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Post by nomar on Apr 23, 2024 10:16:24 GMT -5
I don't know that we need the daily updates on Yoshida's WAR. It's just not a very useful stat for DHs, I think; fangraphs is apparently planning to overhaul their positional adjustment, with DH set for the biggest change. Last season Justin Turner had only 1.0 WAR, but most people seemed satisfied with his performance.
And for what it's worth, he does have a 162 wRC+ and .923 OPS in his last 7 games.
Sigh. Not daily. But I will make sure to date any future comment on Masa to insure proper spacing. Of course WAR is not the best measure, and I do not advocate DHing Jansen. I was more serious about the OF… I have complained for the last 5 years about an inferior OF, and here it is, the strength of the team. Exciting! Side note: I’ve been against moving Rafaela to SS, but when O’Neil returns, it is the best option if only to ensure the best OF (though I’m not sure of the defensive alignment). Not only that, but given that any SS will be an offensive black hole, 2B has been (hopefully Grissom will help that), and now 1B will be too, I’m not sure you want to lock both of those in and have Rafaela occupying another spot. They need to score runs to win games. Just play Rafaela at SS and let O’Neill, Duran, Abreu, and Yoshida play daily.
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Post by nomar on Apr 23, 2024 10:00:21 GMT -5
I think Votto is working his way from an ankle thing but I would imagine he has an opt out? Would not hate that at all if he were healthy. I realize he’s old and close to done… but you might only need to squeeze a few decent months out of the guy you pick up! EDIT: Wouldn't mind Votto, if he's starting to ramp up and the Sox are interested I'd guess it'll be a May 1 opt out thing. But given where he's at it seems like you might as well sign Cron or Belt and try to ramp them up now. My preference would be a Belt Rob platoon but I feel like if they wanted Belt he’d be signed by now so I’m expecting something more underwhelming
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Post by nomar on Apr 22, 2024 13:34:58 GMT -5
If Casas is going to be out for a long time I think I’d like to see Brandon Belt signed. It is odd that he isn’t in general though so maybe there’s something weird there Yeah I was thinking the other day that it was pretty surprising Houston and Boston haven’t been fighting for him because he seemingly makes a ton of sense for both. Cron is really meh. I do think he’s better than Kavadas, but the Kavadas stan in me would rather see him work counts, strike out a ton, and hit the occasional bomb.
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Post by nomar on Apr 22, 2024 12:52:07 GMT -5
Its crazy looking at the pole to open this thread and to see how few thought whitlock or Houck would be in the rotation. Guilty. The consensus seemed to be that they were well above average bullpen arms so leave them there. With Giolito, Monty, Bello, Crawford and Pivetta why upset the apple cart? Things change. My take was that if they were the 6th and 7th starters on paper they would still get their chances. And they would have because Giolito, Pivetta, and Whitlock himself have all been injured in the first few weeks of the season.
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Post by nomar on Apr 19, 2024 23:55:00 GMT -5
Since when does Rodriguez-Cruz throw 98 MPH? I read about a velocity spike back during ST but 98 is a couple notches beyond that I had seen then. He is a pitcher not a thrower, but he’s throwing now. Slept on
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Post by nomar on Apr 19, 2024 21:32:18 GMT -5
Anyone like me checking to see Abreu’s updated wRC+ (which is now up to 106)? I think he’ll be alright. I’m hoping Yoshida can turn things around enough for the Sox to salary dump him at some point. I think Abreu, Anthony, Duran and Rafaela make a fine 3OF and DH rotation and I just don’t see Masa being an important part of the future. And this is ignoring O’Neill, who certainly seems to be finding his place and might not want to leave a coaching staff who believes in him and helps him. It’s a good logjam and Yoshida is by far the easiest to move on from.
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Post by nomar on Apr 19, 2024 18:21:33 GMT -5
McCarty died. Aw man No way. That’s sickening
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Post by nomar on Apr 19, 2024 18:19:19 GMT -5
Missing todays game but those were some BOMBS in the first inning
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 22:15:29 GMT -5
Wow no bad “can he play SS” joke. We’re slacking
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 15:43:01 GMT -5
A healthy Adalberto Mondesi is like asking for a pet unicorn Ooh do you think I can have a pet unicorn too? Yes you can have both. You’ve earned them
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 15:36:28 GMT -5
Obviously losing Story killed what chances they had of having a plus defense this year but I don't get why they didn't go get a smooth fielding bench MI. Looking further ahead, it's hard to imagine the defense being plus with Devers/Casas on the corners and Grissom playing 2nd. The OF should be pretty good as long as Rafaela is playing CF but they need to figure IF defense out. I like Mayer as a prospect as much as any one could but he also doesn't sound like the type of SS who is going to shore up the IF defense. It's a concern both short and long term to me. SoxProspects has him as a "potential plus defender at short". MLB Pipeline has him as a 55, Fangraphs has him as a 50. Sounds like he'll be solid or better there. Casas graded out well for his defense in the minors, so I wouldn't be surprised if he improves; his mistakes have seemed to be more mental to me so far, like going for a ball the second baseman had covered and leaving 1B uncovered, and that should improve with experience. Everything I've read about Grissom says he is a good bet to be an average 2B too. And, of course, Story isn't dead; he's on the team for at least one more year, and likely three more, and he should be a plus SS or 2B for most of that time. A Mayer/Story combo up the middle should actually be quite good. I share your concerns in the short term, though. I find myself just dreaming on a healthy Adalberto Mondesi signing and being a plus SS with like a 75 wRC+...
