Wily Mo revisited

[mtbykr]

A hit tonight, two walks---that is not bad at all. He is starting to really show some discipline at the plate; no turning back for him now. He must keep this up. Papa Jack's hand is all over the place on this. I missed some of the ball game on MLBTV. Someone told me he goofed up on a ball hit to him again. That true? I don't think that is something we can put up with over the long haul though. He has to get better in the field as well.

 

 

Nothing sticks out to me! I could be wrong but i don't remember anything bad for him in the field tonight!

[seabeachfred]

Always good to discuss baseball with you MTB. You've become one of my best friends on this board. Keep them coming.

[He Hate Me]

seabeachfred: I just can't quit you MTB

[seabeachfred]

I don't know what post meant HHM but thanks anyway just in case it was in good cheer.

[The Monster is my Mom]

Always good to discuss baseball with you MTB. You've become one of my best friends on this board. Keep them coming.

 

I am hurt Fred, I thought we were friends??

[seabeachfred]

Come off it. I call you Monster Man. If that isn't a form of affection and comaradarie I don't know what is. Of course, you are one of my main men on this board. That is why I like posting here. This is a very underrated board; we have a lot of people here who really know their baseball and it's a pleasure to deal with you guys. In fact, there is only one ******* on this board that I have come across and he knows who he is. Have a great day. Say, BTW, would it sound greedy to want to win tonight as well so we can take the whole three-game series with the Devil Rays and go on the road trip with some real momentum?

[Beckett95]

sorry to bring this discussion back to life, but i just noticed that in Yahoo Fantasy Baseball, Arroyo is the 2nd best player next to Pujols. Hes 5-0 with an era of 2.06 (6th best in mlb), a whip of .89 (6th best in mlb) and is 8th in the majors with 34 K's.

What if Arroyo is a late-bloomer and is just now starting to go into the prime of his career? What if Willy-Mo never learns to hit a curveball and strikes out 150 times every season? When the trade first happened i thought it was a steal for the Sox, but now it looks questionable. If Willy Mo gets 350 AB's this year, hes onpase to K 131 times, which for that many AB's is ridiculous. Now we are in need of another starter, as long as papelbons the closer, and we have few options left.

[ksushi]

Arroyo never would have been this good in the AL.

[Beckett95]

Arroyo never would have been this good in the AL.

maybe not this good, but the way hes been pitching, atleast 3-4 wins with an era around/under 3. Its not like the NL Central is a AAA division. Cardinals have a good lineup, the Cubs and Astros lineups aren't but either.

[Dana Kiecker]

Before you burn this trade.. realize why it happened.

 

You have a rightfielder who cant play 90 games, but because his hat is dirty he gets a free ride.

 

Thats neither Will Mo's fault nor Bronsons.. Its a fact.

[riverside sluggers]

sorry to bring this discussion back to life, but i just noticed that in Yahoo Fantasy Baseball, Arroyo is the 2nd best player next to Pujols. Hes 5-0 with an era of 2.06 (6th best in mlb), a whip of .89 (6th best in mlb) and is 8th in the majors with 34 K's.

What if Arroyo is a late-bloomer and is just now starting to go into the prime of his career? What if Willy-Mo never learns to hit a curveball and strikes out 150 times every season? When the trade first happened i thought it was a steal for the Sox, but now it looks questionable. If Willy Mo gets 350 AB's this year, hes onpase to K 131 times, which for that many AB's is ridiculous. Now we are in need of another starter, as long as papelbons the closer, and we have few options left.

 

Yes Arroyo is on pace for a career year which I do believe is based partly that he has moved from the AL East to the NL Central. The East has better lineups, and he also gets to face the pitchers as well. Good number of batters he's facing now have limited or no ABs against him.

[Beckett95]

Arroyos shut down the Cubs, Cardinals, Millwaukee and Washington, all (maybe not MIL) are contenders in the NL.

 

Last 3 games---

 

MIL--8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's

WAS--8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's

STL--9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's

 

those teams have some pretty good hitters.

 

Probably wouldnt put those numbers up against some AL East teams, but he still would be a help in the rotation.

[jsinger121]

Wait until teams have seen Arroyo a few times through...everybody Arroyo started off good last year as well and came right back to earth. The NL will catch up to him eventually because he does not have dominant stuff.

[The Monster is my Mom]

Maybe he doesn't consistently have dominant stuff, but I saw highlights of his start last week against the Nats and his breaking stuff was unbelievable.

[ksushi]

He is a good pitcher, and the trade is a gamble. But answer this: If the sox are gearing up for 07 08 and 09, is Bronson Arroyo in those plans? And if not, could Wily Mo potentially be a good fit for 07 08 and 09?

 

Look at what Wily Mo could potentially bring to the table in those years, then look at the trade again. Is it a gamble? Yeah, but such is baseball. You've got the slowest runner on your team on first base in the bottom of the ninth inning. You know he isn't going to score on anything but a homerun and you've got 2 outs, but you know that if this game does go into extra, this slow guy has a better chance than anybody to hit one out if it comes down to it. Do you pull him now because its the best move to score NOW? Or leave him?

 

Gambles, always gambles. Such is baseball. Eh, at least now all the fathers of daughters who go to Northeastern can breathe a sigh of relief.

