Game Thread: ALDS- Red Sox /Rays best of 5

[Darrell Green Fan]

He looks nervous......

Yeah I gotta get a better pic, that was the first day and she appears more timid than she really is.

 

[The Q]

I only had 2 bottles of Guinness the entire night. Pretty surprising because some of these games involved Maker's Mark. Lots of Maker's Mark.

I was sipping some Jim BEAM.

But man, this season has already been so much more than I expected.

I thought 80-85 wins

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I was sipping some Jim BEAM.

But man, this season has already been so much more than I expected.

I thought 80-85 wins

I remember watching them get swept at home by the Baltimore Fucking Orioles to start the season and I was resigned to what looked to be the obvious.

Last night I saw them gathering in the infield to celebrate another series win. I thought to myself "The Red Sox do that a lot". They are the only team I root for that I can be proud of. Very very proud today, bonus that this really irks my old friend @Breed who hates the Red Sox.

Say it with me Breed:

Let's Go Red Sox

Clap, Clap, Clap Clap Clap.

 

[navamind]

But man, this season has already been so much more than I expected.

I thought 80-85 wins

Same. I thought the pitching would be better than last year but I thought that would mean more like 10th/11th in the AL. They finished 7th in the AL in ERA and they actually underperformed their FIP and xFIP, and finished 6th in the majors in FanGraphs WAR. Amazing how much more stable the rotation was after last year's debacle.

 

[The Q]

Same. I thought the pitching would be better than last year but I thought that would mean more like 10th/11th in the AL. They finished 7th in the AL in ERA and they actually underperformed their FIP and xFIP, and finished 6th in the majors in FanGraphs WAR.

That's because their infield defense is awful.

Their OF defense is normally pretty good. But fenway also is a hitters park.

 

[Montalban]

Brandon Lowe oh for 18 with 9 strikeouts? You gotta be shittin me

 

[navamind]

Brandon Lowe oh for 18 with 9 strikeouts? You gotta be shittin me

Hard to fathom because he's a Red Sox killer (career .357/.478/.729, 13 homers in 35 games).

 

[chappee11]

I posted this on March 31st regarding the Red Sox chances. I was the most optimistic, by far, but never saw THIS coming:

I see 84-86 wins from the Red Sox this year. They seem to have upgraded just about everywhere(except for their defense).

Starting pitching is much improved with 30-35 combined starts from Sale & Erod(v. None in 2020). The bullpen is much better with Ottavino and Sawamura(among others)

Lineup is very solid and not getting much credit. Verdugo looks like a borderline all-star. Bogaerts and Devers are right in their prime and JDM is due for a strong bounce-back. Kiké Hernandez is the Shane Victorino of this team and he’ll be a nice piece. Marwin Gonzalez looks like he might be a steal. Vazquez is quietly one of the best catchers in the AL. The whole team was in a funk last year without Mookie and it showed. That won’t be the case this time around. They will score a lot of runs.

The Sox also have decent prospects coming for the first time in a long time: Dalbec, Downs, Duran & Houck could all be factors this year.

If everything breaks right, this could be a wildcard team in 2021, but I’m thinking next year they will really make some noise.

 

[Montalban]

Hard to fathom because he's a Red Sox killer (career .357/.478/.729, 13 homers in 35 games).

Didn't he hit something like 40 homers this year. he was their boy. He really let them down. I think the Red Sox are going to the Series