Sox offense since All-Star Break

[VAfan]

Has anyone noticed that the Sox have scored the second most number of runs in baseball since the All-Star Break?

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/182

 

I'd noticed we were hitting better, but when I ran the splits, this surprised me.

[justBLAZE]

Has anyone noticed that the Sox have scored the second most number of runs in baseball since the All-Star Break?

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/182

 

I'd noticed we were hitting better, but when I ran the splits, this surprised me.

 

Batting .295 as a team since ASB, coming in second are Twins and rest of the league far back..

[Marky Mark]

Yep, that's great. Now if we can just get our BLSV number stay where it is for the rest of the season....

[greg775]

Give that man a raise. Walker, that is.

[shipps]

Give that man a raise. Walker, that is.

 

Here,here.

 

Now that we didnt give him all the blame lets give him all the credit.

[greg775]

I just wanted to give him a shout out since he catches so much s*** when the offense sucks.

[shipps]

I just wanted to give him a shout out since he catches so much s*** when the offense sucks.

 

When things go badly no one and absolutely no one gets away from fans giving them s***. Its the way it is and the way it wll always be. If you want the other side of that then the Cubs are the team for you. They give no s***zs.

[greg775]

When things go badly no one and absolutely no one gets away from fans giving them s***. Its the way it is and the way it wll always be. If you want the other side of that then the Cubs are the team for you. They give no s***zs.

 

I know, but we are scoring all these runs and I frankly haven't seen one mention of Walker.

 

[lostfan]

The bullpen has lost so many games for us that it's just sickening.

[almagest]

The bullpen has lost so many games for us that it's just sickening.

Yeah. I was thinking the other day how many games the bullpen lost in the 7th 8th or 9th (I think Jenks is responsible for 4 or 5 himself). We could very well be in first if they didn't. This feels a lot like 2006.

 

[The Ginger Kid]

Agree, props to Walker. And you're right, it's the pen that put us in this situation.

 

Twins have 29 games left against very bad teams. Lets say they only go 17-12 in those games, which is fair and perhaps too hopeful. For there to be a TIE, the Sox will have to go 21-8 to finish the season, and that includes 7 against a team with a better record than us (BOS) and a trip to the west coast where we've always struggled. Which means we'd have to do something like this:

 

@ BOS 2-1

@ DET 2-2 (facing both Scherzer and Verlander)

KC 3-0

MIN 2-1

DET 2-1

@ OAK 2-1

@ LA 2-1

BOS 3-1

CLE 3-0

 

It's only 4 games, but it sure feels like a lot of ground to make up at this point.

[greg775]

Without a sweep of the Twins, which would change the math dramatically, we have to completely dominate the month.

Totally dominate it.

I guess we should be hoping we have it no worse than four when the Twins come in and at that point we simply have to sweep.

[Buehrlesque]

Agree, props to Walker. And you're right, it's the pen that put us in this situation.

 

Twins have 29 games left against very bad teams. Lets say they only go 17-12 in those games, which is fair and perhaps too hopeful. For there to be a TIE, the Sox will have to go 21-8 to finish the season, and that includes 7 against a team with a better record than us (BOS) and a trip to the west coast where we've always struggled. Which means we'd have to do something like this:

 

@ BOS 2-1

@ DET 2-2 (facing both Scherzer and Verlander)

KC 3-0

MIN 2-1

DET 2-1

@ OAK 2-1

@ LA 2-1

BOS 3-1

CLE 3-0

 

It's only 4 games, but it sure feels like a lot of ground to make up at this point.

 

Looking at the Twins schedule, I don't see them losing more than 11 games the rest of the way. I really think it is absolutely positively mandatory that the Sox sweep all three games against the Twins at the Cell. If they do that, all bets are off.

 

[The Ginger Kid]

Looking at the Twins schedule, I don't see them losing more than 11 games the rest of the way. I really think it is absolutely positively mandatory that the Sox sweep all three games against the Twins at the Cell. If they do that, all bets are off.

so much depends on where the standings are on 9/14. I know it's wishful thinking, but it would be oh so awesome if we were only 3 back at that point. The Twins will be looking to seal the deal and they'll be pumped. Could be a great series.

 

Then again, entering the month of June I was praying that the Sox could find a way to be within 4-5 games by the all star break. So strange things can happen.

[Buehrlesque]

so much depends on where the standings are on 9/14. I know it's wishful thinking, but it would be oh so awesome if we were only 3 back at that point. The Twins will be looking to seal the deal and they'll be pumped. Could be a great series.

 

Then again, entering the month of June I was praying that the Sox could find a way to be within 4-5 games by the all star break. So strange things can happen.

If the Sox get to that series only 3 back- meaning they made up 1 game while playing @BOS, @DET and vs. KC while the Twins played home vs. TEX, vs. KC and @ CLE, I'd take it for sure.

[NorthSideSox72]

Just keep taking it series by series. At 40 games left we were 5 back, and basically needed to gain a game a week.

