SoxProspects News
|
|
|
|
Legal
Forum Ground Rules
The views expressed by the members of this Forum do not necessarily reflect the views of SoxProspects, LLC.
© 2003-2024 SoxProspects, LLC
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Home | Search | My Profile | Messages | Members | Help |
Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
|
Post by rjp313jr on Mar 10, 2019 9:33:19 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. Vazquez put together solid ABs in the post season. His numbers weren’t great but he was competitive in the box and delivered some key walks and/or hits. His defense was what was shocking last season. He was subpar at times and that’s supposed to be his calling card. We know he can do it so it was probably a focus/effort/mindset thing. Swithart should be getting the starts 60/40 at least and Vasquez should be the other catcher. Leon is basically a black hole at the plate and it’s so bad no level of work with the staff or pitch framing/defense can make up for it. Is he a worthy backup? Sure, but he’s clearly 3rd in terms of upside. He’s probably 1st in terms of known commodity and it’s great what he does with the staff - hes just so damn bad in the box..
|
|
|
Post by sparkygian on Mar 10, 2019 10:05:58 GMT -5
Vlad Jr. out for perhaps a few weeks with oblique strain. Just find it hard to believe that he'll be able to play healthy for full seasons with his body shape. I hope I'm wrong cause I'm really eager to see what he can do with the bat this year. Prince Fielder was able to stay on the field despite having a 'heavy' look, so maybe Vlad Jr will be ok too. Puckett was never thin, but was an incredible athlete, but not sure I'm buying that Vlad Jr. is going to be an athletic big guy like Puckett was.
On the other hand, Devers looks stout, and in shape this spring. Devers appears to be on the right track with staying in good shape, especially to play 3b. Really hoping to see a huge year from Devers this year, and have him hit behind Beni and Betts, and before JDM. Devers has such a fun personality too, it would be really nice if he becomes the next career, Red Sox superstar.
|
|
|
Post by jimed14 on Mar 10, 2019 10:32:23 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. Vazquez put together solid ABs in the post season. His numbers weren’t great but he was competitive in the box and delivered some key walks and/or hits. His defense was what was shocking last season. He was subpar at times and that’s supposed to be his calling card. We know he can do it so it was probably a focus/effort/mindset thing. Swithart should be getting the starts 60/40 at least and Vasquez should be the other catcher. Leon is basically a black hole at the plate and it’s so bad no level of work with the staff or pitch framing/defense can make up for it. Is he a worthy backup? Sure, but he’s clearly 3rd in terms of upside. He’s probably 1st in terms of known commodity and it’s great what he does with the staff - hes just so damn bad in the box.. Vazquez was 14th in the majors for catcher defense, 9 runs above average according to BP, which does the best job with catcher defense IMO. Leon was 7th, 11.7 runs above average. That includes blocking, arm and framing, but not pitch calling and it includes 117 catchers. If you limit qualifiers to 4000 pitch framing chances, Leon is 5th and Vazquez is 8th out of 33. Vazquez was well above average, not subpar in defense.
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on Mar 10, 2019 11:33:20 GMT -5
Vazquez put together solid ABs in the post season. His numbers weren’t great but he was competitive in the box and delivered some key walks and/or hits. His defense was what was shocking last season. He was subpar at times and that’s supposed to be his calling card. We know he can do it so it was probably a focus/effort/mindset thing. Swithart should be getting the starts 60/40 at least and Vasquez should be the other catcher. Leon is basically a black hole at the plate and it’s so bad no level of work with the staff or pitch framing/defense can make up for it. Is he a worthy backup? Sure, but he’s clearly 3rd in terms of upside. He’s probably 1st in terms of known commodity and it’s great what he does with the staff - hes just so damn bad in the box.. Vazquez was 14th in the majors for catcher defense, 9 runs above average according to BP, which does the best job with catcher defense IMO. Leon was 7th, 11.7 runs above average. That includes blocking, arm and framing, but not pitch calling and it includes 117 catchers. If you limit qualifiers to 4000 pitch framing chances, Leon is 5th and Vazquez is 8th out of 33. Vazquez was well above average, not subpar in defense. I said he was subpar “at times” last year. I stand by that statement. I really don’t think it’s a controversial statement to say that his defense was not what we had come to expect from him last year especially early. Also, I feel that when you’re using “above average”, regardless of qualifier, for a guy who needs his defense to carry him you’re proving the point you’re trying to refute. And please don’t ignore that I said subpar, aka below average, at times not for the course or the entire season. And the “at times” wasn’t in reference to a game here and there. It was noticeable stretches. thegruelingtruth.net/baseball/whathashappenedtochristianvazquezs-defense/
|
|
|
Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 10, 2019 11:39:16 GMT -5
First look at Porcello today
|
|
|
Post by sarasoxer on Mar 10, 2019 11:59:14 GMT -5
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. Ok glad you cleared that up but why was your comment snark? Hey I was excited to see our regular lineup for the first time since last October 😀. It was a thumbs up to soxfansince67's pregame posting of the lineup. Unfortunately the Sox lost their 4th straight to go to 6-9. And you're right...the game was a downer. My comment that the line wasn't political was very much tongue-in-cheek broadly not to you personally.... While made years ago in political context, I look at it as part of today's lexicon. It can be applied to anything one is excited about. In this case...Go Sox!
