AlbNYfan

Closers, generally come in clean in the ninth...no one on base. Do you really need K's? You need some who throws strikes, keeps the ball in the park IMO. You also need someone who can adjust on the mound if he is having trouble finding the plate. Many of you get all hot for the guy that can throw upper 90's and K's 1+ / inning. Kimbrel makes me nervous Don Stanhouse nervous...at least he had a big K against Elly last night. Oh, when do I want a K pitcher or relief pitcher?? When a guy comes in in a close game, inherited baserunners, runner on third, less than two outs (7-9 innings), good hitters up. Does anyone bring a "Closer" in in the 7th in those situations? Maybe the 8th with one out or two because of the match up. We (baseball) have stereotyped "closers".... IMO, you need a guy with balls, and guys who opponents have trouble barreling up on, have the ability to pitch around difficult hitters.

That was a great play, but I was more impressed by Mateo's back-up, turn and throw play.

According to the MLB standings, The Red Sox are only 6-12 against teams that are better than .500. Shockingly (I know this is about the AL East), but the maybe the AL East isn't presently the beast it usually is. The Central which has been lousy for a while appears to be much stronger. All but one team are over .500. Big change.

And payroll.

MLB's top 3 performers of the game: Soto Wells Weaver I guess I missed something....like the score.

There was a diving, foul ball catch in front of the 3rd base dugout by AR a few weeks ago...statcast gave it a high probability of catch number 80% ???? McKenna?? not an easy catch, but if your forte is defense, it should have been made.

There's more to it than just an error (s). How many extra pitches do the starters have to make because of below average fielding. Talk to a pitcher that has a couple on base and an infielder botches an easy double play. Mentally, a pitcher has to be more relaxed out there knowing he doesn't need a K to get someone out. In the 60's there was a Yankee 3rd baseman named Hector Lopez...the refrain on him was "knock in 3, let in 4." I have no trouble with Mateo on the team. Urias really seems lost, and I believe he needs to be more of an everyday player to be successful. It's not happening here.. And McKenna (the luckiest man around), has no place on this team either IMO.

The O's are 0-2 in games McKenna has played in since he was brought back up. Don't play him and the O's will be fine!!!

Palmer, loosely quoted.."If Kimbrel walks him (Adell) you know he'll be running. Kimbrel is not fast to the plate." Gameball---well Henderson was incredible, but: Kremer gets it. Kremer only gets the opportunity only 30 times or so a season...Henderson 150+, it was more of a typical game for Henderson, not so for Kremer, 10 K's in 5 and 1/3 innings?? BTW, Sign Henderson, long term NOW, PLEASE....send a message.

If I hear one more "his timing is off", I am going to vomit. He looks like a kid playing against the big boys and worse yet, he's playing like a kid against the big boys. Just two years out of HS, the bigs is a tough place to learn, but if AAA pitching is as poor as some claim, he might not learn much there, but maybe become more physically mature. Tough call.

Sorry, you missed both IP and R.....inexcusable!!

I guess many here will starting saying Mountcastle walks too much.

O's caught a huge break when the second base umpire called Jackson safe (rightfully so) in the ninth. No challenges left. Perhaps Hyde set the umpire up with the previous challenge. I lived a long life with the phantom play at second base, glad it wasn't called this time...Cold, late in the game...kudos to the ump.

Can Jackson PLEASE stop soft tossing throws to first on routine ground balls?? It's like he's throwing change ups to Mounty. The hitters have come close to beating a few times. He certainly must have shown more when he played shortstop.

In my long life, I have never seen an inning like last night's (6th??)...passed balls, wild pitch, catcher's interference at any level above little league. Where is Alex Cora?? He doesn't try settle things down? The night before he kept a reliever in that was getting battered. Same thing, he just watches. At this point, the Sox, to my eyes don't seem like much. Cora even less. The O's are completing their 4th series today....Angels, Royals, Pirates and Sox....Not talking offense, but the defense I've seen from those 4 teams are incredibly inferior to the O's and the O's have not been at their very best (Gunnar has to learn to eat the ball once in a while on no chance plays).

