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Post by bluechip on Mar 8, 2019 16:38:46 GMT -5
Darwinzon's second inning though : O It would be a very nice surprise to have an unheralded prospect become a stud starter. Sox deserve some luck considering how many failures there have been in recent history. Walks are the only thing that’s been less than ideal so from what I’ve seen.
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 8, 2019 18:17:01 GMT -5
It would be a very nice surprise to have an unheralded prospect become a stud starter. Sox deserve some luck considering how many failures there have been in recent history. Walks are the only thing that’s been less than ideal so from what I’ve seen. He's the only Sox pitcher I've seen so far that seems like he could help later on. Johnson and Velazquez are, to me, 4A guys ..emergency reach into the barrel stuff. Workman is back working in the 80s. This pen, as it will be constituted to start the season, will be a house of horrors, I'm afraid.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Mar 9, 2019 2:56:49 GMT -5
So far, the list of potential 2B options that have been mentioned is as follows (in decreasing order of likelihood as ballparked by me): - Pedroia
- Holt
- Nunez
- Lin
- Hernandez
- Chavis
Pedroia is at the top because he wouldn't have it any other way. He'd find a way to destroy the SoxProspects server if I didn't have him there. Did I miss anyone?? Tony Renda
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Mar 9, 2019 3:32:46 GMT -5
So far, the list of potential 2B options that have been mentioned is as follows (in decreasing order of likelihood as ballparked by me): - Pedroia
- Holt
- Nunez
- Lin
- Hernandez
- Chavis
Pedroia is at the top because he wouldn't have it any other way. He'd find a way to destroy the SoxProspects server if I didn't have him there. Did I miss anyone?? Tony Renda Good call on Renda. Competent 6-deep depth is good, and this group appears more than competent. This half dozen is also backup for SS and more. Only two of the six are on the 25-man, in platoons: Pedey/Holt and Devers/Nunez. And long may Pedey run. Lin is also a good SS to cover Xander and is learning CF and other positions, which is why I think by 2020 he and Brockstar would provide a strong, versatile bench behind Pedey and XB. I hope. The return of Marco, the emergence of Chavis, and continued steady play by Renda are also worthy of attention. This remains a good team, and probably deeper.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Mar 9, 2019 4:19:00 GMT -5
Darwinzon's second inning though : O It would be a very nice surprise to have an unheralded prospect become a stud starter. Sox deserve some luck considering how many failures there have been in recent history. Yeah, the defending World Series champions really need to catch a break, huh?
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Post by rjp313jr on Mar 9, 2019 6:27:35 GMT -5
It would be a very nice surprise to have an unheralded prospect become a stud starter. Sox deserve some luck considering how many failures there have been in recent history. Yeah, the defending World Series champions really need to catch a break, huh? I think he means with their pitching prospects... not a lot has gone right there in quite a while. Is Matt Barnes their most successful drafted/signed and developed pitcher of the last decade?
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Post by bluechip on Mar 9, 2019 7:35:22 GMT -5
Yeah, the defending World Series champions really need to catch a break, huh? I think he means with their pitching prospects... not a lot has gone right there in quite a while. Is Matt Barnes their most successful drafted/signed and developed pitcher of the last decade? Buchholz would be the last drafted/signed starter that had a place in this rotation. That is kinda insane.
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Post by Addam603 on Mar 9, 2019 8:01:02 GMT -5
There are a lot of hurdles for Pedroia to leap before he’s back, but he’s passed the first one. Played Thursday, felt good Friday, and is back on the field on Saturday. Let’s see him keep it up.
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 9, 2019 9:06:28 GMT -5
With Martinez having attained the status of hitting guru with a keen eye, how about him working with Leon? That's where bang for the buck is.
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Post by rjp313jr on Mar 9, 2019 9:37:30 GMT -5
With Martinez having attained the status of hitting guru with a keen eye, how about him working with Leon? That's where bang for the buck is. Why? It’s not going to work fast enough for it to matter when they trade him
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Post by costpet on Mar 9, 2019 9:54:25 GMT -5
No way they trade Leon. He’s too valuable to the pitching staff. Their offense can easily carry him. It’s Vasquez that goes.
