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Post by Oregon Norm on May 14, 2021 12:28:05 GMT -5
...Duran developing the instincts to become a great CF could take years and might not happen at all, however with his athleticism he can be an above average defensive LF right now. I agree with this. Taking a really fast player and expecting the reads off the bat to come along quickly is unlikely to happen. Anyone who's played in the outfield knows that it takes time to get a feel for ball trajectory and where the thing will end up. It isn't easy and it's even more difficult in a place like Fenway what with the distances and the odd angles. The mediocre arm doesn't help. I don't know what they answer is. But anyone who's watched the last few games - with Verdugo chasing down balls and Renfroe's cannon erasing stray runners and keeping others in check - should have an appreciation for what good outfield defense means.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 14, 2021 10:49:48 GMT -5
Another instance of the law of unintended consequences, which is always in effect. The way the baseball behaves is fundamental to how pitches move as well as how batted balls fly. That may not have been part of the thinking but it should have been.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 13, 2021 23:50:25 GMT -5
Duran now at .314 / .400 / .686. But .458 / .536 / 1.000 in 28 PA since starting the season 0/11.
When the season started Kiley McDaniel at ESPN listed the 45 prospects he was most excited to see this year. He mentioned neither Duran nor Casas (or anyone else from the Sox).
Interesting. Duran hasn't been flying under the radar for a while now after crushing it in the playoffs for Puerto Rico and then in spring training.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 13, 2021 23:00:14 GMT -5
Another big throw from Renfroe! Who was the relay man, Arauz or Chavez? He threw a strike too. That was Araūz in the middle. Tremendous play: a rocket from Renfroe and a lighting quick turnaround for a bullet to Vazquez who was perfectly positioned for the swipe tag. That's why I follow baseball, for stuff like that.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 11, 2021 10:27:02 GMT -5
For those of you who'd relegated the As to the bottom of the barrel, they've floated to the top as they so often have done. Instead of worrying about what players can't do, Oakland figures out what they can and then puts them in a position to do it. There aren't many easy outs in their lineup.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 9, 2021 1:25:39 GMT -5
This is fairly simple. The Sox have 7 pitchers who are 6' 4" or better. Find me opposition pitchers from Ruth's era that tall. Does it mean there were no hard throwers? Not at all. Does it mean that the highly specialized modern cavalcade of starters and fine-grained relief specialists with their blazing fastballs coupled with endless deception on their breaking pitches is light-years ahead of the old guard? You bet.
That's before we even discuss big data and how modern hitters have been undressed and their weaknesses exposed for all to see.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 8, 2021 22:08:31 GMT -5
I think we've seen the last of Austin Brice. Josh Taylor holds onto his job of mop up. Brice is a placeholder. Taylor on the other hand has a distorted ERA compared to his fielding-independent numbers. His results gave gotten better and better as we've gotten further into the season reflecting that.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 8, 2021 9:16:44 GMT -5
... If Dalbec can just just come out of the slump, that with some good pitching like last night and they will win plenty of series. JDM,X,Devers --can't do it alone--can be pitched around. ... They aren't doing it alone. Verdugo is a big part of it, Vazquez comes up with a lot of crucial hits, and even the "stiffs" have won games. I'd like to see that group pick it up but I don't believe any team is going to pitch around the core. That would be very costly.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 7, 2021 23:09:43 GMT -5
Man, Valdez has crazy stuff. He doesn't throw anything straight and he can put all of them on a dime.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 7, 2021 13:53:07 GMT -5
Things have been well. Moved back to Boston, expecting our first kid in a month or so, Red Sox are fun to watch again. Good to see a bunch of familiar faces (err, names, I guess). Great to see your avatar. It's certainly more fun than last year! I do think the team caught some (twisted) luck what with the initial shutdown and the loss of key pieces in the starting rotation. It was a down season and they could barely tread water so a rebuild of sorts could happen with lots of alibis. The FO proceeded to restock with judicious trades, waiver acquisitions, Rule 5 draft selections, and a re-positioning in the draft order. The minor league system is still being rebuilt, but it actually has some pitching talent now. Low expectations last year led to low expectations this season, but the hitting is back and there's even a little pitching. They blindsided the division early, but I do expect the competition to get very heated as they play NY, Tor, and TB. Still a lot more fun watching that from the top than the bottom for us fans, though.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 7, 2021 13:38:46 GMT -5
Pitchers have a book on him and they've been reading it. They set him up inside and finish him off high outside with hard stuff, or low outside with breaking stuff. As you point out, he hasn't adjusted (yet). It's just a constant in MLB, that back and forth. He has to have a plan and I don't think he has that figured out yet.
