Bosox Board

Chris Archer, RHP #22
        1-0
   
2.45 ERA 13 K
The ace allowed two runs on five hits and three walks Saturday vs. the Jays while striking out eight in 7 2/3 innings for his second quality start in as many trips to the hill. Archer is 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA in five career starts at Fenway Park.

Rick Porcello, RHP #22
        1-0

4.38 ERA 13 K
The sinkerballer held his own in two starts, but he hasn't showed the dominant form that marked his Cy Young Award season last year. Porcello will try to change that against the Rays, a team he went 5-0 with a 3.07 ERA against in six starts in '16.


By Bill Chastain / MLB.com | April 13th, 2017

Fenway Park could be the setting for an early-season classic if the two pitching heavyweights live up to their billing when the Rays face the Red Sox on Friday night in the opener of a four-game series.

The series between two American League East rivals also features Jackie Robinson Day on Saturday and Patriots Day on Monday.

Chris Archer will start for the Rays on Friday, and he'll be opposed by reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello.

Porcello dominated the Rays in 2016, posting a 5-0 record with a 3.07 ERA with 46 strikeouts and five walks in six starts.

"He sinks it; last year was obviously his best year that we've seen him," Rays outfielder Steven Souza Jr. said. "In '15, I didn't think he was as sharp. He moved the ball around. Fastball command was up last year. When you throw a good sinker and your fastball command is up, you're going to get guys to get themselves out."

When the right-hander is on the mound, the Red Sox thrive, as evidenced by their 19-3 mark in his past 22 starts.

"Looking at him in [when he pitched for] Detroit, he was really a two-seam sinker dominant pitcher," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I think when he got to Boston he kind of evolved into mixing more pitches in. Obviously, he still has the two-seamer, but he's able to ride the four-seam carry fastball up in the zone, which is something that he didn't use to do. Overall his fastball, now he's got two different fastballs you have to prepare for."

Meanwhile, Archer seems to have a different look this season. He's always had the stuff. Now his pitching acumen and location appear to be coming together as well. Boston manager John Farrell has noticed a difference, too.

"It looks like he's smoothed his delivery out a little bit," Farrell said. "Last year, I thought there was a little bit of a, not as fluid as he's showing right now. And I think it caused a number of pitches to be left up to his arm side or spike a slider. His delivery is more timely. We saw it in Spring Training. We saw it in the [World Baseball Classic] in the games he pitched. He's always had tremendous stuff, but the consistency to it has returned."

Porcello is 14-1 with a 3.04 ERA at Fenway Park since the beginning of last season. Archer went 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA in two starts at Fenway in 2016. In five career starts at the historic ballpark, Archer is 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA.

Given Archer's struggles in Boston, coupled with Porcello's success, the odds appear tipped in the Red Sox's favor. This one could be an indicator of just how much Archer has grown.

Three things to know about this game:

• Porcello's streak of 20 straight starts of six-plus innings and his streak of 15 quality starts are the longest active such marks in the Major Leagues.

• Mookie Betts has a career .348 average with two home runs and six RBIs against Archer.

• Archer's four-seam fastball averaged 94.1 mph in his opening start of 2017, a slight dip from his '16 season average of 94.9 mph. But in his last outing, Archer saw his average four-seam velocity jump up to 95.3 mph. It only averaged higher than that in five of his 33 starts last season.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170413224073574/archer-porcello-set-to-duel-at-fenway-park/?game_pk=490253 (http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170413224073574/archer-porcello-set-to-duel-at-fenway-park/?game_pk=490253)

RESERVED

Here are the pitching matchups for the Rays-Red Sox series:

Friday: RHP Chris Archer (1-0, 2.45) vs. RHP Rick Porcello (1-0, 4.38), 7:10 p.m., NESN.

Saturday: RHP Jake Odorizzi (1-1, 4.50) vs. LHP Chris Sale (0-1, 1.23), 4:05 p.m., NESN.

Sunday: RHP Alex Cobb (1-1, 3.46) vs. LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 1.50), 1:35 p.m., NESN, MLB Network.

Monday: LHP Blake Snell (0-1, 5.40) vs. RHP Steven Wright (0-1, 13.50), 11:05 a.m., NESN, MLB Network.

