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2018 Red Sox postseason roster
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Post by voiceofreason on Sept 4, 2018 6:47:44 GMT -5
This shows how valuable Swihart is, how many guys have been able to do what he does effectively. Gives the Sox an obvious advantage with the options.
I agree with the thought that with the structure of the pen that Kelly won't be needed, Eovoldi, Wright, Pomeranz and maybe Porcello will get the innings.
Devers will be there for the potential in his bat.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Sept 4, 2018 12:10:46 GMT -5
It's kind of surreal how much we're in agreement that Swihart belongs on the post-season roster, when he spent the first half of the season as a potted plant stand.
But I think we all felt he had the talent.
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Post by klostrophobic on Sept 5, 2018 1:11:26 GMT -5
I really must be missing something with Swihart. He's hitting .225/.278/.298 and I've been reading for half a decade how great he is. Someone explain to me what I'm missing. He's athletic and was a well-regarded prospect 4 years ago. What else is there? There are a great number of catchers who can OPS 560 available, what is it that they don't have that Swihart has? It's great that he can field everything but SS, but who cares if he is an abysmal hitter? It's not that valuable to be able to play second base for 3 innings a season. To make a case for him you have to use the most inane cherry-picked 5 at-bats of his career.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Sept 5, 2018 2:59:48 GMT -5
I really must be missing something with Swihart. He's hitting .225/.278/.298 and I've been reading for half a decade how great he is. Someone explain to me what I'm missing. He's athletic and was a well-regarded prospect 4 years ago. What else is there? There are a great number of catchers who can OPS 560 available, what is it that they don't have that Swihart has? It's great that he can field everything but SS, but who cares if he is an abysmal hitter? It's not that valuable to be able to play second base for 3 innings a season. To make a case for him you have to use the most inane cherry-picked 5 at-bats of his career. He only started playing regularly when Vazquez got hurt, and in that time he's hit .282 / .320 / .408 in 75 PA. There's nothing in his scouting report that says that's not real; in fact, it says he's capable of better. And that's a bit above average for an MLB starting catcher.
BP has a comprehensive system for catcher defense, excluding pitch-calling. Of the 60 catchers who have caught the most innings, Leon ranks 10th and Vazquez 18th in runs saved per inning. Swihart, if he qualified, would rank 20th.
How many catchers, on the season, have both hit and fielded better than Swihart has, since he started playing regularly? Three. Tyler Flowers, Max Stassi, and Yasmani Grandal. (Posey and Molina rank 24th and 26th defensively.)
Add way above average baserunning, and he's an easy first division starter, right now, even without the positional versatility.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Sept 5, 2018 8:26:32 GMT -5
I really must be missing something with Swihart. He's hitting .225/.278/.298 and I've been reading for half a decade how great he is. Someone explain to me what I'm missing. He's athletic and was a well-regarded prospect 4 years ago. What else is there? There are a great number of catchers who can OPS 560 available, what is it that they don't have that Swihart has? It's great that he can field everything but SS, but who cares if he is an abysmal hitter? It's not that valuable to be able to play second base for 3 innings a season. To make a case for him you have to use the most inane cherry-picked 5 at-bats of his career. I don't see how you can hold against him the ABs he had when he was rotting away on the bench getting a handful of ABs a week. And last year he was coming off an injury as well. I think if the Sox gave him regular ABs next year and let him have a legit shot at the number 1 catching job, I think he could slash something like .275/.325/.400, which is quite good for a catcher and a solid bat toward the bottom of the lineup. Certainly better than the automatic outs that are Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez. Swihart has the pedigree to play better. He needs to stay healthy and get his regular playing time. Meanwhile Leon and Vazquez are what they are.
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Post by klostrophobic on Sept 5, 2018 13:26:20 GMT -5
I really must be missing something with Swihart. He's hitting .225/.278/.298 and I've been reading for half a decade how great he is. Someone explain to me what I'm missing. He's athletic and was a well-regarded prospect 4 years ago. What else is there? There are a great number of catchers who can OPS 560 available, what is it that they don't have that Swihart has? It's great that he can field everything but SS, but who cares if he is an abysmal hitter? It's not that valuable to be able to play second base for 3 innings a season. To make a case for him you have to use the most inane cherry-picked 5 at-bats of his career. He only started playing regularly when Vazquez got hurt, and in that time he's hit .282 / .320 / .408 in 75 PA. There's nothing in his scouting report that says that's not real; in fact, it says he's capable of better. And that's a bit above average for an MLB starting catcher.
