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Post by brendan98 on May 2, 2024 13:23:25 GMT -5
blown away by Rafaela speed at getting to the ball. Not gonna make any proclaimations on whether he should stick at SS, but ir seems that it should be a discussion for 2024 and beyonbe Marcelo says "Hello, and don't bother." Lol. Seriously though, what a great guy to have on the team, capable of providing exceptional defense at multiple up the middle positions.
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Post by brendan98 on May 1, 2024 11:56:06 GMT -5
This new front office does seem to like its spaghetti against the wall more than the last one did. Maybe they just need to cook the spaghetti a little longer so it doesn't break as easily.
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Post by brendan98 on May 1, 2024 11:32:27 GMT -5
Procrastinating at work so decided to pull together some numbers, caveat I've done all of this on my phone so may be off on some counts. With story/rafaela starting at SS: 13-6 11 team errors .57/game would be middle of the league Hamilton/Reyes/Romy @ SS: 4-7 14 team errors 1.27/game significantly worse than our already blended worst in the league. Regarding record I know that's not a perfectly fair comp because we got the Os and Guardians but the angels at least sort of balance that out. I forgot to look at unearned runs but I'll edit that in when I have time. I like this team, I don't like Hamilton. That win/loss record is about what I'd expect. Of course winning has something to do with this for sure, but this team has been infuriating and almost unwatchable without Story/Rafaela at SS, I coached HS baseball for 11 years and for the 2 weeks we were running Hamilton/Reyes/Romy out to SS I felt like I was watching bad HS baseball (I say bad HS baseball, because sometimes High Schoolers play cleaner baseball than how the Sox were there for a while).
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 29, 2024 13:44:12 GMT -5
Dalbec is playing well defensively right now. Hamilton isn't. I don't know how much playing time you think Hamilton is going to get at this point, but I can assure you, it won't be enough for him to 'improve'. And if you're right that he's going to get better - he probably has a much better chance at that in AAA than getting 6 PAs a week and playing 5-10 innings in the field (since April 19th - he's got 6 PAs and 5 innings in the field). He will not get used to the MLB speed at AAA, and he's probably already good enough to be an average 2B. You seem to be holding a grudge over a few misplays in a small sample while forgetting Dalbec's long history of poor defense due to stable D over a similar sample, and somehow also ignoring the offensive gap... Oh well, though, it's moot. Both will stay on the team unless there are more transactions, and hopefully both, but Dalbec in particular, will not play much. We each have our own opinion, and I would much rather see Dalbec in the lineup vs Hamilton. That said hopefully, Grissom settles into a full time role rather quickly, Yoshida avoids a DL stint, Cooper plays to the level of the numbers on the back of his baseball card, Rafaela's offense continues to improve, and we don't have to pencil into the lineup 3-5 hitters under the Mendoza line on a daily basis.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 29, 2024 12:45:58 GMT -5
For all of the amazing talent on Portland's roster, it is a little wild that Matthew Lugo has been the teams best hitter. Small Sample Size and all, but he leads all AA players in OPS, and has been an extra base machine so far this season. The K rate is still high, but he has doubled his BB% this season. It appears he has filled out a lot the last couple of years, and he is still 22 years old (for a couple more weeks). He is a former high draft choice, that if I remember correctly was assumed to be more of a project as a non-stateside HS draftee, I don't think it would be surprising at all if he were a late bloomer. He has become an everyday starter for the Sea Dogs, after really being more of an afterthought in the Sox system (no longer in the top 60 here, although maybe that will change in the next rankings if he continues to hit like he has). I think it would be funny (and probably not too unrealistic) if he were the first guy to earn a promotion to Worcester from the Portland roster.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 29, 2024 11:50:46 GMT -5
TIC - Bobby Dalbec is 6 for his last 19, can't afford to take his bat out of the lineup.
