ALDS: Indians vs Red Sox

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,278
“@TimBritton: Farrell said he would not look to use Uehara for more than three outs this postseason.”
“@JMastrodonato: After BrittonGate w/ the Orioles last night, Farrell said he’s communicated with Craig Kimbrel that he would use him in non-save situations.”
 

Byrdbrain

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
8,588
Per multiple of the usual twitter accounts Farrell "hinted strongly" that Hernandez would be on the roster as a pinch runner and the Sox would carry 11 pitchers.

So with the known 4 starters plus the locks, Kimbrel, Uehara, Ziegler, Ross and Pomeranz. That means one of Barnes, Kelly and Taz will be out. Based on usage I think Taz is the odd man out but we shall see.
 
Last edited:

paulb0t

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
2,884
Tazawa looked much better in his last 5 appearances, but I have to figure that Barnes is the guarantee amongst the three. Joe Kelly also pitched out of his mind in September/October, so I think/hope he makes the cut.

Scott probably would've been the choice as the second lefty if Pomeranz was hurt, but (thankfully) Drew seems good to go.

It's really a shame Moncada didn't get another chance to establish himself as a post-season weapon. I know the 8 strikeout streak (or was it 9?) and baserunning gaffes didn't do him any favors, but he would've been an interesting 25th man/PR option on the bench. Hernandez is probably the right call – although I never really saw him put his wheels to good use.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,390
“@TimBritton: Farrell said he would not look to use Uehara for more than three outs this postseason.”
“@JMastrodonato: After BrittonGate w/ the Orioles last night, Farrell said he’s communicated with Craig Kimbrel that he would use him in non-save situations.”
Last night Familia came into the game in the 9th in a tie game.

Double
Strike out
Walk
Homer

Ballgame.

I know you want to use your best relievers first as you hit the 8th or 9th, then work your way back, as the game continues, but the fact is, any manager is going to look bad when the relievers you count on to do their jobs....don't. Collins did exactly what Showalter "should" have done, and still lost.
 

Byrdbrain

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
8,588
That's baseball, sometimes you make the right move and it doesn't work. It doesn't mean the move wasn't right.
 

Soxfan in Fla

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2001
7,187
That's baseball, sometimes you make the right move and it doesn't work. It doesn't mean the move wasn't right.
That's the funny part of baseball. Collins made the right move, Buck made the Grady Little level stupid move over multiple innings and it yielded the same result. Doesn't make Buck any less of a moron for his dumb ass move though.
 

JimD

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 29, 2001
8,681
Any comparison between the outcome of the two games should begin and end with the fact that Terry Collins did not have Zach Britton available as his closer. If Britton is a Met, the Mets are almost certainly not down 3-0 at the end of that half-inning.
 

Laser Show

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 7, 2008
5,094
My head says this should be straight forward for the Sox. My gut tells me it's going to be a grind. Sox in 5.
 

luckysox

Indiana Jones
SoSH Member
Apr 21, 2009
8,078
S.E. Pennsylvania
It's going 5, I think. Cleveland can hit, and their non Kluber starters just need to get them to their formidable bullpen. Porcello needs to bring his Cy Young stuff, and the offense needs to show big tonight.
 

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,220
Portland
I'll be all bold and homer-ish and go with the sweep prediction, but just for the ALDS (I think a potential ALCS is at least 6 with either match up).

I really think it's a poor matchup for Cleveland based on the starting pitching. The Sox have their back to back aces in Cleveland, and then back to Fenway where the Indians have played so poorly on the road against tough competition.

I agree that the Indians pen is dominant, and their definite edge over Boston but if Bauer gets in trouble (3 runs or so by the 4th) that has been enough for Rick for most of the season. I fully expect Tito to have a quick hook, so I hope they can get that early lead before it happens.

One thing that seems odd to me is that if Kluber was available for this series, that he wouldn't be available for game 1 when it is not even a full day difference until game 2. They won't realistically have an opportunity to use him for long unless it's his throw day in the pen for game 4, or short rest/piggy backing for game 5. It tells me that he isn't all that close to 100%.

I'm also expecting the return of the Red Sox aggressive base running that was so awesome in April through June.
 
Last edited:

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

has big, douchey shoulders
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
I'll be all bold and homer-ish and go with the sweep prediction.
I really think it's a poor matchup for Cleveland based on the pitching matchups. The Sox have their back to back aces in Cleveland, and then back to Fenway where the Indians have played so poorly on the road against tough competition.

I agree that the Indians pen is dominant, and their definite edge over Boston but if Bauer gets in trouble (3 runs or so by the 4th) that has been enough for Rick for most of the season. It's also quite possible Kluber may tire early based on his lay off.

One thing that seems odd to me is that if Kluber was available for this series, that he wouldn't be available for game 1 when it is not even a full day difference until game 2. They won't realistically have an opportunity to use him for long unless it's his throw day in the pen for game 4, or short rest/piggy backing for game 5. It tells me that he isn't all that close to 100%.

