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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:33:20 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 2m Matt Barnes gets in on the act here in the 10th.
The Red Sox will need a rally to avoid an 0-5 start in extra innings. Simply brutal.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:34:47 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 4m Cora has to manage these games like it's the fucking 7th game of the ALCS and he has to use players with no control and actual dead bodies. This is BRUTAL.
Barnes legitimately may not make it to the anniversary of his contract extension
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:36:46 GMT -5
barnes walks a batter and that is it for him more boos sawawurma comes and more usual shit from him 3 run jack 10-4 Halos
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:43:51 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:44:50 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 3m . Sox have allowed 7 runs the last two innings.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:46:04 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 3m I don't even know what you do right now. I'd probably put Whitlock and Houck in the pen starting tomorrow, call up Seabold to be a 5th starter, pray the rotation doesn't fall apart and you stay in the wild card race until June.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 4, 2022 21:47:20 GMT -5
Dan Shaughnessy @dan_Shaughnessy · 2m Remember that the Tampa bay Red Sox are smarter than everybody and have great payroll flexibility
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 1:37:21 GMT -5
So here we are on May 5th The Red Sox, with a pay roll over just over 206 million now have 7 blown saves, to lead MLB and no closer.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:10:20 GMT -5
Red Sox 5, Angels 10: More bullpen woes
The Red Sox waste a phenomenal showing from Garrett Whitlock. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins May 4, 2022, 10:56pm EDT 15 Comments
Coming into the season, one of the clear weaknesses for the Red Sox was the lack of top-end talent in their bullpen. There were enough interesting guys on the depth chart that you could feasibly see them piece together the middle innings on a regular basis, but aside from Garrett Whitlock there was no one you could trust every time out in close games. The thing about Whitlock, of course, is that they want him to be a starter, which he was in this game and was phenomenal. But the offense was once again too quiet, and the bullpen blew their fourth save of the year. The game was eventually pushed to extras, where the Angels quickly jumped out to a lead they would hold and even up this three-game set.
More robust game notes below.
The Red Sox still haven’t quite figured out their plan for the rotation moving forward, and Alex Cora has said that they will make that plan after next week, which includes two days off on the schedule. One of the questions at hand, presumably, is whether or not Garrett Whitlock will stick in the rotation or head back to the bullpen. The righty continues to make the case that they should keep him in this role, and he emphatically made the case on Wednesday.
Facing an Angels lineup that features a ton of intimidating talent at the top of the order, he calmly went out and blew fastballs by Brandon Marsh, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani to strike out the side in the first. He’s the only pitcher this year to have struck out both Trout and Ohtani in the first inning of a game. Whitlock slacked off a bit in the second, only striking out two of the three batters he faced, with the other grounding out. He became the second pitcher in baseball to twice strike out five batters through the first two innings of a start. This was his third start of the season.
The dominance would continue through the next two innings as well, as Whitlock remained perfect through four. His fastball was pumping in at 96 consistently and blowing by some of the game’s best hitters, and he struck out one in each of the third and fourth innings.
Now it was just up to the offense to actually give him some support. They gave themselves a good chance in the second, starting with a J.D. Martinez leadoff single. Enrique Hernández then caught a break when Anthony Rendon dropped an easy pop up in foul ground, extending an at bat that ended with a second straight single. But two ground balls later, the inning was over and the game was still scoreless.
The third wouldn’t have the same troubles. Angels starter Reid Detmers got himself into some trouble there, walking Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo at the bottom of the lineup (though Arroyo may have caught a break on ball three, which could have been strike three). Trevor Story didn’t waste the chance, ripping a double into the left field corner to bring both runners home and open up a 2-0 lead. The heart of the order was up following the double, too, still with nobody out, but they couldn’t bring home that extra run.
