tray

Yankees on an 11 game winning streak fortified with LH power and an improved bullpen. I think the road to to the AL pennant will have to go through NY.

Maybe Kopech could be a Closer. That actually could suit his pitching style and his arm strength.

Every RH hitter has trouble hitting well placed outside sliders/sinkers/curveballs from top RH pitchers. Vaughn will make the adjustments necessary because he is and has been a great hitter. The thing is, we need him to do that in short order like we need other guys like Moncada to start clicking before the playoffs. All cylinders need to be firing in order to beat the Yankees, Tampa Bay etc. It is a lot of pressure for a rookie but what a great ride this will be for Vaughn if the Sox win the whole damn thing.

I preferred trading for middle to late inning relief pitchers rather than giving up Madrigal and Cody Heuer for a second Closer with a bad attitude. One poster here posited that the Kimbrel trade virtually guaranteed a WS this year and next. If that happens I will eat crow with a big smile, but I doubt I will have to. So now Hahn has his two-headed Closing monster. Meanwhile the rest of the Sox pen does not appear to be play-off ready...not even close. Hard to win games unless we score a ton of runs or our starter goes 6 or 7 innings. Ruiz? LOL.

He has to change his approach with two strikes and maybe even with one strike. Maybe take a few more pitches and coax a walk or get into a more favorable count to get a fast ball. He has power to Right Center so maybe he should look to drive it that way .

chw42: That is how a mlb scout makes his money and here you do it for free. It's up to Vaughn now to counter the scouting reports by looking for those sliders and taking them to RF.

This game is toast. Have a nice afternoon !

Gotta get ReYLo out of there. I thought he could make it through 3.

No I like women.

Fantastic play by Eloy.

Why didn't the left fielder catch Goodwin's flare? LOL.

Eloy is substantially faster than Vaughn. So is almost every other player on the team.

Three innings from RayLo and 3 from Crochet would be OK.

Vaughn would never have gotten close to that ball. He is one of the slowest players on the team.

Moncada seems to get screwed all too often on pitches that are out of the strike zone yet called as strikes...and I believe he has a good eye. Yoan has not been able to come up with a defensive swing after two strikes ...and that has to be twice as hard to do for a switch hitter. Perhaps Mendicino or whatever his name is can help him with this.

A lot Stats only get you so far in evaluating a team or a player. You have to watch the games...and having watched almost every WS game I agree with you ....way too many LOB , especially when the Sox were behind and needed a run or two to get back into a game. Rally killing double plays are part of that. We have a couple of guys that seem to GIDP when we just needed them to get on base somehow.

No worries. He is who we thought he was. Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 2017 22 CHW AL 54 231 199 31 46 8 22 29 74 .231 .338 .412 .750 2018 23 CHW AL 149 650 578 73 136 17 61 67 217 .235 .315 .400 .714 2019 24 CHW AL 132 559 511 83 161 25 79 40 154 .315 .367 .548 .915 2020 25 CHW AL 52 231 200 28 45 6 24 28 72 .225 .320 .385 .705 2021 26 CHW AL 111 472 396 56 101 11 51 67 125 .255 .371 .394 .765 6 Yr 6 Yr 6 Yr 6 Yr 506 2163 1903 274 493 67 238 232 654 .259 .343 .437 .780 162 162 162 162 162 693 609 88 158 21 76 74 209 .259 .343 .437 .780

The Rays know how hit, pitch, and field in a canvas bubble on a rubber field. I hope the Sox don't fa ce them in the playoffs, especially if they have home field advantage. Ozzie mentioned on the post game that the Sox might keep 3 catchers so maybe Collins stays when Grandal comes back. If so, maybe Lamb, the double play machine, gets DFAed.

Glaring and troubling ? Whatever fans think about their favorite players or least favorite player right now doesn't matter. These are the guys that the Sox are going to battle with in the play-offs. It's too late for second guessing or worrying about position players. Now the bullpen...well "glaring and troubling" could apply to some recent performances but again, the roster is pretty well set at this point so it is time to get ready for the play-offs with these guys.

That is the question. This nonsense about "I want a guy who will do this or that" is self-serving and is not helpful to the conversation about what Kimbrel's attitude is. So we really don't know how Kimbrel feels about being a set-up man who can be pulled mid-inning but there are a few clues, and we got another one yesterday when he displayed a little attitude when he was replaced. Then there is the plain fact that a Closer is worth more than a set-up bullpen pitcher. Also consider the emerging narrative that Kimbrel's best days as a pitcher are behind him, that his skills have regressed, and that his role is now diminished accordingly. I doubt that Kimbrel's new role was fully discussed with his agent prior to the trade. I don't think tampering would have been an issue since this could have been done off the record with face to face conversations.

LOL

TLaR should stop apologizing to players for making his decisions. He looked foolish doing that. Meanwhile, Kimbrel would be well advised to accept his new role. He is now one of a couple of bullpen set-up guys along with Kopech, Crochet and Bummer. If he can't accept that, OK< but then Hahn made a mistake by trading for a guy who is more concerned about his own ego than anything else.

Did Hahn discuss Kimbrel's prospective role as a set-up man with him before making the trade?

That is the potential miscalculation. Winning a championship requires a great team and a lot of luck, and usually more than just one run at it. The Sox need to have a window that extends beyond this season and beginning next year, Madrigal was supposed to be part of it. I , for one, am not happy they traded him...to the Cubs.

Trading Madrigal and Heuer TO THE CUBS for Kimbrel thinking he could pre-Close in the 8th was a mistake. Hahn should have looked for a set-up man that would not have cost us Heuer and Madrigal. Kimbrel doesn't even want to be a set-up guy, and from what I have seen he doesn't even look like he wants to pitch for LaRussa or the White Sox. It dodesn't feel right when he comes in for the 8th...it is as though he is already insulted by not being the Closer and maybe lacks some focus.