I watched the game until after Cease unraveled and lost focus. He had no business giving up any runs tonight with the stuff he had. He should be out of the playoffs rotation. Kopech in. Playoffs is all about focus  and mental toughness.

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

Well, it looks like the Sheets thing is over. 

His slugging has still been good but it’s obvious he goes down when Eloy comes up

25 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm not sure that they can really do anything to make them be competitive in the AL playoffs. They don't have the horses. 

Sox have the starting pitching to compete in the playoffs, just need to improve offense and defense and 8th inning pitching.

Dusty Baker owns Tony La Russa. Dusty is his daddy. 

Just now, Chick Mercedes said:

I watched the game until after Cease unraveled and lost focus. He had no business giving up any runs tonight with the stuff he had. He should be out of the playoffs rotation. Kopech in. Playoffs is all about focus  and mental toughness.

As it stands, you’re benching Giolito for Kopech?  Because only need three for first series.

Just now, hankchifan said:

Sox have the starting pitching to compete in the playoffs, just need to improve offense and defense 7th and 8th inning pitching.

 

3 minutes ago, fathom said:

His slugging has still been good but it’s obvious he goes down when Eloy comes up

I said from the beginning that there was no way in hell Sheets should ever play over Eloy. Not one at bat.

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by Chick Mercedes

1 minute ago, chetkincaid said:

Dusty Baker owns Tony La Russa. Dusty is his daddy. 

For now.....

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

His slugging has still been good but it’s obvious he goes down when Eloy comes up

I'd still guess Burger unless he goes down when Lamb is back.

1 minute ago, caulfield12 said:

As it stands, you’re benching Giolito for Kopech?  Because only need three for first series.

Fair enough. Just saying, Kopech starts before Cease does.

4 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Well, it looks like the Sheets thing is over. 

I think it's safe to say you can look good in a small sample size and also look bad in a small sample size. Put them both together and you still have small sample size.

6 minutes ago, Chick Mercedes said:

I watched the game until after Cease unraveled and lost focus. He had no business giving up any runs tonight with the stuff he had. He should be out of the playoffs rotation. Kopech in. Playoffs is all about focus  and mental toughness.

Kind of a long way to go to make that assessment. Cease has been healthy and in the rotation all year. Kopech is back to 1 inning appearances after his injury.

7 minutes ago, chetkincaid said:

Dusty Baker owns Tony La Russa. Dusty is his daddy. 

Except in the one category that matters

It would have been nice to see Lopez's velocity tick up out of the pen tonight.  I don't know if he'll be able to consistently get outs sitting 95-96, but 2 scoreless innings vs a great offense is an encouraging start.

Nicely done Reynaldo...I'll take a silver lining in this generally crappy game.

A silver lining for a game with Lopez.

1 minute ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Kind of a long way to go to make that assessment. Cease has been healthy and in the rotation all year. Kopech is back to 1 inning appearances after his injury.

Hard to say for sure how long Kopech could go, but me personally, I don’t have a problem with running him out there. Bet he would be fine. Damn sight more comfortable with that than Cease with the thought bubbles over his head under the bright TV lights.

14 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

The bar was set too high last October.

Right now, he’s closer to Thornton or Marte but the versions where you don’t feel 100% confident like you did earlier in their Sox careers.

If you are setting the bar really high with a guy barely removed from college pitching 6 innings  while throwing 101  your expectations are too high. All young pitchers struggles . Every single one of them.

Strange our first 2 batters in the game get hits and then none since then. 

1 minute ago, Chick Mercedes said:

Hard to say for sure how long Kopech could go, but me personally, I don’t have a problem with running him out there. Bet he would be fine. Damn sight more comfortable with that than Cease with the thought bubbles over his head under the bright TV lights.

Rodon, Lynn, & Gio are all locked into the playoff rotation. I think you can argue Kopech's innings are more valuable going 2 innings at a time rather than one 4 or 5 inning start in Game 4 of a playoff series.

The Astros seem to play flawlessly against us. 

1 minute ago, maxjusttyped said:

Rodon, Lynn, & Gio are all locked into the playoff rotation. I think you can argue Kopech's innings are more valuable going 2 innings at a time rather than one 4 or 5 inning start in Game 4 of a playoff series.

I really think he's more valuable in the pen this year...move Kopech to the rotation next season.

3 minutes ago, Chick Mercedes said:

Hard to say for sure how long Kopech could go, but me personally, I don’t have a problem with running him out there. Bet he would be fine. Damn sight more comfortable with that than Cease with the thought bubbles over his head under the bright TV lights.

What exactly does running him out there mean ?  I hope you mean after you build up his arm again to the point he an pitch more than 4 innings and while doing that  you still have to manage his inning since he hadn't pitched in 2 years but sure for you personally you don't have to worry about that stuff.

Just now, wegner said:

I really think he's more valuable in the pen this year...move Kopech to the rotation next season.

Idk if he’s going to get enough innings. 

Kopech/Crochet might just be relievers. 

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by Jack Parkman

Just now, wegner said:

I really think he's more valuable in the pen this year...move Kopech to the rotation next season.

If he's going to give you ~6 innings in a playoff series, I'd rather have him going 2 every other game than only pitching once in a hypothetical game 4. Completely agree.