Jake

I wanted the Sox to pick Madrigal and almost immediately I've just felt that we're going to end up being disappointed in the pick. Seems like some of the scouting industry has started to sour on him a little bit too. Plenty of time for him to grow of course once we change our expectations away from immediate surge to MLB.

Looks like we're thinking the same thing!

Would like to see Madrigal's 3B. Saw his hits yesterday and didn't feel like it showed much as far as projecting a positive change in his production. Bunt hit, two weakly hit choppers right on the foul lines, and a solid single lined to left.

What's the deal, Frare has looked horrible and could probably use some time in AAA to get more consistent appearances with less pressure. I saw Frare as a guy who would go up and down a few times from the start.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think they usually take great pains to finish these games

He's going to lose that bomb I think

I used to compare Gio to Gavin Floyd as an insult but now I consider it an aspiration

Ricky's boys don't quit!

I'm not too sure what we have here in Banuelos. Will be interesting to see if he's on the team come September.

Here's something worth knowing about Ervin Santana: His name is not Ervin. His real name is Johan. Coming up through the minors he decided he didn't want to be confused with *the* Johan Santana. Did he take on his middle name? Nope. He just picked Ervin because he thought it sounded cool. I find that to be hilarious

Santana looks like shit but I just don't feel up in arms about this. I'm happy enough to give him a couple more starts and see if he can find the release on anything

I said earlier that Yoan can't afford to foul off the fastball in the zone early in the AB because they'll get him with the curve in the zone later. This time he didn't miss it. See, this game's not so hard

108mph off the bat. Not a cheapie

It's an interesting dynamic since with GarPax, the non-hardliners tend to focus on Gar and think Paxson may actually be competent. I assume this is partly because the team was better when Paxson was more clearly in control. With the Sox, it's the opposite despite the fact it's also true the team was better before Hahn became the face of the front office

If I'm coaching, I go out there and tell him to throw that slider 60-70% of the time until he has the feel for it. No need to pitch conventionally when you've already given up 5 in 2 and 2/3 innings

Key thing to watch with Santana is the slider. It's been bad so far. His entire career, he's gotten by with a mix of just-okay fastball and just-okay changeup and an elite slider. Much like Rodon, he may be able to pitch over reduced velocity — at least well enough to stick around in this rotation — but only if he's throwing his slider well

Santana up about 2mph compared to last year, so he has at least restored his health somewhat. Down about 2mph from 2017. He clearly has no feel for his stuff though. We might be paying for skipping his spot more than anything.

The plan of attack against Moncada from both sides should be breaking pitches in the zone. He really can't afford to foul off those fastballs early in the AB.

When all the Ks are swinging, I'm not too worried. Today's game was the first time he'd struck out on a pitch that wasn't either in the zone or very close to it — I'll give a pass against Blake Snell for his first true chasing K. Not surprising that he has slowed down as he's been having more right-handed ABs. As long as he continues to make contact on strikes at a decent rate, is aggressive on pitches in the zone, and keeps his elite patience on pitches outside the zone, I'll keep my patience too.

How many relievers do you think are still reliably effective 3 innings into an appearance? I'd love for Carson to be able to go 100 pitches but the Sox moved him to the bullpen presumably because they wanted to focus him on throwing 20 good pitches per day

Well it was a good day for Carson. I think he may be good enough to stay up here, although I doubt he will

predictable

The problem with the review here is you're making Carson throw the 3-1 pitch cold when he's ruled safe

Going 50% cutters is a good strategy for Carson, I'd say

Either way those up and in misses are a clue that he's running out of gas