Kevin
@sweetsixstring.bsky.social
Love the Habs, Red Sox & Patriots! I have spent my life studying sabermetrics and applying them to sports. My passion as child was to live long enough to see the Red Sox & Patriots win - obviously loved 2001 to 2018. Habs/Sox looking like they are back!
The rotation is in the best shape we have had in yrs at this point. An ace plus 2 guys that can deliver solid innings for the entire yr. Then 2 wild cards in Sandoval & Crawford - not sure what we will get. Then youth with potential - Early, Telle, Harrison, Dobson. Way better than past few yrs!
November 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
The rotation is in the best shape we have had in yrs at this point. An ace plus 2 guys that can deliver solid innings for the entire yr. Then 2 wild cards in Sandoval & Crawford - not sure what we will get. Then youth with potential - Early, Telle, Harrison, Dobson. Way better than past few yrs!
Age 35 season WHIP was 1.23 but previous yr his WHIP was 1.09 and 1.15 & 1.13 in the 2 yrs before that. That is way better than any starter not named Crochet - last yr Bello was 1.24 & Giolitto 1.29. Merrill Kelly had WHIP of 1.19 & 1.17 the last two yrs & he is 1 yr older than Gray!!!
November 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Age 35 season WHIP was 1.23 but previous yr his WHIP was 1.09 and 1.15 & 1.13 in the 2 yrs before that. That is way better than any starter not named Crochet - last yr Bello was 1.24 & Giolitto 1.29. Merrill Kelly had WHIP of 1.19 & 1.17 the last two yrs & he is 1 yr older than Gray!!!
As Hughes said, goal this yr is to figure out what we have & what we need. So not Condotta. Davidson, Beck & Xhekaj could be part of the next step/cup contender. Cycling these 3 through NHL to give them a taste might help speed their development and also help evaluate long-term fit.
November 8, 2025 at 10:03 PM
As Hughes said, goal this yr is to figure out what we have & what we need. So not Condotta. Davidson, Beck & Xhekaj could be part of the next step/cup contender. Cycling these 3 through NHL to give them a taste might help speed their development and also help evaluate long-term fit.
As long as we don't sell him to the Yankees afterwards and start a new curse!
October 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
As long as we don't sell him to the Yankees afterwards and start a new curse!
Love the moves! No spot for Laine if he cannot do better 5v5. Bolduc/Gally gives us a better chance to evaluate Dach as a C. I still don't think he is a C. No puck carrier on that line so would like to see Newhook C, with Dach LW & Gally RW. Bolduc (better finsher, more grit) with Demi/Kapanen.
September 30, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Love the moves! No spot for Laine if he cannot do better 5v5. Bolduc/Gally gives us a better chance to evaluate Dach as a C. I still don't think he is a C. No puck carrier on that line so would like to see Newhook C, with Dach LW & Gally RW. Bolduc (better finsher, more grit) with Demi/Kapanen.
Definitely brought tears to my eyes. Ken Dryden in 1971 is the sole reason I became a Habs fan for life. My mom, a Red Wing fan, & my dad, a Black Hawk fan, lobbied me to follow their teams. I wanted my own hero & # 29's heroics made him the idol of my childhood dreams.
September 6, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Definitely brought tears to my eyes. Ken Dryden in 1971 is the sole reason I became a Habs fan for life. My mom, a Red Wing fan, & my dad, a Black Hawk fan, lobbied me to follow their teams. I wanted my own hero & # 29's heroics made him the idol of my childhood dreams.
Tolle pitch count since June 28 has been: 53, 64, 64, 69, 64, 72, 71, 63. Not sure the value of pushing him way beyond this to 84 pitches with top of order up. Someone should have been warming before 6th given Tolle's pitch count vs last couple months. They did similar with Fitts & he got hurt!!
August 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Tolle pitch count since June 28 has been: 53, 64, 64, 69, 64, 72, 71, 63. Not sure the value of pushing him way beyond this to 84 pitches with top of order up. Someone should have been warming before 6th given Tolle's pitch count vs last couple months. They did similar with Fitts & he got hurt!!
Main question is Campbell plus what? One downside is we need a RHB to fit the 2/6 hole against all pitching. We have too many everyday LHB and not enough RHB. You can only platoon so much in playoffs: long bullpen games are common. If Campbell can hit like minors/May with high OBP/speed, he fits.