Don't suppose there is any sense posting lineups now. Another pitching meltdown under way. Can't believe Porcello has given up 6 and the Sox still haven't scored off Archer.

Panda blows it with bases loaded. No wonder they're losing. Panda is now 12 for 72 with bases loaded. Pretty pathetic.

This is ridiculous. Batting practice again. Porcello gives up back-to-back homers. Sox down 8-0.

Quote from: markj on April 14, 2017, 07:53:09 PM
This is ridiculous. Batting practice again. Porcello gives up back-to-back homers. Sox down 8-0.

markj----read what I wrote  to longgame on the Oriole thread......THE RED SOX HAVE MADE IT A NASTY HABIT OF HELPING SLUMPING TEAMS GET WELL AT OUR EXPENSE, and this has been going on since the last couple of years under Francona and has only accelerated under Farrell.  Maybe if we can get Sale three or four runs tomorrow we can even the series.

With 152 left on the board I will wait before I hit the panic button.

Another stomping courtesy of RS pitching. 25 runs and counting in the last (almost) 3 games. Still time to raise that tally tonight.

So 10-5 final. Sad. What a lousy outing for Porcello. Let's hope he got it out of his system.

Quote from: Rob from Mass on April 14, 2017, 08:02:02 PM
With 152 left on the board I will wait before I hit the panic button.

You can wait until the cows come home for all I care, but you might consider to stop whistling past the graveyard on the way home.  Our team could be headed for real trouble.  One way out of this is maybe win the next three games of this series---at least put some efen runs on the board for Chris Sale can at least win his first game for us tomorrow.  Could the Red Sox at least do that?

Well, we lost another.  Sad.  So I understand Panda lost the weight so I don't think we'll ever
see him play ball the way he was expected to play.  We can't wait much longer to start
putting "W" up there; we get 10 games behind, we won't catch up.
You did a good job today Mark...Thank you.

Ouch again.  2 lousy outings in a row by our SPs is one thing, but this team is making a habit of waking up to hit from the 5th inning on.   

Porcello just didn't have it tonight. 
Fatso is as useless as we feared he'd be.  And that's NOT the 'in shape' guy we saw a few months ago entering spring training.  That's an 'out of shape' guy again.

Quote from: Bear on April 14, 2017, 10:36:13 PM
Well, we lost another.  Sad.  So I understand Panda lost the weight so I don't think we'll ever
see him play ball the way he was expected to play.  We can't wait much longer to start
putting "W" up there; we get 10 games behind, we won't catch up.
You did a good job today Mark...Thank you.

I dunno, bear.  Panda looks overweight to me again.  He was much thinner in ST.  He put on weight, IMO. 

I just checked Panda'a average:
9 games .143 average.  Surely we have another player
that could do as well and even a little better.
Why is Farrell keeping him in the game?
Answer:  Because he's Farrell and he can. iono

It's becoming clearer by the day that this young group just isn't playing to the level it did when Diva and Lovullo were around. I see zero in the way of leadership in this group. And what we're watching is more or less simply an extension of ST, where---according to Farrell---these games don't matter.

If he hasn't already, Dombrowski has got to realize that Farrell isn't the manager to guide this group to the next level. Without Ortiz and Lovullo around to constantly chip at these kids' heels we're simply not going to see the same results. We look sleepy, tired, and most importantly uninspired. And when excuses continue to outweigh accountability, the end results will likely be the same.

I have suspected for some time that Pruney is in a large part responsible for Farrell's continued presence. What we're watching is only adding validity to my hunch. It simply doesn't make sense to me that someone with Dombrowski's pedigree doesn't realize that this young core needs a 21st century innovator, a firebrand, who's capable of successfully tapping into 21st century players.

Quote from: Bear on April 15, 2017, 02:42:04 AM
I just checked Panda'a average:
9 games .143 average.  Surely we have another player
that could do as well and even a little better.
Why is Farrell keeping him in the game?
Answer:  Because he's Farrell and he can. iono

As  DAD would say, "SON, the games you loose in APRIL, you will need to win in SEPTEMBER"  !!! thumb_d

We used to have an annual argument on another board about whether games won later in the year have more value.  I concluded that they do only if you lose too many early - like we're doing.  The pitching is a real concern with Price out and the rest not named Sale stinking.  The hitting should come around since we had guys that got sick or injured right out of spring training.  What I'm worried about offensively is that we are an infield singles hitting team.  I believe that in the Baltimore blowout and last night's game we gave up more runs in each of those games than the entire team has all season long.  Nobody in this lineup is a consistent threat like Ortiz was and even if Betts is that threat, they can pitch around him. 

