caulfield12

Lol. Fathom can't give up entirely on the Cubs when there's no Sox game to watch. First homer of the season, now at .300 BA. Starting to get interesting with this thread. Also, glad I didn't start an Oneil Cruz one last year. I already have enough of his rookie cards, autographs, etc. Dream deferred on that one. Granted, Fulmer is not the ideal candidate to be closing out games for the Cubs. Wong finally starting to get some hits now. .138 BA.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance Have to feel sorry for the Rays...10-0 and that level of home crowd support, even if it is very vocal. Detroit (unless the current rebuild completely flops), Minnesota, Cleveland (as long as they keep winning), KC...are all in (relatively) decent shape financially. The teams you have to be most worried about are the A's (obviously planning to leave for Vegas), Cincy (with that ownership, although it's really a baseball town through thick and thin, like Colorado), Rays and Miami Marlins.

They're going to end up using another 10+ rookies this season. They have the AA/AAA depth, although I'm sure they don't really relish the idea of losing years of control on all their top pitching prospects. The biggest issues right now are what to do with Rosario (pending FA) and whether or not to extend a somewhat diminished Shane Bieber (compared to his previous Cy Young form of years past.)

That said...other than their bottom out year, with that pitching staff and Correa Buxton they certainly are expected to be competitive this year. They have weathered a long string of prospect injuries like Lewis and Kiriloff but the bulk of their young pitching talent has yet to arrive.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=colas-000osc Basically a bit less than one full season statistically...plus he was also pitching as well at 95ish.

He's definitely not going to get $175-225 milion from JR in his thirties.

Completely forgot about Polanco. Near MVP level half of 2021. Then another reason that lineup looks different is no Sano and Gary Sanchez...Vasquez completely eliminates the opposition running game.

And helped Geoff Blum with his "WS hero" broadcasting career in the process...

All that is a big improvement on Gurriel, who was really great in 2021 and ran into Father Time last year.

Not sure we were signing Trea Turner or Bogaerts lol...reality is there weren't many 2B signings in that middle tier around $10-14 million. Either stars or veterans with limited upsides who signed relatively late.

Maybe he can coach Lucas lol...both have/had more over the top mechanics.

Extension! News that Hendricks is cancer free recently and Crochet progressing...if only had any faith in being able to add to roster in June/July.

Definitely like the multi inning strategy there....the more pitches he throws the better the feel on that slider which he has to have to keep batters honest/guessing.

Also a big win considering we gave them basically 8 extra base runners...opportunities with hbp walks errors. Not a victory you usually get on the road in Minnesota. Now Lynn or Giolito need to get one of these next two or they're back to 5-8. 6-7 would be much better obviously.

That was key because Lopez has been hot out of the gate and Lynn pretty much the exact opposite. Then the Lucas Giolito 2022-23 Experience.

Not having to face Correa Gallo Buxton Kepler Kiriloff 15-20 times helps a bit too.

Hit 100 and 100.4 there. Romy saved the game with his defense at second...wouldn't have even been in the game if not for the Anderson knee tweak.

8th? Bummer doing more Bummer things. Always finds new ways to make it interesting.

Buxton with 99 career homers. Gallo still uncertain/day to day status.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-power-rankings-week-2-2023 Sox 17th in new power rankings. Fall two spots.

Bummer and Reynaldo here in theory...

He did score 1700 high school basketball points in Cincy area. Don't see that athleticism much anymore.

Three errors?

“On September 17, the Red Sox added German to their active roster.[9] He made his major-league debut that day, allowing four runs without retiring a batter while facing four batters in relief.” On January 30, 2023, German was designated for assignment in order for the Red Sox to add newly acquired relief pitcher Richard Bleier to the 40-man roster.[13] Traded for some dude named Theo Denlinger…

Why are we running younger pitchers off the roster for 29 year olds? A very good athlete, he displays a deceptive, three-quarter delivery that can be very hard to read (especially for right-handed batters). Can strike batters out regularly in the minors. Needs to fill out his 6-2 frame in order to gain optimum stamina for Major League Baseball. Needs more work on his changeup and curve, both decent pitches that lack consistency. Long Range Potential: Solid right-hander with some upside. https://sportsforecaster.com/mlb/p/82607/Keynan_Middleton Like to see someone described as having no potential/upside, lol…been around the block with Angels, M’s, etc.