ematz1423
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 8:38:14 GMT -5
I said this on the gameday thread on Pivetta but I am now rather worried on his elbow. They originally said they didn't think he'd be out much longer than the IL stint which the earliest he could be activated would be the 21st. He's been playing catch apparently but that's the extent of his ramping back up as far as I can tell. That doesn't sound to me like a guy who will be pitching next week.
At the very best at this point I would think he would need a rehab start or two and will need at least another week or two before he's back in Boston, at the worst well I think we all know that is. It is pretty common for a prognosis on an elbow strain to say oh yea he'll just need a short IL stint. Then two weeks later after trying to ramp back up nothing has improved and they take another look and lo and behold he's out for the next year with TJ.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 8:16:14 GMT -5
Cherry picking I know and a little tongue in cheek but who needs a bullpen when Houck is starting! I do get your sentiments and overall agree in terms of depth though. Ha, what sort of a dingdong would take a Cy Young candidate and stick him in the bullpen!
In all seriousness, though, it's not so much that I wanted Houck in the bullpen as I wanted him as a sixth starter who could go to the bullpen when all the other starters were healthy (which would probably be rare). Though also to be fair, by that logic he wouldn't have been able to work in the bullpen two nights ago because with Pivetta down he'd now be in the rotation anyway.
I was of this same thought, not necessarily in regards to Houck. It could have been any of Houck, Crawford or Whitlock and it appears to me the Sox were also of this thought since in an ideal world Giolito's elbow would stay intact and by default with everyone healthy someone would have had to go to the pen unless they wanted to run a 6 man rotation anyway. That being said, at this point I would have to say Breslow and Co. are looking pretty good just saying to hell with it after the Giolito news and not going and getting a veteran 4th starter type since all the SPs have looked solid so far. Obviously now with Pivetta on the IL and Whitlock joining him that strategy will be tested and we'll see how smart it was to go with Criswell and I guess Uwasewa as their depth SPs. I'm not terribly concerned Whitlock's injury will be long term, it sounded like they are just being cautious and rightfully so with him. Pivetta I am starting to worry about since when it first happened they said it was mild and he shouldn't be out much longer than the original IL stint. He's been playing catch but it doesn't sound like he's been able to ramp it up at all yet and his IL stint would be slated to end on the 21st if he is ready to go which it doesn't seem to me he will be. It's pretty common with elbow flexor strains that the original timeline is a quick comeback and then they try and ramp it up and boom all of a sudden it's time for TJ so I'm still very concerned with Pivetta.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 18, 2024 6:52:48 GMT -5
This team, which had money to burn, nonetheless went into the season with almost no depth at all to hedge against injuries. As of April 17th, Giolito and Story are out for the season, Grissom has yet to debut, and Pivetta's missed two weeks. Devers has already missed six games, and it sounds like he's set to add to that. It's tough to overcome the combination of bad luck *and* bad contingency planning. They've worked around the pitching injuries so far (sort of; if Giolito had been healthy, Houck could've been helpful in the bullpen in a game like yesterday's). But the replacements for Grissom, Story, and Devers have already compiled -1.2 WAR in 18 games. Cherry picking I know and a little tongue in cheek but who needs a bullpen when Houck is starting! I do get your sentiments and overall agree in terms of depth though.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 11:44:48 GMT -5
Perhaps I am wrong but the way I read it was the last sentence in that post was Bojacksoxfan adding his thoughts and not what Geoff Pontes said in his chat?
