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.
4/12-4/15 Red Sox @ Twins Series Thread
|
Post by ajs1994 on Apr 15, 2021 14:03:33 GMT -5
he gets grief because the results don't match the pure stuff. It isn't fair, i agree, but I don't expect too much, unless he gets coaching that he responds to. I feel like Richards — and Pivetta to a degree — are a bit of an adventure with their command. I mean, Richards has kept it to 2 runs in 4 innings, but 80 pitches is kind of grueling. So... nothing *personal* against Richards... he is just sort of Dice-K-esque. Yeah I'm hoping this is a blip, Richards previous worst bb/9 in a season over 50 innings was 4.01 in 2018. Daisuke for his career averaged 4.41. I don't expect Richards to have great command or anything, but I would be surprised if it's this much a tightrope walk for him all season.
|
|
|
Post by voiceofreason on Apr 15, 2021 14:05:36 GMT -5
That's what gives me hope that this team can stay the course. I think the pen scares the hell out of me. They've hung on. The staff has issued 4.3 BB/9. If that doesn't go down eventually teams will start plating runs against the Red Sox pitching staff. I'm not yet sold on Richards, Pivetta, and Perez as being contributors to a playoff rotation. The pen scares me. I don't believe in Kiké as the leadoff hitter and I'm not sold on him being an everyday player. That said, I can see scenarios where Whitlock's role expands or Seabold comes up and gives the Brandon Workman, version 2013. Perhaps Tanner Houck comes up and is the Incredible Houck in the second half. Maybe Duran comes in and solidifies the leadoff spot. Not as likely, but maybe Downs contributes. Maybe Sale winds up solidifying the back end of the pen if they don't think they can stretch him out to start? These are possibilities that could help keep the Sox afloat, sort of the way guys like Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lester, and even Kason Gabbard came up during the 2007 season and gave them a shot in the arm. So yes, this team could win between 83 - 87 (at the high end of 87, that's 78-72 the rest of the way AFTER a long winning streak, which is solid .520 baseball, not great, but certainly not bad), but the ability to dream for more, meaning, yes, if a lot of stuff breaks right they could find their way to 90 - 95 wins, which would be astounding given where they were and damn near like 2013. IMO there is more depth in the pitching staff than the position players. When the Red Sox start Hernandez and Gonzalez (2 utility players on a regular basis) it means the other players in the lineup will consistently have to pick up the slack. They have done that so far, but the regulars will hit their slumps at some point. The mandate to stay under the CBT put Bloom in a position to spend smaller sums to fill each position, and thus the Red Sox ended up with what they have. I think the plan was to supplement with Duran and any trade deadline addition necessary if the Red Sox were actually close. Other than Duran there is not any position player that could make a major impact, whereas the pitching staff could add Houck, Seabold, Bazardo, Sale, and Brasier who are all currently not with the mlb Red Sox. The position player depth is already on the team, so if someone is injured they simply move one of the utility guy to fill the gap. Most of the position players in AAA will be simply bench players. Can this work well enough to make the playoffs? Yes, but it depends on injuries and more importantly the other teams, and how they perform. Danny Santana is another name and there is also guys like Arroyo who could break out. The quality depth might not be there but the combination of versatile veterans is, it would be hard to replace the middle of the order guys though for sure. I still think this is a 90+ win team. I thought so a month ago. One bad season with a mash unit pitching has soured everyone. A greatly improved pitching staff and the return of Cora is what fuels my optimism.
|
|
|
Post by manfred on Apr 15, 2021 14:08:56 GMT -5
Elsewhere: Panda hits HR #3, has an OPS of 2.000. Why didn’t we keep that guy?
(I can’t italicize on phone).