BP has a comprehensive system for catcher defense, excluding pitch-calling. Of the 60 catchers who have caught the most innings, Leon ranks 10th and Vazquez 18th in runs saved per inning. Swihart, if he qualified, would rank 20th. How many catchers, on the season, have both hit and fielded better than Swihart has, since he started playing regularly? Three. Tyler Flowers, Max Stassi, and Yasmani Grandal. (Posey and Molina rank 24th and 26th defensively.)
Add way above average baserunning, and he's an easy first division starter, right now, even without the positional versatility. I don't know how you can make any statements based on 75 cherrypicked plate appearances. Why can't we use his other stats that say he has a 480 OPS when he's a starter this year? The only arguments for him include these tiny sample sizes that don't reflect reality. And since he started playing more regularly (starting August 17), he has a 521 OPS (37 PA, again, nothing). I don't get the love with this guy. You can find any 75 PA sample from any player in baseball and paint a picture of his being decent to average. Christian Vazquez put up a 772 OPS this year in 83 plate appearances from May 16 to June 28. Why is he less likely to repeat that in the postseason than Blake Swihart? Sandy Leon had a 908 OPS over 85 PA this year, too. Flip a coin on who you want as the catcher, they're all pretty bad.
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Post by James Dunne on Sept 5, 2018 13:32:05 GMT -5
I don't understand how they are cherrypicked. They're his most recent plate appearances, when he's seen his most consistent playing time, and they line up more closely with his career numbers.
He could have played the arbitrary endpoints game and gone to July 1 to make Swihart's recent play look even better, but the endpoint he picked wasn't arbitrary or cherry picked. It was an event that changed Swihart's usage pattern.
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Post by klostrophobic on Sept 5, 2018 13:35:41 GMT -5
When he starts he has a 480 OPS. All three catchers are pretty bad so maybe I'm not even arguing for anything.
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Post by GyIantosca on Sept 5, 2018 15:13:25 GMT -5
You can see this team started to take off when they cut Hanley loose and made those additional pickups i.e. (Pearce,Evoladi and Kinsler). Also By cutting Hanley loose they held onto Swihart. That was the choice according to the G.M.and Cora.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 5, 2018 15:16:57 GMT -5
When he starts he has a 480 OPS. All three catchers are pretty bad so maybe I'm not even arguing for anything. Swihart has been hitting much better than that since he's been getting regular playing time and he also has the prospect pedigree that predicted that he could be hitting like he is now. This is a prospect in the process of reaching his potential. I mean just watch him bat and tell me you don't have a lot more confidence in him that he'll do something positive than the other catchers. I'd throw out any stats when he was getting 3 plate appearances a week. No one could be a good hitter in that scenario.
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Post by carmenfanzone on Sept 5, 2018 15:34:53 GMT -5
Just do not see them carrying more an 11 pitchers in a 5 game series like the first one will be, particularly if Sale, Price, ERod, and Porcello are all ready to go. They won't use more than 4 starters in a 5 game series. That will give them 7 relief pitchers. I can't see them wanting to use their 8th best relief pitcher in a playoff game. So that means 14 position players and that means there is room for Devers, both extra catchers, Holt, and Pearce. Barring an injury, I would be surprised if that wasn't the case.Pitching is tougher and probably depends somewhat on who the opponent is. Do they really want to start three lefties against all of that Yankee right-handed hitting if the Yankees are the opponent? I think they will keep at least one left-hander in the bullpen if Sale, Price and ERod are all starting - either Johnson or Pomeranz - depending on who looks best as we get nearer the playoffs. There would also seem to be on righthand slot available for one of Hembre, Workman, Velazquez, Thornberg, or Wright. If one of Price or ERod doesn't start, maybe the one who doesn't start could be the only lefty in the pen and it would open up another slot for another righty reliever. Of course, all of this assumes Sale is going to be ready to go. Interesting to think about, but first they have to clinch the division. Looks like they should be able to do it, but I still remember 1978. Well, a couple of more games like that from Phillips and I might have to reconsider. I wonder how good his defense is at third?
