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4/5-4/7 Red Sox @ Diamondbacks Series Thread
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Post by soxfansince67 on Apr 7, 2019 17:52:35 GMT -5
We are in bizarro world. Weak pen strong, strong starters weak, strong bats weak, strong D weak. Hopefully a Fenway return will restore normalcy (let's keep the strong pen, though!)
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atzar
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Post by atzar on Apr 7, 2019 18:21:39 GMT -5
Somebody tell our starters that they are now bullpen arms who happen to pitch several innings at the beginning of the game.
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Post by dirtdog on Apr 7, 2019 18:24:36 GMT -5
Pitchers get one time through the lineup. Worked against a team that they seldom see. Not the worst strategy. A win is a win so I'll take it.
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Post by jerrygarciaparra on Apr 7, 2019 19:34:22 GMT -5
happy for the W, looking forward to better things.
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sarasoxer
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Post by sarasoxer on Apr 7, 2019 19:35:16 GMT -5
We are in bizarro world. Weak pen strong, strong starters weak, strong bats weak, strong D weak. Hopefully a Fenway return will restore normalcy (let's keep the strong pen, though!) Superman, Spiderman or Seinfeld?! Point made tho.
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Post by 75tillnow on Apr 7, 2019 20:08:39 GMT -5
Have not read through this entire thread, so forgive me if I simply repeat what others have said (if so its a good kind of confirmation). But now that the awful road trip is over lets look at the good news: 1) the pen is fine. They more than acquitted themselves. IMO this is the best takeaway of the season so far; 2) They were terrible, but they cannot help but get better -- the D, the O, the confusion, the springtraining-itis -- its all gonna fade; 3) TB aside, we are 2.5 and 3 games behind our major competitors (Astros; NY). We host Toronto and Baltimore in our next six while they face off against each other (for 3) then Seattle (Astros) and WhiteSox (NY). I imagine things will look different a week from now; 4) we got our long west coast trip out of the way, not to mention 11 road games (while the Yanks lost 4 of 6 at home to the likes of the awful Orioles and Tigers). All told, things ain't so bad! Now if they lose 4 of 6 to Toronto and Baltimore, then thats another thing -- if anyone wants to join in, I'll be on my way to the Tobin.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Apr 7, 2019 20:17:09 GMT -5
What is the Tobin ?
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bosox
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Post by bosox on Apr 7, 2019 20:46:11 GMT -5
A long bridge over the Mystic River in Boston.
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Post by soxfansince67 on Apr 7, 2019 20:59:36 GMT -5
We are in bizarro world. Weak pen strong, strong starters weak, strong bats weak, strong D weak. Hopefully a Fenway return will restore normalcy (let's keep the strong pen, though!) Superman, Batman or Seinfeld. Point made tho. Had Seinfeld in mind!
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Post by 75tillnow on Apr 7, 2019 21:05:43 GMT -5
Its a pre-2004 joke that refers to the long list of suicidal Sox fans lining to jump at yet another artistic catastrophe (usually at the hands of the Yanks).
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 7, 2019 21:48:40 GMT -5
Much needed victory today and much needed excellent pitching. A fantastic bullpen game. And now 2 days in a row without giving up a HR - I think.
Hopefully they play well on Ring Ceremony Day and have themselves a homestand where they can get themselves up to or near .500.
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Post by bluechip on Apr 7, 2019 22:09:18 GMT -5
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Post by soxfansince67 on Apr 7, 2019 22:11:25 GMT -5
Weirdest stats ever - for our pitchers at the moment
8 pen arms with the best ERA (except Johnson, lit up due to his injury, perhaps)
Four with 0.00
The only wins - Barnes, Johnson and Walden.
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Post by telson13 on Apr 8, 2019 0:16:06 GMT -5
Wow...that’s a blast from the past. I remember that whole saga pretty well...they lived in my hometown. Not that long after, the first (I think it was the first) murder *in* Reading happened when a guy shot his wife, who was working in the town library, with a .22 rifle. The Tobin bridge is so North Shore, I (as the younguns say these days) can’t even.
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Post by telson13 on Apr 8, 2019 0:23:51 GMT -5
On a completely different note, I’m really impressed by the bullpen work today, and in general. Barnes and Brasier look a lot like last year, stuff-wise. And Brewer has great stuff...he just could stand to cut his walk rate at least in half. And Workman, he of one of the worst FBs in baseball (looking at the combo of velo, spin, and movement), is using his good curve to tremendous effect. Looking at baseballsavant, it’s notable that the Sox ‘pen is really using a Yankees-like “pitch backwards” approach. Lots of heavy reliance on breaking stuff and cutters, with the usual 4FB being supplementary. Barnes is really the best example: 4FB up and inor just out of the zone, lots of strikes, but CB usage well over 50%, often low and out of the zone. Curious to see how this approach develops over the next month or two. Results so far have been mostly great. Take out Brian Johnson’s shelling and the ‘pen numbers are awesome.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 8, 2019 0:45:46 GMT -5
We might also want to excise a little of Hembree's work, in which case the results have been stratospheric, shut down really. Honestly the pen is the smallest piece of the puzzle at this point. And I'm not all that worried about the hitting, not this early in the season. And while there have been mental errors, those will likely dissipate as the team settles into its routine.
The biggest question, to my mind, is how well Cora's effort to bring the starters along slowly plays out. That's probably cost them a few wins up front. Let's see what the cost-benefit looks like as the season progresses.
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redsox04071318champs
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 8, 2019 16:16:02 GMT -5
Don't know where else to put this but Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft aren't attending Opening Day ceremonies tomorrow although Stephan Gilmore and Rob Gronkowski are.
And Craig Kimbrel is also not coming to the Opening Day ceremonies tomorrow, which is a shame. Personally, if you have a chance to go to something like that I don't know why you wouldn't - how many times does something like that come around in a career? It's too bad.
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ericmvan
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Post by ericmvan on Apr 8, 2019 18:29:10 GMT -5
Obviously the Sox rank dead last in starting pitching Win Probability Added.
The gap between them and the #29 Cubs is larger than the gap between the Cubs and the #10 team.
The bullpen is 3rd in MLB. Barnes is 6th, Brasier 18th, and Workman 50th.
All pitchers, raw xWOBA, minimum 12 PA: Workman is 7th, Barnes is 12th, Hector Velazquez 29th. (Ty Buttrey is 4th, J.B. Wendelken 9th, Noe Ramirez 20th, and Ryan Pressly 24th -- 7 products of the organization in the top 30).
Statcast says Brasier's been more lucky than good (.232 / .358 wOBA / xwOBA), but Thornburg is .303 / .259.
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