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2015 Boston Red Sox
« on: April 12, 2015, 08:37:08 PM »

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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This is the Clay Buchholz we all know and love. Walk the leadoff man, who happens to be a great basestealer (Ellsbury), give up a bloop hit on a hit-and-run, RBI groundout, another walk, Napoli error, A-Rod 3-run double, Headley 2-run homer, STEPHEN FRICKIN' DREW solo homer.

All in the first inning.

Against a Yankees lineup that's not particularly great.
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Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2015, 08:45:37 PM »

Offline Redz

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Yuck-holz  >:(

Heading up for Opening Day tomorrow for the first time in quite a while. Pretty psyched about that!
Yup

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2015, 09:06:12 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Yeah, I lost all confidence in Buchholz a long time ago.  He should always be viewed as a 5th or 6th starter who occasionally pitches like a #1, occasionally like a guy who has no business starting at all.

The Sox might go far on the strength of their hitting and average pitching from Porcello, Miley, etc.  But Buch ... meh.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
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Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2015, 09:24:48 PM »

Offline Beat LA

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Oh crap, it's baseball season already?  Wow, it's a good thing that I pay attention (sarcasm), lol. ;D

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2015, 10:46:36 PM »

Offline jambr380

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This is the Clay Buchholz we all know and love. Walk the leadoff man, who happens to be a great basestealer (Ellsbury), give up a bloop hit on a hit-and-run, RBI groundout, another walk, Napoli error, A-Rod 3-run double, Headley 2-run homer, STEPHEN FRICKIN' DREW solo homer.

All in the first inning.

Against a Yankees lineup that's not particularly great.

Yeah, I was going all-in with Buchholz on my fantasy team. He had a horrible 2012, which was followed up by a great [start to] 2013, then a horrible 2014. I just assumed he was going for the every other year pattern...oh well, my early lead in my league is likely to dissolve.

In the real world, the Sox look to have a very decent team this year and I am excited to see what they bring with all of these new faces (hopefully not just bloated payroll).

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2015, 10:27:06 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Man, it's looking like another 70-80ish win season for the Red Sox.  This pitching rotation is just not going to cut it if they want to win more games than they lose.

A lineup that has looked very potent at times also still seems pretty darn anemic more often than I'd like.

Seems to me that the Red Sox brain trust is a little too smart for their own good, if you know what I mean.  I was on board with letting Lester leave, but they totally failed to replace him with a comparable arm.  Heck, they didn't even really replace Lackey.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2015, 11:14:14 PM »

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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Man, it's looking like another 70-80ish win season for the Red Sox.  This pitching rotation is just not going to cut it if they want to win more games than they lose.

A lineup that has looked very potent at times also still seems pretty darn anemic more often than I'd like.

Seems to me that the Red Sox brain trust is a little too smart for their own good, if you know what I mean.  I was on board with letting Lester leave, but they totally failed to replace him with a comparable arm.  Heck, they didn't even really replace Lackey.

This pitching staff is just awful, especially the starters. And the vaunted offense hasn't been all that impressive, either. The Sox are getting good offense about once every 3 games, and good  pitching about once every 4-5 games, which is why their record is terrible.
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

— C.S. Lewis

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2015, 12:05:47 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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It's just stunning how the team wins 3 championships in the last decade but also has so many crappy seasons.  How do you evaluate what management is doing?  Are the titles just luck?  Or are the bad years bad luck?
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2015, 12:28:39 AM »

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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It's just stunning how the team wins 3 championships in the last decade but also has so many crappy seasons.  How do you evaluate what management is doing?  Are the titles just luck?  Or are the bad years bad luck?

Maybe this is an oversimplification, but I think it boils down to pitching: When they won the titles or were at least competing for titles, they had really good pitching; and in the down years, the pitching was awful. This year it's awful, so if they want a chance, they need to do something about it ASAP.
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

— C.S. Lewis

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2015, 02:23:36 PM »

Offline mahonedog88

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So I know this is primarily a celtics and nba blog, obviously.  But I have to get this off my chest...with Joe Kelly yet again crapping the bucket, worst pitching in the majors, a lineup that doesn't look to be nearly as good as we thought, firing the pitching coach one month into the season, on their way to what looks like a last place finish for the 3rd time in 4 years.

This team already looks mentally defeated.  The batters are clearly affected by how bad the pitching is and it feels like they're showing up the ball field each night already feeling like they're going to lose.

Cherington and Farrell very well may be shown the door if this team endures yet another last place finish, but at the same time, ownership deserves just as much blame.  THEY are the ones that decided to employ the 'we don't need an ace' mindset, giving ridiculous contracts to players before they deserve it in hopes that they turn into being worthy of them so that they look like geniuses.

Through one month, this has been a complete dumpster fire of a team, and with a $200 million payroll, it's simply unacceptable.

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2015, 02:37:18 PM »

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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Your frustration is the EXACT SAME frustration I've felt most of this young season, and the reason I started this thread. The braintrust thought Buchholz could finally be more than a mediocre pitcher? They thought they could get by with a whole rotation of mediocre pitchers?

