danr
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Post by danr on Jun 6, 2018 13:34:47 GMT -5
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 6, 2018 1:57:32 GMT -5
Thoughts on the year to date. Disappointments. 1. Devers isn't hitting as well as most people hoped. I would rate this as a mild concern. His track record shows he tends to figure things out. 2. Pedroia is a big concern. A long rehab and then out again and apparently it is pretty serious. 3. Sale just needs to trust his stuff and throw strikes. He has the most talent on the staff and needs to stop acting like Dice-K. 4. Catchers not hitting. This looks like they might have turned the corner. 5. Bradley not hitting. See 4. 6. Pomeranz has been awful until the last game where his stuff and effectiveness ticked up a bit. 7. Johnson has not been nearly as good as I hoped for. 8. Nunez has been all around bad. Pleased. 1. Martinez has been incredible and it looks completely sustainable. 2. Betts has been astonishing. The abdominal issue is a concern. I'm not going to panic...yet. 3. Bogaerts has been slightly less effective than I hoped for but I think he is closer to his hot start than his more recent performance. 4. Barnes, Kelly and Kimbrel have been excellent. 5. Wright and Price look tentatively strong. 6. Moreland has been more than hoped for. 7. Benintendi looks better by the day. 8. Holt has been great. I thought he was washed up after his injury problems but he looks to be the real deal. He has been good all year. I agree with most of what you wrote. I am not particularly concerned about Devers. I think we all will be very happy with him eventually. I disagree about Nunez. His defense is lacking but his hitting is not, particularly recently, and it has helped to offset his fielding. Once Betts is back I would like to see Holt more at 2B since he is both a better fielder and better hitter.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 5, 2018 17:49:01 GMT -5
Two words come to mind... Sam. Horn. I remember Sam Horn quite well. I was a fan of him. He had incredible power. He would fit right in with today's game at DH. But the only position he could play was 1B and he was not good at that. Casas appears to be a much better athlete and so I don't think there is a comparison.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 5, 2018 17:37:43 GMT -5
I like today's picks. Good mix of talent and some real power.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 5, 2018 16:58:04 GMT -5
Brown is 7-2, ERA at 2.74 with 98 Ks in 98.2 innings, only 24 BBs. Has been hit fairly hard late in the season.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 5, 2018 16:53:55 GMT -5
Marrero hit .370 this year with 24 2Bs, 9 HRs in 246 ABs.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 3, 2018 23:07:21 GMT -5
Some bats are heating up across the system... Salem lost today but the offense had 12 hits: Santiago Espinal: 3/5, 2R, 2B(9), BA up to .309 Brett Netzer: 3/5, 2B(11), BA up to .295 C.J. Chatham: 3/5, 1R, 2B(4), 3RBI, BA up to .345 Greenville also is looking better.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 3, 2018 22:58:00 GMT -5
It was a great game and with all its highlights the one that gave me the biggest kick was Sam Travis getting that hit.
However, because the Sox only have one spare middle infielder and with Nunez getting beaten up tonight, Travis' stay may be real short. They may need to bring up a middle infielder. Lin has been at leadoff for Pawtucket and hitting pretty well.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 3, 2018 22:52:56 GMT -5
Judge fWAR 2.8 Benintendi fWAR 2.1 If you look at baseball reference’s WAR, the largest difference between the two is 1 WAR for defense. I’m skeptical that Judge was been 1 WAR better defensively. I guess this is part of my issue: these numbers are supposed to be more scientific, but they actually strike me as less reliable. There have been articles on Rout having the best season ever, but... well, he’s not. That article on ESPN the other day that compared Betts and Trout made a strong case for not giving defensive WARs much weight because of the number of variables that go into its calculation and how subjective some of those can be.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 2, 2018 18:41:07 GMT -5
So Fox gets this game and then has a golf tournament run over. It was not as if we didn't have enough to hate Fox for already.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 2, 2018 0:43:31 GMT -5
I think Johnson would do better as a starter but probably not better enough to start for the Sox. If Wade Miley can hang in the majors, then there has to be a spot for Johnson. His best value to the Sox might be as a piece in a trade. DFAing him makes no sense.
Pomeranz was successful as a RP with Oakland and maybe another approach with him might be some time in the BP. He could work on his pitches and his velocity in the BP and pitch an inning or two in games. I am not sold on either Velasquez or Wright as a replacement but they both deserve a chance. I watched the Pawtucket game when Beeks pitched and he was impressive. I think he might be the ultimate solution, assuming Pomeranz doesn't get fixed.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 2, 2018 0:23:37 GMT -5
Scherff with another solid outing: 6IP 5H 0ER 1BB 3K, threw 45 of 65 pitches for strikes. Several good pitching performances tonight.