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 6, 2021 16:53:04 GMT -5
Funky game. Just came in from shoveling a mess of gravel. Read the details on the 8th inning. Left me shaking my head laughing. I'll bet it was even weirder watching!
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Post by Oregon Norm on May 4, 2021 15:51:28 GMT -5
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 29, 2021 18:56:28 GMT -5
Seems like Yankee fans really aren’t liking the Tauchman trade. Which I’m okay with! Any thoughts on it? From what I can gather, they're upset because they kept him on the 40-man instead of trading him earlier when he had more value. It part of the overall criticism of the FO, how they've allowed useful players - Whitlock is mentioned - to be jettisoned.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 28, 2021 22:19:24 GMT -5
Well, he's not the only one. Eckersley went on and on about the pitches batters were chasing. I'm wondering if the modified baseball isn't breaking violently, fooling players. Time for a dip in the big data, maybe? What's the difference in aggregated pitch type movement this year compared to past years?
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 28, 2021 14:20:02 GMT -5
If you ignore the losses in the win-loss record (which include what we'll euphemistically call Wilpon wins), Degrom is the best pitcher of his generation. The numbers have gotten silly, probably a refection of his newfound ability to regularly top 100+ on his fastball. The Sox have their work cutout for them, but we can all sit back and enjoy true excellence regardless of what happens.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 27, 2021 20:40:47 GMT -5
It was clear that command was the problem. Tonight it wasn't. He deserves some props for that.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 27, 2021 20:03:13 GMT -5
Very sharp so far. Everything’s working. Yeah, it's the command thing. He has that tonight and he's knocking them down.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 27, 2021 17:00:33 GMT -5
I should have been clearer. The CDC is progressively lowering the barrier. My thought is that that will continue through the summer and that we may have even fewer restrictions on crowd size and protective gear at some point.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 27, 2021 13:03:47 GMT -5
Good news from the CDC. Vaccinated types (and that should mean more and more folks) can participate in outdoor activities without masking up. My guess is the restrictions will be gradually loosened even further as the season moves on.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 26, 2021 21:59:01 GMT -5
In keeping with the theme of picking the players who we believe will perform the best, I chose Munoz #3. He has a hit tool that works, and there's no reason it shouldn't work in Worcester.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 26, 2021 16:56:51 GMT -5
Verdugo slumped at the end of last year, just as Vazquez was picking it up again. Martinez was down all of last season. It's not a matter of "affording". This happens every season and to all players. What's needed is depth, across the lineup and on the bench.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 26, 2021 15:46:13 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Dalbec has been hitting... just not home runs. That is SO weird to me. Gotta think they're coming soon. Maybe he traded power for contact - his K rate has been dropping and is approaching 30%. Which brings up the question of which Dalbec we prefer I suppose!
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 26, 2021 15:38:10 GMT -5
Jesus... I knew CV had slumped, but looking at his season... it is basically a few massive early games keeping his stats from being brutal. Last 10 games, .139/.205/.344. Yikes. Whatever is wrong with Verdugo better be brief and better not linger. The Sox absolutely cannot afford not to have Verdugo, JDM, X, and Devers in the lineup. They are going to have to carry them. No they won't. You're navel gazing in the extreme. You need to step back and appreciate what a typical season looks like for those stats. Here's Vazquez' 2019 season, run with an 11-point moving window - the stats are re-computed over the new set of points as the window advances (click to expand): That was in a year when he finished .276/.320/.477. I've done these before and he is not unique. You could do one for Betts right now that would show the same kind of volatility. That's baseball and all players go through this.
It's the long game, not a sample of ten, that matters.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 23, 2021 12:12:36 GMT -5
My take: Richards issue is how his command comes and goes. Given what he's trying to do - lure players into swinging at stuff out of the zone - that's not good. They can and have waited him out till he either walks them or they get a fat pitch they can hit. He thinks he can fix that, but it's going to have to happen quickly.
Yesterday's game had the Sox reverting to a more normal BABIP, while the Mariners continue they're lucky streak. That should even out at some point, hopefully over the next three days.
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