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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Feb 15, 2019 15:25:58 GMT -5
Lol, why in the world you name your kid Josh Smith anyways?
Probably the most common name ever.
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Post by bluechip on Feb 16, 2019 11:11:50 GMT -5
Lol, why in the world you name your kid Josh Smith anyways? Probably the most common name ever. As of 2017, the most common name would probably be “Liam Smith”. Changing times... www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/
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dd
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Post by dd on Feb 16, 2019 16:41:52 GMT -5
Lol, why in the world you name your kid Josh Smith anyways? Probably the most common name ever. Had a friend many years ago named Robert Smith. He said he loved that name because it made him impossible to find. He was invisible. :-)
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Post by soxjim on Feb 16, 2019 17:06:52 GMT -5
No matter what numbers you look at for Leon, that's not what the Red Sox are looking at. A big part of catching ability is how well pitchers pitch to them. You'd think that Red Sox fans finally started understanding that you don't need a catcher to hit at all when David Ross took over for Salty in 2013. That hasn't gone away. I bet they value Leon is a top 10 catcher in baseball to their team. So if you think you're smarter than the Red Sox, be my guest. I'm not ready to start bitching about everything after last season quite yet. I have a hard time really feeling like the Sox have a true offensive juggernaut of a team. If I'm remembering correctly, it seems like Sox went through a handful of stretches last season where the offense was terrible for several games. If it hadn't been for the Sox' starting pitching last season being consistently good enough to keep games tight, things could have been a whole lot worse. Even though Sox finished near, or at the top in several offensive categories last season, I feel like that was more of a reflection of how productive the offense was when things were really clicking smoothly, rather than a consistently good offense -- enough to justify having a starting catcher who's woefully inept on offense, along with the other positions on this team that were inept or mediocre on offense. I don't agree. I thought the team has and had "A true offensive juggernaut." I doubt there are more than a handful of teams in the history of the sport that don;t go through "slumps." It;s just that we watch it every day. When you speak of the sox finishing at teh top or near you couldn't be more right. They led the league in runs scored, total bases, batting average, obp, slugging and OPS. Barring injuries they should still be a beast-- starting at catcher, the Sox won't have to play Leon every day more than likely. at 1B-- Mich Moreland in his two years with the SOx boht years he has hit under .700 OPS vs lefties and around .770 to >784 vs righties. This year he won't have to face as many lefties. And Pearce has been very good vs lefties. So this platoon is a good hitting unit and ofc probably overall better than last year. at SS -- Xander is in his prime. IMO you have to throw away the 2017 season as any type of reference. Once he got hit on the wrist he was done. He even said later than he should have went on the DL. at 3B -- why shouldn't ewe expect big improvement form Devers? In the minors his hit tool was considered better than Beni's wasn't it? Beni kind of struggled in 2017 - his 2nd year and even his 3rd year he struggled vs lefties but is getting better. Xander struggled mightily his 2nd year.SO if Devers calling card was his hitting, why wouldn't we expect a much better year from him this year with the bat? LF -- Beni has been improving vs lefties each year - why shouldn't we epxect more? After all, didn't we hear when he was brought u pthat he could eventually win a batting title? So why not expect him to do better vs lefties this year while still performing well vs righties? I would guess Betts won't have the year he had and and JDM probably won't improve but to start the season we don't expect he'll fall of a cliff either. These are still two very potent bats. As for JBJit was his worst of the past 3.5. If you had to bet with the help from JDM - do you think he'll be like what he was a .717 OPS guy or maybe close to .740? I think league average in 2018 was .728? 2b is the big question. And if Pedroia comes back it means less at bats for Nunez. Excluding the fielding, his offense was horrible. Holt and / or Lin platooning with Pedey should be good enough considering the top 6. OFc if Pedey is hurt - but right now can we assume he'll miss most of the year and be ineffective? At this point I'd say "no." Overall SOx might not be best hitting team in 2019 but overall imo still a top 5 team which imo is "juggernaut enough" while last year was juggernaut.
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Post by telson13 on Feb 16, 2019 22:49:40 GMT -5
Soxjim, I agree with a lot of your assessment. It’s obviously hard to expect a similar year from Mookie, but I did see one article that showed he had a very large reduction in his dependency on backspin, which correlates with an *unliklihood* of negative regression (in other words, since backspin helps distance, players in the highest backspin %iles are likelier to regress production-wise; Mookie OTOH has results from improved barreling and hard contact). And JDM might not put up the same numbers, but he’s been at this level, or close, for a while. There’s no indicator that he’s going to backslide significantly.