|
|
|
Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 10, 2019 14:01:59 GMT -5
Ah, genius, Alex Cora and team. Lull the league into complacency by really sucking in preseason! (just kidding....well, sorta!)
|
|
|
Post by Addam603 on Mar 10, 2019 15:04:06 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by sarasoxer on Mar 10, 2019 18:59:06 GMT -5
Ain't going to cut it. We lost Kimbrel, Kelly and Wright, don't have replacements and are putting an increased burden/pressure on two men... Barnes and the limited exposure Brasier. Help me Rhonda. IMO, we will have to make a trade in the early season...and not just a catcher. I don't want to give up Chavis or Dalbec, but.....they play the same position that is already occupied. It's going to happen.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 10, 2019 20:21:36 GMT -5
Workman is at risk of losing his spot to Brewer, but I don't think he was going to be counted on for very much this year.
|
|
|
Post by carmenfanzone on Mar 11, 2019 12:32:44 GMT -5
Sale and Hembree pitched on a backfield scrimmage today. Sale through 3 “innings”. I put innings in quotes because after so manny pitches they ended the inning whether there were three innings or not. The good news is that it is still Chris Sale. He seemed to be a little frustrated he couldn’t get his breaking ball over in the 3rd. But he did strike out 5 guys. His outing ended when Ruskoni hit a 2 run double off of him.
Cora and DD we’re watching.
Sale was pitching against people like Benge, Washington, Campana and Osinski.
|
|
|
Post by vermontsox1 on Mar 12, 2019 8:38:59 GMT -5
Notable: Darwinson and Dalbec remain in big league camp.
|
|
|
Post by jimed14 on Mar 12, 2019 9:54:47 GMT -5
Let the rumors fly on Darwinzon!
|
|
|
Post by fenwaythehardway on Mar 12, 2019 10:25:27 GMT -5
Notable: Darwinson and Dalbec remain in big league camp. Dalbec outlasting Chavis is super surprising to me.
|
|
|
Post by soxcentral on Mar 12, 2019 11:05:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by jimed14 on Mar 12, 2019 11:32:19 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 12, 2019 11:42:55 GMT -5
Notable: Darwinson and Dalbec remain in big league camp. Dalbec outlasting Chavis is super surprising to me. I think it likely has to do with defense. They're not going to keep you up if you might extend defensive innings, and Chavis needs to work on learning 2B and 1B. The place for that isn't in big league games with guys on carefully monitored workloads. As for Darwinzon, let's see how long he stays up after his scheduled game today following Price before we read into anything. His making the team out of camp would literally be stupid and short-sighted.
|
|
|
Post by soxfansince67 on Mar 12, 2019 14:00:55 GMT -5
Rough spring for the bats....hoping they are getting some bad at bats out of their system so they can rake once the season begins!
Just listening, but Price (aside from a mistake pitch) had a decent first outing.
|
|
|
Post by congusgambler33 on Mar 12, 2019 15:16:28 GMT -5
I guess this is a after affect of winning it all last year, because the last 6 games have been absolutely borrrring. I realize that Cora slow walked them back, but it is time to show a little competitiveness...Don't ya think?
|
|
|
Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 12, 2019 23:12:23 GMT -5
I guess this is a after affect of winning it all last year, because the last 6 games have been absolutely borrrring. I realize that Cora slow walked them back, but it is time to show a little competitiveness...Don't ya think? Nope. Spring Training exists for players to get ready for the season. Gorkys Hernandez and Tate Matheny are among the team's leaders in at-bats right now. Marcus Walden and Erasmo Ramirez are among the leaders in innings pitched. There is no reason to give even the slightest care to the team's won-loss record right now. None.
|
|
|
Post by telson13 on Mar 12, 2019 23:27:48 GMT -5
Notable: Darwinson and Dalbec remain in big league camp. That Chavis isn’t still up surprises me a little, but maybe they really do plan on getting him some 2b reps. Dalbec is surprising to me; Big D is not. He’s been fantastic and I could see them wanting to get him a little extra time with MLB coaching and a little better idea of whether he’s a relief option now. Edit: as Chris said, I don’t think he STAYS now, because I think they want him (and should ultimately plan on him) starting, but I could see them wanting to figure out if, should the need arise from some catastrophe, they could bring him up in a pinch and anticipate success. He very obviously needs reps, and I think it would be very short-sighted to deprive him of that barring a genuine “need.”