 

We gained one last week, let's see where we are at the end of this week.

 

Depending on the game tonight (DET/MIN), the Sox will be 3.5 or 4.5 games back. For the Boston series, the goal should be to stay even with the Twins. They play TEX, which is no easy series by any means, so that's very possible.

 

[kitekrazy]

I just wanted to give him a shout out since he catches so much s*** when the offense sucks.

 

Don Cooper seems to be the untouchable. His magic seems to have faded away of late. Fans and now Ozzie are starting to put their faith in a kid with hardly any pro ball experience.

The way the pen has been in critical moments you would think they were actually trying to throw the games. Maybe they should be investigated for gambling.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Don Cooper seems to be the untouchable. His magic seems to have faded away of late. Fans and now Ozzie are starting to put their faith in a kid with hardly any pro ball experience.

The way the pen has been in critical moments you would think they were actually trying to throw the games. Maybe they should be investigated for gambling.

Yeah, because boy, that last project of his, Edwin Jackson, really went badly.

 

[TheBigHurt]

Give that man a raise. Walker, that is.

 

Hmm. Our first good offensive stretch in a LOOOOONG time and it'stime to praise Walker? But our offense sucking ass in every aspect for a good 4 years had nothing to do with him, right?

 

I'm just curious to see if anyone ACTUALLY thinks like this... because so many around here REFUSED to acknowledge the hitting coach might have actually been a reason our offense was bad for so long.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Yeah, because boy, that last project of his, Edwin Jackson, really went badly.

 

I'm extremely disappointed in what he's been able to do with Tony Pena.

[LittleHurt05]

I'm extremely disappointed in what he's been able to do with Tony Pena.

 

You mean nothing? His numbers here as compared to Arizona are overall pretty similar, except he's been walking more people this year. Maybe Coop just doesn't like the guy and won't help him?

[Milkman delivers]

Agree, props to Walker. And you're right, it's the pen that put us in this situation.

 

Twins have 29 games left against very bad teams. Lets say they only go 17-12 in those games, which is fair and perhaps too hopeful. For there to be a TIE, the Sox will have to go 21-8 to finish the season, and that includes 7 against a team with a better record than us (BOS) and a trip to the west coast where we've always struggled. Which means we'd have to do something like this:

 

@ BOS 2-1

@ DET 2-2 (facing both Scherzer and Verlander)

KC 3-0

MIN 2-1

DET 2-1

@ OAK 2-1

@ LA 2-1

BOS 3-1

CLE 3-0

 

It's only 4 games, but it sure feels like a lot of ground to make up at this point.

 

That's just a bit harsh. For a majority of this season, they were the only consistently good aspect of the team.

[lostfan]

For some reason it just doesn't feel like the Sox offense has been scoring so many runs, and opposing commentators have been mentioning how much of a good hitting team this is and I would laugh every time. It reminds me of I think 2007 when the Bears D line was leading the NFL in sacks during the season but it seemed like they were underachieving because the defense was so bad.

[Special K]

 

As good as our offense has been (second to only the Yankees)... the real story has been how awful our pitching has been since the all star break and how surprisingly good the twins has been (even though I believe their starters are overperforming)... Minnesota ranks 2nd in ERA, while the Sox are 18th. As a team who was supposed to win this division on the backbone of their starting pitching, it's not hard to see how we are currently 4 games out even though our offense has been so good. I think a majority of this is attributable to our bullpen, but let's be honest, the starting pitching (with the exception of Jackson) has not exactly been lights out.

 

RK TEAM GP W L ERA SV CG SHO IP QS ER R BB SO BAA

 

2 Minnesota 45 31 14 3.36 10 4 0 402.0 0 150 160 112 278 .258

 

18 Chicago Sox 46 24 22 3.94 8 2 0 415.1 0 182 196 142 320 .268

 

 

[LittleHurt05]

As good as our offense has been (second to only the Yankees)... the real story has been how awful our pitching has been since the all star break and how surprisingly good the twins has been (even though I believe their starters are overperforming)... Minnesota ranks 2nd in ERA, while the Sox are 18th. As a team who was supposed to win this division on the backbone of their starting pitching, it's not hard to see how we are currently 4 games out even though our offense has been so good. I think a majority of this is attributable to our bullpen, but let's be honest, the starting pitching (with the exception of Jackson) has not exactly been lights out.

 

RK TEAM GP W L ERA SV CG SHO IP QS ER R BB SO BAA

 

2 Minnesota 45 31 14 3.36 10 4 0 402.0 0 150 160 112 278 .258

 

18 Chicago Sox 46 24 22 3.94 8 2 0 415.1 0 182 196 142 320 .268

 

The struggles of our starting pitching in the 1st half is also a big story. Peavy & Floyd went into June with ERAs of over 6. As hard as it is to come back from a 9.5 game deficit, its just as hard to keep that lead for the next 2 or 3 months. If the Sox could have kept the lead to 5 or 6 early in the season, it would be a much different race.