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Post by humanbeingbean on Mar 9, 2019 10:14:36 GMT -5
Hernandez gives me Andrew Miller vibes. Overpowering lefty who just needs to rein in the wildness/walks. Except, of course, Hernandez is still young, and there’s no way they should consider a bullpen switch for him unless the starter gig really can’t proceed any further. But his ceiling is tantalizing.
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Post by orion09 on Mar 9, 2019 10:45:43 GMT -5
Hernandez gives me Andrew Miller vibes. Overpowering lefty who just needs to rein in the wildness/walks. Except, of course, Hernandez is still young, and there’s no way they should consider a bullpen switch for him unless the starter gig really can’t proceed any further. But his ceiling is tantalizing. Here’s more video of him (yesterday’s start). The camera angle makes it hard to tell, but his gloveside fastball movement looks insane. Like a true cutter but @ 94 mph. Plus the high rpm curve...
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Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 9, 2019 10:58:02 GMT -5
Today is looking pretty legit - line up
Eduardo Rodriguez LHP 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 SO
Andrew Benintendi (L) LF Mookie Betts (R) CF Rafael Devers (L) 3B J.D. Martinez (R) RF Xander Bogaerts (R) SS Mitch Moreland (L) 1B Dustin Pedroia (R) 2B Blake Swihart (S) C Christian Vazquez (R) DH
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Post by rjp313jr on Mar 9, 2019 11:33:28 GMT -5
No way they trade Leon. He’s too valuable to the pitching staff. Their offense can easily carry him. It’s Vasquez that goes. I’ll give you this if they think they are both god awful in the batters box then yes Leon will stay, but it’s not because he’s too valuable to the staff it’s because Vasquez is terrible. No one is Valuable enough to a pitching staff to justify what Leon has brought to the plate the last 2 years.
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 9, 2019 11:33:33 GMT -5
Today is looking pretty legit - line up Eduardo Rodriguez LHP 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 SO Andrew Benintendi (L) LF Mookie Betts (R) CF Rafael Devers (L) 3B J.D. Martinez (R) RF Xander Bogaerts (R) SS Mitch Moreland (L) 1B Dustin Pedroia (R) 2B Blake Swihart (S) C Christian Vazquez (R) DH I feel a tingle up my leg...(with apologies to Chris Matthews).
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Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 9, 2019 12:17:31 GMT -5
Today is looking pretty legit - line up Eduardo Rodriguez LHP 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 SO Andrew Benintendi (L) LF Mookie Betts (R) CF Rafael Devers (L) 3B J.D. Martinez (R) RF Xander Bogaerts (R) SS Mitch Moreland (L) 1B Dustin Pedroia (R) 2B Blake Swihart (S) C Christian Vazquez (R) DH I feel a tingle up my leg...(with apologies to Chris Matthews). Well played! Reading from St Louis...at a home and garden show doing 8 talks over 4 days!
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Post by telson13 on Mar 9, 2019 15:29:32 GMT -5
There are a lot of hurdles for Pedroia to leap before he’s back, but he’s passed the first one. Played Thursday, felt good Friday, and is back on the field on Saturday. Let’s see him keep it up. Even a reduced Pedey would be a *substantial* boon to this team. If he can hit .270/.330/.400 in 120 games, with his usual doubles and 8-12 HR, and play above-avg defense, that’s something like 2-3 wins better at second than last year. It’s a major upgrade (not even bringing into it the positional stability, improved overall INF defense, ability to move Nunez’s salary, etc), and if he somehow plays defense near his previous levels, it would essentially amount to adding an All-Star. Could be one of several areas of significant improvement. Really good to see him out there again.
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Mar 9, 2019 15:34:40 GMT -5
I presume the leg tingle has subsided given what has transpired this afternoon.
(Obviously this is ST snark, but why would you get a tingle in the first place?)
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Post by telson13 on Mar 9, 2019 15:38:52 GMT -5
At least Rodriguez looked good today. Pretty efficient, which always seems to be the biggest onstacle for him to overcome.
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Post by incandenza on Mar 9, 2019 16:22:10 GMT -5
I presume the leg tingle has subsided given what has transpired this afternoon. (Obviously this is ST snark, but why would you get a tingle in the first place?) What transpired this afternoon? I see Pedroia only got one AB. Did he get hurt?