|
|
|
Post by dmaineah on Mar 13, 2019 5:05:43 GMT -5
I guess this is a after affect of winning it all last year, because the last 6 games have been absolutely borrrring. I realize that Cora slow walked them back, but it is time to show a little competitiveness...Don't ya think? Yes
|
|
|
Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 13, 2019 7:38:17 GMT -5
My above comments notwithstanding... the fact that Darwinzon pitched only a single inning, and that coming in the 6th, worries me that they're thinking about keeping him up in the bullpen. It's entirely possible that they just wanted to see what it looked like in a single-inning relief outing, which I get, but still, I feel like Cora wouldn't be afraid to do that.
If they do it, I will be the first one out there saying it'd be an incredibly short-sighted move. Porcello is, in all likelihood, walking next year. Darwinzon is their best candidate to replace him internally. That's far more important than getting him up this year to pitch the 7th or 8th. Not saying there's not going to be a point in the season in which that calculus changes, but for now, I think it slants heavily towards his getting more reps in the rotation.
|
|
|
Post by fenwaythehardway on Mar 13, 2019 9:10:50 GMT -5
My above comments notwithstanding... the fact that Darwinzon pitched only a single inning, and that coming in the 6th, worries me that they're thinking about keeping him up in the bullpen. It's entirely possible that they just wanted to see what it looked like in a single-inning relief outing, which I get, but still, I feel like Cora wouldn't be afraid to do that. If they do it, I will be the first one out there saying it'd be an incredibly short-sighted move. Porcello is, in all likelihood, walking next year. Darwinzon is their best candidate to replace him internally. That's far more important than getting him up this year to pitch the 7th or 8th. Not saying there's not going to be a point in the season in which that calculus changes, but for now, I think it slants heavily towards his getting more reps in the rotation. I full agree with you unless they're planning to use him as something besides a standard one-inning reliever. If they do want to do some modernized version of the old Earl Weaver pitcher development strategy of using young starters in a long relief role, I'm at least open to that as an experiment worth trying. They've given no direct indication that they're thinking about doing anything like this, but between the thin bullpen and a couple starters they probably want to baby a little bit, there's at least some compelling reasons they might want to try it.
|
|
|
Post by James Dunne on Mar 13, 2019 9:31:24 GMT -5
My above comments notwithstanding... the fact that Darwinzon pitched only a single inning, and that coming in the 6th, worries me that they're thinking about keeping him up in the bullpen. It's entirely possible that they just wanted to see what it looked like in a single-inning relief outing, which I get, but still, I feel like Cora wouldn't be afraid to do that. If they do it, I will be the first one out there saying it'd be an incredibly short-sighted move. Porcello is, in all likelihood, walking next year. Darwinzon is their best candidate to replace him internally. That's far more important than getting him up this year to pitch the 7th or 8th. Not saying there's not going to be a point in the season in which that calculus changes, but for now, I think it slants heavily towards his getting more reps in the rotation. I full agree with you unless they're planning to use him as something besides a standard one-inning reliever. If they do want to do some modernized version of the old Earl Weaver pitcher development strategy of using young starters in a long relief role, I'm at least open to that as an experiment worth trying. They've given no direct indication that they're thinking about doing anything like this, but between the thin bullpen and a couple starters they probably want to baby a little bit, there's at least some compelling reasons they might want to try it. I agree with the theory of this but not in the specifics of the Hernandez case. I'd be down with that for someone who is a little closer to a finished project - Shawaryn, for example, is probably not ready to be a major league starter, but could probably continue to develop as a major league reliever. I don't think Hector Velazquez's development was particularly stunted by his work being irregular last year. I don't know that's the right track with Hernandez. He can possibly have some success in the majors in the near future by leaning in on the things he currently does well. But it's hard to see him getting a lot of work on his curve or change in the majors, even in a 2-3 inning role. He needs to develop one (or both) to be a major league starter, and it makes a lot more sense for him to do that at a level where he can be free to do the things he's currently not good at. If he's in Portland and they need him to work on his curveball and it's not working, then... so what? He gives up 7 runs in 3 1/3 in Double A one time and it's no skin on anyone's nose. In the majors, those motivations and goals are different. It's harder to focus both on meeting developmental milestones and also succeeding. It's also the difference in where they end up. With Velazquez, who projected as a 4/5 but was already an MLB-ready middle reliever, so what? Maybe he could've been a tiny bit better on a different development track, but it's not a huge gap. With Hernandez, though, he has the upside of a 2/3, but there's a lot that he needs to learn to get there, and some lumps he has to take that probably aren't the best to have him take while pitching in the majors.
|
|
|