[jsinger121]

Maybe he doesn't consistently have dominant stuff, but I saw highlights of his start last week against the Nats and his breaking stuff was unbelievable.

 

It was a good start but it was against the nationals who are not very good. they are one of the worst teams in all of baseball.

[Dana Kiecker]

Nick "the Stick" Johnson seems to be doing ok..

[RedSoxRooter]

Wily Mo has definitely grown on me. I actually look forward to his at bats nowadays considering the bottom of the order is a wasteland of nothingness. He's got crazy power and holes in his swing as advertised, but he can jack with some regularity. I personally would love to see him up a couple of spots in the batting order just to see how he does. Having Gonz0 batting behind him can't help.

 

Plus, I like screamin' "Willamoooooooooooo!!" when he does something good (or even not bad).

[schillingouttheks]

I've already started to notice how much more comfortable he seems at the plate now. Remember all of the 3 pitch K's we witnessed earlier? Well, he's been walking now, and even though he still does strikeout a bit, he sees more pitches. He's hitting stuff over the outside of the plate too. I look forward to seeing Wily Mo everytime now. He's no longer a guaranteed K, and he's come through in some clutch situations for us. Last night, with the bases loaded, that's a ball off the wall on a normal night.

[The Monster is my Mom]

It was a good start but it was against the nationals who are not very good. they are one of the worst teams in all of baseball.

 

True, but good pitches (which are what he had with those breaking balls) look the same against the '03 Tigers and the '27 Yankees.

[ORS]

Regardless of what he's doing in the NL against hitters unfamiliar with him, we know what he would have given us here - league average innings. Those have some value, but not enough IMO. Would you rather have 5-7 league average innings every 5th day or Wily Mo over Willie Harris EVERY day?

[The Monster is my Mom]

My point is that his pitches themselves look great (definitely better than league average). The quality of his pitches should have nothing to do with who he is facing. Whether he can keep it up over the course of the whole season remains to be seen.

[ORS]

My point is that his pitches themselves look great (definitely better than league average). The quality of his pitches should have nothing to do with who he is facing. Whether he can keep it up over the course of the whole season remains to be seen.

He's always thrown very good breaking balls. They are his best pitches. His problem was, and likely still is, an inability to locate his FB well. AL hitters waited on his FB and let him fall behind, knowing that a curve or slider was coming down the pike. I haven't watched him yet, but ST reports (and results) suggest he hadn't chagned much in that regard. Maybe the Cincy staff noticed something the Sox staff missed and helped him out, but if he was here, that change doesn't get made and we have the same old Bronson.

[guapo34]

Put me in the category of people who think he might be having an ok year if he were still here, but nothing close to the level he's pitched at so far in the National League. He may have had a good breaking ball so far this year, but last year he was inconsistent with it. Maybe 1/3 of his starts it was really breaking, and without that pitch he is beyond mediocore. Its gotta help facing a pitcher and not a DH.

[jsinger121]

In seven games since becoming the team's starting center fielder, he's batting .357 (10 for 28) with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 7 RBIs, and 8 strikeouts

[HeadOfSoxNation]

He's also facing the majority of these guys for the very first time, not to mention getting a boku of runs a game. I hope he does well, I always liked Bronson, but don't think for a second he's going to stay as dominant as he's been. When hitters get more looks at him, they'll be able to adjust.

[seabeachfred]

Hey guys, let's give some credit where credit is due. I am still somewhat leery of Pena, but the guy has done the job for us so far. He is hitting inthe clutch and showing power, and he can play a decent CF. Fact is, CF is the easiest OF position to play. I ought to know; that was my position. I was fine in RF, too, when I played there but I absolutely hated left field and did not play well there at all. Pena has problems in right field right now. I know the feeling from my LF experiences.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Hey guys, let's give some credit where credit is due. I am still somewhat leery of Pena, but the guy has done the job for us so far. He is hitting inthe clutch and showing power, and he can play a decent CF. Fact is, CF is the easiest OF position to play. I ought to know; that was my position. I was fine in RF, too, when I played there but I absolutely hated left field and did not play well there at all. Pena has problems in right field right now. I know the feeling from my LF experiences.

 

CF is the easiest to play???

 

Hmm...I dunno seems kinda strange that the best defenders in the MLB are playing CF.

[TheRivernator]

CF is both easy and hard to play. Slices and hooks are easier to read off the bat from CF, but depth is a problem whereas a corner OFer can read depth fine, but at the angle that the bat comes off the ball, it is a little harder to read the slices. CF requires a whole lot more range though....

[seabeachfred]

Schill, look at baseball history; some of your greatest players were RF's--Ruth, Aaron, F. Robinson, Kaline, F. Alou, Sosa; the list goes on and on. Today, there are a whole slew of solid rightfielders. You need a guy who judge strange trajections of hit balls and have a solid arm to play out there. In CF, you can carry a Defensive player who can hit adequately. You also see balls come off the bat evenly. Believe me, it is a very easy position to play as long as you can get a good jump on the ball. They had to move me from LF where I was mediocre at best to CF where for three years when I was a teenager I was an All Star out there on my amateur teams.