Yep...Elias gave a ten game AAA detention to Holliday. You do that to #1 picks. It makes perfect sense. GM's are paid to be punitive, that's how you build organizations. I don't care about the whys or whatevers. He's up, I wish him success. But I'm sure the insanity will continue to exist.

Rather stupid article IMO...especially the NOW of it. The only thing they could do now is use a pitching machine rather than a pitcher...and that's not going to happen. For the most part, youth today throw more by the age of 12 than kids did by 18 years of age 30 years ago. Many Little Leagues back in the day allowed only 2 pitches...fastball and change up. One camp I took my kids to was run by Jack Aker (Oakland A's...relief) he endorsed fastball, fastball, location...he also said watch your kid throw a snowball...that's his natural arm motion...don't mess with it. Watching my grandkids play...50+ games schedules (60+games in hockey, same in basketball) throwing curves at 8 years of age, taught by coaches who don't have a clue of the arm mechanics, but they see YouTube and therefore it's all good...it's insane. Body parts wear out hips, knees and even arms when put in stress situations. They worry about pitch counts and have rules in youth baseball, which is good. But, IMO there is more damage in what their throwing not the number of pitches.

Define MOMENT....second half of last year, Spring Training (often not facing top pitchers) and now this. Not concerned? A couple weeks ago, a thread, 3 Concerns for the Season....of course pitching was and always is for any team. My three concerns were Mullins, Hays and McKenna. Mullin has had a couple moments..3 run homer, hit in the 9th last night. But, so many K's (OK one was a terrible call by the umpire). He is one of my favorites..but he seems lost. Hays...like his D, probably need the D at home because of LF. But of any O, he is the last player I want to see with runners on, O's needing run(s). In those situations he is a K machine, or groundout machine. Right now the bottom of the order Hays, Mullin, Urias...good D (minus Mullins arm), no hitting...You can't have 1/3 of your lineup sucking it up. You can talk all you want about "streak" hitting....hits aren't the only thing...runner on third, less than two outs, hitting the ball to the right to advance the runner(s) does require a streak, it requires plate discipline...shorten your swing, find the open hole put it in play.

So, McKenna takes AB's away from who?? Are the O's still stuck with his 775K (not sure the exact amount) salary?

Yep, the poor new owners are buying a franchise in such poor shape. 101 win season, new stadium contract, top rated farm system, new developmental program in the DR......such a mess, so many problems to solve.

What were the concerns last year?? Starting pitching and bullpen. That is a continuous concern for all teams, Relief pitchers are relief pitchers for a reason...they have flaws, hence they aren't starters. They can be great one day and not so the next. My concerns: Mullins- I love him, but I'm afraid he peeked and is on a spiral downward much quicker than expected. Hope I'm wrong. Hayes- Another guy I like, but he seems (to me, could be wrong) to have difficulty in "clutch" situations (man on third less than two out, couple runners on one or no outs)...K's, hits into DP's. He certainly has his moments and again I hope I'm wrong. McKenna- one of the luckiest guys in baseball...750K for being a good teammate and D. He happened upon the O's when talent didn't exist and has hung on. The good news is, there are guys on the farm that can fill for these 3 IMO...especially McKenna. CF ?? no one to go get 'em like Mullins, but guys with better arms.

I agree, there was never "mental shift", there was and has been, a timeline, if x then y. You collect the best players and hope for a surplus at certain positions. When that occurs, you trade. There is no reason to have "deep" depth if you can improve your club in other ways. I am more curious on why the Brewers let him go. It seems to me they could have gotten a similar package up until the trading deadline. Why not see how your season is going before trading him?

With the current starting 5, they might be able to keep one less BP arm early in the season. One can certainly hope that Bradish and Rodriquez can up innings pitch/start. Means is the unknown in the puzzle. I can see them coming north with an extra bench player.

What does Elias enjoy more, $$$$ or taking a team in the pits and blow them up? He certainly has a gift. What if the new owners give him a piece of the pie as part of the package to tie him up?

Sorry, why would anyone wish for prospects to "bomb" if the trade worked out for the O's? If anything, IMO, if the "prospects" were successful it would make teams more likely to deals with the O's in the future. A "good" trade works well for both teams, no one needs to be fleeced (Glenn Davis).