Jake

Derek seemed like a really good guy and it's probably a heartbreaker to get sent away from this team, but better to get sent to another contender than to the wolves on the waiver wire. He's a really solid 5th outfielder. Sox ran out of roster spots with Everson on the way so I'm glad they managed to get something out of him. Given the player return I can't help but wonder if the international bonus space is somewhat substantial.

Looks like the yips for Oppor. Sheesh

Man I think Braden is just such a great kid, and obviously the talent is off the charts too. What a debut.

Nice job by Davis completing the DP

Add another lucky hit to the Braves ledger

My main concern with Romo batting was that he was a threat to GIDP and kill the rally right before our best average hitter. So in that sense, I didn't mind the bunt as a way to avoid that outcome since it gave you a chance to get the run in. That said, it seems like the baserunner wasn't prepared for it at all and the bunt wasn't quite good enough (although good defense beats the safety squeeze much of the time). We even got the hit from Antonacci that I was hoping for but...no dice.

I don't really understand how the catcher blocking rule allows the catcher to stand completely blocking the baseline right up until he receives the ball at which time he barely moves his legs out of the way (because the throw never required him to be in the baseline anyway). By the time the catcher gets out of the way, Derek already had to commit to a sliding lane. I feel like they only didn't call blocking because they felt like it was bailing the Sox out, which of course would be true.

Lot of soft hits for the Braves today

Ryno is one of the few Cubs I could never muster the energy to hate

This is probably going to be an epic jinx but this has been a rather fine outing for Fedde. Would have been great if he had caught the hind end of that double play opportunity earlier.

As far as the subjects on the broadcast are concerned, you might think a reliever winning Cy Young is probably due to some ignorant sportswriters failing to read their Bill James. But Willie Hernandez's 1984 was a true unicorn season. 140 innings out of the pen with a 1.92 ERA. Almost a starter's workload, except as a reliever his manager got to pick when to use him so that his innings would never be wasted in a blowout, etc. His 8.58 win probability added that year is the most for a reliever...by a ton. Second most in a season by any pitcher period (Doc Gooden's sophomore season is the only one higher). BTW, two Sox among the top 5 WPA seasons ever: Gossage in '74 and Foulke in '00.

By the way, am I the only one who saw that it looked like Braden was crying during both of his first two plate appearances? To some extent, hardly surprising someone would be emotional about their debut. But also I can't remember seeing that before.

Sam is now 3 for 33 against LHP, despite being subbed out against the toughest lefties

Looks like how an outside linebacker should look, lol

Costas came off like a real asshole working through the botched playing of that Landrum clip

Curious how the pieces will fit once Pereira returns

People keep telling me Hagen needs to be in MLB but it takes an act of Congress for him to pitch 5 innings and he doesn't even throw hard anymore. I'm also worried about how things would go for him if he had to face an MLB lineup without a handful of lefties in it. A lot of these outings give a feel of just waiting to get to the next lefty.

Movement is very inconsistent on Sandlin's four seamer so far. That's going to contribute to poor command when you don't even know where to aim since the pitch varies ~4-6 inches in both rise and run.

People often don't believe it when I tell them, but the Sox have hit LHP much better than RHP this season

Very good outing from Burke

Gonzalez hit that ball pretty hard. Ump/catcher bailed him out on the 2-strike pitch early in the AB.

IDK exactly why, but new Comiskey does not get a hitter-friendly park factor anymore. Prevailing winds I guess. It does still rate out as a bit hitter-friendly to lefty hitters.

We'll replace Mune...in the aggregate!

team of destiny

HELL YEAH