Jake

You're going to be mad at me, but this name has been popping into my head lately: Andy Wilkins Another one that bubbled up: Dan Black

I appreciate Fletcher hitting 86 on the radar gun. I miss the days of position players letting it rip, that was the only fun thing about them pitching. Although I think Fletcher has a good bit more than 86 in the tank...

So do the rules regarding optioning Rule 5 guys follow them when they get placed on waivers and claimed like this? That is, are the Sox kind of locked into stashing Workman on the bench if they want to try to develop him longterm? Same goes for Vasil I suppose.

Nice job by Urias. Leasure has a very special fastball in terms of the rise he gets on it, only a couple guys in MLB are better. He threw it at the right spot. Leasure throwing 2mph harder today than usual and had even more rise than he usually does. Urias has an astronomical swing and miss rate on high heat...but he was ready for that one and handled it. And seriously, props to him! There's a lot of guys who can look for a pitch like that and still not be able to handle it when it comes. There's a lesson for Leasure though that everyone knew he'd be targeting that spot because he only has two pitches and he can't locate his slider well enough to want to throw it first pitch in an AB like that.

Can't believe you'd say such a thing about a guy with a new stance

Tim Anderson's defensive metrics look excellent this year

Refreshing to have a full team effort loss where you don't solely point the finger at the offense, defense, starting pitching, relief pitching...

As someone who does these kinds of measurements professionally, I would say not to take the exact numbers too seriously in this case. No doubt that the number of people seeing games has dropped dramatically given that so many have lost their ability to do so without taking some kind of "expensive" action (buy new equipment, buy new subscription). But getting a grasp of how many people are using a fledgling streaming service vs. antenna vs. conventional cable are just very different kinds of measurements. Not to mention that with the subscription model, ownership would gladly trade some cable viewers for a smaller number of paid subscribers...not that they are likely to be anywhere near enough of those direct payers to be coming out ahead yet.

Looking at the data on TJS, Sox are clearly in the driver's seat for likely leaders in MLB in 2025. But in the longer term, not much of a trend. They pretty much track the league average. Depending on timeframe, the teams with the most are the Mets, Guardians, Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees. Not bad company all things considered. White Sox had 2 last season. Boston had the most with 8.

I won't be upset if the Sox decide to take a flyer, but man I don't see much in the underlying metrics to feel optimistic. Doubt he's someone you can just plug into the MLB team and assume he'll suddenly pitch well. Probably needs a bigger rethink about his mechanics, repertoire, etc. Not sure if he has any MILB options left.

Vargas earns a long leash thanks to great minor league track record, surprisingly strong defense this year, and young age. Not sure how long the leash will be...that depends on just how badly he plays. But I see him getting another month even if it's pretty much an unmitigated disaster.

Let's be real...the Sox are so overmatched that having 3 of these games be so competitive feels like an accomplishment. The team was not built to be competitive period, and especially not with half the lineup on the IL.

Oops! But hey, the luck evening out part worked okay!

Would like to see Murfee's luck even out a bit. When you strike guys out and never walk anyone, usually you do better than a 10.00 ERA.

Laser-show Lenyn with another red-hot lineout. He's pretty good at missing that launch angle sweet spot that gives you homers.

Seems like pitchers are trying to throw inside to Quero pretty consistently and he usually gets jammed (even though he's managed a couple hits when jammed thus far)

Andrew Benintendi: actual MLB-quality player

Good for Cannon to get through 6.

Steve mis-diagnosed the third strike to Vargas. Vargas was looking 4-seam, "correctly" saw the ball was headed above the zone as you'd expect in that count, except it was a high sinker instead and dropped right into the top of the zone. Clever move by Buehler, although high risk if you think the batter was going to be willing to chase since he would likely run right into the sinker.

No idea how the bullpen could cover many innings today without somebody losing their job in the aftermath to get some fresh arms for the rest of the week.

I was a Cannon fan but have been feeling more and more bearish. Hope he can sharpen up. He'll be given a long leash.

Don't want LouBob swinging at 4, but he had nothing to work with beforehand and pairing the slider and sweeper like that probably explains the chase. Buehler does a great job of pinning LouBob's back against the wall and attacking his weakness. That pitch has gotten him a 40% whiff rate this season for what I suspect is a good reason

I know the Sox stink etc etc, but Buehler pitched masterfully after the two walks. Didn't give Sox anything to hit with the possible exception of the pitch Sosa made the out on.

To be honest, I think there's plenty to criticize about Cannon as of late, which would include some command lapses. And lack of a putaway pitch is something that Cannon himself is open about

I think the Venable crew has fallen prey to a classic trap: trying to get Luis Robert to work counts