Chavis Interruptus

Okay, for the sake of my sanity this season...could y'all just shut up about the Red Sox?

Yes, I get it. They had a horrible start, and are just now coming back and crawling up the standings. I get it. But you have to remember...lots of teams do that. Last year, the Oakland A's did that, and you guys didn't go half as batshit insane as you did for this frigging Red Sox team.

The Red Sox...just simply aren't as good as they were last year. It's a fact. Last year they were oozing with talent, and were practically unbeatable for the entire year. This year, they don't have Craig Kimbrel in the ninth, they don't have Joe Kelly or most of their relievers, and a lot of their key pieces, like Nate Eovaldi, David Price and Brock Holt, are injured.

And the people who aren't injured...if you compare them to what they were doing last season, are only just doing alright. Like, yes, Mookie Betts already has a 1.9 WAR, but he's only batting .290, vs. his over-.300 numbers from last season. JD Martinez' home run numbers are lower. Chris Sale's ERA is higher. JBJ's average is even worse than it was last year, regardless of his outfield abilities. And despite Rafael Devers improving greatly over his 2018 numbers, he's lost his abilities to hit for power or distance.

This team has lost its ability to really shock teams. They win games, and they'll have great showings from pitching, but...they have no wow factor. Even Michael Chavis, a second baseman brought up to shake things around, has settled on very alright numbers.

People are predicting the Sox to ascend to the top of the AL East and stay there. Which...with this team, I'm not sure about. A lot of the core is still there, but in different places, and focusing on different things. This is a far more spread out team than the 2018 one, and one that may not be as successful given a playoff run.

Coming Tomorrow- Given all the competition, the most unlikely Mets hero that ever could have happened to this season.

Custom Card of the Night: Hamels Edition

It is an ongoing tradition.

Every year, and I mean every year since about 2012, around this time of year actually, when it looks like the Phillies are a lost cause, the Cole Hamels trade rumors will pop up. And they're always bloodthirsty, and they're always impossible to placate, and they always, ALWAYS, include the Red Sox.

I'm not even exaggerating. The exact same thing happens every season. The silver lining is that it always ends the same way- the trade deadline comes and goes, and then after the month of 'will they get rid of him on a waiver deal', the season ends, and Cole Hamels remains in a Phillies uniform. Ringless, but also safe. This is the way it always ends. This is the way I'd prefer the 2015 season to end as well.

But every single goddamned sportswriter doesn't want anyone to think that will be the case. The list of 'Where Will Cole Hamels Land' articles has become extravagant, and the deadline isn't even in swatting distance yet. They can't wait for the Phillies to COMPLETELY suck to start saying that Cole needs to be traded. I mean, it's rather annoying.

Cole Hamels is the only sure shot on our pitching staff this year. Okay, Aaron Harang has been eerily trustworthy in some cases, but that's about this. Jerome Williams is always on the edge of earned runs, and I honestly don't remember anybody else in the rotation. If they lose Cole, they sink. Of course, they're going to sink anyway, but I'd prefer them to sink slower than they would without Cole.

And plus, if he winds up somewhere like Boston, or Chavez Ravine, or (shudder) St. Louis, it'll break my heart, because he's gonna be a piece of one of those rotations, rather than the core. And also, I'll be sad because Cole Hamels won't be on my team, and the only good pitcher left for 2016 will be a slightly-less-reliable Cliff Lee.

So please...just calm down with the 'Cole's gonna get traded' articles. They're not helping matters at all.

Coming Tomorrow- The pitcher who's been absolutely killing it in Houston.