All series talk goes in here. Non series talk goes somewhere else. No PBP, that can be found from other sources if you need it. All games are broadcast on AT&T Sports SW unless otherwise noted. 5-31 Drew Pomeranz (L) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (R) 7:10 MLBN (out-of-market only) 6-1 Chris Sale (L) vs. Gerrit Cole (R) 7:10 MLBN (out-of-market only) 6-2 David Price (L) vs. Justin Verlander (R) 6:10 FOX (only) 6-3 Rick Porcello vs. Charlie Morton 6:35 ESPN (only)
Red Sox fan here - hoping this is a preview of the ALCS. Astros rotation is so good this year but Red Sox is not bad BUT Pomeranz is garbage this year. I will be shocked if he goes 5 innings tonight. Red Sox might as well pull a Rays and use tonight as a bullpen game because the bullpen is going to have to pitch a lot tonight.
The way things have gone so far this year, I expect we will either blow you out or lose by 1 run. Ditto for rest of series. Yanks will be in the playoff picture somewhere.
Sadly true (about the Yankees). Having Martinez and Betts playing like he did 2 years ago makes the Sox a much more fearsome offense. I am hoping that Mookie plays as he has missed the last couple of games with some minor injury.
We all put our own teams under the microscope. Do you guys (Red Sox) have a Jake Marisnick type player on your team? How has your brass handled him? Just curious how different management teams handle struggling players.
Yes, his name is Jackie Bradley, Jr. You have to remember that the Red Sox are run by Dave Dombrowski, so he is not afraid to make some decisions that are tough. An example would be DFAing Hanley Ramirez although Alex was the one that suggested it. Plus we also dealt with Pablo Sandoval who will go down as one of the biggest busts in Red Sox history (along with Carl Crawford). When you have money (like the Yankees), you can get by with doing away with expensive mistakes. The Astros will not have that luxury, unfortunately. I don't think that the Red Sox would get rid of JBJ but this isn't the first time in his career that he has struggled with his hitting. He is too valuable defensively for them to just release him. However, with a black hole in hitting in their catching spot (neither Vazquez or Leon is very good with the bat), Jackie needs to turn it around and soon or he is going to be a platoon guy and not an everyday starter. It's strange too because he was a really good hitter at South Carolina in college.
So, you would describe your team as having a fast trigger on guys who struggle? Is that fair? Has it blown up on you (guy started raking on his new team)?
Well Crawford never did anything for the Dodgers. My dad is a big Dodgers fan and he would complain all the time to me about Crawford. Sandoval hasn't done a whole lot now that he is back with the Giants but I don't keep up with the NL as closely as the AL so he might be having a good season. Traditionally, someone who has played for the Sox and didn't work out inevitably winds up on the Yankees and then they usually do well. The same thing happens with Denver Bronco players who get let go and then get picked up by the Raiders. Always seem to play better when they are in the silver and black. But it is tough playing in Boston, fans and media are on you all the time and that even goes for the off-season. It about made David Price crack and might still.
Derek Fisher didn't play for Fresno last night. I wonder if he's going to get called up, and Marisnick sent down. I think Hinch wanted to keep Marisnick on the road trip because both Cleveland and New York have cavernous centerfields. I know Boston is going to throw three lefties in four days against the Astros, but Marisnick's bat isn't going to be viewed as an asset to protect on this roster, in this series. Also, the Astros only have two lefty options on the active roster right now, so activating Fisher would provide a third.
That must make you insane. I suppose that would be like our guys going to the Rangers. No one of mention has done this As far as public scrutiny is concerned, its amazing what a world series win can do for you. Our guys would have to be extremely lucky to win it again this year. Not knocking the Stros, repeating is just that hard to do.
Oh believe me it has. The same thing with the Rockets. I have seen guys who were absolute garbage for us do well in other places. The one that really pissed me off was Richard Jefferson. We drafted this punk with the intention of TRADING him - so he was never in our plans. Yet every time he played against us, he seemingly had to make some point about how we did him wrong...smh.
@Manny Ramirez I really like the guys on this Sox team (except for Sale and Price... both kind of seem like pricks). I love watching that outfield... AB, Bradley and Betts just routinely make ridiculous plays look easy. EDIT: And I forgot to even mention my fellow Cuban-American badass, J.D. Martinez. He was my favorite Astro during the dark time, even though he never lived up to his considerable talent when he was here. I was always happy that he found success, even though it wasn't in Houston. Mookie especially... he's the coolest non-Astro in the league. Wins gold gloves, hits a ton, bowls perfect games, and even loans his bat to our own George Springer: https://deadspin.com/heres-a-fun-story-about-how-george-springer-came-to-use-1796269782 Best of luck to you this season, ManRam. Hope we see you in the ALCS!
I’ll take a split but would really prefer a 3-1 series win, just to build up some team mojo if nothing else. Rangers did us another solid yesterday keeping the Mariners at bay. Much prefer the Red Sox over the Yankees too. The bad luck that gifted them the season series is bound to reverse for us now hopefully. Crazy to think that Morton could easily have 10 wins by now.
Eric - thanks. Yea, I like the Stros a lot due to you guys here plus they are NOT the Yankees. It was hard to pull against the Dodgers because that is my dad's team but I was glad to see you guys win it last year. Price is okay - he is just a little surly at times. I think that he underestimated how tough it was going to be to play in the Boston market. Sale is just a competitor man - an absolute bulldog. He may project a prick vibe but he is tough as nails - I tell you that.
Yeah Boston is tough... I can't imagine the pressure a guy like Price (with Boston media + the expectations that come with his contract) is under. Sale, even though we got to him a little last year, absolutely terrifies me. Strikes me as one of those guys that, as a fan, you just hate... but you'd love him if he was on your team. Patrick Beverley is the first example jumping to my mind for some reason. I hope it's a competitive series and we can get off the "blowout win then lose a heartbreaker in extras" see-saw we've been on.
Was just browsing our schedule on mlb.com, and I came across this: "June 3rd - Please Note- Kids Run the Bases is canceled on Sunday, June 3rd due to the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcast" Just in case anyone needs another trivial reason on top of many other reasons to hate ESPN, and really don't we all need that?
I hope the batters have some energy from the get-go this series. We're hearing a lot of data about how the Astros have this immense number of runs from the 6th inning onwards...in some games, and the interpretation fed to us is that they beat up on opposing relievers and they don't quit when they're down. Ok, sure, probably some percentage of that is accurate. My interpretation from watching these guys is that they just don't really takes at-bats seriously until it gets later in the game, and they're forced to make something happen. Yeah, I know they're facing major league starters at the beginning of the game, but I still see a lot of poor at-bats. Bregman is to be noted for really doing his best to have what people would call quality "at-bats" almost every time. The definition changes depending on who you ask, but he's doing it. I bet you'd find statistically that the number of quality at-bats over the whole lineup goes up at the 6th inning and onwards, and that's probably the main factor for why they tend to score in the late innings. Unfortunately, it may be too late by that point. Plus, you're depriving your starter of yet another win by waiting to score after he gives up 1-2 runs and is out of the game. If they'd treat each at-bat with the urgency they do at the end of games, I think we'd see a lot less of the frustrating losses we've seen this year. If they're going to get beat, I want to see them GET beat by the other team, not beat themselves.
I thought last year there was some info that the Astros were ridiculously good fastball hitters. Relievers tend to be 1-2 pitch pitchers rather than 3 or 4 pitches, so I assume the Astros see more fastballs in the late innings, and thus might be better for that reason?
