Dominikk85

I don't think TLR managed the series perfectly at all but in the end they would not have had a chance anyway the way the key bullpen pitchers performed. Maybe he should have pulled some starters a little earlier and used a different reliever here and there but with kopech, hendricks and kimbrel all pitching badly there just wasn't enough bullpen quality to get through the games with starters being gone after 4-5. The Sox would have needed either their starters going 6+ or kopech, Hendricks and and kimbrel all performing at a peak level and probably in multi inning roles. Sox starters went: 3.2, 4.1, 1.2, 2.2 innings, they Sox didn't have enough quality relievers to get through that many relief innings. If anything maybe he should have pushed the starters a little more but they were getting hit pretty hard and with the Sox not doing much with RISP apart from the game they won that probably wouldn't have worked out anyway. Starters not getting deep, hitters stranding a lot of runners and the back end pen arms not performing was probably too much to overcome.

It looks bad now but hernandez had about a league average batting line in the first half and did a lot worse with the Sox. Kimbrel was also great and sucked with the Sox. Not hahn's fault albeit of course kimbrel has been a bit inconsistent

Team defense is definitely an issue. Sox were ranked 25th in the defensive ranking at fangraphs, the top teams are rarely bad at defense. Regarding the loss in the series however there also just was some bad timing. The Sox key relievers kopech, Hendricks and kimbrel all did pretty badly. If 3 of your 4 best relievers have an Era of 9 or higher it is hard to win but those guys aren't that bad. Also 3 for 31 with risp in the 3 losses is some bad luck too. There also was a little bit of bad managing and also the astros getting some hits on ground balls but the main factor was that starters couldn't go deep and the top pen arms didn't do their job plus hitters not coming through with risp.

Then he needs to murder Jerry:)

I think the high FB call wasn't bad by grandal, it just wasn't quite high enough, should have been above the zone more

Replacement level is very different from average. A cost controlled players who is average is actually worth quite a bit. You can't win just with average players but every team needs Some average players too. Having average players in the bottom of the lineup instead of a replacement or sub replacement guys is often the difference between making the playoffs or not. Sub replacement level players in the bottom of the lineup and back of the rotation was the reason the Sox were not winning with sale, quintana, Eaton and konerko when They all were still good. That being said the injuries are a concern with madrigal especially when they start to affect his defense and running.

Yeah can't blame Hahn or Tony for not using Kimbrel in the 9th, their closer was clearly going to remain Hendricks, especially after Kimbrel struggled. Kimbrel knew he needed to pitch before the 9th, he just needed to get outs like a 16 million dollar man who also cost a former top100 prospect

Can't blame the front office imo. Kimbrel had a sub 1 Era with the cubs and 5+ with sox, nobody could have predicted that collapse. Also let's not forget madrigal now had his second season ended by a severe injury so maybe he is injury prone going forward.

BTW I don't think the pitching strategy was bad. Bummer had a sub 1 Era against lefties this year and he did get a ground ball which is what you want. The grounder just found a hole, that is bad luck.

The team is just not constructed very well for defense. The white Sox are one of the worst defensive teams in the majors (25th on fangraphs). Jose, eloy, Vaughn, sheets, Collins are all distinctly negative defenders only moncada, Robert and Tim are above average (leury about average). The question is what are you doing about it? Jose, Vaughn, sheets, burger are all talented hitters who should play nowhere but first or DH but there are only two of those spots.

The Sox had about a 15% chance of winning that game when it was 3-0. Imo it is the right decision to not pull your ace pitcher in the 4th. Either he gets out of it and you can still win it or you just take the L. Can't win a game if you put in the pen early and you don't want to burn your good pen guys early in a game you are likely to lose anyway. I mean reylo is basically your mop up guy, you are not winning with him either so you would have needed to bring in one of your big 4 to save it which you are not doing down 3 0 in game 1. I think after being down 3 0 it is right to take the gamble, either your ace somehow figures it out or you are losing anyway, can't waste your good pen guys in that spot.

Analytics say intentional walks are bad, mlb has basically stopped intentional walks except for in front of nl pitchers. Some of the more analytical teams don't do IBBs at all https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/intentional-walk-decline-let-mlb-teams-do-the-scouting/ Sox have 10 ibb all year, I'm pretty sure that is an order from the Sox analytics department to not pitch around guys but either get him or let him beat you.

Fangraphs live game odds still give Sox a 15% chance to win that game but at least the goal should be to get mcullers out and let the astros use their pen which isn't super deep

Burger really did similar compared to sheets in both minors and majors (120 wrc+ and 122 in AAA and mlb for burger and 131 and 125 for sheets) but I think sheets got more of a run because he is a lefty and the Sox are an extremely right handed line up. The Sox simply needed some lefty bats and sheets offered that and did well. Burger didn't really Hit worse but with so many right handers in the lineup he probably is more expendable

Just give him the 3 games off now and have him fresher for the playoffs

If you knew he would struggle toward the end of the season wouldn't the solution have been to limit his innings? If you have a pitcher with a history of fragility why not limit his workload more especially in such a week division?

The Sox managed him very badly. After 34 innings in 19 and 7 in 2020 Tony just overused him and Hahn did nothing to step in (like a fake DL stint earlier in the season or telling him to skip a start). I know he is a FA but the sox still need him in the post season, why wasn't he Already rested in July? What did they think? That he can easily throw 160 innings after 40 combined in 2 years before that?

2 runs in 6 is good and should have given the offense a chance to win it but 5 walks is really extremely high, there is something seriously wrong with his control.

Maybe he tried to play through an injury and made it worse and that was the reason for his struggles. Hopefully if he is without pain again he can hit like he has done during parts of the summer.

Interestingly fangraphs gives him a 60 hit (but only 40 power). I like his low k rate and I think there could be more like 45-50 power. Slight downside is that he seems to be allergic to walks but if he can hit 275 with 15-20 homers that plays in the middle infield

I wonder if all the talk about service time manipulation and that mariners exec who Later resigned who basically admitted service time manipulation played a role here. Mariners fans where saying all season he is just Service timed and should be up now and expected him to be an immediate star like tatis or acuna. There was a lot of pressure on him and also probably himself proving that the Mariners were wrong and then came that big 1 for 50 slump or whatever that was, maybe he developed a little mechanical glitch and then was unable to get out of it. Some players take time to develope but it is not that he was super raw. In AAA he struck out just 15%. It is normal that k rate jumps 4-5 ticks in the majors compared to AAA but a doubling in the K rate should normally not happen. I think he just needs an off season to work a bit on his mechanics and get his head right and he should be fine.

I think the Brewers ended the little chance there was left to win the division for the indians. Sox not playing good a sweep could have given the indians a chance but getting swept themselves now means they are Probably out

Why would the Brewers trade him, they are trying to win? Burnes would cost a ton, at least two top100 prospects with one of them top20.

I agree. The offense will come and go and as long everyone is healthy I'm not worried, the bigger issue is the pitching. The Sox need to pitch like in the first half and rodon coming back strong is extremely important.

Let him play and figure it out. Maybe occasionally sit him against a good eighty pitcher.