16 more strikeouts by the Red Sox (but at least they didn't commit catcher's interference again), a surprising RBI leader, word out of Patriots training camp, and the fall-off of Mookie Betts

Thursday 7/24/25

The Red Sox had catcher's interference called against them again on Tuesday in their loss to the Phillies for the eighth time this season. I've never seen anything like this. Usually you see that call once, maybe twice, a season.

In this instance, Bryce Harper was stealing home--the Sox pitcher was working from the wind-up--and Narvaez came forward to receive the ball like he doesn't know how the rule works. Basically, you can't treat the pitch like a throw. You have to let the pitch finish being a pitch first, the same as you could if a runner was trying to steal second, only here you're obviously keeping the ball yourself and trying to make the tag.

The Sox won last night by a score of 9-8 in 11, and I wish I could say this was encouraging, but it wasn't. They struck out 16 more times. That's two 16-strikeout games in mere days. Duran was 0-for-5 and will fall into the .240s with another bad game or two. Abreau is in the .240s.

You know who leads the Red Sox in RBI? Trevor Story. If you told me before the season started that as we got near the end of July--so that's coming up on 2/3 of the way through the season--that Trevor Story would lead this team in RBI I'd have thought, "That's not good." But: Story is eighth in the league in RBI. He could end up around 86 or so. Hard to figure, though, how he's getting there. Not great power, not a lot of hits, low slugging.

At least they didn't commit any errors, which is usually not something you can say after a Red Sox game. Chapman blew the save, but what are you going to do? He's been strong for you. Whitlock is now a guy who can't go more than an inning. And to think, they tried to have him be a starter. Giolito was knocked around, giving up four homers. But that's to be expected almost, right? He was due.

As long as baseball has been around, it can still feel like you get some history with your team every season--some quirks of history. There are just so many combinations of numbers and possibilities, as well as the game's ability to always provide a surprise. You hear this described as something you've never seen before. Some people will tell you that each day at the ballpark, you'll see something new. While that may not be strictly true, the spirit of the idea is viable. In this final set against the Phillies, the Red Sox became the first team in history to strike out more than 15 or more times, give up 5 or more home runs, and face a five or more run deficit, and still win. Again, quirks of history.

The Astros are tied for the second-best winning percentage in baseball. They are always there. Year in, year out. Houston is always in place. A run can always happen. The Blue Jays have the same winning percentage (.588) and lead the AL East with a record that has them eighteen games over .500, but they have a mere +34 run differential. That's hard to do, mathematically speaking. Does it indicate anything? To me it does. It suggest that there's an unsustainable aspect to your success. They're also two games under .500 on the road.

I'm surprised the Red Sox are 34-32 against teams over .500. That's actually pretty good. So why are they only six games over .500 overall?

The Orioles are bad, huh? I bet their fans thought the organization had turned it around and they'd contend for years. They could end up being the worst team in the AL by season's end. What a disappointment Adley Rutschman has been. Looked like here, maybe, was one of the best catchers for the next ten years, and already he's washing out.

Catchers like that don't really exist anymore. Guys flash then recede. I know, Cal Raleigh! I don't believe in that player as much as most. I see a guy hitting a lot of home runs this year, and that's the whole of it. The average still isn't there, the RBI happen with the homers, the defense isn't that good. I think it's a fluke and he won't come anywhere near his home run totals for this year again. But who knows? Maybe he hits 35 next year and 40 the year after and it's not like anyone can complain about a catcher who does that.

Patriots camp opened yesterday. Let it be recorded here that reports say Diggs looks wonderful, Vrabel is a BOSS--or use whatever similarly stupid en vogue term you prefer--and Maye looks like THE GUY and is so confident and it didn't matter that the offensive line wasn't protecting him because he's about to be a star now and there were lots more people there than in the past two years because excitement is back.

Okay. I mention these things, because rarely does anyone look back at what was said by "experts," and, of course, no one remembers anything, never mind what was once said.

I'm dubious. There's a lot of luck involved in being good in today's NFL because you usually need the quarterback. The quarterback's main job is covering up the rest of a team's deficiencies. Brady was the all-time master of this. Is that Drake Maye? My sense would be, "No."

Anything Vrabel says, though, is going to highlight how asinine it was to have Jerod Mayo as the head coach last year. If people remembered things, or if there was anyone who could come along and learn about what has happened in the past, that hire would stand out as one of the all-time bonehead hires in Boston sports. Possibly the worst. There's Bobby Valentine. But Mayo was worse to me. That's a strange thing to type.

I'm unsure if Will Campbell, the Patriots offensive lineman that they picked at the front of the draft, is going to be anything good or decent, let alone great. This guy seems to have real limits in what he can do. But: It's earlier than early. This is just my impression/a concern. Then you see the language that people (unknowingly) use when talking about him--the disclaimers, qualifiers--and you think, "That doesn't seem to augur so well..." Like he's going to need to be given help this year? Things will have to be schemed, blocking-wise, to assist him? Even if he's playing out of position, when you draft a guy that high, he should be okay whatever you're doing with him--if he's not a quarterback, that is--if you got the right guy.

Sox are off today and then the Dodgers are at Fenway for a weekend series. Look at Mookie Betts. He's not longer the player he was (.238 BA right now, .683 OPS), or anywhere close to it. Will he ever be a star caliber player again? He's only in his early thirties. Some guys are only great in their twenties. Sometimes, that's enough to get them into the Hall of Fame.

How much of this has to do with Betts' move to shortstop? It's harder to be a shortstop than right fielder. No position in professional sports is harder than catcher. That's why a catcher is potentially the most valuable kind of player--positionally speaking--that you can have. To be great defensively and offensively as a catcher is a rare, rare thing. I wonder, though, if Betts' zeal to assert his athleticism has helped turn him into a pedestrian producer. I don't think the Dodgers are going to repeat. There's something off with that team this year.