GAME #54 - TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2021 - BOSTON RED SOX @ HOUSTON ASTROS

[markj]

8:10PM Eastern

Red Sox

Garrett Richards (R)

1. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF
2. Alex Verdugo (L) LF
3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
4. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
5. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
6. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
7. Danny Santana (S) 1B
8. Christian Vazquez (R) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 2B

Astros

Luis Garcia (R)

1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. Carlos Correa (R) SS
3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B
4. Yordan Alvarez (L) DH
5. Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B
6. Kyle Tucker (L) RF
7. Chas McCormick (R) LF
8. Myles Straw (R) CF
9. Martin Maldonado (R) C

Gametime Temp: 66°F
Chance of Precip: 1%

[Sea Dog 23]

Geesh.  Altuve is tough on the Sox this series.  I hope Cora isn’t just enjoying old times down in Houston and gets our guys firing back.

[MongoLikeSox]

Soooooo, looks like we have to make a decision on Workman. He's opted out and the 'sox have 48 hours to decide to promote or let him walk. He's not on the 40.

Mongo truly bored. Devers tried to make it interesting.

[markj]

Down 5-1. If they get swept in this series, we have to think they just don't have it to make a splash this season.

[SeaBeachFred]

Down 5-1. If they get swept in this series, we have to think they just don't have it to make a splash this season.

If we get swept in this series markj??????  I think you can take that one to the bank and safely bank it away, and then you can add the sweep at the hands of the Yankees to that.  I really think we are in a free fall now.  We got only two runs last night, only 1 tonight.  What about tomorrow?  Goose eggs??  And there is that cheater Cora still playing his Latin pets Gonzales and now Santana, who after a couple of good games is now stinking up the place.  Get Arroyo at second and Dalbec back on first.  At least when Bobby was in there we won most of our games.  Arroyo is a better hitter than Miserable Marwin and Dalbec is a better first baseman than Santana.  I'm not too up on Kiki either.  He seems to have left his game in Los Angeles though Is still think he can come around.  I want Durran up here as soon as possible and pe rhaps Downs as well.  From the last two games we seem to be on a streak on the road to another horseshit season and if this continues my only hope is that we finally rid ourselves of the Cheater who has developed a very bad case of hubris since the end of the 2018 season, including some miserable ST programs and his penchant for playing favorites.  BTW, his former favorite (and Prune Face's too) is now hitting 150 for the Brewers.  You can pretty well guess who I'm talking about.  Hint......I always said this guy wsas one crappy hitter who we should have gotten rid of years ago.

[MongoLikeSox]

I didn't think Kike Hernandez was all that good of a CF'er. At least not in last year's playoffs or WS when Bellinger went down. He cost them twice, IIRC. Don't get me started on Marwin.

One thing we learned from Brock Holt when he was with us was that a super-sub could be exposed if they stayed in one position for too long. I think we're seeing a variation of that with a host of floaters manning 2B, CF and 1B night in and night out. Yes, some good plays will happen and make everyone look smart, but some routine and difficult plays alike will not end up going well. The types that do not end up as errors, but a proper defender should have had. Defenders who work at that position every day types, not roaming super subs or quasi starters.

Switch hitters are great if they are great at both sides of the plate. They're nice to have if they have a better side, but is supported by at least a decent weaker side. It's of little use if one side stinks. We got a pair that stink on Both sides. Sure are versatile, though. wee-hoo!!!!! Let's get two!

I'm not gonna rehash my thoughts on Santana from earlier this month when he got back onto the radar, but the early returns are not so good. He can move, though, and I do like him better than Marwin, so far.

[longgame]

If Dalbec and Arroyo are the answers to our problems we're in a world of hurt.  I'd actually prefer Dalbec and Santana out of the four you mentioned.   I think Santana has a lot of potential.  Gonzalez needs to go (only will happen via trade).  Arroyo has been hot and cold.  A bigger issue is why Dalbec has Chavis' problems.

The bullpen seems to be regressing.  Taylor had a wild start but kept it under control and the pen and the rest of the team fell apart when he came out.

Odd comment made last night by O'Brien saying that Renfroe has the best Zone rating among RFs.  I looked it up and he's right somehow.  Anyone who watches this guy play would be surprised to hear this and when hearing what goes into "UZR" makes it more baffling.

● Outfield Arm Runs (ARM) â€" The amount of runs above average an outfielder saves with their arm by preventing runners from advancing. Renfroe does not have a good arm, last night he made a terrible throw to 2B yet they still caught the runner who stopped at second before trying to get to third.
● Double-Play Runs (DPR) â€" The amount of runs above average an infielder is by turning double-plays. N/A
● Range Runs  (RngR) â€" Is the player an Ozzie Smith or an Adam Dunn? Do they get to more balls than average or not? I have a bad knee and still recovering from breaking my leg yet at my age could get to balls faster than this guy.  He saunters to pick up ball hit his way.
● Error Runs (ErrR) â€" Does the player commit more or fewer errors compared with a league-average player at their position? Probbaly too early to statistically weight this.  But for reference Adam Eaton has 3 errors, Renfroe is among 3 players to have 2 and the rest have 1 or 0, so he'd be committing more errors.