I'm also expecting the return of the Red Sox aggressive base running that was so awesome in April through June.
He could start game 5 on regular rest.
 

uk_sox_fan

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 11, 2006
1,273
London, England
Sox in 4 but we take a gut-shot when Porcello gets rocked for 4 runs in the 2nd tonight and they lose the opener 6-4. Papi makes a speech before tomorrow afternoon and the Sox bats explode the rest of the way, outscoring the Tribe 29 - 5 over the final 3 games.
 

JimD

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 29, 2001
8,681
I like the Sox to win out but I'm more than a little worried about the short-series format neutralizing their biggest strength, the offense. Much less room to overcome a sluggish offensive game, especially given Cleveland's dominant bullpen. Like others, I'm not terribly optimistic about Price in game 2 so Papi and the bats really need to jump all over Bauer and/or the long relievers in games 1 and 3, and especially not waste Porcello's start in the opener. Expect Francona to deploy his bullpen very aggressively to try and prevent the games from getting out of hand and get to the later innings with a chance to win. This series is not going to be a cakewalk and I will not be surprised at all if Cleveland moves on to the ALCS.
 

Hank Scorpio

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 1, 2013
6,923
Salem, NH
Here is the team's postseason roster:

PITCHERS (11): Matt Barnes, Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Craig Kimbrel, Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robbie Ross Jr., Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler.

CATCHERS (2): Sandy Leon, Christian Vazquez.

INFIELDERS (8): Xander Bogaerts, Marco Hernandez, Aaron Hill, Brock Holt, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Travis Shaw.

OUTFIELDERS (4): Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Chris Young.

No Tazawa, no Hanigan.
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,152
Alamogordo
Hanley loves David Ortiz as much as the rest of us.

I love this team, and I am so glad I get to watch them in the post-season again. Especially Papi, but also the kids that we haven't been able to see in this position yet. I've been telling myself it is all gravy these days, but I know that as soon as the game starts tonight I will be a mess. And that is awesome. I missed this feeling the last two years.

I'd love to be confident in a sweep, but the ALDS and ALCS have never been easy for the Sox. And Cleveland is hurt, but still a good team.

Sox in 5.
 

Sox and Rocks

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2013
5,826
Northern Colorado
Here is the team's postseason roster:

PITCHERS (11): Matt Barnes, Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Craig Kimbrel, Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robbie Ross Jr., Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler.

CATCHERS (2): Sandy Leon, Christian Vazquez.

INFIELDERS (8): Xander Bogaerts, Marco Hernandez, Aaron Hill, Brock Holt, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Travis Shaw.

OUTFIELDERS (4): Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Chris Young.

No Tazawa, no Hanigan.
I approve of this roster, especially having Vazquez over Hanigan. The backup catcher probably won't play unless Leon is pinch hit for later in the game, and then the better defensive player is ideal.

Just to clarify, though, this isn't necessarily the "postseason" roster, correct? They can change this roster each round if they choose to, right? (though I don't think this is likely)
 

Reverend

for king and country
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jan 20, 2007
64,050
That's baseball, sometimes you make the right move and it doesn't work. It doesn't mean the move wasn't right.
That's the funny part of baseball. Collins made the right move, Buck made the Grady Little level stupid move over multiple innings and it yielded the same result. Doesn't make Buck any less of a moron for his dumb ass move though.
Sounds like some of y'all have some really deep lessons about life coming up. ;)

And maybe some more insight into why we love baseball, which is awesome.
 

paulb0t

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
2,884
Just to clarify, though, this isn't necessarily the "postseason" roster, correct? They can change this roster each round if they choose to, right? (though I don't think this is likely)
Yep, they can change in between rounds. Should a player get injured during a playoff series, they will also have the option to replace them. I had thought that any in-playoff injury replacements would then have to miss the next series, but the primer here doesn't make any mention of it.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Yep, they can change in between rounds. Should a player get injured during a playoff series, they will also have the option to replace them. I had thought that any in-playoff injury replacements would then have to miss the next series, but the primer here doesn't make any mention of it.
The last line does

(C) the injured player being replaced shall be ineligible to play for the remainder of such series, as well as the next subsequent post-season series that year.
 

Byrdbrain

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
8,588
I approve of this roster, especially having Vazquez over Hanigan. The backup catcher probably won't play unless Leon is pinch hit for later in the game, and then the better defensive player is ideal.
Vazquez caught the last two ERod starts which went well, I would expect him to catch if and when ERod starts a game.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
58,909
San Andreas Fault
Predictions are silly. Who could have predicted the Sox would come back from 3 down in 2004, especially after the 19-8 drubbing at home in game 3? Who predicted the ALDS sweep by Chicago in 2005? Jayson Stark predicted the Rockies in 6 in the 2007 World Series, and I think he's as respected a writer as there is. There are just too many variables in a 5 game series, mostly of course the performance of the 25 players on each team.

