Jake

All of those metrics have him above average at both 2B and 3B. At any rate, my point wasn't that the Sox should have made him a SS. It was that the Sox called him a SS, then played him there for his very first pro game, then suddenly shut that whole idea down. Everybody at the time, including me, expected him to be playing 2B. Then the Sox decided to try him out at SS but gave up after a one-game trial. I thought that was pretty weird and suggested something strange about the Sox decisionmaking at the time.

IDK, I think it would be a lot of dead time for these guys if they sat around until the offseason before being drafted. Getting it done shortly after the College World Series makes sense to me. From there, teams can decide how to use the remaining couple months of the professional season...sometimes the guys seem to just hang out at extended spring, sometimes they head out to affiliates depending on readiness.

I think the evidence points to Madrigal being a pretty strong defensive 2B despite some bonehead plays when he first came up to the Sox. That said, here's something I never understood: on draft day, the Sox announced him as a shortstop. He played his first rookie ball game at SS (and committed an error). Then he never played SS again. What the hell was that?

One thing to consider about Bryan Hudson: in 2024, he pitched 63 innings with a sub-2 ERA. So the smoke and mirrors routine has worked for him before.

Getz definitely controls who has the role of closer and he definitely doesn't care about a pitcher's statistics in save vs. non-save situations (nor should he, IMO). I'll tell you why Seranthony has better numbers in non-save spots: it's because when he's in a non-save situation, it's because it's a carefully selected set of right-handed batters for him to face. For Grant, it's just sample size more than anything but also we gave him a couple save chances when he was really on a roll. All that being said, obviously it's time to pull the plug on giving Seranthony the 9th inning. I don't really believe in the designated closer unless you've got a clear best pitcher who is strong against both righties and lefties. Grant is close to that but I'd probably just play matchups until Grant strings together a couple good outings.

Nobody hits Cade Smith well but I'll note that he has modestly reversed platoon splits (but also note that everybody subs out their worst right-handed hitters when he pitches).

The people are asking for Jordan Hicks to be closer. Grant their wish!

All according to plan

Pinch hit Gonzo here?

Sox catching play has been terrible, I'm happy for Kyle to take some lumps in the majors where we get a chance at a little upside and he's surrounded by our best training staff and facilities.

The good news is these games are all winnable. Just haven't been winning them. No obvious talent difference between the teams. Sox have the disadvantage that they were not constructed to win games and the one little thing they did to win now has not worked at all (referring to Seranthony of course).

Well, you can see why we thought Murphy would be covering late innings for us at the beginning of the season. His stuff is excellent.

Not normally a big factor but Peters has a very weak throwing arm

Kyle didn't remotely expect the runner to go in standing up

Don't think we got the tag there

The modern MLB GM is very much hands on about these kinds of decisions. Manager gets to have an opinion and share it with his GM, but manager is going to do what the GM wants. Will doesn't even set the batting order, per his comments this past offseason.

Not setting Seranthony up for success using him with those batters coming up either. Really need to find him spots where he has platoon advantage. FWIW, I'm not sure that Will really has authority to remove Seranthony from the closer role.

Not an ideal start

Another game where Grant tries to make the save extra difficult for Seranthony, lol

I think this move shows the Sox are not giving up on using this as an important development season. Quero, IMO, is the better MLBer today than Drew Romo. But as long as Teel is ready for the workload, Teel is going to get 80%+ of the reps behind the plate. And the difference between Quero and Romo isn't really that big, regardless. But Quero is unlike Romo in that he's young and has shown more offensive potential. Moreover, he didn't spend much time in the high minors. So there's a reasonable expectation that he could actually get better by playing every day in Charlotte, again unlike Romo who has shown you who he is both at AAA and MLB. Believe it or not, once upon a time in the minors Edgar hit for some power! Maybe he can get his swagger back a little bit against pitchers who aren't overwhelming him.

Any type of decision you see on a regular basis — bunting, pinch hitting, player positioning, bullpen usage — you should assume that they are coming from Getz. Front office is deciding on the philosophy of these things, hopefully based on some kind of careful analysis, and then Venable is asked to execute the philosophy in the games (and make sure the players buy in).

I'm not really feeling it. Sox had terrible pitching matchups in the first two games. Each game ended up being not far from a coin flip. And it helps that this year's team has made it clear that a loss today doesn't mean anything about how tomorrow will go. Plus, soon it will be Teel day.

I think the evaluation is "did the plane to Chicago land safely?"

Forgot about Gameday 3D being a thing. Yeah I think he might have been toast with an accurate throw. Was close to the base and moving the wrong way. Not to say I think Braden did anything wrong.

I wonder where the runner on third base was on that final play. Any chance if Braden just fielded the ball on a short hop that he might have been able to get the force at home?