This ended up hurting them when we got into the fifth, with Whitlock still on the mound. He’d get the first out to retire 13 in a row as the start of his night, but Jared Walsh broke up both the perfect game and the no-hitter with one swing, smacking a double off the Monster in left-center field. Whitlock answered back with a strikeout, but this was his longest outing of his career and it showed in the next at bat. He’d been blowing two-seamers by hitters all night, even when thrown right over the plate, but by the fifth the velocity was down and when he threw a 93 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate to Max Stassi it was crushed out to left field. With that swing, the score was tied at two.
Whitlock did get out of the inning from there, and while things went sour a bit at the end it was still an incredible outing. The righty got through five full innings, just allowing the two runs and striking out nine while not issuing a walk. He also didn’t allow a ball into the outfield until that Walsh double.
And the good news is the offense didn’t waste time getting back out in front. Once again it was Detmers putting the bottom of the order on, this time hitting Arroyo with a pitch. Story then followed that up with his second double of the night, this one just missing being a home run high off the Monster, and Arroyo came around to score.
That gave the Red Sox bullpen a 3-2 advantage to protect, and Austin Davis got the first call for the sixth. He was dominant, striking out the side in order and finishing that off by setting down Trout. Davis came out for the seventh as well and got Ohtani to start the inning, but then Rendon stepped to the plate. The southpaw left a 1-2 fastball over the plate, and Rendon hit a rocket into the Monster Seats, tying the game up at three.
This time, the offense failed to get the run back, and they turned to Matt Strahm for the eighth to try and keep this game tied. He did just that, retiring the side in order. And then the offense came through in the bottom of the inning. More specifically, Xander Bogaerts came through. On a cutter that broke middle-in, he hit a no-doubt shot over everything in left field, putting the Red Sox back out front by a run.
That just left three more outs for the bullpen to get, and Hansel Robles got the call for the ninth. He’d let Trout get on as the potential tying run with a one-out walk, and then Ohtani drew a second straight walk to both put Trout in scoring position as well as putting the go-ahead run on base. Robles got Rendon to fly out for the second out of the ninth, and then Alex Cora turned to the lefty Jake Diekman to face Walsh, another lefty, to try and close this one out.
He couldn’t get it done. Diekman just couldn’t get the final strike against Walsh, and on the ninth pitch of the at bat Walsh ripped a single into right field, with Trout coming around to score and tie this game up once again with a 4-4 score. Diekman would load the bases, too, after a walk, but mercifully got out of the inning with the score still tied.
The offense now still had a chance to walk it off in the ninth, and they got the winning run on base with a one-out walk from Christian Vázquez. But it wouldn’t matter, as Bobby Dalbec struck out (on what should have been ball four but was called a strike) and Vázquez was caught stealing, ending the inning on an ill-advised steal call.
So, we headed into extras with Matt Barnes taking the mound and a Manfred runner on second base. The righty looked good early with two quick outs, but then the red-hot Taylor Ward put one into the first row of the Monster Seats in left-center field, and the Angels were up 6-4. It only got worse from there, with Barnes allowing two more batters to reach before Rendon knocked in another run on a Fenway single off the Monster. That just left the dagger for Jared Walsh, who smoked a three-run homer, and suddenly it was a 10-4 game.
The Red Sox offense, as one would expect, did not make up that deficit in the bottom half (though they did score one), and that was that. The 10-5 loss evened up the series at one game apiece.
The Red Sox now have to win on Thursday to win their first series since the second of the year in Detroit. They’ll be facing Ohtani while Rich Hill gets the ball for Boston. First pitch is set for 1:10 PM ET.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:26:47 GMT -5
No doubt Whitlock can start, but do Red Sox need him more in 'pen? 2:14 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- Garrett Whitlock's latest audition to become a permanent member of the starting rotation for the Red Sox? Perfect. Well, almost perfect.
Whitlock created a special feeling in the early innings at Fenway Park on Wednesday night when he set down the first 13 Angels hitters he faced, throwing just 63 pitches in the process.
But it wound up being a most imperfect night for the Red Sox as the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead one strike away from victory in the ninth. Then, there was a six-run implosion in the 10th inning in what wound up a difficult 10-5 loss.