JBJ made a real swing change, worked on it extensively in the off-season, and it coincided with much-improved results. That’s a big positive indicator. Pearce replaces Hanley, which is a plus. Holt had a bat/swing/approach change, sellingbout for some power, with positive results (and which matters given Pedroia’s health). And I think you’re right in that it’s fair to predict improvement from both Beni (poor second half, still very young), and Devers (major issues with selectivity, but pretty solid IsoP and IsoD even so, and he’s SUPER young). As you say, all teams go through slumps, and the Sox has some meh offensive stretches last year. But they didn’t lose 3 in a row until what, August against TB? I see just as many signs of the offense being slightly better (and that’s not even addressing the horrible year offensively all-around at C) as being any worse.
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 25, 2019 9:43:47 GMT -5
Brewer looked pretty filthy yesterday. I'll be shocked if he's not in the bullpen to start the season.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 25, 2019 10:48:00 GMT -5
Brewer looked pretty filthy yesterday. I'll be shocked if he's not in the bullpen to start the season. He has a shot but they might keep the guys that don't have options ahead of Brewer. If all are healthy I figure the pen would have: Barnes Brasier Thornburg Wright Hembree Johnson Velazquez If Wright is not ready to go, Workman, with a good spring and no options left, could get that spot. Velazquez, I think, has options, but they'll probably need him early on with the starters probably not chewing up a ton of innings. If two of these guys are injured, then I can see Brewer making the club from the start for sure. I don't think the Sox will give up on Thornburg out of spring training if he struggles, but we'll see.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Feb 25, 2019 11:16:47 GMT -5
I think there's a chance Brewer could take a job away from Thornburg. Cora was pumping him up pretty good to start spring training, but Thornburg is already suffering setbacks in camp- buzzbry.com/rough-day-for-tyler-thornburg/Nothing earth shattering, but Thornburg needs something to show besides great bullpens supposedly this spring training. Non guaranteed contract here.
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 25, 2019 11:19:22 GMT -5
I think there's a chance Brewer could take a job away from Thornburg. Cora was pumping him up pretty good to start spring training, but Thornburg is already suffering setbacks in camp- buzzbry.com/rough-day-for-tyler-thornburg/Nothing earth shattering, but Thornburg needs something to show besides great bullpens supposedly this spring training. Non guaranteed contract here. That's the same article from 5 days ago.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Feb 25, 2019 11:22:43 GMT -5
I think there's a chance Brewer could take a job away from Thornburg. Cora was pumping him up pretty good to start spring training, but Thornburg is already suffering setbacks in camp- buzzbry.com/rough-day-for-tyler-thornburg/Nothing earth shattering, but Thornburg needs something to show besides great bullpens supposedly this spring training. Non guaranteed contract here. That's the same article from 5 days ago. Did someone already post this? I must have missed it somewhere else. Either way Thornburg needs to earn his spot this spring and we are already not off to a good start with ups and downs all over again.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Feb 25, 2019 11:32:40 GMT -5
Also, if the Sox are dead set on keeping Workman, then they probably need to stretch him out for 2-3 innings in spring training with each appearance. Velazquez kind of makes Workman redundant if Velazquez stays on the big league roster. They are kind of the same guy. Velazquez is probably a better starter marginally, but that's probably the only difference between the two pitchers at this point.
Both give up hard contact, they are homerun prone, and they don't walk many guys. Their stuff is pretty comparable too. Mediocre fastballs that they need to spot perfectly. They have to rely on command and pitching backwards with offspeed stuff to get people out.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Feb 25, 2019 13:39:31 GMT -5
One big difference Workman can strikeout guys, Velazquez can't. Last two years for each 8.39 and 8.06 vs. 6.93 and 5.61. I'm not messing with Workman he's a solid back of the bullpen guy and we'll need him till they figure out the rest of the bullpen.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 25, 2019 14:08:03 GMT -5
Also, if the Sox are dead set on keeping Workman, then they probably need to stretch him out for 2-3 innings in spring training with each appearance. Velazquez kind of makes Workman redundant if Velazquez stays on the big league roster. They are kind of the same guy. Velazquez is probably a better starter marginally, but that's probably the only difference between the two pitchers at this point. Both give up hard contact, they are homerun prone, and they don't walk many guys. Their stuff is pretty comparable too. Mediocre fastballs that they need to spot perfectly. They have to rely on command and pitching backwards with offspeed stuff to get people out. I think they function differently, Workman and Velazquez. Velazquez is more of a multi-inning reliever who could be pressed into starting services if need be while Workman at this point is a 1 inning reliever. As far as Thornburg goes, I'm not convinced he gets cut, even if he struggles some in spring training. He'd have to pitch horribly and show very little in the way of stuff. I think they know his stuff is still coming back (or at least we hope) and that they need to be a little more patient with him and see if their patience pays off. Honestly if that is the case then they'd probably DL Thornburg. You can do that when a guy like Brewer has options. Not having Brewer on your Opening Day roster isn't going to cost you a division title necessarily.
