MLB 2018: let the games begin!

[Dan Gould]

Marty! Haven't seen you here in forever. I presume you are rooting for the AL representative?

As for whether this comes back to Boston, certainly Game 3 will go a long way toward telling the tale.  For a sinkerballer, Porcello can be homer happy, and the Dodgers will get a bunch of lefty power hitters in the lineup from the start.  The Sox need to keep the offensive pressure on.  Worst case would be a close game in which Eovaldi is used again but the Dodgers win it (Cora says if they have a chance to go 3-0 they'll use him, and figure out Game 4 after).  Then Game 4 could be Pomeranz or E-Rod starting and that could be a disaster and suddenly you've got best two of three, Sale vs Kershaw to start.

I will say I am thrilled that Kimbrel seems to have regained his mojo.  1 inning/9 pitches/7 strikes.  Still don't want him resigned but if he's locked in again I like our chances.

[ghost of miles]

The Dodgers look seriously over-matched--at least Houston and New York (the only two teams I thought really had any chance of possibly stopping the Sox) each managed to swipe one game at Fenway before getting drubbed at home.  Dan, I thought I read a couple of days ago that Kimbrel may have been tipping his pitches recently?  If so, Boston figured it out and fixed it a lot quicker than the bright lights of the Yankees coaching team did with Severino (not to say that was his only problem in the second half of the season, but apparently it was there all along).  

[Dan Gould]

Yes I mentioned it above - "great" 2007 deadline acquisition Eric Gagne, who turned out to be terrible but they still won it all - got word to his good friend Alex Cora that he thought he was tipping his pitches. Kimbrel fixed it right before the uneventful (relatively) closing out of the ALCS. And he's been just fine in two appearances in the Series.

The thing with him though is that tipping or not tipping, he goes back and forth between spotting unhittable fastballs and wipe out sliders to walking the park, often with pitches that end up in the empty batter's box across the way, or throwing upper 90s but in spots that hitters can handle (career high homers allowed this year).

 

  I hope he handles the Dodgers the rest of the way but I'll still be glad to see him go.

 

[Dan Gould]

Much more info here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2018/10/21/craig-kimbrel-red-sox-world-series-eric-gagne/1722160002/

Pull quotes:

It turned out, Gagne detected, that Kimbrel’s glove was pulled tighter to his beard when he threw his breaking ball than his fastball. He was also turning his head toward home plate and picking up the catcher’s target earlier on the fastball than the breaking ball.

.....

They moved Kimbrel’s hands towards his belt to start his delivery, and just like that, the Astros had no idea what was coming.

“When he was warming up and he had his hands at the belt,” Cora said, “I looked at the [Houston] dugout and there was a lot of looking around. I was like, ‘yeah. All of a sudden they were taking fastballs right down the middle. They took some bad swings on sliders.

[JSngry]

David Price was outstanding, and he’s the last of his kind

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/10/25/18020854/david-price-world-series-game-2-red-sox

by Grant Brisbee

[Brad]

In 1916, the Red Sox beat the team now known as the Dodgers but they did it at Braves Field because it was larger. Parts of Braves Field still exists but it is now part of Boston University and is now known as Nickerson Field.  

Boston’s Other Baseball Treasure

[Dan Gould]

Any thoughts on whether Cora should play Betts at 2B, dropping the ineffectual 2B options and keeping JBJ in CF while JD Martinez gets 4 ABs in the NL park?

[Dan Gould]

Well we can stop guessing - I didn't see until now that Cora ruled out Betts at 2B.  And JD's ankle remains an issue so it's possible he's only a pinch hitter at least for game 4? Not good.

[Brad]

Although I like the NL style of playing — no DH — I don’t think it makes sense anymore. No other league, including the minors, use it. At the very least it should be discarded in the WS. 

[JSngry]

Lose the DH, but aluminum bats for everybody!

[Brad]

29 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Lose the DH, but aluminum bats for everybody!

You might have a lot of dead players. 

[JSngry]

Bring back the dead balls to compliment the dead players!

[Brad]

Benitendi is on the bench and Martinez in his place. I will defer to Dan but I would put him in RF and put JWJ on the bench. However, that’s not a great choice either.  The Red Sox are disadvantaged no matter how you cut it. 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Brad

[Dan Gould]

I think Martinez' glove plays better in LF, such as it is. Benitendi does give you an all-purpose pinch hitter as he hits lefties well (and what's with the extreme shifts when he led the majors in opposite field hits?)

[Matthew]

One out, bottom of the 9th, and you get picked off. Why??????????????????????

[Brad]

Some bad base running in this game. Kinsler was lucky he wasn't out at 1st and 3rd. 

We'll see if Bellinger's throw changes this series around. 

[Brad]

Onto the 15th. Night all 

[sonnymax]

18 minutes ago, Brad said:

Onto the 15th. Night all 

Me too. I'm spent!

[medjuck]

Hey it's only 11:45 here. 

 

[GA Russell]

At 2:00 am, my radio station went off the air!  I found that I can listen on espn.com (which surprised me).

I'm in for the duration.

[medjuck]

Finally over. 

[Dan Gould]

Woke up to this epic disaster.  I went to bed tied heading into the bottom of the 8th hoping that as in the past, they'll pull it out while I sleep.

I think Cora is a fucking moron to have burned Eovaldi like this. Now unless something miraculous occurs, it's Sale vs Kershaw on the road, to decide who goes to Fenway with the lead.  I do not even intend to watch Pomeranz embarrass himself and fuck his team over tonight.  What a fucking disaster.

And I want Kinsler GONE right now.  What a fucking piece of shit.  Worthless in every way.  All he had to do was set his g-damn feet and the game is over in the 13th and it wouldn't matter if they have to start Pomeranz tonight.

[Brad]

I have to give you credit for going to sleep; I never could have done that.

He bet the house and emptied his bankroll, so to speak, and has nothing left for today.  All or nothing. I think it was worth the risk. He’s not afraid to make the bold move, to coin another cliche. Let’s hope it doesn’t cost them the series. 

Kinsler had a terrible game. Besides his base running and his failure to score, in the bottom of the 13th — whatever inning it was — he should have eaten the ball. In addition, in the top of the inning, the Sox had the bases loaded and couldn’t score and that came back to bite them. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Brad

[Mark Stryker]

 

[zen archer]

Being a first year manager plus managing a NL game finally caught up to Cora. I don't have a problem taking J.D. out for a pinch runner.

But you save Benintendi to be that runner and replace him in left. They played the second game basically with Holt in left, Vasquez at first. I would

have also switched Pearce out for Moreland. And Moreland is swinging like he is starting a lawn mower, he keeps pulling off the ball, been doing it since Aug.!

Then you have a better lineup in that last 8 innings. I also believe tonight it will be E-Rod as the starter, he only faced one batter.

If I was Cora I would have put Pomeranz in the 10th and give up the game, your up 2-1. Good news is that the Dodgers had trouble beating a dreadful lineup from the 10th to the 18th. Betts and Bogaerts need to step it up. Betts was dreadful.