hogan873

Okay, I'll start today's game thread in hopes of turning things around. On paper, this looks like a potentially ugly game with the way the Sox offense has been "hitting". Hopefully Johnny Cueto can hold the Jays to a minimum of runs and our guys luck into a few runs. No brooms for them Canadian bastards! Go Sox!

Sox will make the national highlights for the wrong reason tonight.

Stupid, dumb, horrendous, shitty, useless damn team.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been this frustrated with a Sox team.

Rightfully so.

Those runs are all on TLR. Everyone else watching the game knew a change was needed.

Harrison needs to be Keuchel’d

Cueto hasn’t pitched that badly. I would argue that Tony’s drawn out complaining about the phantom obstruction messed up him rhythm. But this offense is atrocious.

Zzzzzz

The timelines have to be close to overlapping now. I can't remember for sure, but the lab under the laundromat was brand new in Breaking Bad, right? And it's nearing completion now in Better Call Saul. I want to re-watch Breaking Bad now. On a side note, I wonder if what happened at the end of the mid-season finale is what make Jimmy become the Saul we knew in Breaking Bad.

Yeah, the mid-season finale of Better Call Saul was awesome. I couldn't figure out what Jimmy and Kim were working on, couldn't quite see what the plan was. Then it all came together amazingly. And the shocker at the end of the episode...wow.

What we saw out of Giolito yesterday is what makes him a top of the rotation starter. He didn't have his best stuff and still pitched well against a good and very hot team. He saved a few innings of bullpen use by gutting it out and gave the team a chance to win. Nice to see Burger crank one into the seats, turning on a breaking ball that took about 5 minutes to go from the pitchers mound to the plate. Bullpen did their job, even though Hendriks made it interesting. And, I have finally departed the Harrison train. I liked the signing (I know I was in the minority), but he's not the answer at 2B. Maybe it's time to give Sanchez a chance.

I wouldn't be surprised, nor would I necessarily mind, if there was a re-tooling. But I don't trust the folks in charge, including TLR, to do it right.

One thing all homeowners will say is, "It's always something." There seems to be always something that needs fixed or replaced or updated, and it can get frustrating at times. You'll throw your hands in the air when the hot water heater goes out and say, "But we just had the furnace fixed." In reality, though, it seems much worse than it actually is when something goes wrong. We've been in our house for almost 19 years and have replaced the air conditioner once, the hot water heater twice (because we got a lemon once), the roof once, and had to replace a couple appliances. We've made the choice to add a three season room and update the siding and windows. Sounds like a lot, but over nearly two decades, the majority of the time has been spent on making the house a home and raising a family. There are people who luck out and have plumbers or electricians or general contractors in their family, but if you don't, find ones you can't count on. Find a plumber that can respond to a dead water heater on a Sunday morning, an electrician who can fix anything, an HVAC company that's reliable, etc. We've found that it's better to occasionally pay a bit more for quality and speed than to bargain hunt. Finally, if you want to make a good investment in your home, add a whole house generator. We added one after the 2020 derecho knocked out our power for 6 days. It's a $5000 - $7000 investment, but the piece of mind is well worth it, and it does add value to the house.

If Lynn comes back and is the guy who abused the multiple teams and became a Jomboy mainstay, this rotation is so much better. Giolito and Cease have shown they are truly top of the rotation guys. Kopech is quickly demonstrating that he's an ace. Cueto has been about as good as we could have expected. If he can even go out every 5th game and give us 5-6 innings and give up less than 3 runs each time, he's a perfect #5 starter. If they all pitch to their potential, they're in the top 3 in baseball. If they all pitch well every time but are still human, they're still in the top 5-6 in baseball. Oh, and they need to stay healthy.

Maybe. I don't doubt the Sox are looking at options now, mulling offers that would keep TA for another 3-4 years beyond 2024. I don't necessarily see it happening, but signing him to a 6/$170 deal that includes 2023 and 2024 takes pressure off both the Sox and him. If there's no deal by the time the 2024 season starts, there's going to be speculation that he leaves for free agency at the end of that season. That wouldn't be ideal, especially if TA keeps hitting the way he does. He is, and most likely will be, one of the best hitters in baseball and a guy that is the face of the team.

Foster gets the 8th?

Kopech is obviously tired, especially after carrying this team for 6+ innings.

Offense is sleepwalking…and putting us to sleep.

This offense is horrendous. Nice job on the national stage crapping down their legs while their pitcher shines.

LOL at the ESPN announcers stating Kopech missed his spot badly on the K to Judge.

Something was obviously bothering Chapman. We’ll take it, but they probably should have pulled him.

It's easy to point at the players and say they're not performing. And it's certainly valid to do so. However, when players are subject to an environment with constant lineup changes, poor bullpen management, inconsistent days off, and poor messaging on why decisions are made, it will affect their performance. We haven't heard much from the players this year, not as much as last year for sure, defending TLR. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't. To me, it seems like the players are going through the motions a lot, even in close games. There doesn't seem to be much life and excitement. That tells me there's a leadership issue.

A great debut for Cueto. It's a shame he didn't get the win, but the team did. Luis Robert is going to be a special player and a problem for opponents for a long time.

That last pitch was nasty.