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Post by p23w on Aug 1, 2017 21:47:33 GMT -5
Wow!
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Post by p23w on Aug 1, 2017 21:18:38 GMT -5
Huge stones test for Kimbrel coming up. F on that one. No grading on the curve. Actually the curves got him 0-2, it was the (very predictable) high hard one that he hung. Still and F on the fastball.
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Post by p23w on Aug 1, 2017 20:36:18 GMT -5
Imagine if they signed Nunez 3 years ago instead of the Panda.
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Post by p23w on Aug 1, 2017 20:35:06 GMT -5
Imagine if they signed Nunez 3 years ago instead of the Panda.
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Post by p23w on Jul 31, 2017 20:07:19 GMT -5
Short leash starts now.
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Post by p23w on Jul 22, 2017 21:18:23 GMT -5
That was quick
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Post by p23w on Jul 17, 2017 21:46:36 GMT -5
Nevermind Farrell had one of those gut feelings with Vazquez. Good job Farrell. Maybe Dombrowski or an 8 year old playing The Show should tell Farrell that in situations like those, pinch hitting is the normal thing to do. Let's see, Vasquez had a hit and a walk tonite. In other words he had accounted for 2 of the nine baserunners in this game. At the time Vasquez had been on base twice in 3 plate appearances. Bringing a cold bat off the bench to face an electric Osuna was a real crap shot.
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Post by p23w on Jul 15, 2017 17:54:33 GMT -5
Damn!
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Post by p23w on Jul 8, 2017 18:21:13 GMT -5
Idiot posters are a plague.
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Post by p23w on Jul 3, 2017 22:27:16 GMT -5
DOH!
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Post by p23w on Jul 1, 2017 5:22:44 GMT -5
Significant win, IMHO. Marred only by the Farrell narrative on this board and the media dramatics in the press.
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Post by p23w on Jun 21, 2017 17:15:23 GMT -5
Signs of bullpen burnout.
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Post by p23w on Jun 16, 2017 22:22:00 GMT -5
Whew, nice win.
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Post by p23w on Jun 14, 2017 19:19:46 GMT -5
I know it's the Phils but Brian Johnson can pitch. I wonder if teams call about his availability. Okay Pray tell who is going to call for a guy who can't get through the Phillies line up, second time around?.
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Post by p23w on Jun 11, 2017 18:02:44 GMT -5
I don't believe the Ortiz effect is exaggerated in the least. Nor do I believe his effect to be instantaneous. Communication is involved along with positive verbal reinforcement. Some people listen, others take time to join. One needs to be in the dugout and clubhouse (and batting cage/although that talk is more about swing mechanics) to get the full effect. Ortiz faced a mid-late career batting crisis and worked through it. That achievement in and of itself was reason to listen to the man.
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Post by p23w on Jun 10, 2017 20:50:22 GMT -5
110 pitches. Good night Mr. Sale.
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Post by p23w on Jun 10, 2017 18:04:51 GMT -5
Good point. The corollary to a Price/Porcello struggle is that it makes things tougher on the pen. The pen has pretty good numbers, certainly bolstered by Craig Kimbrel, but the Red Sox need another pitcher to step up and support Kimbrel directly as the go-to-guy so Farrell doesn't burn out Kimbrel, something he's already aware of. I think the Red Sox might actually have that guy as Joe Kelly seems to have his arm raised as if to say I'm your guy, but Barnes still has that not over Kelly. If Carson Smith (or more unlikely Thornburg) can come back and be what they were they could free Barnes up for more longer middle relief duty in tandem with Hembree so that Kelly and Smith can be the bridge to Kimbrel. The best thing that could happen to the pen is the addition of a healthy and effective Smith and Thornburg, but still if Price and Porcello are giving up the longball too much, burying the Sox early, it will hurt the pen. I think Devers could come up in July and be mediocre or perhaps adequate, which would be a big improvement upon Sandoval/Marrero/Rutledge. I'd hate to see his development hampered. He's been working hard with Carlos Febles to improve his defense, and the work has been paying off from what I understand. My guess is Frazier or Moustakas is coming our way? Dombrowski prefers bigger names to the less sexier names like Freese or Lowrie, etc. I just have to wonder with whom (plural?) that Dombrowski will overpay with. If he trades Ockimey or Chavis I will be quite ticked off. I would guess Swihart is the most likely to go? As far as Hanley goes, I really think the guy is hurt, that his shoulder isn't right. He was injured in 2015 but the narrative was that he was a lazy malingering bum which seems to suit