5/12 vs Indians

[italstallianion]

This is one of the few times a season I miss Suns.

[jung]

wouldn't that then atleast flaw the system a little bit? I really don't get into all the "extra" stats like that, so I'm not even 100% sure if I follow my own reasoning

 

 

Not really because our guys are also playing in their parks and the total number of games and total at bats and total percentages and total doubles are all known. So one of the reasons that Fenway has a higher park factoring for doubles is because our guys hitting records are also part of the total records for the other AL parks and help contribute to those parks having a lower factoring for doubles than Fenway. So our guys doubles records when they are away from Fenway are also part of the total doubles records that go into the factoring for those other parks. Then factoring is also applied for the two leagues allowing the rankings to cover all parks all the time. Again the factoring is about the park.

 

Although this would never happen, the numbers would be invalid if our guys did not travel and hit in other parks and contribute to the total numbers for other parks as well as contributing to the total numbers for Fenway. It is the total number of doubles for all players in all parks that becomes the most relevant element to park factoring.

 

So for example, lets assume that if they were playing in Cleveland and Cleveland's Progressive Field had a lower park factoring for doubles than Fenway. The Red Sox might still hit more doubles than the Guardians but the total number of doubles hit by all players on both teams for the same number of games played by both teams only played in Cleveland instead of Boston SHOULD be lower because Progressive Stadium in Cleveland has a lower park factoring for doubles than Fenway Park.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that our bullpen has been lights out since their earlier rough stretch vs Texas and new York. I'm also glad the numbers back up my observations.

 

Well that's cause we're more on the optimistic side and we don't flip out over every little thing. It's safe to say the BP has been putting the team on it's back as of late because our starters definitely aren't doing it.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

This is one of the few times a season I miss Suns.

 

Oh god that kid.

[Station 13]

RedSox.com: "Doubront, streaking Pedroia lead Red Sox to win"

 

Maybe Pedroia should go streaking more often at midnight.

[BornToRun]

Well that's cause we're more on the optimistic side and we don't flip out over every little thing. It's safe to say the BP has been putting the team on it's back as of late because our starters definitely aren't doing it.

 

And I think our starters our bound to get better seeing as how talented they all are. Beckett looks like 2011 Beckett in the majority of his starts and buchholz finally had a decent outing and Lester always starts slow and is our #1. Those guys have been fine and with bard and doubront l anchoring the back end, we're in good shape going forward despite what every reactionary jackass might say.

 

Buddy, you and I are in a good position to be laughing our asses off come September.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

And I think our starters our bound to get better seeing as how talented they all are. Beckett looks like 2011 Beckett in the majority of his starts and buchholz finally had a decent outing and Lester always starts slow and is our #1. Those guys have been fine and with bard and doubront l anchoring the back end, we're in good shape going forward despite what every reactionary jackass might say.

 

Buddy, you and I are in a good position to be laughing our asses off come September.

 

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1k7q2lsJ11r9dp3k.gif

[BornToRun]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1k7q2lsJ11r9dp3k.gif

 

:lol:

[VA Sox Fan]

This is one of the few times a season I miss Suns.

 

He'd just be his trollin' Cleveland loser self..... Good to see ya Ital!

[iortiz]

1 ER? WoW what happened? Nice to hear good news!

 

Anyway... Keep this way Douby!

[FredLynn]

I think an "I told you so" is in order.

 

Lets wait until we are in playoff contention. Then I will gladly wear egg and eat crow. Right now we have won two games in a row. We need to win a lot more before anyone has a right to say "I told you so".

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Lets wait until we are in playoff contention. Then I will gladly wear egg and eat crow. Right now we have won two games in a row. We need to win a lot more before anyone has a right to say "I told you so".

 

He's not talking about the win streak. He's talking about the bullpen and how they're not getting enough credit.

[BornToRun]

He's not talking about the win streak. He's talking about the bullpen and how they're not getting enough credit.

 

This.

[jung]

The bullpen was always going to be the easiest of the various problems to solve. The bullpen is neither the most difficult of problems nor the most critical of elements to a teams success or failure.

 

First and foremost is still and always has been starting pitching with the guys at the top of your rotation more critical to success or failure than the guys at the bottom of the rotation. 1,2 and 3 in the rotation performing poorly is far more of an issue than the bullpen performing poorly ever was or was ever going to be. There are no immediate cures for the problems with 1,2 and 3 in the rotation. Either they pitch better or they don't. In their case they need to pitch much better, not just a little better.

 

The everyday players are in the main playing better baseball with big contributions in that regard coming from Nava and even to some extent Middlebrooks because you still have to look at Middlebrooks relative to the guy who would be playing there if not Middlebrooks. Youk was not taking good swings and not having good, smart at bats at the plate and was running into problems in the field. While Middlebrooks has made some mistakes he has also made some plays that Youk would simply not have made and has clearly gotten some hits that Youk would likely not have gotten and has even made a few plays with his feet.

 

Nava coming up has also allowed the Sox to move Sweeney to CF and Ross to right a move that has stabilized CF. Sweeney is more of an improvement in Center over Byrd than Ross is a detriment in RF compared to Sweeney. The stability that Sweeney has provided in Center also tells us something about the importance of positions up the middle. Getting Byrd off the field has made a big difference...sorry to say for Byrd. Nava coming up made all the other changes in the OF possible though and the way Nava has played has been so important and such a refreshing change.

[RedSoxNC84]

Sure the bullpen has been doing well, but look at the teams they have been playing against.

