"Eaton flied out to center."

"Cabrera flied out to center."

 

Maybe stop hitting it to center.

KC's pitching coach has made me a believer.

I don't know...he's given up some shots, and Duffy didn't look particularly good last night.

It's amazing how talent is all that matters. Abreu just crushes the same pitch so many others would have taken or popped up. Weird.

From what I've read, no one has underestimated their offensive prowess, just their starting pitching. Which I have to agree could be an issue.

 

 

Duffy has to return to the way he was pitching before going down to injury in the last six weeks of 2014.

 

Volquez essentially has to replicate Shields. He can't do that leadership-wise, but with 200 IP and solid numbers. All he has to do is follow his Pirates' blueprint, which is keeping the ball in play, limiting pitch counts and not worrying about K's or radar gun readings as much as in the past.

 

Then you've got a maturing Y.Ventura, Vargas, Guthrie....Hochevar, Sean Manaea, Finnegan, Zimmer, etc.

Edited April 9, 201510 yr by caulfield12

KC's pitching coach has made me a believer.

It's 4 innings into his 1st start.

I'll be glad when Sox get out of KC just so I won't have to listen to the KC announcers.

It's 4 innings into his 1st start.

 

No, about the KC's pitching coach's ability. Just seeing him turn Frasor into a stud last year was impressive.

Abreu with 3 hits on the year, all for extra bases, what a stud.

I know this is hard to believe, but Farmer is calling for a homerun here

It's 4 innings into his 1st start.

Also he's been getting hit hard, his defense is bailing him out.

I know this is hard to believe, but Farmer is calling for a homerun here

 

Did he say "a long ball here would be his first"?

I've been told women don't dig beards any more. Shave it.

No, about the KC's pitching coach's ability. Just seeing him turn Frasor into a stud last year was impressive.

 

He turned it around in Texas honestly.

I think Avi will end up being the #4 hitter by the All-Star break

Fathom's prediction of LaRoche being an early whipping boy might be coming to fruition.

 

Of course, in any other weather conditions and 75% of other stadiums, he'd had a home run on the board already today.

I've been told women don't dig beards any more. Shave it.

You really hate LaRoche's beard.

I think Avi will end up being the #4 hitter by the All-Star break

 

That would be very, very disappointing, as I don't think Avi will hit for enough power to be a threat behind Abreu. Just have to live with LaRoche and his customary slow start right now.

And why is batting Gordon second instead of WS hero Moustakas such a bad decision? Frankly I'm getting sick of our manager (despite the talent issue) and could easily turn into a Robin hater this year even if it doesn't matter much who is manager if the team is inherently slow and bad defensively and bad in the bullpen.

 

Really? Because one is inherently better at hitting a baseball and getting on base than the other?

Did he say "a long ball here would be his first"?

 

"A long ball right here would make Laroche a hero, and put the Sox up 2-1. It would be his first" (not verbatim but close)

Really? Because one is inherently better at hitting a baseball and getting on base than the other?

 

Gordon is their best hitter. Hitting your best hitter 6th seems silly.

I'm not pegging them as a playoff team, but with the way this core is built, it doesn't need to happen this year.

And before long we're going to be saying the bullpen is the easiest thing to rebuild. You can always get a replacement for LaRoche. Guys like Eaton are easily replaceable, etc. I want to win now. We were told again this team should win now.

Leadoff man on again

That would be very, very disappointing, as I don't think Avi will hit for enough power to be a threat behind Abreu. Just have to live with LaRoche and his customary slow start right now.

 

I think he has enough gap to gap power to drive in Eaton-Melky-Abreu more often then LaRoche does. Why does the guy behind Abreu have to have a lot of power? We just need someone who will hit ball in the gaps and Garcia does that.

Yost has the Sox 2005 thing going with this roster where he can make a lot of managerial mistakes and get away with it due to his amazing bullpen. He made a mistake leaving Duffy in for the 6th last night, but his bullpen bailed him out.

Agree with all of this. And I'm not judging the Sox just based on this opening series.

 

With that said, you can see the stark differences in the two teams. As I've said before, as long as we some improvement in the record and performances from our core guys, I'm OK with whatever happens this season. I'm not pegging them as a playoff team, but with the way this core is built, it doesn't need to happen this year.

 

 

The problem is where are we going to get this defensive improvement?

 

We're locked in with our outfield for the next three years, probably...unless they DH Avisail.

 

Anderson on the infield isn't bringing plus defense, at least at this point.

 

At best, Johnson/Sanchez are the equivalent of Beckham defensively.

 

You might see some marginal improvements from Conor and Abreu, but they're not going to bench Abreu for LaRoche.

 

Finally, we all know the pluses and minuses of Tyler Flowers. (And I do believe the best teams like the Cardinals and even the Royals with Sal Perez, Giants with Posey, Pirates with Russell Martin, etc., have a key presence behind the dish).

Edited April 9, 201510 yr by caulfield12