July 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Main question is Campbell plus what? One downside is we need a RHB to fit the 2/6 hole against all pitching. We have too many everyday LHB and not enough RHB. You can only platoon so much in playoffs: long bullpen games are common. If Campbell can hit like minors/May with high OBP/speed, he fits.
Look forward to it! Think he is similar to Dach: trying to make a C out of someone who should be a winger. He is not good on draws & 200 ft coverage for C. Trying to make him a scorer when he only really had one yr with pts (last yr jrs). Great speed & grit - he could replace Armia & maybe more!
July 16, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Look forward to it! Think he is similar to Dach: trying to make a C out of someone who should be a winger. He is not good on draws & 200 ft coverage for C. Trying to make him a scorer when he only really had one yr with pts (last yr jrs). Great speed & grit - he could replace Armia & maybe more!
Great move! At a point in his career where he knows he needs to find a role. He has great speed & grit. If he focuses on D/grinding he can carve a role. Some O upside too (i.e. last year jrs.) Not sure on C though: never been > 50% on draw. I think he can bring more grit/speed than Armia.
July 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Great move! At a point in his career where he knows he needs to find a role. He has great speed & grit. If he focuses on D/grinding he can carve a role. Some O upside too (i.e. last year jrs.) Not sure on C though: never been > 50% on draw. I think he can bring more grit/speed than Armia.
In terms of change in culture/leadership/performance until he got hurt A+. Injury & time lost downgrades it to A. I would have downgrounded to B+ if he wasn't such a great coach/leader while hurt. If he helps avoid the post all-star/2nd half swoons of 23 & 24, it is back to A+.
July 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
In terms of change in culture/leadership/performance until he got hurt A+. Injury & time lost downgrades it to A. I would have downgrounded to B+ if he wasn't such a great coach/leader while hurt. If he helps avoid the post all-star/2nd half swoons of 23 & 24, it is back to A+.
Once Breggy is back, we move Story down to 5 or 6 & push Mayer to 2B batting 9th for Hamilton. That is a very solid lineup and also very good D!
July 9, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Once Breggy is back, we move Story down to 5 or 6 & push Mayer to 2B batting 9th for Hamilton. That is a very solid lineup and also very good D!
Seems like a no brainer to move the contract after the bonus is paid Sept 1st! Give them a bit more time to figure out the Laine & Matheson situations & wait for the best time to get value for both if nothing comes up sooner. Someone could also get hurt in training camp or early in the yr again.
July 9, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Seems like a no brainer to move the contract after the bonus is paid Sept 1st! Give them a bit more time to figure out the Laine & Matheson situations & wait for the best time to get value for both if nothing comes up sooner. Someone could also get hurt in training camp or early in the yr again.
Agree! If we don't, forces putting Price's contract on LTIR before the season starts & disadvantages in terms of LTIR relief. Need to lose $5.4M of salary to get cap compliant before start of season. Only other obvious solutions is moving enough of Laine's salary - moving Matheson's is not enough.
July 8, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Agree! If we don't, forces putting Price's contract on LTIR before the season starts & disadvantages in terms of LTIR relief. Need to lose $5.4M of salary to get cap compliant before start of season. Only other obvious solutions is moving enough of Laine's salary - moving Matheson's is not enough.
Think Huston/Carrier together is way too small for playoffs. Who are 4 penalty killers? Should be on the same line if possible - if you are pulling from multiple lines, chances are one was just on the ice & tired. I think Andy/Evans is 1st pair so should be on same line. No Struble love????
July 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Think Huston/Carrier together is way too small for playoffs. Who are 4 penalty killers? Should be on the same line if possible - if you are pulling from multiple lines, chances are one was just on the ice & tired. I think Andy/Evans is 1st pair so should be on same line. No Struble love????
Don't think Devers would have impacted the win loss record much. Avg/OBP/SLG since June 16th are terrible. Only two guys batting above .250: Wong, & Abreu, who missed quite a few games. Some regressions are not surprising: Toro, Narvaez, Rafaela back to career norms and Story back to his May.
June 28, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Don't think Devers would have impacted the win loss record much. Avg/OBP/SLG since June 16th are terrible. Only two guys batting above .250: Wong, & Abreu, who missed quite a few games. Some regressions are not surprising: Toro, Narvaez, Rafaela back to career norms and Story back to his May.
