5/11-5/13 Red Sox @ Athletics Series Thread

Watched a little of the Seattle game yesterday, with Hernandez pitching against Oakland. Vogt and Semien both went 3-4 against him, but no one else did anything. Semien was especially impressive, with two blasts over the left field wall that had Hernandez twitching in surprise (see his player page in the link for the video). The right-handed swing is really impressive, with good balance, tremendous leverage and classic follow through. I think Oakland has, once again, mined another team's farm system and they may have pulled out a gem in this guy.

This starting pitching situation is so frustrating, but I understand what the FO was/is trying to do. Two main problems

1- none of are prospects have turned into anything. Clay is the last reasonable(if you can call him that) prospect we have developed. dela rosa Webster and raunado are gone. The odds arnt that great right now. Why can't we get a sonny grey?

2- the guys we bring in seem to never turn out. Some play to there capabilities and some less. But where are these overachievers/diamonds that other teams find. Kazmir/Arietta

WHY??

Very true. They haven't been hitting anywhere lately though, so it's not as if they will get negative hits.

On the first point, I'd agree that the team hasn't had any good (pitching) prospects in the last few years. I also think they've worked to correct that. I'm optimistic about Rodriguez, I think Johnson will be a good backend guy, at the very least. Given his age and his AAA status, Owens probably has a future role as a starter also and that's being conservative. Gray was the 18^th pick in the first round. It was common knowledge that he was one of the better pitchers available in 2011. In that draft, the Sox grabbed Matt Barnes on the very next pick, but they also got Swihart at 26, Owens at 36, and Bradley at 40. They didn't exactly crater.

On your second point, I have to disagree. I think Porcello is exactly the type of talent you're talking about, and the Sox got him for a player who will, I believe, be increasingly exposed. Moreover Porcello is 26. People need to absorb that fact, one that is continually ignored. Kazmir is 31, and Arrieta is 29. Here are the latter's FIP numbers from ages 24-27: 4.76, 5.34, 4.05, 4.84. Porcello already has three years under his belt that are under 4.00, and I'll bet 2015 ends up that way also. Arrieta re-invented himself last year, adding a new pitch. He's now the guy you are pining for, but he was far from that for the bulk of his career, and he's no kid.

What did Porcello cost? A player who's overvalued as a hitter in my opinion - Cespedes is at .300 OBP again - and who's shotgun arm has to make up for very poor outfield routes. He's dangerous out there.

He's 29 also, and in the last year of his contract. He'll be looking for money that rivals Porcello's at the age when Porcello will be finishing up on his extension! We all need to acknowledge that getting the guy, then signing him, was a very good piece of work by the FO, one that easily rivals mid to late career pickups such as Kazmir and Arrieta.

We're all too likely to see Wright in long relief in game 2. I do hope we see him starting 5 days later. I'm not sure I understand the long leash with Masterson given the cratering of his velocity, and everything else that's gone with it. Whereas there's nothing wrong with Miley that throwing strikes wouldn't fix, I'm not sure how or where you get an extra 5 mph from. That stuff doesn't grow on the proverbial vegetation.

If you mean the PawSox pen, I'd agree. He's actually been hit much harder this year the first time through the lineup than afterwards. That's selection bias, because he often hasn't lasted past the first time through; but if he were actually a candidate to pitch better in relief, you'd want a more neutral split at the least.

It's not just the extra mph he'd pick up, it's the fact that you can use him more against RHH. Teams always stack their lineups with lefties when Masterson is a starter, which puts him at a massive disadvantage.

Which was the main objection I had to signing him as a starter inthe first place, especially with the reduced velo he showed last year.

Welcome back to the hate-hole, Xander.

Scott Lauber @scottlauber · 2h2 hours ago
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#RedSox at Oak (LH Kazmir): CF Betts, 2B Pedroia, DH Ortiz, LF Ramirez, 1B Napoli, 3B Sandoval, RF Victorino, SS Bogaerts, C Swihart

A few days in Oakland is more than enough time to stage a coup, oust Lucchino and consolidate our GM, CEO and President of Baseball Operations positions under Billy Beane. A 2% stake in the Sox should be more than enough to top the 4% stake Beane's got in the A's.

Also more than enough time to talk Beane into dealing Kazmir by his next start. johnson straight up.