A healthy Adalberto Mondesi is like asking for a pet unicorn
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 15:26:54 GMT -5
If Trevor Story doesn’t break his shoulder the team has how many more wins right now? 4? Forget Trevor Story. If they played almost any other in org option than David Hamilton at SS, they probably have 2-4 more wins.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 14:59:54 GMT -5
Gotta hit Gaddis because you’re not hitting Clase At least get someone on so Duran leads off the 9th
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:57:23 GMT -5
Btw, I don’t think Jacques is the worst pitcher in baseball, but with this infield defense he is He’s horrible. This is probably the white flag for today. Honestly I can’t help but think that the unearned run and Hamilton’s continued incompetence had already taken the wind out the team’s sails. Wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t score from here on out
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:41:12 GMT -5
Do not swing the bat Reese just sit there and wait for the walk
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:33:10 GMT -5
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:19:40 GMT -5
Hamilton is honestly worse than Kiké. There is seemingly no rock bottom for the Red Sox at SS. If they don’t want to play Rafaela there, how would Sogard or Meidroth be any worse? And who is claiming Hamilton even if he was DFA’d?
Really everything the FO has done has indicated they don’t believe in or care about the 2024 Red Sox, but the team has still shown some spark. It’s annoying how content they are with the mediocrity (and that’s putting it lightly) at SS.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:07:14 GMT -5
lol Rafaela
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 13:03:34 GMT -5
With the PO there, I wonder if that saves Bernardino enough juice for a 3rd IP against the bottom third of the order. That would be a big lift.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 11:41:52 GMT -5
Grissom is 1/10 so far with 3 Ks. Really anxious for him to start hitting not going to lie. I want to see him in the lineup. Have you watched any ABs? I haven't - legitimately curious how he looks. No I’ve been in California all week so I’ve basically been using NESN 360 when I can for Sox games and that’s it. After missing all of ST and joining a new org I’m not expecting him to light the world on fire right away, I just want him to haha.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 11:20:02 GMT -5
Had to remind myself that my instinctive choice to fill in the first word in today's Keyword was probably not the one they wanted. I know he hasn’t spent all that much time in Salem, but that ballpark is where hitting goes to die. Bleis has a 15% BB, 17% K, and 34% LD rate, and I want to see him in Greenville in hopes for some Roman Anthony 2023 type surge upon leaving.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 10:12:41 GMT -5
Per Roto:
Pivetta (elbow) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Pivetta will play catch from 120 feet Thursday, and if all goes well, he'll take a big step forward in his recovery from a right elbow strain by getting back on the mound this weekend. The right-hander will likely need to complete multiple bullpen sessions before he's cleared to face hitters in live batting practice. After that, Pivetta will likely require a brief minor-league rehab assignment to get stretched back out, so he could be hard pressed to make it back from the injured list in the minimum 15 days. A return in the first or second week of May could be realistic, provided Pivetta avoids any setbacks while ramping back up.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 10:10:33 GMT -5
Whatever Breslow and Bailey are doing for the pitchers… keep doing it please Grissom can’t get back soon enough. Tempted to have Devers and O’Neill do 7 day il stints for meaningful recoveries and by May first roll with Duran Grissom Devers O’Neill Casas Grissom is 1/10 so far with 3 Ks. Really anxious for him to start hitting not going to lie. I want to see him in the lineup.
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Post by nomar on Apr 18, 2024 0:34:36 GMT -5
The real question is what had they been doing wrong. Bannister and Bloom were really smart guys so as much as I’d like to hype our new pitching gurus, I’m genuinely curious as to what went wrong or what the jump was that we couldn’t get over. Hitting is so much simpler and therefore easier for me to wrap my little head around. I don't think they'd been doing anything wrong! Crawford and Pivetta took big steps forward last season. Houck and Whitlock have had injury/stamina problems but they both had track records of being good. Bello developed on the last guys' watch. Maybe Breslow and Bailey were able to ratchet these guys up another level, but the trend precedes them. Yeah I agree with this in theory but if “stamina” was such a simple thing to solve for, there would be a lot more really good SPs across the league. So far Houck and Whitlock have looked way better. This is all still fun with small samples anyway, but it’s hard not to turn your head at it. Then again, experience only helps and they would have had more of that regardless of who was in charge, and I’m definitely of the opinion that Bloom got the short end of the stick.
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Post by nomar on Apr 17, 2024 22:57:39 GMT -5
Houck lowered his ERA to 1.35. That makes him third best in the Sox' rotation after Crawford and Pivetta. Whitlock (1.96) gets bumped down to fourth. Imagine if this were an organization that ever developed pitching... The real question is what had they been doing wrong. Bannister and Bloom were really smart guys so as much as I’d like to hype our new pitching gurus, I’m genuinely curious as to what went wrong or what the hump was that they couldn’t get over. Hitting is so much simpler and therefore easier for me to wrap my little head around. Maybe there’s no real answer and if there is, we probably want it kept a secret so the Sox can exploit it. But damn I’m curious
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