If the team has already given up, I understand why—they're showing up to the park every day knowing they need to score at least 6 runs to have a chance to win, sometimes scoring more than that and STILL losing by several runs. That's way too much pressure on the offense, and completely unfair to them.

Kelly has been the biggest disappointment to me among the starters—I already knew what Buchholz was, Miley and Masterson have never been great, and Porcello's actually been really good his last two starts. But Kelly's a young guy who showed some pretty good potential, and I thought this was the perfect situation for him.
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

— C.S. Lewis

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2015, 02:52:55 PM »

Offline mahonedog88

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Your frustration is the EXACT SAME frustration I've felt most of this young season, and the reason I started this thread. The braintrust thought Buchholz could finally be more than a mediocre pitcher? They thought they could get by with a whole rotation of mediocre pitchers?

If the team has already given up, I understand why—they're showing up to the park every day knowing they need to score at least 6 runs to have a chance to win, sometimes scoring more than that and STILL losing by several runs. That's way too much pressure on the offense, and completely unfair to them.

Kelly has been the biggest disappointment to me among the starters—I already knew what Buchholz was, Miley and Masterson have never been great, and Porcello's actually been really good his last two starts. But Kelly's a young guy who showed some pretty good potential, and I thought this was the perfect situation for him.

Ownership came into this season thinking as long as the pitching is even just mediocre, the lineup will score enough runs to have this team be a .500 team at worst...the problem is that they aren't mediocre, they're the worst staff in the league.  And then on top of that, Napoli looks absolutely lost, Betts has been very underwhelming, Ortiz hasn't been anything special, they're getting the least amount of production from right field than any other team in the league...when you step back and look at it, with all of the wins they got in the first 15 games of the season because of teams basically handing them wins, they're lucky to only be 3 games under .500, which is scary.

A stat so bad that it's funny, the Red Sox starting staff has given up more runs in the 1st inning than any other staff in the league...and it's not even the inning they've given up the most runs.  That would be the 3rd inning.

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2015, 03:04:42 PM »

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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Your frustration is the EXACT SAME frustration I've felt most of this young season, and the reason I started this thread. The braintrust thought Buchholz could finally be more than a mediocre pitcher? They thought they could get by with a whole rotation of mediocre pitchers?

If the team has already given up, I understand why—they're showing up to the park every day knowing they need to score at least 6 runs to have a chance to win, sometimes scoring more than that and STILL losing by several runs. That's way too much pressure on the offense, and completely unfair to them.

Kelly has been the biggest disappointment to me among the starters—I already knew what Buchholz was, Miley and Masterson have never been great, and Porcello's actually been really good his last two starts. But Kelly's a young guy who showed some pretty good potential, and I thought this was the perfect situation for him.

Ownership came into this season thinking as long as the pitching is even just mediocre, the lineup will score enough runs to have this team be a .500 team at worst...the problem is that they aren't mediocre, they're the worst staff in the league.  And then on top of that, Napoli looks absolutely lost, Betts has been very underwhelming, Ortiz hasn't been anything special, they're getting the least amount of production from right field than any other team in the league...when you step back and look at it, with all of the wins they got in the first 15 games of the season because of teams basically handing them wins, they're lucky to only be 3 games under .500, which is scary.

A stat so bad that it's funny, the Red Sox starting staff has given up more runs in the 1st inning than any other staff in the league...and it's not even the inning they've given up the most runs.  That would be the 3rd inning.

You're right—getting mediocre pitching from the starters would be a step up at this point.  ;D
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

— C.S. Lewis

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2015, 03:10:40 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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How long is Cherington's rope after winning a title in 2013?

The Sox are well on their way to the 3rd bottom of the barrel record through 4 years of Cherington's tenure.

Ben's proven largely inept in building a reliable bullpen, has made questionable decisions about the rotation, and seems to have struck out at least as often as he's hit in trying to find reliable bats for the lineup.

Pretty much everything went right for the Sox in 2013, but in 2012, 2014, and now this season, just as many things have gone wrong.

It would be silly to expect the Sox to win a title every season, or even go deep into the playoffs.  But when you have one of the biggest payrolls in the sport, is it unreasonable to expect that the team will at least be in the hunt for the wild card each season?  Anything less than that should be viewed as an utter failure, and people should lose their jobs as a result.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: 2015 Boston Red Sox
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2015, 03:21:53 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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If the Sox were run like the Pats, they would have dumped Napoli at the deadline last year, or just outright cut him before the season.  Dude's toast. 

(Yes, the MLB doesn't have non-guaranteed contracts ... but there's also no salary cap)


One of the most irritating thing about how these Sox are run is the desire to hold onto certain guys well past the point where they've shown they cannot be relied upon.

Napoli, Vic, Buccholz, Craig.  Why did anybody expect these guys to help the team this season?

As much as the young guys have struggled, you expect that.  It wouldn't be an issue if Betts, Bogaerts, JBJ, etc were seen as complements to a roster that is comprised mostly of proven, reliable, productive veterans.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain