David Ortiz performance thread.

[a700hitter]

I agree. I think Martinez has the potential to be a bigger catalyst than Ortiz on this team.

The problem is tha Cleveland figured out that his offense suffers if he catches too much. Rotating at first base with Youk moving to third base is out of the question, because of Beltre-- another reason why his acquisition was ill-advised.

[Dipre]

He's going to hit 30 bombs and knock in more than 90 runs. That is something they need desperately. They need to get Victor "the turtle" Martinez on track or drop him to the 6th slot in the order until he gets hot.

 

Look at the games that this team has given away with poor fundamentals, stupidity, and bad third base coaching. Change the out come of those games and the Sox are in the tick of contending. Good teams don't lose by giving away games. The coaching staff has to take the hit for those games.

 

The defense is coming around, the offense has been sound to some extent (without Cameron or Ellsbury) the starting pitching is starting to come around.

 

My only real concern is the bullpen, as i aired in the GT.

 

All in all, it's kind of dissapointing to see E1 give up on the team so soon.

 

What happened man?

[Dipre]

The problem is tha Cleveland figured out that his offense suffers if he catches too much. Rotating at first base with Youk moving to third base is out of the question' date=' because of Beltre-- another reason why his acquisition was ill-advised.[/quote']

 

Read my sig.

[TheMino007]

Ortiz is on fire right now. He's hitting around .370 for the month of May with 7 bombs. It would said in the off season that Ortiz was the key and the wild card to the offense, now that he is heating up we don't have a black hole in the middle of the lineup. Also, Mike Lowell will probably go soon now b/c the Sox no longer have any use for him and by talking every day about his playing time sure makes the clubhouse a tense place to be sometimes. I'd still like to see Ortiz be productive for another month or so, my fear is that he'll just heat up and then suck in the last months of the season like he did last year.

[Dipre]

I'd still like to see Ortiz be productive for another month or so' date=' my fear is that he'll just heat up and then suck in the last months of the season like he did last year.[/quote']

 

David Ortiz 2009 month-by-month performance:

 

April: .623 OPS

 

May: .520 OPS

 

June: 1.062 OPS

 

July: .845 OPS

 

August: .825 OPS

 

September/October: .911 OPS.

 

On which month from June on did Ortiz suck?

[TheMino007]

At the end of the year he was back to performing like he did in May, not that bad, but he was back to looking like a fool again. Same deal in the playoffs. Those numbers don't tell how bad he was down the stretch last year, but then again if you watched the games you would see it.....

[Dipre]

At the end of the year he was back to performing like he did in May' date=' not that bad, but he was back to looking like a fool again. Same deal in the playoffs. Those numbers don't tell how bad he was down the stretch last year, but then again if you watched the games you would see it.....[/quote']

 

I call ********. I say you're the one who didn't "Watch the gamezzz" if you did, you'd know two things:

 

1) Ortiz never looked like the May Ortiz except for a bad stretch during the middle of August.

 

2) He was really good during September.

 

I suggest you "watch the games" with your glasses on.

[Paradisecity]

I call ********. I say you're the one who didn't "Watch the gamezzz" if you did, you'd know two things:

 

1) Ortiz never looked like the May Ortiz except for a bad stretch during the middle of August.

 

2) He was really good during September.

 

I suggest you "watch the games" with your glasses on.

 

 

I vaguely remember discussing an attempt to get his numbers against "good" vs "bad" pitching sometime in the last few months. Did anything ever come of that? I'd truly be interested in seeing it.

[rhet]

David Ortiz 2009 month-by-month performance:

 

April: .623 OPS

 

May: .520 OPS

 

June: 1.062 OPS

 

July: .845 OPS

 

August: .825 OPS

 

September/October: .911 OPS.

 

On which month from June on did Ortiz suck?

 

Ortiz needs at least a .950 OPS to be the Ortiz of old.

[Dipre]

I vaguely remember discussing an attempt to get his numbers against "good" vs "bad" pitching sometime in the last few months. Did anything ever come of that? I'd truly be interested in seeing it.

 

I remember posting about it, but here it is again:

 

Baseball reference differences them as "power" and "finesse" pitchers, here are Ortiz' 2009 numbers against "power", "average" and "finesse" pitching:

 

Power pitchers: .242 /.329 /.530 .859 OPS.

 

Average: 238/.335/.459 .793 OPS

 

Finesse: .237/.331/.425 .756 OPS

 

Since the differentiation is made basically on pitcher's stuff, the numbers would seem to indicate that Ortiz had significant problems adjusting to soft-tossers and garbage-throwers, which makes sense, because he seemed late on fastballs and early on breaking balls throughout the first half of the year, and it's easier to cheat fastball on a pitcher who throws hard and uses his FB as an out pitch a higher percentage of the time.

[Dipre]

Ortiz needs at least a .950 OPS to be the Ortiz of old.

 

I agree.

 

But it doesn't mean he "sucked". When he "sucked" was April and May, from there on he was productive, albeit not a typical Ortiz levels.

[rhet]

I agree.

 

But it doesn't mean he "sucked". When he "sucked" was April and May, from there on he was productive, albeit not a typical Ortiz levels.

 

Yes, in the .800s, his value is acceptable. He sucked in the .500s and .600s.

 

Unfortunately, he's not a good enough hitter any more to consistently pull balls through and over the shift.

[Dipre]

Yes, in the .800s, his value is acceptable. He sucked in the .500s and .600s.

 

Unfortunately, he's not a good enough hitter any more to consistently pull balls through and over the shift.

 

Interesting you mention this, because the type of pitcher Ortiz really struggled last year against were fly-ball pitchers, which, in my opinion , is a testament to his decrease in power.

 

Vs Fly ball pitchers: .728 OPS.

 

Vs average Fly ball/ Groundball pitchers: .815 OPS.

 

Vs Groundball pitchers: .845 OPS.

[a700hitter]

I did the "I told you so" routine last season, and again I can do it this year. Enough of that. I think that Ortiz will finish the year with over 30 HRs and 100+ RBI. His batting average and OBP and OPS are climbing. He will be anchoring the middle of the lineup the rest of the way. The word will get around the rest of the league soon, and they will start to pitch around him.

 

Here's the question for the board. If he has a very good year, does he come back to the Sox next season, and if so, how do they address the logjam situation? Lowell will be gone, but there's a good shot we will still have Beltre. He'll probably exercise his option. I don't see a big market for him. If Ortiz comes back, VMart will be allowed to walk. That's my opinion... And I am almost always right. Just kidding.

[italstallianion]

If there is a chance in hell that Ortiz returns to Boston next year, which I doubt, there'll be no chance that he'll return at his option price.

[Palodios]

Oh, definitely. Slow, declining sluggers who can't play a defensive position at average levels don't get big contracts. Vladimir Guerrero, Matsui, and Jermaine Dye come to mind. I could see Ortiz getting 5-7 million next year.

[rhet]

I did the "I told you so" routine last season, and again I can do it this year. Enough of that. I think that Ortiz will finish the year with over 30 HRs and 100+ RBI. His batting average and OBP and OPS are climbing. He will be anchoring the middle of the lineup the rest of the way. The word will get around the rest of the league soon, and they will start to pitch around him.

 

Here's the question for the board. If he has a very good year, does he come back to the Sox next season, and if so, how do they address the logjam situation? Lowell will be gone, but there's a good shot we will still have Beltre. He'll probably exercise his option. I don't see a big market for him. If Ortiz comes back, VMart will be allowed to walk. That's my opinion... And I am almost always right. Just kidding.

 

If he puts up 30/100 .850 OPS, they'll probably offer him a one year deal.

[redsoxrules]

If he puts up 30/100 .850 OPS' date=' they'll probably offer him a one year deal.[/quote']

 

yup , for about 7-8 M

[SoxSport]

Papi suddenly looks good again. Just keep your fingers crossed. If the guy gets back to .900+ OPS, you can bet they'll keep him another year.

[vickylee]

it's so amazing and I hope to see what will happen!

[TedWilliams101]

So far in may: .358, .397, .774, 1.170 OPS, 7 HRs.

[a700hitter]

No one has addressed my question about how the Sox will deal with the logjam that would continue if Ortiz returns on 2011. Lowell will be gone, but there will still be a logjam with Youkilis, Beltre (if he can't get more $ elsewhere), VMart and Ortiz.

[example1]

No one has addressed my question about how the Sox will deal with the logjam that would continue if Ortiz returns on 2011. Lowell will be gone' date=' but there will still be a logjam with Youkilis, Beltre (if he can't get more $ elsewhere), VMart and Ortiz.[/quote']

 

I think that will be the question of the offseason.

 

Personally, I imagine they will either let him go or they will resign him for a really reasonable price ($5-8m) and have him for a season. The only way he sticks around is if it is on the Sox terms, which has historically worked out pretty well for the club.

[a700hitter]

I think that will be the question of the offseason.

 

Personally, I imagine they will either let him go or they will resign him for a really reasonable price ($5-8m) and have him for a season. The only way he sticks around is if it is on the Sox terms, which has historically worked out pretty well for the club.

If he stays, that is Part I of the decision. Part II of the decision involves VMart. He can't catch more than 100 games. His defense at catcher is a terrible liability and his offense suffers if he catches too much. There is no room for him at first base or DH.

[Wasatch]

Not a fan of Ortiz anymore, I do not care what he does with a bat.

[a700hitter]

Not a fan of Ortiz anymore' date=' I do not care what he does with a bat.[/quote']Too bad for you, because he's still the man.

[TheMino007]

I believe based on production, the Red Sox have the third best DH in baseball, so Ortiz is out performing nearly every other DH. Most of us wrote the guy off, but look at him, what a turnaround. I'm not sold yet, he needs to keep it steady for the remainder of the season. As I've said before he is the key and the wild card to this offense. Look, he'll never be the 03-07 Ortiz of old, but there is no reason why he can't put up 30/100 this year. As for him coming back, I think he's gone no matter what kind of numbers he puts up. I think he's pissed off with the media and the team and he'll always hold a grudge against them for the rest of his career.

[SoxSport]

Papi looks like he switched his brand of cereal. He looks like the old hitter. Do you believe in miracles?

I don't know. Maybe he borrowed some Kryptonite from Superman.

[soxlife92]

Another homer last night, 9th of the season. I would be very pleased if he was his old self again.

[TheMino007]

Another homer last night' date=' 9th of the season. I would be very pleased if he was his old self again.[/quote']

 

I'm very pleased with what he is doing right now. Right now he is that big bat with the home run potential that the Sox need to give them some danger. Youk too.