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Post by fenwaydouble on Sept 5, 2018 15:41:17 GMT -5
You can see this team started to take off when they cut Hanley loose and made those additional pickups i.e. (Pearce,Evoladi and Kinsler). Also By cutting Hanley loose they held onto Swihart. That was the choice according to the G.M.and Cora. The Sox had a .686 winning percentage on May 25, when they dropped Hanley. They had a .671 winning percentage on June 28, when they traded for Pearce. They were sitting at .689 on July 25, when they acquired Kinsler. They are currently at .688. I'd say the team pretty much took off in April and hasn't looked back.
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Post by soxfansince67 on Sept 5, 2018 15:42:26 GMT -5
My current 25 aside from the slam dunks includes Brasier, Wright, Hembree, Workman and Poyner (12 p), omits Johnson, Thornburg Velazquez and Pomeranz, Scott and Cuevas....
Includes Pearce, Swihart, Vazquez and Devers, omits Leon, Lin, Phillips, Travis.
Phillips is intriguing, and if 11 arms, add Leon, remove Poyner.
Going to be some tough calls and I am sure to think a bit differently at season's end.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 5, 2018 15:44:17 GMT -5
You can see this team started to take off when they cut Hanley loose and made those additional pickups i.e. (Pearce,Evoladi and Kinsler). Also By cutting Hanley loose they held onto Swihart. That was the choice according to the G.M.and Cora. The Sox had a .686 winning percentage on May 25, when they dropped Hanley. They had a .671 winning percentage on June 28, when they traded for Pearce. They were sitting at .689 on July 25, when they acquired Kinsler. They are currently at .688. I'd say the team pretty much took off in April and hasn't looked back. What is amazing is that Pearce has done way more than we could have ever hoped from Hanley, all for next to nothing.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 5, 2018 15:46:51 GMT -5
My current 25 aside from the slam dunks includes Brasier, Wright, Hembree, Workman and Poyner (12 p), omits Johnson, Thornburg Velazquez and Pomeranz, Scott and Cuevas.... Includes Pearce, Swihart, Vazquez and Devers, omits Leon, Lin, Phillips, Travis. Phillips is intriguing, and if 11 arms, add Leon, remove Poyner. Going to be some tough calls and I am sure to think a bit differently at season's end. There is no way that Leon is not catching most of, if not all of the postseason games, especially with what has been said by pitchers and Cora regarding him. Hitting just isn't that important for catchers, especially in close playoff games. They have an impact on every single pitch thrown by your team as opposed to just hitting in 4 at bats.
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Post by soxpatsceltics on Sept 5, 2018 17:55:14 GMT -5
Assuming the nine starters and four starting pitchers (Sale, Price, Porcello, Rodriguez) ...
Kimbrel Barnes Hembree Brasier Eovaldi (Long man) Johnson Thornburg
Pearce Nunez Holt Swihart Lin
Would be my other 12. Vazquez the last guy out and Thornburg vs Kelly vs Workman a toss up based on what unfolds the rest of the month. To be honest, I think that this year the cutdown isn't going to be all that controversial.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Sept 5, 2018 17:58:02 GMT -5
He only started playing regularly when Vazquez got hurt, and in that time he's hit .282 / .320 / .408 in 75 PA. There's nothing in his scouting report that says that's not real; in fact, it says he's capable of better. And that's a bit above average for an MLB starting catcher.
BP has a comprehensive system for catcher defense, excluding pitch-calling. Of the 60 catchers who have caught the most innings, Leon ranks 10th and Vazquez 18th in runs saved per inning. Swihart, if he qualified, would rank 20th. How many catchers, on the season, have both hit and fielded better than Swihart has, since he started playing regularly? Three. Tyler Flowers, Max Stassi, and Yasmani Grandal. (Posey and Molina rank 24th and 26th defensively.)
