Rounding_Third

It better be Lamb for Engel. Today, Mendick has a career line of .306/.350/.454/.804 against RHP, team chem, and can play 3 positions. His minimal power isn't missed in this order. At least it shouldn't be when the others turn it it up. 1B is covered by Vaughn, Collins, & Grandal. And with Collins's LH bat, Lamb is repeatedly redundant.

Maybe Dylan got what Carlos had.

Every pitching coach at all levels from HS to MLB should bio Tom Seaver's mechanics every spring to their staffs for durability and effectiveness. Pitching poetry.

Last night's postgame was 1st time I saw TLR alert, fresh, & excited. Hope for more to come.

So sorry Carlos!!! But my concern & criticism are also about durability. If you can pitch ~130-150 innings effectively I will eat the entire crow. Watched all 3 interviews last night; nbcsn, espn, mlbn. Was said that Katz has focused on his lower body mechanics just like Cease. When I first heard that this is a staff focus for Katz back in Feb, it was so refreshing. It seems to be a lost focus in modern baseball with so much arm strength. Was also said how when in college and early pro, he was "slider, slider, slider" heavy and now he's changed his pitch selections to reduce them big time with more 4 seamers, curves, & changeups. IMO, the slider heavy repertoire is what got his arm in trouble. Katz "strikes" again! Hopefully this will contribute big time with his durability. A side note, SVP at espn asked him about "his" TLR office/locker shutout bet that TLR spoke about. Since it was between TLR & Collins, Carlos "hadn't heard that one". So clever espn, you really scooped that one! Iddyats!

No doubt Renteria made bad decisions and needed to be replaced but the team chemistry was very good and they played some good ball. It sure seams like TLR is losing them or already has. Last night's tired TLR postgame has been a std since the season opener. After the longest night game in LA, there was a slightly longer pause between questions and TLR came within an instant of literally falling asleep. His eyes closed for a brief second and his head snapped. Then he got pissed; "what's the question?" when there was none. Even after the day game in Seattle, he was wanting to doze and the questions were clearly irritating him; keeping him awake. There are plenty of 76 yr olds that are astute & vibrant. TLR is not one of them; far from it. If a team is a reflection of their manager, it explains this lethargic start with no end in sight. What a waste of the 5 year rebuild.

Why is Lamb on this team? Switch hitting (w/LH decent power) A. Cabrera signed with crappy AZ for $1.75; Sox signed Lamb for $1. AC can play all 4 IF positions & DH. Mendick can play 3, Lamb 2 and one, 1B is covered by Vaughn and Grandal. Mendick has a .300+ BA against RHP and team chemistry. Yet they pass on AC, send Mendick down, and sign Lamb. IF utility role is another weird TLR decision. There's a very worrisome pattern with him. Makes me wonder how much of this lethargic start is due to odd TLR words and actions in the clubhouse and dugout that we don't know about. How much eye rolling has been going on?

The one that makes any sense to me is that there's something going on with Grandal; that he's not available to catch today. Other than that....?

Correct. That's why its such a strange decision. This only makes sense if Grandal's knee is still an issue and it needs 3 days off. Let's hope that's not the case and its just TLR being TLR.

So bizzare! Cleveland is throwing 3 RHP's. Collins could catch one (or two if needed for Grandal rest). They're both equally important divisional foes.

Definitely! He needs to put players in a position to succeed; not try to prove what a genius he might be if Collins can beat the %. However, I'm not totally against Garcia at leadoff only because he's batting righty. Other than that, no way!

You could be right but geez, pitcher/catcher match shouldn't be as important a decision vs batting Collins against a pretty tough lefty. Its not fair to him. He needs to keep building on his momentum. A frustration day could set him back a little. Hope Collins can beat the % anyway but this TLR version not same guy we had before.

Me neither and heard that too. There was something very wrong with those SCTV folks. They were just nuts! Johnny LaRue, what a scumbucket! My fav TV character of all time!

TLR was pretty adamant that it was his error. Could be he was just taking the blame but he looked pretty upset with himself.

Incredible talent proven by all their successful & memorable careers after SCTV ended.

Hard to tell the difference between this sketch & a TLR presser, just sayin, cheerzzzzz back atcha!

If you read through my posts today, they are more about TLR's age and post game exhaustion than about the play so far.

This has the potential of turning into a very ugly & embarrassing season, especially for TLR. I wouldn't be surprised if he's been praying on the plane for a rainout tomorrow.

Then how many "that's on me" post games is it gong to take?

Not saying that he's given the opportunity to resign, saying he just does it on his own because he realizes that he just can't do it physically anymore. Last night he came so close to nodding off in the presser. His eyelids have had lead weights on them on every postgame presser I've seem so far, including today. TLR 10 years ago would have been fine. From what I've seen of him so far this year, he's a tired old man. Today's huge pitching mistake(s) is just the tip of the iceberg. When someone's that tired all the time, mistakes follow. It's gonna get ugly, some big ones are inevitable.

If he's this worn out already, hopefully he realizes that he can't do it and decides to walk away and save others from as much embarrassment as possible.. Hopefully it happens much sooner than later; before the AS break at the latest. Hopefully before he pulls a Bevington.

He's gonna lose this team very soon,

His pressers are so friggin embarrassing! He can barely stay awake and seems annoyed that the questions are keeping him up. Makes me wonder how many times he's dosed off during the games. The lethargic play so far is a reflection of their drowsy manager.

The narrative I've heard throughout the Sox org is that Crocket's amateur career is as a starter. Baseball Ref contradicts this in a big way. So I painstakingly went though all of Tennessee's 2018 & 2019 box scores to verify and Baseball Ref is correct. His Tennessee bio also says he started 11 games in 2018. Their own 2018 box scores contradict that. as well. Of the 12 starts, he got pounded in about half of them and most were 6 innings or less. Some of those game stats overlapped. Most of his RP appearances were outstanding His moderately high career era is mostly a result of his starts. Over the two years, Tenn also had a few true SP's that had double Crochet's innings. What am I missing here with the SP narrative? At least at Tenn, don't know anything about his high school stats.

I don't see how extra TB surrendered would match TB gained with Vaughn in LF and Collins DH. Vaughn is slow, has no range, and a terrible arm. Teams will be taking extra bases on him all the time. Plus, his inexperience and hustle will lead to lots of chances for collisions with Robert. They'll be in the same vicinity a lot. All it takes is one. Also, Vaughn's bat will likely be affected. I can't believe that they'd actually go through with this.