I'm most worried about the Sox offense, esp. the young guys. Have they hit a wall? Let's go Sox! That's it!
 

DrBoston

New Member
Sep 29, 2016
52
Central PA via Boston
^I'm worried about the offense as well. I want them to show us tonight that the anemic bats in the final 6 games was just them being tired and not them slumping at the worst possible time.
 

chrisfont9

Member
SoSH Member
I approve of this roster, especially having Vazquez over Hanigan. The backup catcher probably won't play unless Leon is pinch hit for later in the game, and then the better defensive player is ideal.

Just to clarify, though, this isn't necessarily the "postseason" roster, correct? They can change this roster each round if they choose to, right? (though I don't think this is likely)
I had been hoping for this. Not without some reservations after the weird year Vazquez had, but the talk of Hanigan and Holaday did nothing for me. At least Vaz has some sort of positive influence on Rodriguez.
 

InsideTheParker

persists in error
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
40,371
Pioneer Valley
“@TimBritton: Farrell said he would not look to use Uehara for more than three outs this postseason.”
“@JMastrodonato: After BrittonGate w/ the Orioles last night, Farrell said he’s communicated with Craig Kimbrel that he would use him in non-save situations.”
I find this comment about Koji mystifying. No "more than three outs this postseason?" All the way through the WS? WTF?
 

C4CRVT

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 29, 2008
3,076
Heart of the Green Mountains
Might go one full inning, might get an out in the 7th and 2 in the 8th or whatever. I think that the worry is that if he goes more than 4 batters or so in an evening, they'll risk losing him for an extra game or worse.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
58,909
San Andreas Fault
Might go one full inning, might get an out in the 7th and 2 in the 8th or whatever. I think that the worry is that if he goes more than 4 batters or so in an evening, they'll risk losing him for an extra game or worse.
JMO, but I don't think they'll use him across two innings at all (just "clean" innings). Well, maybe in a clinching situation either way. Farrell didn't mention the no back to back days (or was it games) rule that he had for Koji since he came back though, did he?
 

Byrdbrain

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
8,588
I interpreted that as "Koji won't be pitching more than 3 consecutive outs in any one game."
That is obviously what he meant though ITP is correct on the literal meaning of what he said.

Edit:On the no back to back thing Farrell did late in the regular season say that even though he wasn't using Koji in that way in the regular season he would if he needed to in the post season. I'd post a link but I have no idea where I heard or read it.
 

Soxfan in Fla

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2001
7,187
My gut says the Sox win tonight. If Price wins tomorrow it will be a sweep. If the Tribe wins Game 2 it goes 4 and Sox win.

Short series and nothing would surprise me.
 

Captaincoop

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
13,487
Santa Monica, CA
In a way it's nice rooting for the road team in these 5-game series. Psychologically, it feels like you really only need to win one out of the first two games to take command of the series, whereas the home team has some pressure to win both of those games.
 

DrBoston

New Member
Sep 29, 2016
52
Central PA via Boston
A few days off might help. It certainly seemed like the celebrations wore out Ortiz.
Agreed, I think by that final homestand he was mentally exhausted by it all and just wanted to get it over with. Now they can start afresh and get back down to business.

It's going to be the longest 5 hours between now and when the game starts!
 

FinanceAdvice

New Member
Apr 1, 2008
167
Albany, NY
Trying to be as objective as I can (as I'm a big fan of Tito and have for a long time liked the Tribe) I still favor the Red Sox. If it were before the pitching injuries of the Indians, Id say it'd be a dog fight in 5. But overall NOW, I believe the Red Sox have the best pitching, even though Kimbrel is worrisome and Miller is fearsome. (I would like to see a 12 man pitching roster even in the short series). After Pitching, I believe the Sox have a clear advantage in both infield and outfield.
 

dynomite

Member
SoSH Member
In a way it's nice rooting for the road team in these 5-game series. Psychologically, it feels like you really only need to win one out of the first two games to take command of the series, whereas the home team has some pressure to win both of those games.
Totally agree with this. Feels like the pressure is mostly on the home team for the first two games.

And if everything goes wrong and you go down 0-2, you come home to Friendly Fenway with the crowd behind you, and as Miller warned (and the '04 Yankees, 03 A's, and '99 Indians discovered), it's dangerous to let us win that one.
 

TheYellowDart5

Hustle and bustle
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
9,276
NYC

You will win very few games with plate discipline like this.
The big concern has to be the at-bats by Betts, Bogaerts and Bradley, particularly the latter two, who have been awful since the calendar flipped to August. Bogaerts was so bad tonight that, if there existed any other realistic option on the roster, I'd bench him for Game 2; Kluber's breaking stuff is going to carve him apart.

This team goes nowhere without at least one of those guys producing. They can't afford all of them slumping.