Seriously though, I like his ability to play 3B and 1B for this team and would keep him up.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 23, 2024 12:58:29 GMT -5
Has he played 1B? Not the ideal height, but he'd definitely be more mobile than most first baseman. Sure to give you a good AB, and a RH bat. Might be worth a look. He’s only played 2B, 3B and SS before. I also learned he’s played more shortstop (which is not much) in our shortstop-stocked system than he did in college, although he did have some summer ball experience there as well. I think he could use some more AAA time. I’ve only seen a couple of his at bats this year, but I’ve gotta wonder what happens to him in the show without ABS and against a lot more velocity. I would prefer one of the AAAA types right now. I get it, but another line of thinking might be that the reason they are "AAAA types" is that they aren't good enough to handle MLB pitching for any period of time. Maybe Meidroth, despite his limited experience in the upper levels, has the talent and approach to be successful against MLB pitching. I am doubtful he will be part of the 1B solution, just trying to think outside the box.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 23, 2024 12:21:02 GMT -5
Has he played 1B? Not the ideal height, but he'd definitely be more mobile than most first baseman. Sure to give you a good AB, and a RH bat. Might be worth a look.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 20, 2024 18:21:04 GMT -5
The “front office isn’t trying to win” Red Sox are an inning or so away from having a better record than the Dodgers. Early I know, and I wouldn’t bet on that continuing by any means, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make anyway. I mean...the pitching results of the B/B administration is beyond anything a human could have expected. The hitting has been below average and very homer reliant. The knife in the back has been the defense and the stupid mistakes. Eliminate those and you have a playoff contender...no idea how to do that though. The defense and base running haven’t been good., but I’d say that the real problem has been all of the injuries. The fact that this team is still above .500 with the patchwork lineup, rotation and bullpen is amazing!
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 19, 2024 20:30:17 GMT -5
Ceddanne's SS defense has so far been even worse than advertised, and it was advertised as well behind his CF defense. This team just has too many studly outfielders and no SS. Let’s slow the roll here. Let’s have a few games before we make a damning assessment, ok? I mean we are talking about the most challenging defensive position other than catcher, and he hadn’t prepared to play that position this year. Give him a week or two to get some reps and get his feet underneath him.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 18, 2024 16:24:31 GMT -5
This team really needs a lot of help. The good news is Pivetta will be back soon and as long as he pitches well, they should be able to get a really good prospect for him at the deadline. I would really love to see what this team can do if healthy, obviously Giolito and Story aren't coming back, but get O'Neill and Devers back healthy (and with Devers if you have to give him a week off, do it), Pivetta (hopefully in the next couple of weeks), Whitlock (hopefully soon after that), Refsnyder is back, hopefully Grissom follows in a week or two. If Kenley could use a DL stint do that too (I'd rather be without him for 10 days than have him pitch through back issues). Commit to the best defense you can, if that means Refsnyder in LF vs RHP, and Abreu in RF against LHP until O'Neill comes back, so Rafaela can play SS, than so be it. Prior to Story getting hurt, nobody was hitting other than O'Neill but we were winning games with pitching and defense, and I think we can play .500 ball with the same formula until we are healthy. Get to May 1 with a .500 record, get everyone back and healthy (fingers crossed), and then find out what kind of team this is.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 18, 2024 16:03:35 GMT -5
Last thought for the day - we are 3-7 at home. Or, we are 4-8 since Story went down and our defense went to shit.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 15, 2024 21:33:53 GMT -5
Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I believe that Rafaela to SS is the right move for this year, it may take him a week or two to get re-accustomed to playing the position regularly, but I think it is very likely that over the course of the season he plays well above average defensively. The Red Sox were playing well on the strength of excellent pitching and solid defense before Story was hurt, hopefully Rafaela at SS regularly will help the Sox re-establish some consistency in the field.
The offense has been up and down so far, it is likely that Devers shoulder has affected his offense, hopefully this is something that will heal up soon, he has to be a presence in this offense for it to really excel. I’m hopeful that the returns of Grissom and Refsnyder add a boost to the offense as well. Valdez has had a couple of big hits but has been mostly a black hole offensively, if Grissom can provide even average production it would be a boost. Refsnyder will almost certainly provide some help vs LHP.