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Post by Don Caballero on Feb 26, 2019 11:23:05 GMT -5
Lol, why in the world you name your kid Josh Smith anyways? Probably the most common name ever. As of 2017, the most common name would probably be “Liam Smith”. Changing times... www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/RIP Nicky, Vinny and Tony.
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Post by m1keyboots on Feb 26, 2019 11:32:01 GMT -5
Soxjim, I agree with a lot of your assessment. It’s obviously hard to expect a similar year from Mookie, but I did see one article that showed he had a very large reduction in his dependency on backspin, which correlates with an *unliklihood* of negative regression (in other words, since backspin helps distance, players in the highest backspin %iles are likelier to regress production-wise; Mookie OTOH has results from improved barreling and hard contact). And JDM might not put up the same numbers, but he’s been at this level, or close, for a while. There’s no indicator that he’s going to backslide significantly. JBJ made a real swing change, worked on it extensively in the off-season, and it coincided with much-improved results. That’s a big positive indicator. Pearce replaces Hanley, which is a plus. Holt had a bat/swing/approach change, sellingbout for some power, with positive results (and which matters given Pedroia’s health). And I think you’re right in that it’s fair to predict improvement from both Beni (poor second half, still very young), and Devers (major issues with selectivity, but pretty solid IsoP and IsoD even so, and he’s SUPER young). As you say, all teams go through slumps, and the Sox has some meh offensive stretches last year. But they didn’t lose 3 in a row until what, August against TB? I see just as many signs of the offense being slightly better (and that’s not even addressing the horrible year offensively all-around at C) as being any worse. You're spot on. To be honest for myself I wouldn't mind at all if Mookie had another 2017 with that defense and baserunning. I can't make myself too greedy and expect Mookie to be that good all the time. It darn near looked like he had extra feet between him and the pitcher
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Mar 3, 2019 9:53:26 GMT -5
Apparently Craig Kimbrel to Washington is getting more and more likely as Keith Law reports that it is further down the road than reported.
I remember suggesting that Kimbrel could wind up in Washington. Then somebody said they have Doolittle, which I had forgotten. I guess I might wind up being right, but for the wrong reason.
Apparently the Nats are trying to stack closer types in their pen, or get established relief help, something the Sox sorely lack at the moment.
Colten Brewer doesn't appear to have his command and I don't know that he winds up on the opening day roster let alone impacts the bullpen, so right now the pen is Barnes, Brasier (and that's assuming he doesn't face regression) and a lot of praying.
Apparently the Nats are willing to go multiple years with Kimbrel, something I wouldn't have done either if I were the Red Sox given their contractual circumstances. Was hoping he'd come back on a 1 year deal if nobody stepped up, but the Nats have a history of last second additions, and they're probably tired of playing closer roulette every year. Of course when you trade away Blake Treinen it probably doesn't help.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 3, 2019 14:39:24 GMT -5
They traded Treinen for Doolittle when they needed a closer ASAP and Treinen was struggling. Had this conversation with a friend the other day when Koda Glover got hurt AGAIN and realized as bad as the deal might look now for the Nats (don't forget, they gave up Luzardo as well), they benefited from it too with Doolittle (who fits in DC to a T - he even had an op-ed in WaPo today)
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Post by dmaineah on Mar 9, 2019 9:00:31 GMT -5
Could Wright's suspension open up a 40 man roster spot for someone like Mike Shawaryn? Someone out of the pen who could go 2-3 innings.
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Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 9, 2019 9:16:01 GMT -5
Seems to me as if Darwinzon Hernandez, Shawaryn, and Lakins are getting good long looks. Walden did some nice work last year as well, and his spring work this year looks pretty good.
