2:26 AM EDT, Tue March 19, 2024
16 hours ago
Red Sox News & Links: Brayan Bello to Start Opening Day?

Red Sox News & Links: Brayan Bello to Start Opening Day?

Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/ Plus, an injury to the bullpen Hey, everyone, it’s “this is a really fun group of guys, everyone gets along great” season! Spring Training provides few things that are more reliably fun than the stories about players bonding and coming together as a team. This is true even though these stories are written every year, even about clubhouses that end up proving as toxic as the mouth of the Mystic River. This year, we’ve got closest-to-the-pin outings, trips to TopGolf, and meals at Trevor Story’s house. (Peter Abraham, Boston...
17 hours ago
The Red Sox Must Reduce Their Proximity to the Tension Point

The Red Sox Must Reduce Their Proximity to the Tension Point

Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Just playing meaningful baseball in September would go a long way in restoring the relevancy of the Red Sox. In the 14-year stretch between 1998 and 2011, the Red Sox were box office entertainment. Part of this had to do with them being at intersection of the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport and an 86-year-old curse. And of course, from there, things were further escalated by perhaps the most theatric two-year saga sports has ever offered, in 2003 and 2004. (Epic doesn’t even begin to describe what transpired...
Mar 17, 2024
Josh Winckowski to Start Season in Bullpen

Josh Winckowski to Start Season in Bullpen

Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via The righty’s shaping up to be a multi-inning reliever once again for the Red Sox. Some people pregame for St. Patrick’s Day by dressing up in clover-laden jawns and by deleting a few alcoholic beverages. I pregame by writing about the Red Sox’s pitching staff...before deleting a few alcoholic beverages of my own. At the top o’ the morning on Sunday, multiple people within the Boston sports media landscape let us know that Red Sox manager Alex Cora came to a decision regarding right-handed pitcher Josh Winckowski’s status...
Mar 15, 2024
OTM Open Thread 3/15-3/17: It is the Weekend

OTM Open Thread 3/15-3/17: It is the Weekend

Photo by Gabe Souza/Portland Portland Press Herald via Happy St. Patrick’s Day Green Sox! TGIF. Jordan Montgomery is still connected to the Red Sox. The Dodgers and Padres play the first MLB games next week in South Korea. Opening Day is the Thursday after that. Even if Monty comes to terms with Boston and has been working out at Camp Boras...how long will he need to get ready for the season? If seven years is truly the sticking point when will Scott Boras recognize 2024 will be only maybe 3⁄4 a season for Montgomery and Snell because they didn't’ sign until...
Mar 15, 2024
Things We’re Terrified Of In 2024: Rafael Devers’ Sub-4 WAR Seasons Becoming a Trend

Things We’re Terrified Of In 2024: Rafael Devers’ Sub-4 WAR Seasons Becoming a Trend

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/ Except that they already have. One of the sugar plums that danced in my head during that all-too-brief period when ownership promised us a “full throttle” off-season was addressing our Rafael Devers problem. I had actually begun working on an article that lobbied to “make the hot corner hot again.” It involved various schemes of mine to rectify our infield’s porous defense, and boy did Rafael Devers get the full heat of my laser-focused gaze. Last year’s botched defense was a team problem, of course, but I was...
Mar 14, 2024
The Red Seat Previews the National League

The Red Seat Previews the National League

Photo by Rich Schultz/ Jake, Keaton, and Bob take on Part Two of their comprehensive MLB preview, going team-by-team across the National League. Welcome back to The Red Seat Podcast, episode number 309. This week, Jake Devereaux, Keaton DeRocher, and Bob Osgood tackle part two of their team-by-team MLB preview, looking at the National League. You can listen to Part One here when they went around the American League. After a brief update on the Lucas Giolito injury, we started our preview in the National League East by looking at the Braves and the Phillies, the...
Mar 14, 2024
OTM Open Thread 3/14: It is Thursday

OTM Open Thread 3/14: It is Thursday

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/ Two weeks left Happy Thursday and Happy Pi Day. There are two weeks remaining until the Red Sox play on Opening Day in Seattle. Jordan Montgomery remains unsigned. The Red Sox are still connected to him although at this point you have to wonder where the connection rumors are coming from given that the one free agent pitcher they signed wasn’t him. The Sox take on the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 PM ET with Josh Winckowski getting the start. Talk about what you want and be good to one another.
Mar 14, 2024
That Boycott of Fenway Park Isn’t Going To Work