The night started with one obvious storyline: Whitlock (five innings, two runs, no walks, nine strikeouts on 78 pitches) should be starting.
Then it shifted gears to another one: The struggling bullpen might need Whitlock back.
Manager Alex Cora will continue to weigh his options for a dynamic righty who has a 1.80 ERA in his first 53 MLB appearances, the last three of which have been solid starts.
Intertwined with that is that Cora is trying to figure out how to maximize a bullpen that has been a catalyst in his team being 0-5 in extra innings so far this season.
“It all depends how you see it. [Whitlock] gave us 15 outs,” said Cora. “Everybody has to do their job at the end of the day. We cannot rely on one guy. We saw what he did last year, what he did early on. He’s done an amazing job starting for us, too. He’s not going to pitch every day. The other guys have to step up, and so far it’s been inconsistent.”
When Xander Bogaerts hammered a towering shot over everything in left with one out in the eighth to put his team in front, the Sox were just three outs from taking a series win from the Angels with a chance to sweep them on Thursday afternoon.
Then it was down to one out away, though reliever Hansel Robles muddied the waters by walking the imposing Mike Trout-Shohei Ohtani duo.
Rather than letting Robles navigate out of that jam, Cora went to Jake Diekman for a lefty-lefty matchup with Jared Walsh. That didn’t end well for the Red Sox. Walsh worked a nine-pitch at-bat, which included seven straight sliders -- the last of which was belted into right field for a game-tying single.
It was the fourth time this season the Red Sox (10-15) have blown a save from the ninth inning on.
“We work so hard to get certain matchups and try to get 27 outs,” said Cora. “We keep the ball in the ballpark, and then in the end we walked a lot of people. We had the right matchups for the 27 outs and Walsh put a good at-bat, got a base hit and after that we didn’t execute pitches.”
The 10th inning is what really stung the Sox. With the automatic runner on second and two outs, Taylor Ward mashed a 3-1 fastball (94.5 mph) from Matt Barnes for a two-run homer.
One thing Cora would like is to have an established closer. He was hoping it could be Barnes, who was an All-Star in that role in the first half of last season before dipping significantly from August on.
With his latest mishap, Barnes, whose velocity has diminished significantly from last year, saw his ERA swell to 8.64.
“I’ve been terrible,” said Barnes. “Let’s just call a spade a spade. So I have to figure my [stuff] out.”
While there have been a few times this season that Cora has mixed and matched his bullpen to pull out tight wins, there have been too many other occasions when the battle plan has fallen apart due to untimely misfires.
“You guys know I like structure,” said Cora. “We tried the whole ace reliever in [the first half of] 2019. It’s different than this, of course. The three lefties gives us an advantage on certain days. But I think it’s one of those where we would love somebody to step up and be consistent to throw strikes, go through three batters and turn the page. That’d be great so we could actually set up the sixth, the seventh, the eighth. But so far, we’ve been up and down with this.”
Given that trade season is probably another month or two away for chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, what can Cora do now?
“Trusting the players we have, the talent we have, somebody will step up,” he said.
One pitcher who has done that over and over for the Red Sox is Whitlock.
“Whitlock is one of the best arms I've seen in a while,” said Angels manager Joe Maddon.
Wednesday should have been about Whitlock’s sparkling performance. Instead, it is about how best to utilize him.
“I’m not worried about it,” Whitlock said. “Whenever they tell me to pitch is when I’ll pitch, whether it be the first inning or what. Whenever they tell me to go, I’ll go.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:28:35 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 4h
Red Sox are 10-15.
Boston is 0-5 in extra innings this season. This would have been a rather nice victory with a strong Garrett Whitlock start and a late Xander Bogaerts homer to celebrate.
Instead, another early gut punch.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:32:13 GMT -5
Chris Mason @bychrismason · 4h Whitlock has been filthy and the Red Sox are now 0-3 in his starts.
