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Post by thelavarnwayguy on Aug 18, 2014 20:38:32 GMT -5
I know it sounds highly optimistic but given Ellsbury's minor league numbers compared to Bett's it sure seems that Bett's has a significant advantage. Ellsbury didn't have nearly the same pop, nearly the same plate discipline at the same age. Bett's has an extremely quick bat and just appears to have the total package.
Who knows how it turns out but Betts looks great so far. And it seems like he absolutely murders left handed pitching.
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Post by Guidas on Aug 18, 2014 20:42:08 GMT -5
Yoenis Cespedes now 27th in OBP out of 28 qualified AL outfielders this year. Would be 27th out of 29 but Bradley was sent down.
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Post by redsox4242 on Aug 18, 2014 20:53:14 GMT -5
Anyone think Tazawa is going through a dead arm praise? Junichi doesn't look himself.
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Post by mgoetze on Aug 18, 2014 20:58:09 GMT -5
Anyone think Tazawa is going through a dead arm praise? Junichi doesn't look himself. Well as long as he can strike out Mike Trout on 3 straight I'm not too worried.
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Aug 18, 2014 20:59:20 GMT -5
Probably because Farrell over uses the hell out of him.
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Post by redsox4242 on Aug 18, 2014 21:04:09 GMT -5
Probably because Farrell over uses the hell out of him. Yup. Reminds me of when Francona would overuse Manny Declarman and Ramon Ramirez and they we're burned out by August.
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Post by soxfan06 on Aug 18, 2014 21:14:03 GMT -5
Can we please send Xander down? Good god....it's so clear he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while.
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Post by redsox4242 on Aug 18, 2014 21:15:45 GMT -5
Can we please send Xander down? Good god....it's so clear he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while. At this point, why? Were a last place team. in his last at bat he hit the ball pretty hard. Kendricks was just playing him up the middle. Thats the way it goes sometimes.
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Post by mgoetze on Aug 18, 2014 21:18:07 GMT -5
Have I mentioned that WMB is pretty good at 3B?
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Post by soxfan06 on Aug 18, 2014 21:20:14 GMT -5
Can we please send Xander down? Good god....it's so clear he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while. At this point, why? Were a last place team. in his last at bat he hit the ball pretty hard. Kendricks was just playing him up the middle. Thats the way it goes sometimes. I thought I made it pretty damn cleary why in my post...he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while. He's utterly useless these days. We're talking about a guy who was just giving us a .296/.412/.481/.893 line in the WS a mere 9 months ago. He needs to spend a few weeks in AAA.
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Post by redsox4242 on Aug 18, 2014 21:24:09 GMT -5
I hear you, but i don't think they are considering that at this point. He is a 21 year old kid. i am not saying your wrong, but I am sure people were saying the same thing about Pedroia when he was batting 180. But the sox stuck with Dustin. I would say that worked out pretty well.
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Post by Guidas on Aug 18, 2014 21:26:51 GMT -5
So funny we all stress sample size and we all fell for Bogaerts post season line as indicative of his future performance. He is not figuring it out at the MLB level and should probably start next year in AAA until he can show he's adjusted and gotten rid of some of the bad habits he's picked up at the plate, and maybe get some more seasoning at SS or wherever they think he might end up. The current method is not working.
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Post by soxfan06 on Aug 18, 2014 21:32:15 GMT -5
I hear you, but i don't think they are considering that at this point. He is a 21 year old kid. i am not saying your wrong, but I am sure people were saying the same thing about Pedroia when he was batting 180. But the sox stuck with Dustin. I would say that worked out pretty well. Not even close to comparable situations IMO. Xander Bogaerts is at 400+ ABs for the year. Pedroia turned his hitting around well before he got to 400+ ABs. And most importantly Xander Bogaerts is showing absolutely ZERO improvement. In all honest, he is getting worse as the year goes on at the plate. His approach is non-existant at this point. Striking out at nearly a 25% rate and walking a significantly less amount of times. Bogaerts is extremely worrying at this point. I don't see how sticking with the status quo is going to help him.