|
|
|
Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 15, 2021 14:22:30 GMT -5
I am. I was going under the assumption that the Jays would get something out of Pearson in the rotation, that Springer would impact them. Didn't know Yates would be a complete zero, but I assume at some point Springer will contribute and that offense will be up there with the Sox. So far their pitching has done well although I don't know that will continue. As far as the Yankees go, I do think they'll get some clarity after Cole in the rotation. If the Sox are counting on Sale why can't the Yankees look to Severino who is further along than Sale? And same with Taillon? I figured they'd get more out of then and even German who was good/decent before his issues began. I think their lineup is as good if not better. This is a team that has won 90 - 101 games over the past few years. A 5-7 start isn't some insurmountable start. I am thinking the Rays are going to struggle. Hill/Archer/Wacha is not a great way to replace Snell and Morton. Eventually Patino will be able to show his upside and what he can do. Their lineup has Arozarena and that's it. I figure the upper tier is the Yankees/Twins/White Sox. Toronto/Oakland/Angels/Indians/Red Sox are in the next tier of teams. Frankly I think the best team in the league are the White Sox and I picked them to play the Dodgers in the World Series, a rematch of the 1959 classic. That's the division. We know we're the Orioles are at. Do you really need some sort of detailed analysis of the remaining teams' projections? Should I quit my job and ignore my family to accomplish this? I mean if you weren't a Red Sox fan would it bother you much if I didn't have the Sox projected toward the top as if that really matters? It's projections. If the "experts" aren't right in their projections why should mine be any more or less accurate? Face it, we're Red Sox fans and we know the Red Sox inside and out, better than the other 14 teams in the league. We have a reasonable knowledge of the other teams but most of us aren't experts on their depth or their minor league systems and don't watch the other teams' games enough to get a feel for them the way we do the Red Sox. I don't know, you write multi-hundred word comments about how you think the Red Sox do, and then say it's a silly discussion and it's unreasonable to challenge your view because it's all meaningless anyway. I feel like I'm getting mixed messages!
Anway, I think the Yankees obviously look like the best team in the AL (though not by a huge amount, especially given their slow start), which is why I haven't included them in that tier of competitive teams I've been mentioning. I don't think the White Sox and Twins are comparable to them, though the White Sox look like they might get there. But I would sort of like to believe LaRussa somehow tanks their chances. FWIW, fangraphs projects the White Sox and Red Sox to both go 80-70 the rest of the way, and for the Twins to do one game better than that.
I don't care if you challenge my view. That's fine. I'm putting my opinions out there. I'm fair game. What I'm trying to tell you is that I have a pretty good handle on the Sox like most of us here. We spend plenty of time watching them. I have better than a rudimentary knowledge of other teams but nowhere near as much as I do the Sox. For example you brought up Tony LaRussa. I watch enough of the Red Sox to know damn well that Cora lifts the team up. I think that LaRussa could be flammable, but I don't know enough about the way he impacts the White Sox because I don't constantly watch them so I can't opine on them the way I would the Red Sox, so you want me to put things in context for the rest of the league, but it's extremely difficult to do so with any degree of accuracy. While I agree with the premise there's no way I'm going to know as much about the ins and outs of the White Sox as I do the Red Sox. From a distant view the White Sox strike me as a team on the way up. I know they lost Jimenez for the season, which doesn't help them and they're using Vaughn in a weird way, but I can't compare them to the Nth degree to do a real projection justice. Then you come down to the reality here. You have experts who do this and they don't come close many times, so if they're getting paid to do this and they can't do it with a helluva lot of precision, then why should I be able to do so? And if I'm wrong? So what? I'd rather be wrong and have them do well, than be right and see them struggle. I used a lot of caveats for this year's team because there truly is a very wide range of outcomes with this team, a lot larger than normal. And the other thing is I can't drastically change an opinion based on 12 early season games. I mean the Mets a couple of years back started out 11-1 and tanked. The Ms did the same thin in 2019 getting off to a blazing start and they lost more than 90 games. I remember a crazy season in 1987 where the Brewers went 13-0 or something like that and then started losing so damn much that they actually fell under .500 before finding stability and winding up in the middle of the pack with 91 wins. I remember the 82 Braves starting off 12-0 under Joe Torre and they wound up finishing just 16 games over .500, just enough to win the division with 89 wins. And how many times did Earl Weaver's Orioles start off horribly and wind up with over 90 wins? That's just baseball. If I were a Nats fan when they were 19-31 in 2019 I would would have been deflated but their season turned out alright. You get the point. That's why I don't recalibrate my expectations so much after just 12 wonderful games, and I picked them with 79 wins, just like most of the national writers did. That said, they showed a blueprint as to how they could win 90 games or whatever, so let's hope that happens. Either way I'll enjoy the ride, because unlike last year where we knew they'd be brutal, they are showing a strong pulse this year, and boy do we need to be entertained!
|
|
|
Post by FenwayFanatic on Apr 15, 2021 14:27:27 GMT -5
Valdez and Brice time. Mail this one in and get ready for the White Sox.
