5/15 Stay on Target

[a700hitter]

SFF, I posed the question yesterday about WMB. How much rope does he get. Two HRS is not going to justify the fact that he can't put the ball in play very much and a low OBP. He needs to start depositing some balls into the stands. He needs to at least be a power threat.

[SoxFanForsyth]

1. No point asking. Baseball players do a lot of stupid things.

 

2. Nice optimism, but what if WMB and JBJ are dancing with Mendoza all year and/or we have one or more key guys like Victorino go on the shelf? Our depth this year just don't seem very deep.

 

I don't think JBJ or WMB will be dancing around .200 all year, not by any stretch. I think WMB will probably end up around the .240-.260 line. He's excessively streaky, and when he gets hot, he'll hit you 10 homers in a month and boost his average from .200 to .250. He's in a bad cold spell right now but that hit last night may have boosted his confidence a bit.

 

As for JBJ - he's still very much making adjustments, and you have to take the lumps with the good games. Don't think for a second he won't come out of this probably with a line of around .255/.350/.400, which is plenty, given his defense, to get the job done.

 

As for the depth, the outfield is very short on depth, I agree. But, you still have Nava in AAA & certainly you still have the pieces to go fill any need that arises, which really is what separates the Sox from the rest of the East.

[SoxFanForsyth]

SFF, I posed the question yesterday about WMB. How much rope does he get. Two HRS is not going to justify the fact that he can't put the ball in play very much and a low OBP. He needs to start depositing some balls into the stands. He needs to at least be a power threat.

 

I think the Sox live or die with Middlebrooks at 3B, to be honest. This is the year they really find out what they've got in him. The past 2 seasons, he's gotten hurt/split time in PAW/BOS, and hasn't had a full MLB season. They've bought themselves this time to see what they have in him (and JBJ/XB, to a lesser extent, because oddly I think they are more confident in them than in WMB) because they won the WS last year.

 

It's absolutely his make or break year, with Cecchini on his heels & Mookie Betts right behind him, I guess you could feasibly see a switch if WMB is still really struggling to hit in late August, but I don't think they move him off 3B at all this year.

[Station 13]

JBJ seems to get completely own by major league fastball. Veterans LHH loves a fastball down and in, Bradley's blind spot. He swings and miss a lot for someone who doesn't hit HR. Pitchers are coming in and attacking him, I haven't seen him work a good AB lately.

[jacksonianmarch]

Through 217 MLB AB's, JBJ has a .198/.296/.318 triple slash line.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Through 217 MLB AB's, JBJ has a .198/.296/.318 triple slash line.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/principles/sample-size/

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17659

 

 

Stabilization Points for Offense Statistics:

 

60 PA: Strikeout rate

120 PA: Walk rate

240 PA: HBP rate

290 PA: Single rate

1610 PA: XBH rate

170 PA: HR rate

910 AB: AVG

460 PA: OBP

320 AB: SLG

160 AB: ISO

80 BIP: GB rate

80 BIP: FB rate

600 BIP: LD rate

50 FBs: HR per FB

820 BIP: BABIP

[Navafan29]

Sox may be 20-20 but they need to improve their vision and stop taking the fastball!

[yankees228]

No GT tonight? Y'all are slacking.

[Wasatch]

Go REDSOX!

[Wasatch]

Rain is coming down!

[Wasatch]

Uh Oh, Mujica time.

[Wasatch]

Bottom of the 7th, we need some runs.

[Wasatch]

That sucked, we can't even score a run or 2.