Sandoval is a waste of space.  Not sure why he had it going in ST, but whatever he had, it's gone (I think fear of losing his job had something to do with it).  Hernandez is a so-so defender but he can hit, so let's get him in the lineup on a regular basis.  I don't know what to say about Farrell.  Guys have to get it done at some point and giving up early leads and choking with the bases loaded (Schloika's lament!) don't make it any easier.

Quote from: ipot on April 14, 2017, 10:40:12 PM

Quote from: Bear on April 14, 2017, 10:36:13 PM
Well, we lost another.  Sad.  So I understand Panda lost the weight so I don't think we'll ever
see him play ball the way he was expected to play.  We can't wait much longer to start
putting "W" up there; we get 10 games behind, we won't catch up.
You did a good job today Mark...Thank you.

I dunno, bear.  Panda looks overweight to me again.  He was much thinner in ST.  He put on weight, IMO.

Oh you know IPOT---stop playing the fool..  You're more than smart enough to know that Fatso has put most of the weight back on.....just as he did when he played for the Giants and lost 40 pounds that off season around 2013 or 2014.  He put it all back on and then some.  I remember that very well from some Giants fans who complained about him and his weight.  Well he has put most of it back on and once again Farrell the dunce will NOT put him on a scale  to monitor his weight while he gets fatter and fatter.  By the summer when it gets hot he will be wheezing just as he did in 2015 before he was taken out before he collapsed. Meanwhile Prune Face will hold onto  to him like a shield to  try and get back two cents on the dollar for that contract he gave him after the 2014 season.  Still, he has company.  Just look at today....we win 2-1 and finally get Chris Sale a win....and what happens.  Most of the team's hitters go on vacation or get a bad case of the yips.  We hit when we're far behind but stink when we need badly to get some hits to give Sale some leeway.  Just look at how the team shit the bed at the plate today.

Yes, we're supposed to have talent and i believe we do.  What we don't have is a good team.  Right now it is a talented bunch but a really shitty team.  That's my opinion and these 11 games so far are bearing it out.  Sorry I went off my friend, but this team of ours is really pissing me off.  We should be playing better now, and when the #$%& is Price, Bradley, Thornburg and Smith going to get back on the field?  Vacation time is over.....get the hell back on the field. 

Quote from: Muggah on April 15, 2017, 06:04:34 AM
It's becoming clearer by the day that this young group just isn't playing to the level it did when Diva and Lovullo were around. I see zero in the way of leadership in this group. And what we're watching is more or less simply an extension of ST, where---according to Farrell---these games don't matter.

If he hasn't already, Dombrowski has got to realize that Farrell isn't the manager to guide this group to the next level. Without Ortiz and Lovullo around to constantly chip at these kids' heels we're simply not going to see the same results. We look sleepy, tired, and most importantly uninspired. And when excuses continue to outweigh accountability, the end results will likely be the same.

I have suspected for some time that Pruney is in a large part responsible for Farrell's continued presence. What we're watching is only adding validity to my hunch. It simply doesn't make sense to me that someone with Dombrowski's pedigree doesn't realize that this young core needs a 21st century innovator, a firebrand, who's capable of successfully tapping into 21st century players.

Suspected for some time Muggah?  Surely you jest.  You KNOW Prune Face is in back of this.  When Dumbo said he felt a manager was more important for handling a team than how to run a club the shit came flying out of the bag and it had Henry's name all on it .  And why are still dealing with deadbeat Sandoval.  He is down to 130 or so, has put most of the weight back on and isn't doing squat for us.....and to be fair, he has some company there.  First allowing Farrell to return in 2016 when he failed so miserably in 2014 and 2015, especially when Lovullo had the team winning, and then letting him get away to Arizona while we kept Clueless John around speaks volumes to the incompetency that has settled on this ball club.  The players like playing for him, that seems to be the case, but could it be because there is no requirement or urgency to take it to  the next level?  By what I've seen so far, the answer is EFEN yes!!!!!!!