[BornToRun]

Sure the bullpen has been doing well' date=' but look at the teams they have been playing against.[/quote']

 

Don't piss on the cornflakes, dude. Would you rather they got lit up?

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Sure the bullpen has been doing well' date=' but look at the teams they have been playing against.[/quote']

 

That's true.

 

But why is it that they get ripped if they under perform against bad teams? If they can get criticism for doing bad then they can get rewarded for doing good regardless of who they pitch too. That's just my 2 cents. Forget who they're playing. Let's just enjoy the fact that they're rolling right now after seeing brutal April games of them getting lit up.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

I'm going out now so I might wake up a little late tomorrow. I'm setting my alarm to 1 pm just in case I oversleep.

[jung]

I happen to think that for the most part the performances they have gotten from the pen have been the real deal. In the first place, I think Miller has been a huge stabilizing factor. The number of innings he has pitched has not been a big deal as yet. However every time he has come in he has shut down the other team. All of his appearances have been the transitional appearances or maybe call them bridge appearances, in the main taking the ball from the starter, pitching for an inning and handing the ball to the guys that now look like the guys V wants to use to close out the game.

 

These are tremendously important periods in games especially when you consider how poorly the starters have performed. If you don't have a guy that has done what Miller has done in his recent outings, the game suddenly looks a long way from being done.

 

I think the next step for Miller and the one I was hoping he would take tonight would be pitching for two innings. Even without that so far, Miller to me has been the stabilizing influence that has been key to the recent success of the pen simply because he has taken the ball for that bridge period and gotten the job done.

 

I would like to see if he can go for more than one inning and if V will use him for more than one inning for a couple of reasons. First it seems to me that all to often V gets into this syndrome of handing guys the ball for one inning max and getting everybody up every game. I think that is a great way to exhaust the pen quickly. Guys that have to get up every single game never get a chance to recover and I think V would be better off having a guy come in pitch two innings, maybe 2+ if needed and then put him on the shelf for a game or more instead of having everybody come into every game.

 

Second I think the "get everybody up every game" thing eventually gets V into a bind where one of them shits the bed at some point and then V is stuck. He has already used guys in a particular game that actually did well and now he is stuck with a guy struggling. But V can't go back and get one of the guys that was doing well.

 

However I do think the work of the pen has been very encouraging mainly because they now have options for those bridge/transitional innings.

 

I am still concerned about Aceves in the closer's role mainly because he is getting the ball every single game and he does not have stuff that allows him to put hitters away. So before you know it he is up to 15-20 pitches plus in the 9th inning having pitched in two 9th innings on consecutive days before that. I don't think he can do that or I should say continue to do that because it ends up being to many pitches on consecutive days. I think somewhere in here V is going to have to risk having his 8th inning guy finish or bring somebody else in to close.

 

My concern here is the same with V that I have when he is removing starters. V leaves guys in till there are runs scoring and bases are loaded and the next guy is left with no room for error. Many times there is no way to understand what V is doing cause it is clear that the pitcher that is pitching at that moment is going to have to come out. It is often clear that the guy is going to have to come out in that inning. It is only a matter of when. So if you know that why leave the guy there until runs are already being given up and the bases are chock full of base runners?

[a700hitter]

Dice-K gave up 5 runs in 5.1 innings today. He needs another rehab start. That s*** is not going to cut it in the majors.

I don't think that he will solve any of the team's problems. He wasn't very good before his injury.

[a700hitter]

Our bullpen is still a big weakness on this team. Let's not kid ourselves. When teams have a really bad staff, it is very common for the middle relief guys to shine. When your middle relief corp is shining, don't mistake that for a strong bullpen. It's deceptive. By the time the relievers enter the game, many times the game is already blown wide open.

[Bellhorn04]

Our bullpen is still a big weakness on this team. Let's not kid ourselves. When teams have a really bad staff' date=' it is very common for the middle relief guys to shine. When your middle relief corp is shining, don't mistake that for a strong bullpen. It's deceptive. By the time the relievers enter the game, many times the game is already blown wide open.[/quote']

 

Some skepticism that the bullpen can continue to post numbers like this is understandable. However there is definitely some room for optimism now. Last night's game was a very good performance by the bullpen. A 4-1 lead to protect and they got 9 straight outs.

 

Can Miller and Padilla do that on a consistent basis, especially against the top hitting teams? Who knows. The performance of guys like that can be a very volatile thing.

[jung]

At least if the bull pen continues to perform reasonably there might be less focus in it as it is still not the greatest concern for this team. The performance of starters 1,2 and 3 is still the greatest concern

[VA Sox Fan]

At least if the bull pen continues to perform reasonably there might be less focus in it as it is still not the greatest concern for this team. The performance of starters 1' date='2 and 3 is still the greatest concern[/b']

 

Yeah, I worry more about the starters than the bullpen at this point. It's like a roller coaster ride.

[a700hitter]

Some skepticism that the bullpen can continue to post numbers like this is understandable. However there is definitely some room for optimism now. Last night's game was a very good performance by the bullpen. A 4-1 lead to protect and they got 9 straight outs.

 

Can Miller and Padilla do that on a consistent basis, especially against the top hitting teams? Who knows. The performance of guys like that can be a very volatile thing.

Middle relievers often don't post good numbers, because they don't get enough work to be effective. Our guys are getting plenty of work, and they have been effective lately. It's a mirage. If these middle inning guys were good (i.e., Achinson and Miller et. al) they would be starting here or somewhere else. They are middle innings guys because they are not very good. These are not young guys cutting their teeth at the MLB level. They are known quantities who have flopped for several organizations.