I thought the bullpen would be a strength, but a combination of some injuries, starters not going very deep in games, and bad defense has made it a concern. Things might be really bad if not for Slaten. There appears to be some interesting arms in AAA that might be able to provide some help if needed. Hopefully Martin and Jansen can get healthy soon, but at their age it wouldn’t be surprising if they both have to manage injuries all season.
The starters have been great, it would be helpful for them if the defense steps up, and if that happens maybe they can provide an extra inning per start and help the pen out. It s difficult to argue with the success Bailey has had, but I do have some doubts that this staff can go through a full season utilizing the 4 seam fastball so infrequently. I wouldn’t mind being wrong about this, or maybe the plan is to start using that pitch a little more as the season goes on, but it feels like just adding in a few of them here and there could keep opposing hitters off balance a little more.
Ever the optimist, I still think that if this team can get healthy and stay relatively healthy the rest of the way, they can contend for a playoff spot.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 14, 2024 15:14:54 GMT -5
Rafaela needs to bunt there.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 11, 2024 21:27:19 GMT -5
We have a plus SS, Cora is playing him in the outfield. We have 3 MLB starting caliber outfielders with Rafaela at SS, but we do not have a starting caliber SS with Rafaela in the outfield.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 7, 2024 14:47:43 GMT -5
Tough matchup for the big three - lefty sidearmer that was drafted in the 2022 3rd round and had success up to AA last year. Anthony singles, Mayer doubles.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 6, 2024 23:31:24 GMT -5
Another defensive mistake that I thought about when it happened, but kinda forgot after Devers error: on the play Reyes was a little slow getting the ball out of his glove, Valdez could’ve got the runner who had been way to aggressive rounding 3rd, but he threw home allowing him to go back to 3rd, if he had run at that runner he’d of had him in a rundown.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 6, 2024 21:38:42 GMT -5
O’Hoppe framing is ridiculous, he moves the glove 8-10 inches. No ump should fall for that.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 6, 2024 0:06:53 GMT -5
I really think that Cora is going to have to use Campbell, Weissert and Slate. A little more and back off on using Winchowski and Martin so much.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 5, 2024 23:25:35 GMT -5
I thought maybe Cora was just trying to burn out Winchowski before the All Star break this year.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 5, 2024 23:22:00 GMT -5
Is there a reason Weissert can only throw 2 pitches?
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 3, 2024 17:45:48 GMT -5
The Sox certainly played down to the level of competition the last 2 games. Maybe it is possible that mentally, they saw how bad the A's were in game 1 and thought they really didn't need to show up to win the next 2 to win. Whatever it was, thrilled to be off to a good start, and lets go win the series in LA!
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 3, 2024 9:24:11 GMT -5
People are talking past each other here. 1. It is way too soon to think about sending Rafaela down, particularly given the available alternatives. He's the best option for the Red Sox right now, and playing on the Red Sox is the best way for him to improve. 2. Rafaela's results at the plate need to be better if he is going to be a successful major leaguer. And his results at the plate are not going to get better until he makes the adjustments to his approach that people here have been talking about for years. I agree with this, the Sox need Rafaela until at least the time that Refsnyder returns. Casas made adjustments over the course of last season, actually becoming more aggressive, I am sure the coaching staff is watching and working with Rafaela on being more selective, and will make whatever decision is best for him and the team when Refsnyder returns.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 2, 2024 21:44:41 GMT -5
Bello throwing way too many pitches over heart of the plate. Wong sets up outside corner, pitch right down the middle, over and over again.
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Post by brendan98 on Apr 2, 2024 21:39:37 GMT -5
The ump did it to Bobby twice!! And right when the poor guy is fighting for his life... Dalbec missed a cookie down the middle earlier in the at bat, hopefully we can get him back to Worcester with enough time to catch up in the AAA home run race.
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