AL East Thread

[chappee11]

Red Sox at 4.5 out is a shocker…..I’ve seen everything

Agreed 100%. After 2 consecutive last place finishes my expectations for this season were approximately zero. They didn’t commit much to payroll and seemed resigned to mediocrity while waiting for the next wave of prospects to arrive. I hadn’t counted on the likes of Houck and Duran taking such giant leaps forward. Hamilton and Abreu look like nice pieces, as well.

The overall pitching and bullpen have been good. They need more pitching and a good RH bat and they could make some noise in the 2nd half. Casas should be back on a few weeks and he’s one of their best players when he’s healthy. I’m not sure what to think at this point. They could get hot or go right in the tank and neither outcome would surprise me.

 

[chappee11]

And while we're talking prospects, Kristian Campbell's still hitting .407/.507/.627 in AA. The breakout reminds me of Mookie's breakout in the minors

That’s a strange case. He got promoted and got instantly better. Yorke kind of did the same in AAA but he’s not nearly as highly regarded anymore. They have a lot of interesting prospects to dangle in trades if they want. It’s going to be crowded in the upper levels soon.

 

[chappee11]

This made me sad.... Cora will be elsewhere next year.

Does anyone think Varitek is ready to manage?

Cora may, or may not, be elsewhere. He’s said he wants to move upstairs and not manage, and the Sox might give him that opportunity. Or they could give him a raise and keep him as manager.

I think Varitek would be just fine in that role, though, if he’s next in line.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Burnes starting over Skubal is hilariously negligent

Bartolo Cy young over Santana type of bad...just a smaller scale

 

[nynasty]

Never thought anyone could sing the National Anthem worse than Carl Lewis.


I stand corrected!

 

[YourFriendGannon]

You can't convince me that JD Vance and JD Davis are 2 different people.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Burnes starting over Skubal is hilariously negligent

Bartolo Cy young over Santana type of bad...just a smaller scale

Could be as simple as how they need to get their work in…..but then Skubal went ahead and pitched the second inning.

I know Burnes just had a kid and was away from the team again and just flew in this morning. Maybe it was a decision to have him warm up pre-game and get more work.

 

[bksballer89]

 

[navamind]

Agreed 100%. After 2 consecutive last place finishes my expectations for this season were approximately zero. They didn’t commit much to payroll and seemed resigned to mediocrity while waiting for the next wave of prospects to arrive. I hadn’t counted on the likes of Houck and Duran taking such giant leaps forward. Hamilton and Abreu look like nice pieces, as well.

The overall pitching and bullpen have been good. They need more pitching and a good RH bat and they could make some noise in the 2nd half. Casas should be back on a few weeks and he’s one of their best players when he’s healthy. I’m not sure what to think at this point. They could get hot or go right in the tank and neither outcome would surprise me.

About as good of a start as we could have hoped for. At the very least, this season has given us a good idea of which players will make up the core of the next few seasons (Duran, Abreu, Houck, Crawford) to complement Devers/Casas, and Rafaela/Hamilton/Bello could as well. Rafaela's been productive after a crappy April, but his BB/K ratios still worry me and his Statcast metrics aren't very enthusiastic. He's still just 23 in his first full season in the majors, I just think he's got a lot of work to do to have sustainable success. Bello's been a big disappointment this season, though at least his underlying stats are more encouraging (3.71 xFIP, you'd like to think a guy with a > 50% GB% rate won't keep a 20.3% HR/FB rate forever). If he can match that xFIP over the rest of the season, I'll feel much better about him going into 2025. He's been throwing a four seam in his last few starts after just using the sinker/slider/changeup mix all year, and it feels like there's been some improvements granted it was against KC/OAK/MIA.

Getting Casas back will be a huge boost to the lineup. Outfield has been great, only things I'd really look at are a starting pitcher and some bullpen depth. I'd consider giving Meidroth a shot in the majors and see if his contact/OBP skills can translate to the majors, and perhaps Lugo as well.

 

[bksballer89]

 

[ThomasTomasz]

About as good of a start as we could have hoped for. At the very least, this season has given us a good idea of which players will make up the core of the next few seasons (Duran, Abreu, Houck, Crawford) to complement Devers/Casas, and Rafaela/Hamilton/Bello could as well. Rafaela's been productive after a crappy April, but his BB/K ratios still worry me and his Statcast metrics aren't very enthusiastic. He's still just 23 in his first full season in the majors, I just think he's got a lot of work to do to have sustainable success. Bello's been a big disappointment this season, though at least his underlying stats are more encouraging (3.71 xFIP, you'd like to think a guy with a > 50% GB% rate won't keep a 20.3% HR/FB rate forever). If he can match that xFIP over the rest of the season, I'll feel much better about him going into 2025. He's been throwing a four seam in his last few starts after just using the sinker/slider/changeup mix all year, and it feels like there's been some improvements granted it was against KC/OAK/MIA.

Getting Casas back will be a huge boost to the lineup. Outfield has been great, only things I'd really look at are a starting pitcher and some bullpen depth. I'd consider giving Meidroth a shot in the majors and see if his contact/OBP skills can translate to the majors, and perhaps Lugo as well.

So was that a real story about Casas taking “mental” swings while he was at home recovering? I thought it was extremely bizarre to read, and immediately thought “OK, maybe that works, but why would you tell the media/world that?”

 

[steveringo]

So was that a real story about Casas taking “mental” swings while he was at home recovering? I thought it was extremely bizarre to read, and immediately thought “OK, maybe that works, but why would you tell the media/world that?”

All real. It was a while back, They asked him about taking 'dry-swings' (swinging without a bat). He said yes, but in his mind.

Casas has become an interviewer's delight. The dude is weird as hell and doesn't give a shit.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

All real. It was a while back, They asked him about taking 'dry-swings' (swinging without a bat). He said yes, but in his mind.

Casas has become an interviewer's delight. The dude is weird as hell and doesn't give a shit.

It was pretty crazy to read. I thought he was trolling the reporter personally.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Orioles needed those two HRs to lead off the game. Hope our hitters can get dialed back in soon

 

[dcrising]

Os raped rangers tonight. bats look like a Go. maybe all star break is what they needed.

 

[bksballer89]

Os raped rangers tonight. bats look like a Go. maybe all star break is what they needed.

Disappointed to hear

 

[dcrising]

Disappointed to hear

Oh I'm sure

 

[navamind]

Pivetta was great tonight.

 

[bksballer89]

Not intentionally walking anyone to face Freeman

 

[chappee11]

That Yankees lineup really looks like Judge and Soto and pray for rain on a day like today. Who are they going to add to help the offense? Verdugo, Volpe, LeMahieu, Grisham & Torres all not hitting. Rice has come back to Earth, too. I know the plan is for Stanton to replace Grisham but what else will they do?