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Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 9, 2019 9:55:29 GMT -5
Maybe I can tuck this in here, since it is pitcher-related. Anyone getting impressions on the value of having some of our newer additions - Erasmo Ramirez, Ryan Weber, Colten Brewer, Domingo Tapia, Jennry Mejia, Zach Putnam, Daniel Schlereth, Brian Ellington, Mike Montgomery, Dan Runzler - based on spring so far (yes, it is early) - do we see anything of potential value in that mix that could benefit the major league team this year? My thoughts are that Brewer may be the best bet for making an impact.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Mar 9, 2019 11:38:49 GMT -5
Maybe I can tuck this in here, since it is pitcher-related. Anyone getting impressions on the value of having some of our newer additions - Erasmo Ramirez, Ryan Weber, Colten Brewer, Domingo Tapia, Jennry Mejia, Zach Putnam, Daniel Schlereth, Brian Ellington, Mike Montgomery, Dan Runzler - based on spring so far (yes, it is early) - do we see anything of potential value in that mix that could benefit the major league team this year? My thoughts are that Brewer may be the best bet for making an impact. Brewer definitely has the shot at making the most impact. He's on the way up. He has a chance to even be in high leverage if he pitches well enough, but his control will need to be sharper. The rest are pretty much journeyman and/or never-will-bes. Mejia is a shot in the dark. He's 3 PED suspensions and several years away from being decent. He was a closer but I don't think he was really considered top notch by any stretch. He has a shot but I wouldn't expect anything from him. Putnam was a decent to good pitcher with the White Sox. He might be able to sneak in and be an asset in middle relief, but that's very iffy. I doubt any of the rest add much if any value for the Boston Red Sox. I'm sure they'll keep busy in Pawtucket. A guy like Ellington can throw 98 but can't throw enough strikes to save his life. Schlereth can't throw strikes either. Perhaps Ramirez can come up and be up for a few days or so, ride the taxi so to speak, but at that point he's JAG.
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Post by ramireja on Mar 9, 2019 15:23:40 GMT -5
I moved the recently created 'Mike Shawaryn' thread because 1) There is a likely a mother Shawaryn thread elsewhere on the board, and 2) the conversation because a more general bullpen conversation starting with post #2. Its good convo though....lets keep it going in here.
Personally, I do think Velazquez starts the year in the rotation, but if we can get the big 5 healthy in our rotation, I'd send him to Pawtucket and keep him stretched out. To me, it seems like Brewer and Mejia have a chance at pitching high leverage innings at some point this year (e.g., finding the next Brasier). I haven't gotten looks at Tapia or Montgomery but those are two additional guys I'm interested in. Obviously a lot has been said about Darwinzon and he also has one of the greater likelihoods of making a real impact on our bullpen this year, BUT its complicated with his potential as a starter (and giving him a chance to develop there). There are lots and lots of options this year....very little certainty, but more options than I can remember compared to previous years.
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 9, 2019 18:52:34 GMT -5
I moved the recently created 'Mike Shawaryn' thread because 1) There is a likely a mother Shawaryn thread elsewhere on the board, and 2) the conversation because a more general bullpen conversation starting with post #2. Its good convo though....lets keep it going in here. Personally, I do think Velazquez starts the year in the rotation, but if we can get the big 5 healthy in our rotation, I'd send him to Pawtucket and keep him stretched out. To me, it seems like Brewer and Mejia have a chance at pitching high leverage innings at some point this year (e.g., finding the next Brasier). I haven't gotten looks at Tapia or Montgomery but those are two additional guys I'm interested in. Obviously a lot has been said about Darwinzon and he also has one of the greater likelihoods of making a real impact on our bullpen this year, BUT its complicated with his potential as a starter (and giving him a chance to develop there). There are lots and lots of options this year....very little certainty, but more options than I can remember compared to previous years. Velazquez had a BA against of .295 last year...emergency starter only and against second division teams. Montgomery and Tapia have not stood out to date. Brewer has the stuff but his record is horrible and his command marginal. We are throwing stuff against the wall. I am very worried that 7-9 innings will be our Achilles heel regardless of an expected improved offense. I project, at present, 92 wins.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 12, 2019 12:31:25 GMT -5
Could Wright's suspension open up a 40 man roster spot for someone like Mike Shawaryn? Someone out of the pen who could go 2-3 innings. They didn't even have 40 guys on the roster before the suspension and will be trading another on there (a catcher), so in theory there already was plenty of room for whomever they want to add. Effectively they're now at 37. They also already have Johnson and Velazquez to fill just the role you're describing.
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Post by jimed14 on Mar 12, 2019 16:43:04 GMT -5
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