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 9:06:24 GMT -5
Not going to pretend to know anything about Yesavage other than the brief write-ups I've seen on him and what other folks on here have said. That being said I would be all for taking what sounds like a really good college arm in the draft at 12 if he makes it there and they like him.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 8:56:30 GMT -5
Are there really fans on the forum who went into the season believing the Sox would win the World Series? Because winning the World Series is the only thing that matters. I know that as a fact because I watched; 1967, 1975 and 1986 and the feeling was no different from the Red Sox finishing in last place. It's actually a worse feeling. As that is how I see things this season and the past few are all about how the team might win the World Series at some point in the near future. That is the reason the Sox should immediately get rid of Jansen. It's not that he blows games. It's that he isn't going to be around and I doubt anyone wants him around. So move him. A trade would be perfect. The return isn't even important if a partner will pick up his contract. Trading Jansen at this moment in time would be a big whatever to me, the wheels are seemingly falling off and if they continue to do so by the time the deadline rolls around assuming Jansen is healthy he will be dealt anyway. Even if they do surprise the rest of the way and are competitive through July I don't see losing Jansen being a detriment to their W-L record all that much. He probably would have more value closer to the deadline as the true competitors look to bolster their bullpens though. That being said, if they trade him even right now they absolutely should eat his entire contract to ensure an actual return worth something. They're far under the LT and trading him and not eating the salary to get a better return would just be stupid and cheap on their part but maybe Henry and Co are just cheap asses through and through now so maybe they'd want to just save the money.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 8:41:20 GMT -5
Got to keep telling myself "expectations are low, just enjoy baseball and watch the kids develop". Trying hard to keep fan emotions out of it. Not easy to do. In this regard - and I wholly agree- we should be mostly pleased. Kutter and Houck have been downright dependable, throwing strikes, going at least 5 and giving the team a chance in every start. Whitlock was looking like his future is in the rotation until last night, so we’ll have to see. Wong has been great. Casas is doing Casas things and is looking better at 1B, albeit with 2 errors already. Abreu appears to be coming along and Rafaela is starting to barrel the ball a bit more. Sure he is still striking out too much and desperately needs a hit in a big spot. In fact, the most impactful struggles with the bat have mostly been from vets like Raffy and Masa. On defense, Abreu, Rafaela and Hamilton alone account for 8 of the team’s errors, and that absolutely needs to be cleaned up. But if we’re looking at player development, I’d say the glass is half full.This is a good way to look at it and overall the development of their young players was most key to me this season. I'd also add the big 3 in the farm, we couldn't ask for much better start from the Anthony/Mayer/Teel trio. So trying to look towards the future, the glass is half full to me but this year it certainly seems they're primed to take a lot of lumps. Perhaps more than in recent seasons depending on Devers health status.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 17, 2024 7:08:57 GMT -5
Imaging on Devers knee after reading the injury came out of nowhere does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings. I am expecting an extended absence for Rafy after reading that. Not trying to be negative but I have a hard time imagining this team can remotely compete if Rafy has an extended absence.
All the fears I had on this team going into the season have really reared their ugly heads, mainly a large lack of depth.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 19:50:01 GMT -5
Left oblique strain, not great but obviously could be a heck of a lot worse for whitlock.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 11:51:14 GMT -5
I had thought it a bit strange Leiter was getting the call for Thursday but he's got 15.7 K/9 and perhaps more importantly for him 1.88 BB/9. Just 14.1 IP so far this year but those are some solid K and BB #s to start his year in AAA. There's a fair argument that if all your pitchers are just ticking time bombs waiting to get hurt, might as well have them get hurt helping you in MLB once they're seemingly ready - as opposed to wasting bullets in Triple A He's also already 24, which isn't old but isn't exactly a spring chicken in terms of pitching so may as well see if he can sustain that type of stuff/command at the MLB level right now.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 16, 2024 10:38:07 GMT -5
Rangers promoting Jack Leiter to start on Thursday. Dodgers promoting Andy Pages. I had thought it a bit strange Leiter was getting the call for Thursday but he's got 15.7 K/9 and perhaps more importantly for him 1.88 BB/9. Just 14.1 IP so far this year but those are some solid K and BB #s to start his year in AAA.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 15, 2024 7:44:14 GMT -5
Glad to see Devers back in the lineup, at least I hope I am in the sense that hopefully his shoulder if close to 100 percent.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 14, 2024 16:00:54 GMT -5
What in the world was Verdugo doing there? That was just bad, any sort of effort there and he's safe.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 13, 2024 21:01:46 GMT -5
His batting line last year in Greenville and Portland was amazing and I'm confident that he'll be a really good major leaguer. But he still strikes out A LOT--30% in Greenville last year; the same in a very young 2024 season. No matter how hard he hits the ball, he's not going to carry a 400+ BABIP. He still has a lot of development to go. Opening day in 2025 seems overly optimistic. I'd be glad to be wrong. As much as I like Anthony as a player and prospect I agree I don't think opening day next year is very likely. He's got some development to do and there's gonna be a speed bump or two this year if I had to guess. Same as you I hope I'm wrong and if I am then all the better but we'll see.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 13, 2024 19:47:01 GMT -5
Yea I think drake Maye if he's there at 3 would be a slam dunk and good news for the pats.
