Rounding_Third

I'm one of the few who really likes the Sox plan with him, if I'm interpreting it correctly. If he progresses thru the 1st half or so without issue, his RP appearances can get a little longer each time. Then he's going to get all the starts he can handle in the 2nd half even if he's not plugged into the the 5 man rotation. Within his limited innings & shutdown schedule, there should be enough makeup DH's and SP skips to fulfill those remaining innings. If they decide he's ready or needed for the 5 man rotation, he needs to have enough allowable innings remaining to finish the season or it could be a rotation disruption at the worst time. Call it what you will, perhaps a 5.5 man rotation, I think is great for him, best for the staff, and a very valuable contribution. Let me add, that with last year's limited innings, the dog day, dead arm period will be a bit of an unknown, Having Kopech around as viable substitute could be really important.

I couldn't agree more about Rodon & Lopez but Cease still has a very high ceiling. He hasn't even totaled a full season in appearances. He's got filthy stuff & Katz stated he's working with improving Cease's delivery in order to gain more control by utilizing his lower body. One 2020 stat that stands out to me is that 10 of his 34 BB have come after 1-2 counts. He needs to learn to trust his stuff and just put batters away. Once he gets over that hurdle, the sky's the limit. What a fantastic delivery he has ( video from recent post last week); so smooth and powerful!

Okay but you missed your target.

Are you going to listen to it?

SF: MLB.com ? Does this mean that its the Giant announcers even though the Giant radio network isn't broadcasting it? Also, "MLB.com" only appears on SF schedule, not Sox.

One step closer to complete lineup.

.COM?

For what its worth, Colome got blasted pretty hard yesterday; 1inn, 5 hits (3 2b), 4 er, 1 hr, 1k. ...and possibly a LO DP but can't say if that happened in his inning. (2B to SS DP)

high strike fastball every time.

I think he'll be a top 5 AL MVP at the least. Another Sox player may take some of his votes. Defensively, I'll hold judgement until I see more. It sounds like he was extremely driven to improve and keep his LF status vs DH. His catch by the corner to end the Angel game was smoothly routine; last year not so much.

Lol, that's fantastic! Love StL fans! Nice comradery amongst Sox & Cards fans with common foe. Took many a Hawks road trips there and enjoyed & respected Blues fans, too. One year, with many Cubs fans attending, we (8 Sox fans) did a Cards/Cubs game as well, wearing our Sox gear and rooting on the Cards. It was a blowout for Cards and us! Always had so much fun in that town with great fans & people.....especially when the Landing was still around!

Ah but have you ever been there with this kind of team? I've been around awhile and, on paper, its the best Sox team I've ever seen! ...by a lot! Plus, its the type that will enchant many new fans in Chicago and across the country.....as long as they're as good as their ink and I believe they are, They're going to be on a lot of national broadcasts, as well. A lot of offensive records will be challenged if not broken....with a "health" wood knock. Gonna see lots of Sox & Padres caps showing up everywhere. But you're right, there's always a way to get some tix depending on you caveat question (& answer) over cost.

I've been in the "he needs a season in Minors" camp but taking a long hard look at that now. Yes, just 2 games but he seems to be in control of every AB he's had. I don't know if I'm more impressed with the way he adjusted on the HR, pulling his arms in on the inside pitch and keeping it very much fair to straight away LF or the way he's "yawned" at so many "go fishing" pitches from several different pitchers. Said this recently but imo now, his lowest benchmark is just exceeding EE's 2020 stats. At this point, that looks to be a blowout.

Sounds great! Will definitely try to find your guide. A few other "road" parks sounds like a great idea, too. Have a (obvious) sneaking suspicion that even under normal life, tix at Camelback will be tough to get for a few years, especially for Sox vs Dodgers after they square off in the WS a few times. ? Just got to plan for it.

Oh you dawg, sounds like you've been there before. I hope to next year. Never been. Would have tried this year if not for covid.

Would have been nice to see Abreu bat with the bases load. That he ripped the ball anyway was all that really mattered. In my ST fantasy world, it still scored 2 runs.

Lucroy looks fantastic at bat. Very "hitterish" and in command of the strike zone. But was pretty rusty defensively. He was one of the best defensive catchers in baseball before his disk started affecting his game in 2017. Hopefully, he works that out in the next few weeks.

If you truly follow through, that's sad. Don't quit, take a looksee next week. It'll smooth out. The closer they get to April, the truer the ST games.

Could have been a good reason. I'll take a speculative stab that he may have been scheduled for 2 innings. I think his pitch count was around 40 when Tex rolled the 1st inning. Then they probably asked him how he felt, replied "good" but then he continued to struggle and his pitches mounted. Oh well, shit happens.

lol I'm sure

I'll leave those decisions in the hands of the coaches. If they think its best to not let a guy exceed his pitch count or not bring in an unscheduled pitcher in a particular inning, so be it. Pitchers are on strict regiments this early. Geesh, its just the 1st week of ST games; get over it! If it bothers you so much, don't watch.

That's just it, there isn't enough pitchers. They're doing their best to deal with covid. So many of these pitchers haven't pitched competitively in 2 years and since then have probably not really thrown that much compared to a normal season; majors or minors. As guys get more innings and/or toss sessions, it'll smooth out.

Nice post. Was about to say the same about ST rolling over innings. Not a big deal. No one needs to get hurt now. Come April, will be a distant memory.

Me too. Looking forward to see his PA's; hopefully a free & easy swing.

If their Kopech plan goes off without a hitch, I think he'll get his allotted starts a little further into the season. I'm very curious as to what his pitch/innings limit will be. Everyone's got an opinion and it seems the consensus is around 120-130 innings. With Crochet, I think the jury is still out with coaches as to what's the best future for him. Reading & listening to some of the comments by Stone and others, It seems to me that this year's plan is pen only in order to better analyze him while still contributing. At Tenn, he was used primarily as a reliever and his numbers as both SP & RP were mediocre and innings a little conservative. I think the Sox staff is still trying to discover if he & his arm have the ability to endure starter's innings. With no minors experience, I wouldn't be surprised they'll be very cautious and keep his innings well below 100.