Runner gets 3 ft in either direction from the basepath - which is defined as a direct path from the runner to the next base one a tag is in the process of being attempted. Toro jumped & turned in air, but did not deviate at all from path he was running at all.
June 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Runner gets 3 ft in either direction from the basepath - which is defined as a direct path from the runner to the next base one a tag is in the process of being attempted. Toro jumped & turned in air, but did not deviate at all from path he was running at all.
Sox offer to Soto was 15 yrs - $700M. That dwarfs the Devers contract savings by $550M! They were also 7 yrs $190M to Max Fried and supposedly willing to go up with deferrals according to Joel Sherman. So "dumping salary" as priority 1 does not fit actions last winter/this year.
June 20, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Sox offer to Soto was 15 yrs - $700M. That dwarfs the Devers contract savings by $550M! They were also 7 yrs $190M to Max Fried and supposedly willing to go up with deferrals according to Joel Sherman. So "dumping salary" as priority 1 does not fit actions last winter/this year.
Agree. Salary dump doesn't fit facts. If the Sox wanted to exchange/ dump salary, they could have offered/signed Bregman for the 5yrs/30M he wanted & traded Devers early. Devers went far beyond refusal- calling out GM "do your job & trade for 1B" - everything "I" - no I in team.
June 20, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Agree. Salary dump doesn't fit facts. If the Sox wanted to exchange/ dump salary, they could have offered/signed Bregman for the 5yrs/30M he wanted & traded Devers early. Devers went far beyond refusal- calling out GM "do your job & trade for 1B" - everything "I" - no I in team.
The veto certainly changed history. The Bucky Dent homer & the Schiraldi melt down/Buckner grounder would not have happened! Might have also changed what happened between 2004 and 2018.
June 18, 2025 at 3:05 PM
The veto certainly changed history. The Bucky Dent homer & the Schiraldi melt down/Buckner grounder would not have happened! Might have also changed what happened between 2004 and 2018.
Assumption that like most businesses, Sox have a budget that can be reallocated. Breslow said it repeatedly in presser. I see no actions supporting salary dump. Devers forced this issue for months. Spending included extending Crochet, signing Breggy, going hard after Soto & Fried as said by both.
June 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Assumption that like most businesses, Sox have a budget that can be reallocated. Breslow said it repeatedly in presser. I see no actions supporting salary dump. Devers forced this issue for months. Spending included extending Crochet, signing Breggy, going hard after Soto & Fried as said by both.
Not sure how you can say nothing - they have $20M to spend for next 3yrs then $30M for 4yrs plus some decent prospects. Assuming they have fixed budget and will spend $ saved, they have internal solutions at DH and spending on pitching/RHB/D will help record.
June 17, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Not sure how you can say nothing - they have $20M to spend for next 3yrs then $30M for 4yrs plus some decent prospects. Assuming they have fixed budget and will spend $ saved, they have internal solutions at DH and spending on pitching/RHB/D will help record.
Does it really matter if you are 9-19 or 11-17 in the big picture? Not a WS contender. Not sure how you can measure impact of attitude & culture? Are you suggesting it is irrelevant and Devers comments/attitude had zero impact on team? Most underperforming teams have culture type issues.
June 17, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Does it really matter if you are 9-19 or 11-17 in the big picture? Not a WS contender. Not sure how you can measure impact of attitude & culture? Are you suggesting it is irrelevant and Devers comments/attitude had zero impact on team? Most underperforming teams have culture type issues.
Devers had an incredible May .356, .468 OBP, .606 SLG, 1.074 OPS, wRC+ 197. We went 11-17. If he had those same numbers in June/July/August and we went 11-17 each month would that be good (33- 51 for 3 months)? That is my point. It is team game about a team, not one person.
June 17, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Devers had an incredible May .356, .468 OBP, .606 SLG, 1.074 OPS, wRC+ 197. We went 11-17. If he had those same numbers in June/July/August and we went 11-17 each month would that be good (33- 51 for 3 months)? That is my point. It is team game about a team, not one person.
I agree with Breslow! Sox only did .500 with Devers. Sox certainly can do better than .500 going forward. The Red Sox were 11-17 in May with Devers raking! The White Sox were also 11-17 in May. Hard to do much worse.
June 17, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I agree with Breslow! Sox only did .500 with Devers. Sox certainly can do better than .500 going forward. The Red Sox were 11-17 in May with Devers raking! The White Sox were also 11-17 in May. Hard to do much worse.