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Post by soxfan06 on Aug 18, 2014 21:33:14 GMT -5
So funny we all stress sample size and we all fell for Bogaerts post season line as indicative of his future performance. He is not figuring it out at the MLB level and should probably start next year in AAA until he can show he's adjusted and gotten rid of some of the bad habits he's picked up at the plate, and maybe get some more seasoning at SS or wherever they think he might end up. The current method is not working.That's the key. It's not working. There is no progress at all. If it's not broke, don't fix it...but it is broke so it's time to fix it.
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Post by Don Caballero on Aug 18, 2014 21:33:41 GMT -5
People saying the Red Sox should send Bogaerts down are exactly the people I'd love to see running the Cardinals so I might have a chance at making a run at Oscar Taveras.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Aug 18, 2014 21:46:06 GMT -5
People saying the Red Sox should send Bogaerts down are exactly the people I'd love to see running the Cardinals so I might have a chance at making a run at Oscar Taveras. Not saying that I necessarily think Bogaerts should be sent down, but I don't see what the connection is. Just because somebody thinks Bogaerts should be sent down doesn't mean that they're giving up on his future or are willing to get rid of him. Honestly, the kid isn't hitting like a major leaguer and he's not fielding like a major leaguer. The only good thing I can say about him at this point is that he's not preventing them from winning anything. They're going to stink either way with or without him this year. They're just wasting his service time at a point when he's at the bottom of his performance curve. The other side of the argument is that it's a perfect time for him to learn. Can't fault that point of view either. But either way it doesn't mean that anybody is giving up on this kid's future. I don't know that his future is at SS, but I think he does have a future in the middle of the batting order.
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Post by Guidas on Aug 18, 2014 22:06:57 GMT -5
Agree with this. But he just hasn't adjusted as the league has adjusted to him. I think minor league time might give him an opportunity to exhale a bit.
I know he is young, but his meteoric rise meant he missed a lot of AA/AAA ABs. This is his first real offensive rut and he is not responding well. Any other player would've been sent down by now. Hell, they sent Nava down this year after 70 ABs when his approach was messed up.
As for the defense it's been rough all year. I hope he's not a shortstop like Lavarnway's a catcher.
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Post by dcsoxfan on Aug 18, 2014 22:07:14 GMT -5
I don't think two weeks in AAA is going to fix either Bogaerts or Bradley. They either need more time in AAA or they need to work out their issues in the Majors (although I confess I don't know which of these is the right answer).
I still think both of these players are going to be really good -- eventually. I think right now both of them are just pressing. Their confidence is at a low point. Eventually they are going to realize and accept that nobody -- not even really good major league hitters -- can hit a good major league curve ball with any consistency, and that what they were doing (laying off curves and working the count to get a fastball) in AAA (Bradley) and in the majors up until May (Bogaerts) really is the best anyone can do.
I also think their confidence issues are, in part, a result of the Red Sox FO approach. For the most part, I think the Red Sox FO is really strong, but I don't think the signings of Grady Sizemore or Stephen Drew as "insurance policies" were good moves. It's hard enough going from the minors to the majors. Feeling like your competing with a Sizemore or a Drew can't make it any easier.
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Post by dcsoxfan on Aug 18, 2014 22:12:31 GMT -5
Agree with this. But he just hasn't adjusted as the league has adjusted to him. I think minor league time might give him an opportunity to exhale a bit. I know he is young, but his meteoric rise meant he missed a lot of AA/AAA ABs. This is his first real offensive rut and he is not responding well. Any other player would've been sent down by now. Hell, they sent Nava down this year after 70 ABs when his approach was messed up. As for the defense it's been rough all year. I hope he's not a shortstop like Lavarnway's a catcher. good point on the missed at bats!!! I think high level repetitions are a huge part of player development. A lot of players who are rushed can eventually recover as long as they eventually get the required reps. However, I am not as down on his glove as others at this site -- Most Major League shortstops couldn't play major league quality shortstop at age 21 (this is kind of equivalent to the point you just made about the missed at bats).