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Post by sarasoxer on Mar 9, 2019 16:28:03 GMT -5
I presume the leg tingle has subsided given what has transpired this afternoon. (Obviously this is ST snark, but why would you get a tingle in the first place?) We had a starting lineup today that was much like that in the regular season. My comment wasn't snark, it was excitement. Chris Matthews was similarly and famously excited when listening to Obama speak. And to go further, my comment was not political. And yup our early relief pitching is so far playing out as feared. Thornburg is not there yet and may never be. We won't have a top lefty in the pen until the playoffs....and our presumed closer got hammered today. Again...Got it... It's early.... A report today indicated that the Sox are last in mlb in spring WHIP. Ok, we haven't gotten the big boys going yet. Just wait. Look Kimbrel is still sitting there. Let's trade Vazquez to free up another 4 Mil and give Kimbrel 9-10 Mil this year with the suggestion that we will reward him longer term when Panda and Hanley and perhaps Porcello free up payroll. Few teams he could go to would offer the same chance at a ring.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Mar 10, 2019 0:03:36 GMT -5
I read this blurb on mlbtraderumors.com. It must have been in an Alex Speier article:
Cora acknowledged the Red Sox were frustrated at times with Vazquez in 2018, the first season of a three-year contract extension, but the backstop regained the manager’s confidence during their run to the World Series last fall. “The confidence he gained in October is going to have a huge impact of who he is this year,” Cora told Speier. “You can see it.” And longtime organization members have informed Cora that the 28-year-old Vazquez is now amid “probably his best camp, big leagues or minor leagues. He’s in-tune with everything. He’s engaged in every drill.”
This kind of lines up with how Vazquez kind of re-emerged as the Red Sox catcher of choice last October. Based on what Cora is saying, you have to expect that Cora sees Vazquez as his guy. He wants his catcher to be a take the bull by the horns type of guy - to be a leader to the pitching staff. Apparently he is full engaged, so it's really hard to see Vazquez as the guy the Red Sox deal away. I think he is the opening day catcher, the guy who is going to get 110 starts behind the plate.
So that leaves Swihart or Leon and if Cora sees Vazquez as a starting catcher, I would think that Leon is more of a backup catcher type than Swihart is as Swihart has the potential still to be an regular catcher.
We'll see but reading Cora's evaluation of Vazquez, I gather that he's high on Vazquez at this point, something he wasn't at some point last season. Anything can happen, but I think this kind of almost rules out the thought of Vazquez being the one who gets dealt.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 10, 2019 1:57:42 GMT -5
Chad De La Guerra got a ST invite. Yeah, he was brutal last year in Pawtucket (honestly, he was mostly the victim of a way-overaggressive promotion to Pawtucket to start the year before he got demoted and mostly got his act together in Portland), but the invite's worth something.
He's an up-and-down guy, but he's on the depth chart.
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Mar 10, 2019 8:17:34 GMT -5
I presume the leg tingle has subsided given what has transpired this afternoon. (Obviously this is ST snark, but why would you get a tingle in the first place?) We had a starting lineup today that was much like that in the regular season. My comment wasn't snark, it was excitement. Chris Matthews was similarly and famously excited when listening to Obama speak. And to go further, my comment was not political. And yup our early relief pitching is so far playing out as feared. Thornburg is not there yet and may never be. We won't have a top lefty in the pen until the playoffs....and our presumed closer got hammered today. Again...Got it... It's early.... A report today indicated that the Sox are last in mlb in spring WHIP. Ok, we haven't gotten the big boys going yet. Just wait. Look Kimbrel is still sitting there. Let's trade Vazquez to free up another 4 Mil and give Kimbrel 9-10 Mil this year with the suggestion that we will reward him longer term when Panda and Hanley and perhaps Porcello free up payroll. Few teams he could go to would offer the same chance at a ring. I didn't mean your comment was snark. I meant that my comment was snark. And why would I even imagine that your comment was political? But truly, what's to get excited about here? So, pretty much a regular lineup was on the field, they got a little exercise, and the team got its hat handed to it. It's mid ST -- nothing to see here.
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