the WEEI fan base better. Hanley, during the 2nd half of last season, was a monster, and he was completely healthy. I don't think he is right now, so of course, he's a lazy malingering bum right now. I hope his shoulder is alright. If it gets alright and he locks in, he could have another big second half. If he isn't alright then I expect more of 2015 minus the brutal defense. When it comes to Hanley, a 3 day hot streak and WEEI will jump on thethe HanRam bandwagon like no one was there. Personally I dont think the Bosox paid Hanley to best out grounders (which he did last night). For some fans or whatever they call themselves the sox only seem to be satisfying when there is discord, or mounting losses. For the really sick ones, that can even include injury. My expectations for Hanley are/were based on his second half of 2016. Perhaps this was a "rose colored glasses" observation on my behalf. I know nothing concerning any physical issues he may (or may not) be experiencing. My concern is what I perceive to be the lack of quality of his AB.s. Perhaps I was spoiled by Ortiz, but Hanley is not David. I also percieve Ramirez to be guessing too frequently. Every hitter "guesses" on occasion but my expectation was that a hitter with Hanley's experience would be a better "guesser" at this stage of his career. When Boegarts, Betts and Benenitendi were watching Ortiz I had the impression they were learning. I find it difficult to believe that any hitters watching Ramirez learn anything of value at this point in time. Perhaps I should simply readjust my expectations.
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Post by p23w on Jun 10, 2017 12:44:54 GMT -5
As others have noted, Farrell is using his best setup guy - Kelly at this point - correctly. That is to say he's using him in higher leverage situations. Posters need to set aside the stale idea that there are inning-defined roles. That is just silly. There is nothing special about being an 8 th inning versus a 7 th inning reliever. Yesterday, Kelly faced the heart of the Tiger order. He struck out Cabrera, walked Victor Martinez who has the best plate discipline and contact skills of anyone on that team, then he struck out J.D. Martinez and got Upton to ground out weakly to short for a force. The way he K'd Cabrera and Martinez was an eye-opener, for me. He hammered that deadly slider over the outside corner, and then absolutely tied them up with blazing heat at the top of the zone, putting the fastball where they couldn't resist, but couldn't get to either. His stuff constantly has me shaking my head. Here's a guy who puts a lie to the idea that you need to be 6' 5" and weigh 230 to power the ball over the plate. He doesn't even look to be his listed 190 lbs. Yet his arm is pure rubber as far as I can tell, and he always brings the fastball and the breaking stuff. He just didn't know where any of that was going for most of his career. If those days are behind him, he's a tremendous asset. He can tie batters up in knots as he did yesterday. I'm still on the fence about the guy, but what's on the other side of that fence looks very bright. I agree that JF is using the pen (more or less) correctly at this point. What I would like to see would be that he extend Kelly for 5-6 outs on those occasions when the starter is pulled before 5 innings. Again this decision would be dictated situationally, and may result in using Kelly in an emergency the following day, however of all the relievers not named Kimbral, when Kelly is on, he is good for 30+ pitches of dominance.
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Post by p23w on Jun 10, 2017 9:35:09 GMT -5
The Red Sox have a need for David Price and Rick Porcello to be solid contributors. Without that the Red Sox won't have enough pitching to go far. And yes, 3b needs to be stabilized. Also Hanley Ramirez needs to hit like he did in the 2nd half of last year, although I don't think his shoulder will allow him to. I don't think he's been right all year. Agree that David and Rick need to step up. My concern is that the bullpen gets burned out, if they don't step up. 3B is a black hole right now. I would love for Devers to step up and live up to his hype, but I am equally concerned that a premature promotion could derail his development. Don't know what is up with HanRam, but to date he has been the biggest disappointment for me.
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Post by p23w on Jun 7, 2017 19:18:15 GMT -5
looks like no need for a closer tonite.
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Post by p23w on Jun 6, 2017 21:27:15 GMT -5
Whew. A gift.
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Post by p23w on Jun 6, 2017 21:21:14 GMT -5
Wow. Team defense is bad.
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Post by p23w on Jun 6, 2017 20:53:50 GMT -5
104... nice.
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Post by p23w on Jun 2, 2017 18:21:13 GMT -5
Yikes. O's are teeing off on our pitching.
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Post by p23w on Jun 1, 2017 19:54:04 GMT -5
4 home runs. Wow.
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