I dont really see it with daniels, guy can run but I don't think as a passer he will be an NFL franchise guy.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 13, 2024 19:15:41 GMT -5
Cannot wait for Anthony. Guys a monster!
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 13, 2024 17:16:34 GMT -5
Early I know but uh yea it doesn't seem like Anthony is having much a problem with AA. My excitement with this guy just grows and grows. He's gonna be a good one it seems.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:48:48 GMT -5
I disagree that if Mayer anthony and Teel all hit that they won't be very good in say 2 years but it's gonna be a long 2 years in between. We have a rotation full of arms that have never thrown 160ip in a season and a lineup handedness balance issue with no obvious solution. Not to mention that locked in DH-only contract while we deal with enormous defensive questions at positions including our franchise anchor corner infielders. I think assuming we’re going to hit on all of our top prospects is a really bad plan A and this organization has hemorrhaged so much talent in recent years. It could be a while. It's 10 games in but this rotation has answered the call and other than Pivetta they aren't going anywhere. Maybe I have rose colored glasses on but if they play their cards right the sox will be very good in about 1-2 years but ya as fans I don't wanna wait that long.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:34:10 GMT -5
It feels like it's going to take a stroke from God for hickey to be a passable MLB C other than in an emergency. I don't think they could pass him off as an option to play C to other teams but his bat is legit. Chris and Ian on the last pod said it’s mostly the arm and that you can squeak him by against teams that aren’t going to run a lot. Going by the Georgios Papagiannis principle (niche NBA reference meaning it only takes one team looking the guy to do something mildly crazy) it’s not a huge jump from there to 60-80 game a year catcher for a second division club, imo. Fair enough the Sox have been running noodle arm McGuire out there. I'm sure hickey is worse but maybe not that much.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:32:16 GMT -5
This team isn’t (hitting on all three of) Mayer, Anthony and Teel away from being more than a .500ish, mayyyyybe fringe wild card contender I disagree that if Mayer anthony and Teel all hit that they won't be very good in say 2 years but it's gonna be a long 2 years in between.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:27:20 GMT -5
Not that Johanfran should be factoring into this decision much, but with the catching strength in the system both at the MLB level and with the rapidly ascending Teel, Hickey feels like an obvious trade chip, right? The bat is legit but if there’s a team that thinks he can be the strong side of a catching platoon, I think you have to explore the return. I think he’s at best the weak side of a platoon with Wong/sometimes DH, but Teel is going to force that issue sooner rather than later. He feels like a guy Billy Beane would have loved. It feels like it's going to take a stroke from God for hickey to be a passable MLB C other than in an emergency. I don't think they could pass him off as an option to play C to other teams but his bat is legit.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:23:19 GMT -5
They need to go get a SS. Or just put the guy in CF at SS! But it’s definitely not what Cora keep running out there Take the CF out and then they need a CF though. I harped the last month of the offseason that they need to get more depth. They didn't and now they look bad for not. It's just hard for me to envision this team having a good year now after the story injury. I'm just hoping fir good health the rest of the way and good development for the farm hands.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 18:19:24 GMT -5
They need to go get a SS.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 17:24:05 GMT -5
I dont want to sound like the sky is falling but woof this lineup doesn't inspire any confidence. I guess there probably isn't a lineup they could run out right now that doesn't include Devers that would help in that regard though.
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Post by ematz1423 on Apr 12, 2024 17:13:05 GMT -5
Can we fire Bloom again? I’m looking back at his drafts, and it just adds to my frustration of what a waste this has been. Jud Fabian? Mikey Romero? Cutter Coffey? Even Yorke. Sure, they may turn it around, but … not looking great. I just can’t believe how much the Orioles have jumped past the Sox even when their ownership was barely spending. Bringing up "Bloom's failures in the draft" while ignoring Roman Anthony is picking cherries IMO. I put blooms failures in quotations because GMs from what I understand don't really impact the draft as much as one might think. He also drafted Mayer and Teel but those were kinda slam dunk picks but still.
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