[SeaBeachFred]

I didn't think Kike Hernandez was all that good of a CF'er. At least not in last year's playoffs or WS when Bellinger went down. He cost them twice, IIRC. Don't get me started on Marwin.

One thing we learned from Brock Holt when he was with us was that a super-sub could be exposed if they stayed in one position for too long. I think we're seeing a variation of that with a host of floaters manning 2B, CF and 1B night in and night out. Yes, some good plays will happen and make everyone look smart, but some routine and difficult plays alike will not end up going well. The types that do not end up as errors, but a proper defender should have had. Defenders who work at that position every day types, not roaming super subs or quasi starters.

Switch hitters are great if they are great at both sides of the plate. They're nice to have if they have a better side, but is supported by at least a decent weaker side. It's of little use if one side stinks. We got a pair that stink on Both sides. Sure are versatile, though. wee-hoo!!!!! Let's get two!

I'm not gonna rehash my thoughts on Santana from earlier this month when he got back onto the radar, but the early returns are not so good. He can move, though, and I do like him better than Marwin, so far.

Mongo----I'd like to get your opinion on which way w e should go from here on out.  I have belabored my opinion day after day but with some real sound baseball men on this board like you, longgame, Murph, Sea Dog and others, I would like to get some other opinions on this matter or whether I am just running my mouth.  I think I have some of this wired but I would like to see if I am wrong somewhere.  It just seems to me Cora and the organization is on the wrong track.  For instance Brandon Workman can now be a free agent unless the team adds him to the 40-man roster and brings him up, and right there there is hesitation on the team's part.  But how can that be?  Colton Brewer and that guy Samumura  have pitched shitty and show no promise yet they are still on the team.

[SeaBeachFred]

If Dalbec and Arroyo are the answers to our problems we're in a world of hurt.  I'd actually prefer Dalbec and Santana out of the four you mentioned.   I think Santana has a lot of potential.  Gonzalez needs to go (only will happen via trade).  Arroyo has been hot and cold.  A bigger issue is why Dalbec has Chavis' problems.

The bullpen seems to be regressing.  Taylor had a wild start but kept it under control and the pen and the rest of the team fell apart when he came out.

Odd comment made last night by O'Brien saying that Renfroe has the best Zone rating among RFs.  I looked it up and he's right somehow.  Anyone who watches this guy play would be surprised to hear this and when hearing what goes into "UZR" makes it more baffling.

● Outfield Arm Runs (ARM) â€" The amount of runs above average an outfielder saves with their arm by preventing runners from advancing. Renfroe does not have a good arm, last night he made a terrible throw to 2B yet they still caught the runner who stopped at second before trying to get to third.
● Double-Play Runs (DPR) â€" The amount of runs above average an infielder is by turning double-plays. N/A
● Range Runs  (RngR) â€" Is the player an Ozzie Smith or an Adam Dunn? Do they get to more balls than average or not? I have a bad knee and still recovering from breaking my leg yet at my age could get to balls faster than this guy.  He saunters to pick up ball hit his way.
● Error Runs (ErrR) â€" Does the player commit more or fewer errors compared with a league-average player at their position? Probbaly too early to statistically weight this.  But for reference Adam Eaton has 3 errors, Renfroe is among 3 players to have 2 and the rest have 1 or 0, so he'd be committing more errors.

Good info Ted and that is what I would like to see----some opinions from my colleagues on this board besides opinions of my own.  I have not liked what I have seen the past two weeks.  We go hot and cold at the drop of a hat and the laat two nights have been very hard to take, especially now that we are going into the tough part of our schedule.  Now that June is here, it doesn't look like "we're busting out all  over, if you'll pardon my stealing the song from the musical Carousel.  Something just doesn't seem right.

[longgame]

I hear you Fred.  The pitching situation is just bad.  My guess is they figure they know what Workman has or what he needs to be any good and aren't seeing it while the other guys may have potential (I haven't seen that either though).  Our bullpen until Ottavino (Who has been pitching well) and Barnes has been brutal.  Sawamura just looks like he's really laboring if it's over 65 degrees.  Whitlock had been doing well but they brought him in for the first time in a week in a critical situation.

The hitting has been a problem all year.  We've all said it over the years - when it was just Bradley it was bad enough but he offset it with his glove.  Hernandez hits about the same with less pop and no defense.  Apparently Renfroe is playing stealth defense that only stat heads can see.  The only guy that seems to show up to play every day is Verdugo.  Devers goes bad in spells and now Bogey and JDM are scuffling all of a sudden beside him.  Then you figure that everyone else that could play a role - Santana, Dalbec, Arroyo, Chavis, Gonzalez, etc. 0 that at least some of them would do something productive, but we have a 3 or 4 man dark hole in every lineup.