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Post by larrycook on Aug 18, 2014 22:15:38 GMT -5
Workman threw a pretty good game tonight. That was encouraging.
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Post by johnsilver52 on Aug 18, 2014 22:25:10 GMT -5
Can we please send Xander down? Good god....it's so clear he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while. Boras would have a fit then if both of his guys would miss FA then by a couple of weeks potentially after the 2020 season, though I think it's hilarious. On another note. Once again Workman comes up short support wise after pitching a very solid game and getting next to -0- support in return.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Aug 19, 2014 0:03:06 GMT -5
Alex Speier ?@alexspeier 5m Added rest pays dividends for Brandon Workman with strong start Monday night fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/08/19/added-rest-pays-dividends-for-brandon-workman-with-strong-start-monday-night/ … via @weei It's not unusual for young pitchers to decline as the season closes. We may have to keep an eye on that this coming year. We'll have options to play with. Can we please send Xander down? Good god....it's so clear he needs to get away from major league pitching for a while. Boras would have a fit then if both of his guys would miss FA then by a couple of weeks potentially after the 2020 season, though I think it's hilarious. On another note. Once again Workman comes up short support wise after pitching a very solid game and getting next to -0- support in return. I don't believe that is correct. I think that both JBJ and Xander have already passed the 1 year service time marks.
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Post by Guidas on Aug 19, 2014 8:06:50 GMT -5
Interesting piece on Farrell's impressions of this year. For those of us who thought he used bunts and hit and runs too much, especially in April he trolls us all saying, in retrospect, he didn't do that enough: "Looking back I would've taken a different view of the bottom part of the order. So every time we had an opportunity to advance a runner, which is different than what our offensive philosophy has been over time, that would've been borne out through the use of sacrifice bunts, just take every opportunity to sacrifice or manufacture a run," he said.Full interview here: www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2014/08/19/managing-disappointment-john-farrell-reflectsYup, this is the same guy I using these same tactics in Toronto, with the same types of outcomes.
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Post by joshv02 on Aug 19, 2014 10:30:27 GMT -5
Interesting piece on Farrell's impressions of this year. For those of us who thought he used bunts and hit and runs too much, especially in April he trolls us all saying, in retrospect, he didn't do that enough: Boston has the third least SH's in the AL, 3 above the last place team. (Edit: they also just sac'ed ONCE in April.) The WE of a sac is dependent on the outcome expected of the batter; as the out chance goes up, the sac value goes up. Therefore, if you suspect that your #9 hitter is a true talent 30% player vs. a 33% player, the sac is a better outcome. Really, Farrell is a very smart manager. I disagree with his strategy from time-to-time, but he isn't saying "we should sac bunt more b/c productive outz!!!!" Just look things up from time to time
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Post by soxfan06 on Aug 19, 2014 10:39:55 GMT -5
Interesting piece on Farrell's impressions of this year. For those of us who thought he used bunts and hit and runs too much, especially in April he trolls us all saying, in retrospect, he didn't do that enough: "Looking back I would've taken a different view of the bottom part of the order. So every time we had an opportunity to advance a runner, which is different than what our offensive philosophy has been over time, that would've been borne out through the use of sacrifice bunts, just take every opportunity to sacrifice or manufacture a run," he said.Full interview here: www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2014/08/19/managing-disappointment-john-farrell-reflectsYup, this is the same guy I using these same tactics in Toronto, with the same types of outcomes. To be fair to him, when it comes down to the bottom of the order and the guys that have hit there this year, JBJ, Will Middlebrooks, Xander Bogaerts, Stephen Drew, Jonathan Herrera, Grady Sizemore, etc. Most of the at bats at the bottom of the order were automatic outs anyway. So moving the runner along more with them might not be the worst thing possible.
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