Jake

Why are Noda's eyes red?

He's still under team control next season, we're running it back baby! (I honestly wouldn't be upset if they did that)

His hamstring is 0-fer on game-tying/go-ahead baserunning attempts from third to home

Amaya is rocking a 1.200 OPS in AAA by the way 😎

I guess Tauchman blew his hammy again on that play at home?

Capra would make more sense on a team that isn't platooning such a large portion of its players

Maybe somebody has figured it out and it's actually a good idea, but I'm unsure of the wisdom of the contact play.

So far it seems like Schultz has two strong pitches but once batters get to see it a couple times they don't have as much trouble handling them. The other offerings are rare and not really catching hitters off guard even when they are used rarely. I know they took the cutter away for now but that seems like the kind of pitch that would solve problems for him.

Don't know if it's the ball or the stadium but the cheap homers are crazy in AAA. That ball by Leon was a no doubt homer but it's an xBA of .076 in MLB.

Venable is crazy for letting White get into trouble. Great job by Quero

uh, what is this defense in Charlotte? Is Sergio cut out for this?

Colson looks like he's just guessing up there

Well Moncada was definitely on my mind as a guy who always had very dramatic reactions to pain but then usually stayed in the game. His countryman Alexei Ramirez was similar. The guy failing to hustle could have been a lot of different players. I've been scouring the game recaps and game threads from the Frazier era and so far am not seeing any plays that drew attention for a guy not running down the line.

Probably wouldn't be very hard to figure out which player he's talking about in the threatening the manager story based on the information he gave. Very shortly after he joined the team, very specific kind of play that happened to instigate it.

if I was pitching and gave up homers on those pitches in those locations I'd be very rattled

How in the world does Burleson keep doing this lol

Think we may be getting close to the end of the road for Rojas. I'm not sure that he's all out of decent MLB play, but I think he's going to have to go earn it on someone's AAA team. A solid week or so of play from Colson Montgomery in Charlotte might be all we need.

That 😅

I tend to look at the expected statistics for the relievers since they perform best in small samples. Entering today, Booser was #1 in xERA/xwOBA on the Sox. After today's outing, I assume he'll at least drop down below Eisert and maybe Gilbert/Houser too. He's been frustrating to watch at times because of the walks, but I try to make some mental adjustment for guys who tend to be put into the most difficult situations. Booser's entering in the third-highest leverage spots of our relievers which is going to magnify the consequences of anything he does wrong (only Leasure, #1, and Steven Wilson, #2 have been used in higher leverage spots). Also, in a very low-talent bullpen, he probably has the best raw stuff of anyone not named Grant Taylor so I'm not eager to denigrate him too terribly much (Leasure is probably next on the talent list among that group).

If you follow the gospel of April 23rd, 2025, Vargas is 9/29 at 3B and 2/33 at 1B in that period.

Before his initial demotion, Baldwin seemed to be pretty clearly spiraling and was becoming unplayable on both sides of the ball. He barely got a look on his latest trip but made sure to look hopeless at the plate and make an error at his supposed natural position in his very brief call-up. Even if he is somehow tailor-made to beat AAA pitching but not MLB pitching, I think it makes some sense to have him in AAA whether you are high or low on Brooks. Get him everyday ABs and reps in whatever defensive position he might be able to bring the most value to. There will be opportunities for more regular playing time in MLB soon enough.

Internally, seems like all the high-ceiling guys are in the low minors. That's not all that surprising if you look at it cynically...in the low minors you haven't had your terrible flaws exposed yet 🫣. But more optimistically, Braden Montgomery has some star talent, maybe a couple of those really young guys like Bonemer, Mogollon, Wolkow, but they've got a long road ahead before you can even say whether they'll ever get a look in the majors. Colson Montgomery was once a high-ceiling guy but I think even the most optimistic case for him is looking increasingly mid-tier. I guess you could at least say the good version of him would involve some homers which the Sox aren't getting too much of at the moment.

I didn't think Teel had done enough at Charlotte to earn the call-up but we'll see whether he can work through his contact problems in the majors. I don't know whether either one will hit "like a DH" but I think it's an acceptable plan to use the DH spot to get them at bats for the time being. I like the group of young guys on the team to be honest, there just aren't enough of them yet. I would also agree that there's nobody who seems to have major star potential at or near the majors. You're going to want some of them one way or another (free agency, draft, trade, international FA) in the near future.

Not to be a homer, but if you believe in the positive vision of what a Pope should be, there's no way in hell a Pope from Chicago should be a fan of the Cubs. So it makes sense that he's a Sox fan IMO.

I don't mind bringing in Booser as he's been one of our best relievers. But I have no idea why Venable left him in to pitch to Pozo. He was clearly not sharp, had no more good platoon matchups ahead of him, and he'd thrown a lot of pitches by then. And apparently Wilson was already loose. I think Venable was too worried about saving arms for game 2 and the rest of the week. Gotta win the game you're playing first.