GAME #128 - SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2022 - TAMPA BAY RAYS @ BOSTON RED SOX

[markj]

1:35PM Eastern

Red Sox

Nick Pivetta (R)

1. Tommy Pham (R) LF
2. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
6. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
7. Reese McGuire (L) C
8. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF
9. Franchy Cordero (L) 1B

Rays

Corey Kluber (R)

1. Yandy Diaz (R) 3B
2. Manuel Margot (R) RF
3. David Peralta (L) DH
4. Harold Ramirez (R) 1B
5. Randy Arozarena (R) LF
6. Isaac Paredes (R) 2B
7. Taylor Walls (S) SS
8. Christian Bethancourt (R) C
9. Jose Siri (R) CF

Gametime Temp: 74°F
Chance of Precip: 0%

[markj]

I'm watching the Rays' broadcast. They did back-to-back pieces on Bogaerts and Verdugo. I'm surprised how much of their pre-game broadcast time they spent on those two.

[Sea Dog 23]

The bad Pivetta today.  Two homers for TB, Franchy got one for us. 4-1.

[Sea Dog 23]

Its a homers day.  JD and Pham's solo shots keep us in the game.  5-3.

[elktonnick]

Why is Sawamura still pitching for the Red Sox.

[markj]

No big shock here. I was pleasantly surprised they held on to take the first game and avoid being swept. I was stunned that they won again yesterday to take the series. There was no way I expected them to complete the sweep today. I'll take the series win.

[longgame]

Glad I dozed off before it got too ugly today. 

[elktonnick]

In the NESN.post game show both Denardo   and Wakefield talked about the need to prioritize pitching in building next years team.  Silly me I thought Bloom was going to that last year. 

Does anyone think Bloom who makes moves at glacial speed can pull off rebuilding the Sox pitching staff and fill the holes they have in the lineup over the off season.  I don't.  Until he proves otherwise my default position is that the Sox will be a sub 500 team in 23, possibly even worse than this years team.

[MongoLikeSox]

In the NESN.post game show both Denardo   and Wakefield talked about the need to prioritize pitching in building next years team.  Silly me I thought Bloom was going to that last year. 

Does anyone think Bloom who makes moves at glacial speed can pull off rebuilding the Sox pitching staff and fill the holes they have in the lineup over the off season.  I don't.  Until he proves otherwise my default position is that the Sox will be a sub 500 team in 23, possibly even worse than this years team.

Good question. Bloom gave us the 2020 pitching disaster and went into 2121 with a horrible bottom feeding rotation that greatly over-achieved. There is nobody that didn't think that staff greatly over-achieved and bottled lightning. The were 7th in the league ERA, just .08 less than 10th. That over achieving group was his best staff so far. This year's staff is next to last the 2nd time out of 3 years.

THREE SEASONS!!!!

And how did he improve us at the deadline? He made the staff WORSE by lopping off our best lefty in the pen, which was the price he had to pay for getting rid of one of our best players for two midling prospects. You just cannot make this stuff up.

[Sea Dog 23]

Retaining Bloom?  In a social context - stop digging the hole you’re in. In the business world - know when to cut your losses.

To let this I’ll-prepared junior manager make another disastrous decision is crazy.  Where is the   pushback in Boston?  The fans at Fenway need to be held accountable as well for not showing their outrage.

As a result of yesterday’s pitching debacle, Sawamura and Davis were DFA’d and Zack Kelly and Caleb Ort were called up.  There is apparently now an open spot on the 40 man, and speculation that spot would go to Bazardo or German.  They are said to be looking for pitching nuggets with more team control, like Schreiber.
There is some math involved in the pitching moves.  For a contending team there playoff roster has to be registered by Sept 1, this gives Sawa and Davis a chance to get on a roster somewhere.  The moves I think are related to the future roster obligations for the 2023 team.

[longgame]

It's one thing to build a bullpen by picking up some spare parts, but you need to have a core.  There's still not a closer.  I guess Houck, but if he's not playing it doesn't matter and that wasn't the plan going in. As for the starters, I have said for years you need 6 starters in good shape to start a season because one will almost always be down, especially with this coaching staff.  But the bottom line is like with every other aspect of the game, it's become clear that the Sox have no organizational approach and bad coaches throughout the system.  This last place half the time to be in first place 20% of the time is crap. 

[elktonnick]

The current pitching coach Bush was supposed to be this bright new star who was going to straighten out Boston pitching as was Bloom.  It is quite obvious that their entire approach toward pitching is seriously flawed.  It begins with scouting and runs throughout the minor leagues
  It is possible that Bush may be the guy to fix it and he has met with stiff resistance at other levels in the organization. 
Whatever it is their pitcher development and philosophy have been screwed up for a long time.  If it were up to me I would hire a Smoltz Palmer Eckersly and Pedro a group of Hall of Famers to do a soup to nuts review and come up.with a list of recommendations.