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Post by splendidsplinter on Jun 24, 2017 14:51:40 GMT -5
The phone rings in Portland, too!
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Post by jmei on Jun 24, 2017 14:52:38 GMT -5
Lin will be the thirteenth Taiwanese player to appear in MLB, just the fourth position player and the second to appear for the Red Sox (pour one out for Che-Hsuan Lin).
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radiohix
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'At the end of the day, we bang. We bang. We're going to swing.' Alex Verdugo
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Post by radiohix on Jun 24, 2017 15:21:40 GMT -5
Extremely happy for Lin!
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Post by Addam603 on Jun 24, 2017 15:25:08 GMT -5
Not sure how I feel about this. I understand the move as it relates to the rule 5, but I'm concerned about his ability to adjust to major league pitching. Before this year, Lin never really hit well. And he's had a couple sustained slumps through the first half of this year too. His defensive versatility is huge, but I don't know his bat is going to translate. It's definitely going to be a challenge. That being said, I'm ecstatic to see him get a chance and it'll be fun to watch him.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Jun 24, 2017 16:13:25 GMT -5
I can understand all that and the jump is a very big one, especially true for a player who appears to have just recently figured it out - maybe. The team has taken so many infield hits that they probably felt they had little choice. They've got to have reinforcements. It's not as if Rutledge was killing it either. That fall-off probably has the same root as the DL stint. He's been playing hurt. I doubt it will be for very long, and it may not do Lin much good, but right now they need a warm body on the bench.
Got to pass this on to my buddy in Seattle who's wife is from Kaohsiung City - Lin's home province.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 24, 2017 16:51:40 GMT -5
Don't worry about Lin adjusting to big league pitching - they can't expect him to. He's a healthy body who can fill in defensively wherever they need him, pretty much.
The options were probably Lin, Miller, Court, Meneses, Witte. Based on defense, you probably narrow it to Miller and Lin. Offense, Court and Lin. But while all of those guys are Rule 5 eligible, only one's getting protected this offseason anyway (if still in the org), so they might as well add him now.
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Post by jimed14 on Jun 24, 2017 17:16:05 GMT -5
The big question will be if he can hit more than Marrero. I bet he can.
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alnipper
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Living the dream
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Post by alnipper on Jun 25, 2017 10:07:36 GMT -5
Lin adds a little more speed on the bases.
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Post by tookme55 on Jun 26, 2017 5:30:58 GMT -5
Plus Marrero has that stupid look. So does Barnes. I can't stand it.
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Post by m1keyboots on Jun 26, 2017 7:14:19 GMT -5
I was playing an adult league double header for the Falls Church Barons yesterday, all but while thinking maybe the Sox could set up an L screen at 3rd and just have whoever is there pick up the grounder and throw it to Mitch
It. Started. At. NINE AM.
Anyways, I made it home just in time to see Lin pick a 2 hopper between third-and-short and make the play at first. Of course, I was ecstatic
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Jun 26, 2017 7:58:38 GMT -5
Crazy to think the Lin might the best starting everyday option at third base until maybe Perralta comes up. Lin was just a organization filler a year ago.
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Post by sibbysisti on Jun 26, 2017 8:10:05 GMT -5
Crazy to think the Lin might the best starting everyday option at third base until maybe Perralta comes up. Lin was just a organization filler a year ago. Why not? While third may be new to him, his track record as an infielder should set him up to succeed there. And, he should hit above the Mendoza line, a place Marrero hasn't seen in a while. |
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Jun 26, 2017 8:30:23 GMT -5
Crazy to think the Lin might the best starting everyday option at third base until maybe Perralta comes up. Lin was just a organization filler a year ago. Why not? While third may be new to him, his track record as an infielder should set him up to succeed there. And, he should hit above the Mendoza line, a place Marrero hasn't seen in a while. I don't know what you're asking. I know he's the best overall option at third at this point. It's just crazy to think about that Lin is actually the guy that the Sox have to turn to get anything out of the third base position. He's having a great year offensively, so at least there's hope from Lin. |
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 26, 2017 9:14:11 GMT -5
Reread sibby's post, but with "Yeah, why not?" as the first sentence. That's what he meant.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Jun 26, 2017 16:11:29 GMT -5
If you follow prospects, it's not crazy at all. If they look as if they're performing, then let them play till they show you they can't. He certainly looked good defensively yesterday. As for whether he's a "Tzu-Wei" player, as the ancient one suggested a while back, we'll find out soon enough. He certainly doesn't have much of a bar to clear.