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danr
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Post by danr on Jun 1, 2018 20:14:18 GMT -5
Who is this fellow pretending to be Chris Sale? He's not doing a very good job of it.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 31, 2018 23:07:47 GMT -5
Can't say I'm surprised. Sox eat all the $$$ while another team picks him up for chump change to see what he has left. Question: If you're Ramirez and you have multiple offers... do you sign where you're gonna play most every day on a mediocre club - or - do you sign with a top contender and sit the bench a good bit? What would you do? I would choose the opportunity to play every day with the hope that it would yield another good contract next year. However, Hanley might make the other choice in hopes of playing against the Sox in the post season. That is just a guess on my part and maybe not fair.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 31, 2018 16:53:25 GMT -5
Since 2000, 26 Red Sox draftees became regulars in the majors for at least two or three years, not all of them with the Sox. Of the 26, 7 were pitchers and 19 were position players. I counted RPs that have had meaningful appearances over three years or so. I also counted Benintendi, who is in only his second year. He also is the first draftee since 2011 to became a MLB regular.
That 26 number, less than two regulars per draft, is very illuminating of what a crap shoot the draft is.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 31, 2018 16:21:09 GMT -5
Betts not in the lineup again.
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Post by danr on May 30, 2018 16:29:25 GMT -5
The Sox almost certainly are going to need another premium RP. It could be Thornburg, but so far he has not been particularly impressive in his rehab. If Kimbrel is needed tomorrow or Friday, it will be extremely good news. I think Cora did the right thing today. He had a win just about in his pocket and every win is equal to every other win. You take them when you can get them.
Regardless of what happens with Houston, the Sox have the Tigers, White Sox and Orioles afterwards. They should finish that schedule in a position similar to where they are today.
I think we are witnessing a historic Red Sox team, one of the best ever.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 30, 2018 10:59:26 GMT -5
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Post by danr on May 30, 2018 10:14:12 GMT -5
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danr
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Post by danr on May 26, 2018 21:51:16 GMT -5
Yankees lose! Sox up by 2 games.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 26, 2018 19:48:36 GMT -5
Someone please bang my head against the wall. Please someone do it. Let's do this one more time. Let's have another mediocre start with below average stuff and command for Pomeranz. Hanley betted 2nd or 3rd until he was DFA'd. Cora doesn't give away what he is trying to do. If Pomeranz doesn't improve soon, a change will be made.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 26, 2018 19:42:35 GMT -5
I cannot recall the Sox having such a poor minor league system as they do this season. There are very few players worth following, or who Dombrowski could trade. This upcoming draft is very important to the future of the Sox. They have to get more talent into the system. The Yankees have done it and their draft position usually is close to the Sox.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 25, 2018 13:26:08 GMT -5
The Sox have to be keeping Nunez because they don't know what Pedroia is going to do and because there always is the risk of a re-injury or a new injury. Nunez is not a good fielder but he has been a good clutch hitter. They also must not trust Holt, who is a better-fielding 2B, to hit as well as he has done so far, and that probably is reasonable. Still, I would have liked to have seen Holt out there a little more than he has been.
The Sox are considerably better defensively with JBJ in CF, Moreland at 1B and JDM at DH, so much better that I think that lineup will predominate the rest of the season. I am presuming that JBJ gets out of his slump.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 25, 2018 12:13:06 GMT -5
Moreland currently has an OPS+ of 162, compared to his career average of 101, which includes this year's performance. Thus, his historic OPS+ is below the 100 average point. It is not reasonable to expect that he will continue to hit as he has so far if he is playing full-time. However, he still will be a defensive asset. It is possible that his performance might continue to be above his historical averages if he splits some time with Swihart, or someone else.
When Hanley hit into two DPs the other night, including the one with the bases loaded, I thought he should be benched for a while. I didn't anticipate the DFA, but once I got over the initial shock, it made a lot of sense. It is a gutsy move and I think better than cutting one of the other guys.
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danr
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Post by danr on May 22, 2018 13:12:10 GMT -5
Are there any pitchers that throw both an elite slider and curve? I thought the problem was that they turn into similar pitches, thus the slurve. Beeks does. Saw them both last night. The curve is nearly a 12 to 6. The slider sweeps down about 30 degrees or so. He got a lot of swings and misses on the slider and taken strikes on the curve.
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