|
|
|
Post by Soxfansince1971 on Apr 15, 2021 14:37:58 GMT -5
IMO there is more depth in the pitching staff than the position players. When the Red Sox start Hernandez and Gonzalez (2 utility players on a regular basis) it means the other players in the lineup will consistently have to pick up the slack. They have done that so far, but the regulars will hit their slumps at some point. The mandate to stay under the CBT put Bloom in a position to spend smaller sums to fill each position, and thus the Red Sox ended up with what they have. I think the plan was to supplement with Duran and any trade deadline addition necessary if the Red Sox were actually close. Other than Duran there is not any position player that could make a major impact, whereas the pitching staff could add Houck, Seabold, Bazardo, Sale, and Brasier who are all currently not with the mlb Red Sox. The position player depth is already on the team, so if someone is injured they simply move one of the utility guy to fill the gap. Most of the position players in AAA will be simply bench players. Can this work well enough to make the playoffs? Yes, but it depends on injuries and more importantly the other teams, and how they perform. Danny Santana is another name and there is also guys like Arroyo who could break out. The quality depth might not be there but the combination of versatile veterans is, it would be hard to replace the middle of the order guys though for sure. I still think this is a 90+ win team. I thought so a month ago. One bad season with a mash unit pitching has soured everyone. A greatly improved pitching staff and the return of Cora is what fuels my optimism. I agree with you 100 percent! You articulated what I was trying to say. Arroyo, Renfro, Cordero, Hernandez, Gonzalez are all complementary players who can add a lot of production to the team. The depth for the most part is already on the team. Danny Santana was a very good low risk signing as well as the others. The Red Sox IMO will be good this year. This will not be 2018 where the win totals are out of sight, Red Sox 108 Astros 103 Yankees 100 (W) Oakland 97 (W) Cleveland 91 and the wild card teams win 100 and 97 games. Whether the Red Sox make the playoffs depends a lot how good the other AL teams are. If it happens and they make the playoffs great, but if not it will still be a good and entertaining season. If the RS win 90 games like TB did in 2018, I do not think they will be sitting at home like TB was when the playoffs started.
|
|
cutz
Veteran
Posts: 2,321
|
Post by cutz on Apr 15, 2021 14:39:25 GMT -5
Time for the comeback here!
|
|
|
Post by manfred on Apr 15, 2021 14:39:38 GMT -5
I am enjoying Arroyo. He’s played good D, takes that steal.
|
|
nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,824
|
Post by nomar on Apr 15, 2021 14:47:58 GMT -5
Verdugo or JD grand slam incoming
|
|
|
Post by humanbeingbean on Apr 15, 2021 14:55:55 GMT -5
MOOKIE WHO!!
|
|
|
Post by semperfisox on Apr 15, 2021 14:55:57 GMT -5
VERDUGOD!!!!!!!
|
|
cutz
Veteran
Posts: 2,321
|
Post by cutz on Apr 15, 2021 14:56:12 GMT -5
What AB ther from Verdugo!!
|
|
atzar
Veteran
Posts: 1,817
|
Post by atzar on Apr 15, 2021 14:56:31 GMT -5
Terrific AB by Verdugo. Clutch.
|
|
nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,824
|
Post by nomar on Apr 15, 2021 14:56:39 GMT -5
How can you not love this kid?
|
|
TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
|
Post by TearsIn04 on Apr 15, 2021 14:56:50 GMT -5
Big tools and, as he showed right there, BIG stones.
Thanks, LAD.
|
|
|
Post by jkfer98 on Apr 15, 2021 14:58:09 GMT -5
Just a ridiculous at bat.
|
|
nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,824
|
Post by nomar on Apr 15, 2021 15:04:05 GMT -5
Andriese just isn’t built for high leverage. Nothing we could have done as we scored 3 in a hurry
|
|
|
Post by kevfc89 on Apr 15, 2021 15:09:05 GMT -5
wtf umps screw this
and the idiot has the gall to say to Cora, "no way that would get overturned on replay"
|
|
|
Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 15, 2021 15:09:08 GMT -5
Horrendous call!! WTF!
|
|
cutz
Veteran
Posts: 2,321
|
Post by cutz on Apr 15, 2021 15:09:16 GMT -5
Why would the batter try to run to first if he fouled it off?
|
|
atzar
Veteran
Posts: 1,817
|
Post by atzar on Apr 15, 2021 15:09:22 GMT -5
Are you serious? Dude missed by six inches and this ump called it a foul?
|
|
|
Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 15, 2021 15:09:55 GMT -5
Is the ump telling the other umps, "Don't make me look bad?" Yup, disgusting.
|
|
|
Post by humanbeingbean on Apr 15, 2021 15:10:23 GMT -5
This season has had the worst umpiring I’ve ever seen.
|
|
|
Post by kevfc89 on Apr 15, 2021 15:10:29 GMT -5
why is a foul tip not reviewable again??
|
|
|
Post by redsox04071318champs on Apr 15, 2021 15:10:40 GMT -5
Strike 4!
|
|
|