That Boycott of Fenway Park Isn’t Going To Work

Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/ So frustrated fans need to find another way to get FSG’s attention. On the night of April 10th, 2013, the beginning of the end of the cultural phenomenon that was New England’s unwavering and unmatched obsession with the Boston Red Sox was officially acknowledged by the club. Just before a ninth inning collapse in an 8-5 loss to the Orioles, a voice came over the loudspeaker at Fenway Park, and announced the game’s attendance of 30,862. Just like that, the longest sellout streak in the history of professional sports — a...
Mar 13, 2024
Red Sox News & Links: Lucas Giolito Avoids Tommy John Surgery

Red Sox News & Links: Lucas Giolito Avoids Tommy John Surgery

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via But there’s a new injury in the outfield Well, here’s some good news — or, at the very least, news that isn’t quite as bad as it could be. Lucas Giolito underwent surgery for his partially torn UCL yesterday, and he did not require the full Tommy John. He still probably won’t pitch at all in 2024, but hopefully his recovery timeline will allow him to be fully fit by Spring Training 2025. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive) Giolito’s injury was genuinely kind of good news for two guys in particular (even if they’d almost...
Mar 13, 2024
Things We’re Afraid Of In 2024: Re-Losing A Previously Lost Trade

Things We’re Afraid Of In 2024: Re-Losing A Previously Lost Trade

Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via It’s bad enough we certainly lost the Mookie Betts trade. Anyone wondering about the return from the return? Mookie Betts was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers more than four years ago. It became the legacy move of an executive who is no longer with our organization, catapulting him into infamy in an instant. If you hate articles that are published after 2019, and especially the fateful day of September 14, 2023, when Bloom was let go, referring to this trade, this may not be the article for you. Or, since it doesn’t...
Mar 12, 2024
OTM Open Thread 3/12: It is Tuesday

OTM Open Thread 3/12: It is Tuesday

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/ Silver lining? Happy Tuesday. After their disappointing 2023 the New York Yankees made one of the biggest acquisition of the winter by acquiring Juan Soto. But now Gerrit Cole is getting an MRI and Aaron Judge is “beat up” after a few Spring Training games. Sure, Soto is a star. And of course Alex Verdugo is no slouch himself. But Cole and Judge are essential to the Yankees. The Baltimore Orioles lost a pitcher which is merely offset by adding Corbin Burnes. Wander Franco is probably done in MLB. Vlad Jr. has only been a...
Mar 12, 2024
2024 Positional Preview: Catcher

2024 Positional Preview: Catcher

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/ The position now belongs to Connor Wong. I’m not normally one to write about position players. In fact, of the 21 articles I’ve written or contributed to this offseason, only three have been about something other than pitching (Alex Verdugo, Kyle Boddy, and, uh, Fortnite). Today, I’m going to take a stab at looking into the other side of the baseball while staying as close to the pitcher as possible. To me, the catcher is the most underrated position on the field. Having a strong presence behind the plate can elevate...
Mar 11, 2024
Red Sox News & Links: MLB Gets It Right In the DR . . . While Still Getting It Wrong

Red Sox News & Links: MLB Gets It Right In the DR . . . While Still Getting It Wrong

Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/ Plus, an injury to a key member of the bullpen Well, that little Dominican interlude was fun, huh? Central Florida just doesn’t provide this kind of swag: Masataka Yoshida and Rafael Devers ahead of the Dominican Republic Series this weekend (via bh_masataka34/IG) pic.twitter.com/59jWaD0Hpd— MLB (@MLB) March 8, 2024 Alex Speier has a write-up of the trip, with lots of good stuff from Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe) Papi and Pedro’s first pitch was must-watch. (Tim Crowley, NESN) Here’s more...
Mar 11, 2024
OTM Open Thread 3/11: It is Monday

OTM Open Thread 3/11: It is Monday

Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/ Spring Training marches on Happy Monday. Are the pitchers unsigned? Yes. Jordan Montgomery is apparently “looking for a seven-year deal that the [Red Sox are] unwilling to give” per Jon Heyman. With Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman settling for shorter-term deals it may only be a matter of time until Montgomery and Snell come to the same conclusion. Or maybe not. Potential rotation member, with Lucas Giolito sidelined, Cooper Criswell will take the ball for Boston at 1:05 PM ET against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Talk about what you want and...
Mar 11, 2024
A Brief Inquiry Into Jimmy Fallon’s Baseball Fandom

A Brief Inquiry Into Jimmy Fallon’s Baseball Fandom

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage for 20th Century Fox Studios The “Fever Pitch” star has a confusing history when it comes to rooting for teams. Here’s a sentence that surely has never appeared on this website before: we need to talk about Jimmy Fallon’s baseball rooting interests. This is an idea for a post that I’ve had cooking for over a year now. As a matter of fact, it was one of the first ideas that came into my head when our fearless leader Dan Secatore decided to — for reasons only the man upstairs could possibly understand — bring me onto the OTM...