It's time to move him back to the 'pen until they get some competent arms back there. They're wasting him right now.
None of the Red Sox relievers after the 8th could throw a full inning:
Robles: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K Diekman: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K Barnes: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER 1 BB, 1 K Sawamura: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Red Sox relievers in the 9th:
38 pitches, 18 strikes.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:33:09 GMT -5
Julian McWilliams @byjulianmack · 4h Matt Barnes: "a lot of the bullpen struggles fall on me. I’ve been bad. Just gotta call a spade a spade. I need to figure my sh*t out."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:35:56 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Rotation decision due on how to best utilize Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck on Texas trip By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated May 4, 2022, 8:08 p.m.
Manager Alex Cora would like to have a set rotation when the Red Sox visit Texas next week to play the Rangers. He has used Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock in both roles as a starter and a reliever. But moving forward, Cora wants to increase the stability of his pitching staff. Whether the Sox choose either Houck or Whitlock as a starter, it’s clear the other is likely to go to the bullpen.
“The goal is to maximize their talent,” Cora said Wednesday before a 10-5 loss to the Angels.. “Regardless, if one guy starts or the other [is] out of the bullpen, use them in leverage spots for as long as possible. I think, so far, we have accomplished that.”
Whitlock got his second start of the year Wednesday, and breezed through the Angels lineup, striking out a career-high nine in five innings pitched. He didn’t allow a base runner until one out in the fifth inning. Houck will piggyback Rich Hill, the starter for Thursday’s series finale with the Angels. The Red Sox have two days off next week — on Monday prior to the Braves series, and Thursday before the series with the Rangers. That will be the end of the string of off days, which explains why the Sox want to stabilize their rotation.
The unvaccinated Houckmight disrupt that consistency when the team plays in Toronto due to Canada’s vaccine mandate. Whitlock stepped up in the rotation when Houck was placed on the COVID-19 restricted list last Monday ahead of the team’s visit with the Blue Jays for a four-game series.
If the Sox elect to go with Houck, then clearly they don’t see his choice as an issue. The righthander said he’s ready to serve in whatever capacity the team needs — be it as a starter or reliever. The righthander said he doesn’t see a difference in the roles.
“Honestly, you just out there and do your job,” he said. “You have to go out there and throw strikes no matter what and pound the zone.”
There is a slight difference, though, between Houck the starter and Houck the reliever. Houck can sometimes lose the strike zone. As a starter, that can be a recipe for disaster that results in a high pitch count, forcing the Sox to go to the bullpen early. As a reliever, though, Houck has more wiggle room to just let his stuff play.
“We’ve been talking about him pounding the strike zone,” Cora said. “When he comes out of the bullpen, hitters are in swing mode. He can throw the two-seamer down and they swing at it and he can expand with the breaking ball and they swing at it. As a reliever, it’s kind of just stuff.”
With all that said, Whitlock might be a sure-bet to stay in the rotation. He struck out the first four hitters he saw Wednesday night, including Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon.
But as to the question of where the Sox feel Whitlock is more valuable, next week’s decision will make that clear.
“There is just one of him,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said of Houck recently. “He’s not going to be able to pitch every inning or every game.” Shohei Day
Shohei Ohtani is still scheduled to pitch Thursday. It will mark his first ever start at Fenway.
“Like I said yesterday, he’s the best athlete in baseball,” Cora said. “The talent is off the charts. He’s been great for the game. Obviously, he pitches against us tomorrow. We have to do what we have to do but from afar, it’s great to see the people here yesterday, just came here to see him.” Shohei Ohtani, who had all eyes on him before Wednesday's game, will take the Fenway mound for the first time in his career Thursday.
Josh Taylor (back) was at Fenway again to receive treatment. Taylor suffered a setback while on a rehab assignment . . . Chris Sale has been throwing short bullpens. Cora indicated Sale has been limited to two bullpens per week. The team has yet to discuss live batting practices with Sale. . . Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers received their 2021 Silver Slugger Awards prior to the game . . . Nate Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Michael Wacha will start this weekend’s series against the White Sox.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 5, 2022 2:42:35 GMT -5
Alex Cora can’t trust his bullpen, and the Red Sox are going nowhere fast without a fix By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated May 5, 2022, 12:22 a.m.