Add way above average baserunning, and he's an easy first division starter, right now, even without the positional versatility. I don't know how you can make any statements based on 75 cherrypicked plate appearances. Why can't we use his other stats that say he has a 480 OPS when he's a starter this year? The only arguments for him include these tiny sample sizes that don't reflect reality. And since he started playing more regularly (starting August 17), he has a 521 OPS (37 PA, again, nothing). I don't get the love with this guy. You can find any 75 PA sample from any player in baseball and paint a picture of his being decent to average. Christian Vazquez put up a 772 OPS this year in 83 plate appearances from May 16 to June 28. Why is he less likely to repeat that in the postseason than Blake Swihart? Sandy Leon had a 908 OPS s 85 PA this year, too. Flip a coin on who you want as the catcher, they're all pretty bad. You get you are basically cherrypicking stats, going off his first 75 PA where he played like once every 7 days. His last 75 PA line up with his career line more. www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/swihabl01.shtml
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Post by iakovos11 on Sept 5, 2018 18:06:32 GMT -5
I haven't been able to watch many games lately, but I saw that Eovaldi k'd someone on the fastest Strikeout pitch by a starter this year at 100.9 mph. Am I crazy to think that he could be a late inning reliever with that heat? I know he also walked 4 guys in that game. I honestly haven't seen him pitch lately. But with his strugglers and Erod healthy, I'd prefer Porcello as starter #4 and Eovaldi in the pen. Can he keep dialing up 100+ if going 1-2 innings?
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Post by soxpatsceltics on Sept 5, 2018 18:15:10 GMT -5
I haven't been able to watch many games lately, but I saw that Eovaldi k'd someone on the fastest Strikeout pitch by a starter this year at 100.9 mph. Am I crazy to think that he could be a late inning reliever with that heat? I know he also walked 4 guys in that game. I honestly haven't seen him pitch lately. But with his strugglers and Erod healthy, I'd prefer Porcello as starter #4 and Eovaldi in the pen. Can he keep dialing up 100+ if going 1-2 innings? I thought this when the Sox traded for him. Eovaldi is a guy that could play up in the pen. We've seen mixed results from Joe Kelly in that role, but I'd definitely prefer E-Rod over him in the rotation. Eovaldi seems like the perfect guy to pitch like 3 innings at a time like the Astros did with their hybrid starters.
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Post by rjp313jr on Sept 5, 2018 18:18:48 GMT -5
We better hope he can pitching late inning relief for 2 reasons:
1. He’s a mediocre starter at best.
2. Barnes sucks in the 8th inning.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 5, 2018 20:19:00 GMT -5
I haven't been able to watch many games lately, but I saw that Eovaldi k'd someone on the fastest Strikeout pitch by a starter this year at 100.9 mph. Am I crazy to think that he could be a late inning reliever with that heat? I know he also walked 4 guys in that game. I honestly haven't seen him pitch lately. But with his strugglers and Erod healthy, I'd prefer Porcello as starter #4 and Eovaldi in the pen. Can he keep dialing up 100+ if going 1-2 innings? That is precisely why he was traded for. He was a better reliever than anyone else on the market.
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Sept 6, 2018 0:35:21 GMT -5
As the sole LHR, Pomeranz always had pole position in the race for the last two bullpen spots. As of tonight, he's opened up a lead.
If he can solidify that, you have to be happy about the odds of one of Thornburg, Kelly, or Workman finishing the season strong. recency bias kills........
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Post by GyIantosca on Sept 6, 2018 7:31:45 GMT -5
Okay the Sox in April played .760, in May .621 ball, May was there worst month if you can have one. Plus I watched this team and cutting Hanley was a ballsy move. I forget who wrote it but they said one other move to get rid of Hanley was to have J.D. have more influence on the team. I still say they found there identity and took off after that move. We can go back and forth on Stats but I know what I observed. Cora knew he had an issue if Hanley was staying on that bench. It’s obvious that Hanley cashed out he is out partying and doing whatever thank god that’s over after September. We only have Pablo crappy deal to carry. This is the main reason the Sox were having issues with the salary.
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mobaz
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Post by mobaz on Sept 6, 2018 8:23:22 GMT -5
I think Wright will carve out a post season bullpen role; not seeing him on some folks lists. I'd hold him over Johnson or Velazquez.
I'd keep
Leon/Swihart as catchers All three of Holt/Nunez/Devers Pearce as last bench piece on 4 man bench
12 pitchers: Sale/Price/E-Rod/Porcello; Kimbrel/Barnes/Brasier/Kelly then Workman/Wright/Evoldi/Hembree
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Sept 6, 2018 9:38:42 GMT -5
There are too many days off to carry 12 pitchers in any of the series.
No particular order intended.
Betts JDM JBJ Benny Devers Nunez Bogaerts Holt Kinsler Moreland Pearce Swihart Leon Vazquez
Sale Price ERod Porcello
Wight Evoldi Kimbel Barnes Brasier Kelly Pomeranz or Workman or Hembree depending on how the month works out
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