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Post by jimed14 on Jun 26, 2017 16:30:25 GMT -5
Lin getting the start tonight and I'm excited about it.
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Post by bnich on Jun 26, 2017 20:57:15 GMT -5
Get's his first MLB hit according to the boxscore.
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Post by wskeleton76 on Jun 26, 2017 21:43:34 GMT -5
Ling might be better option than Marrero.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Jun 26, 2017 22:52:10 GMT -5
Ling might be better option than Marrero. That doesn't take much. All you got to do is hit better than a pitcher and you're instantly better than Marrero. |
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Post by boydhurstlovechild on Jun 28, 2017 4:38:56 GMT -5
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 28, 2017 15:42:13 GMT -5
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Post by jimed14 on Jun 29, 2017 21:00:17 GMT -5
I'm praying he can fill the Brock Holt role in September. We were so spoiled with Holt. There's next to no chance of that. He's barely playing positions other than SS - he's gotten all of 6 games in CF and 2 at 2B this year. For his career he's played 11 games in CF, 36 at 2B, and 18 at 3B compared to 397 at SS. As much lip service as the Red Sox may have given him as a "utility guy," they're doing it behind the scenes if they are at all. We've now seen him at 3B and 2B in the majors, while knowing he can handle SS. So does anyone know how he looked in the outfield when he played? Still think this is a possibility. He has already beat out Marrero IMO. Give me another week and I'll say Rutledge also. He just looks like a natural defensive player like Mookie. Extremely quick and coordinated. (not saying that he could do what Mookie is in RF) |
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Post by Oregon Norm on Jun 30, 2017 0:15:03 GMT -5
Well the bat looks usable so far. He got under the triple which is what I was waiting to see him do, and he got enough backspin to fool the right fielder as it kept carrying. He started in the system so young that it made it easy (for me) to downplay him. But this happens with players all the time. There were hints last year, but his age 23 season looms as a real turning point. It looks as if he's a player and as you point out, a guy who can think on his feet. Add: Took a few seconds to dig up this story at the Taipei Times, the English language paper that's available all over the island, and one I read regularly the two times we visited. Turns out he's from one of the aboriginal groups which is an intriguing story in and of itself. To call Taiwan mountainous really understates it. It's a quarter the size of Oregon, but with 279 peaks that are at least 3,000 meters. The Eastern side is essentially isolated from the West - which has most of the population and the development - by that mountain block. Those mountains, and the eastern shore along the Phillipine Sea, are the domain of the indigenous people. They've finally gained recognition after a few hundred years of colonization - by Chinese settlers in the South, by the Dutch, the Brits, and even the Spaniards, by the Japanese at the turn of the last century, and lastly by Chiang Kai-shek and the 1.5 million soldiers and family members he brought to the island. That's a bit of a load for a place that only had 15 million people at the time. Needless to say, the native people were on the bottom rung of the ladder. I've barely scratched the surface on the history, but you probably get the general idea. He's from one of those mountain villages, and it turns out he made a small but important statement to those on island who care about such things. Hope he's around for a while... |
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Jun 30, 2017 2:30:08 GMT -5
Good call on the history of Taiwan. The army we supported to oppose Mao, and lost, landed in Taiwan after the fight for power in China following liberation from Japan at the end of WWII. The indigenous people of those offshore islands were isolated in those mountains, a completely different culture, and were, essentially colonized by Chiang.
How isolated? More than a decade later, one of the first American GI's wounded in Viet Nam was a reconaissance photographer during an early pre-war exploratory phase. Despite a lengthy era of French colonization and modernization in cities, this photographer was shot on a remote mountain by a Montagnard arrow. Got a purple heart. Most Montagnard arrows were deadly poisoned. Fortunately, this one was not. The point is, such isolated mountain folk in Taiwan, Southeat Asia, Indonesia, Tibet resisted centuries of colonization and "progress" by Asian, European and Islamic colonizers.
We don't know much about Lin's background, but it must be interesting. I concur that his new hitting mechanics may make him (perhaps with a Marrerro platoon off the bench)
a very good 3B for the Sox for a while, and a very good Sox utility guy going forward. He seems to be making the most of his good fortune.
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Post by ryan24 on Jun 30, 2017 6:52:45 GMT -5
He has only been there a week. Lets not jump too far ahead. I am happy for him as well. Defense looks like he can play multi positions on the infield. Will he hit better than Devin? We can come back to this in a month and see what we have. Not saying it would not take much to hit better than Devin.
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