It’s May 5, the Red Sox have played 25 games, and they don’t have a closer.
Maybe it’s Tanner Houck. Maybe it’s Matt Strahm. Maybe it’s a pitcher on another team they will trade for before it’s too late.
Here’s what we know for sure: It better not be Garrett Whitlock.
A 10-5 loss in 10 innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night laid bare what a bad idea it was for the Sox to go into the season uncertain about the back end of their bullpen. Related: Red Sox pummeled by the Angels’ six-run outburst in the 10th inning
The Sox have converted only five of 12 save chances and Wednesday was the fourth time they have blown a save in the ninth inning or later this season.
They’re also 0-5 in extra innings. Those are the ingredients of a team that will finish well out of contention unless this is fixed.
Forget the peripheral statistics. The Sox simply don’t have a trustworthy bullpen. That has left manager Alex Cora trying to match up with Strahm, Hansel Robles, Jake Diekman, and assorted others from the Chaim Bloom Bag of Good Values. It hasn’t worked.
Wednesday was a particularly disheartening loss.
Xander Bogaerts hit a long home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Sox a 4-3 lead. Cora turned to Robles, who struck out Taylor Ward then lost his mettle, walking Mike Trout (after getting ahead 0 and 2) and Shohei Ohtani.
Robles got Anthony Rendon on a fly ball to left field. That got the Sox to a matchup they wanted: lefty Jake Diekman against lefthanded-hitting Jared Walsh.
“It’s Walsh against Diekman. That’s a matchup that we’ll take any time,” Cora said.
Not this time. Walsh fouled off three full-count sliders before slapping an RBI single into right field.
The 10th inning was a wreck as the Angels battered Matt Barnes and Hirokazu Sawamura for six runs.
Like most managers, Cora would prefer the structure of having a reliable closer for the ninth inning. Instead he has walked a tightrope for two innings when the Sox have a lead.
“We would love somebody to step up and be consistent, and throw strikes and go through three batters,” Cora said. “That would be great so we can actually set up the sixth, the seventh, the eighth.”
Their shaky plan in spring training was hoping Barnes would show up having reverted back to the All-Star form he showed in the first half of last season.
Instead he’s still the pitcher they didn’t trust to use in the postseason last fall.
Barnes was averaging 15.1 strikeouts per nine innings and had a 2.68 ERA and 0.86 WHIP through July 10 last season when the Sox rewarded him with a two-year, $18.75 million contract extension.
In the 33 games since, he has a 6.92 ERA, a 1.65 WHIP and is averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Hopefully he invested wisely.
“I’ve been terrible. I mean, let’s just call a spade a spade, right?” Barnes said. “So I got to figure my [stuff] out. And we’re going get there. I’m working on it every day and feeling better every day. The results are terrible, but we’re not going to stop.”
The Sox can’t afford to wait on Barnes. Here’s my suggestion: Give the job to Houck.
Houck has the tools needed to be a closer: good fastball velocity and a reliable slider as a second pitch. He also needs a job.
Houck hasn’t started since April 21, losing his spot in the rotation because he confoundingly remains unvaccinated and missed his start in Toronto. Whitlock stepped into the rotation in his place and has been outstanding.
Whitlock retired the first 13 batters he faced Wednesday, seven by strikeout, before allowing two runs. In three starts he has allowed two earned runs on seven hits over 12 innings and struck out 18 with two walks.
Whitlock is on a path that will make him this team’s ace in time as he builds up his pitch count. It would be a waste of his considerable talents to use Whitlock as a closer, a baseball sin.
Houck’s profile has long suggested he’s a better fit in the bullpen. Give him this opportunity. It has to be better than what they’re doing now.
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