned. Ruiz hasn't been terrible but Heuer, Foster and Marshall have. No one real envisioned them all being bad but the potential was always there since the nature of relief pitching is so volatile. So you take away Kopech and Crochet for late inning roles or even roles of pitching every other day and this is the result. You get guys being asked to pitch more than 1 inning and every other day. It's not so much theat TLR doesn't know his relievers , it's that they are being used in ways that they have been forced into by the unavailability of Kopech and Crochet. It really shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone that they can't handle the way they are being used and that the Sox are suffering so many late inning losses. Despite all that 2 of the 3 losses went wire to wire so it's not like this injury decimated or our worst BP arms getting longer and expanded roles team got clobbered. TLR actually has some big problems with all that to manage through. I don't think he's a good manager anymore and he's made a lot of mistakes . There's only one thing holding this team together and that's the starting pitching and when that falters even a little the Sox are on shaky ground because the hitting, BP, defense and manager can't cover for it

I'm reading all the arguing back and forth about how TLR used the BP and it seems rather odd to me in some way . Once again we saw Marshall and Ruiz, Bummer and Hendriks. This is one time I'm not upset with how TLR used Bummer and Hendriks . Yeah Bummer gave up the hit and the stolen base. But if you want to say Hendriks should've started the inning or Bummer taken out after a hit it's basically either hindsight or splitting hairs. Either could've been done but it wasn't but not because TLR is stupid. Even after the hit you would think Bummer being LH would be able to hold the runner better than Hendriks so not bringing Hendriks in then wasn't a bad decision. Not holding the runner was the worst part and I would like to think that the catcher, pitching coach or manager might stress that since it's the potential winning run. Once the stolen base happened , you have to walk the next guy and if you want a DP yea, you leave Bummer in. I don't have a problem with Hendriks being brought in when he was. Nothing worked out with your set up guy and closer, both of whom were supposed to be among the best in those spots all year. I highly doubt Hendriks cares that much when he's brought in. The guy wants to pitch as much as he can. But anyway that's my take but I had a bigger point to make and one that no one here ever mentions but it's food for thought so here we go. How much is TLR handicapped that 2 of our best relievers are under strict pitching guidelines ? For instance Kopech is on an innings limit and is used in multiple inning roles such as spot starter and middle relief requiring more than an inning usually. So he basically isn't used as a 7th inning guy or even an every other day type reliever . That role has been going to guys who have been been bad, Heuer, Marshall,Foster and Ruiz a lot. They are also babying Crochet along. He's pitched less innings than any other of the main guys in the BP even though he gets the best results . So like I said food for thought. Not trying to stick up for TLR , just trying my best to be an unbiased observer and remove the emotion from it all. When you can't use our 2 best guys in late inning situations it makes managing the BP way harder and also why a reliever or 2 should be priority one at the trade deadline or as soon as possible because things are not going to change with Kopech and Crochet.

Don't Cease ! Get it ! Get it !

Rodon looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball last night. Just dominating from a command + stuff standpoint that very few starting pitchers can do consistently.

Not only that but Katz could've came out to talk to Marshall after the 1st hit and slowed things down to get Heuer in there since that seemed to be the guy next in line. Was there a mound visit at all by Grandal or Katz in the bottom of the 9th ? I don't recall seeing one. Wasn't it all RH hitters Marshall faced in the 9th? Marshall the guy with reverse splits with righties hitting him for a .313 BA to this point in the season ?

That's a weird pitch in that situation when the dude has a 0 ERA because of his FB and splitter. Maybe was a hanging splitter .

I wouldn't say it was incredibly unlucky . Vaughn did pretty much what the Yankees wanted him to do. They obviously wanted at least a DP and more than likely I'm going to guess that was an inside splitter to Vaughn to try to get him to hit it on the ground to the left side. He obliged.

I'm sure there were plenty of questions about Marshall in the 8th but he did good. Well a line out bailed him out. But I'm thinking ok who's coming in the 9th. Very shocked to see it was still Marshall. Once Hamilton didnt steal 2nd and Leury got on with the bunt. I was thinking OK double steal here !? Or does Larussa subscribe to not making the 1st out at 3rd base ? I though nah he has to steal to double steal here. Way easier for Hamilton to steal 3rd and you know the Yankees are going to throw to 3rd to try and get the lead runner. Can't let Vaughn hit into a DP here.

Pretty much the same everywhere outside of Chicago. Sox caps became cool in the rap community so there's that lingering effect. I think most caps other than Sox and Yankees it's usually fans of the team wearing them.

Even the not so good ones. Imagine getting $563K a year for 4 years ( and if you're around for 4 yrs it would be a lot more than that.) You put 10% of that (after taxes) in a 401K in the stock market and about 10 yrs. you could have another million+ . So maybe by 40 you've got a pretty good chunk of money. A normal guy in the $75K/yr range has to work 30 yrs and most won't be able to put very much salary (even if you're company matches up to a certain %) in a 401K or savings plan to get them to $1M after that 30yrs.

Many jobs are very very hard and health and life threatening and very stressful and families get ruined all the time regardless. Sorry not trying to be a dick but I have more pity for every day working stiffs. Moms and Dads away from each other and their kids all day. Many losing jobs,benefits and income from Covid, lay offs, cut backs. You know the working poor.