2015 Red Sox In-Season Thread

[a700hitter]

Hanley has officially been shut down for the season.

 

Pablo has pneumonia and it is unlikely that he will return this season.

Hopefully the next news story involving these two is that one or both of them has been traded.

[Spudboy]

Hopefully the next news story involving these two is that one or both of them has been traded.

 

Amen to that.

[SoxHop]

Amen to that.

 

Hopefully jettison by cannon from Fenway dressed in clown suits............

[Behindenemylines]

Hopefully the next news story involving these two is that one or both of them has been traded.

 

To move both the Sox would have to eat a lot of $$$$$ or take some ones bad contracts. I can see one being moved, but it would be a miracle if both where.

[Kimmi]

To move both the Sox would have to eat a lot of $$$$$ or take some ones bad contracts. I can see one being moved, but it would be a miracle if both where.

 

Agreed. There's a decent chance that one is moved. It's highly unlikely that both are moved.

 

Though not official yet, Pablo has all but been shut down for the season because he is still battling pneumonia. Get well soon Pablo.

[a700hitter]

Lauber: Regime change sparked Red Sox' late-season rally

Friday, October 2, 2015

By: Scott Lauber

 

 

NEW YORK — It was the top of the eighth inning Aug. 18 at Fenway Park. Eduardo Rodriguez was on the mound, nearing the end of the longest outing of his rookie season, and the Red Sox were cruising toward a 9-1 thumping of the Cleveland Guardians.

 

And that’s when it happened.

 

“(Second baseman Dustin) Pedroia came out (of the clubhouse) and said something,” pitcher Clay Buchholz recalled yesterday. “That’s how we all found out.”

 

Pedroia brought word that the Red Sox hired longtime executive Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations and Ben Cherington stepped down after four seasons as general manager. There would be a team meeting immediately after the game, but news of a front-office shakeup on the day lymphoma-stricken manager John Farrell began his first round of chemotherapy left players and staff members stunned as they were completing a game.

 

The next night, the Sox capped their new boss’ first full day on the job by beating the Guardians again, 6-4. They won the next two games, too, against postseason-bound Kansas City. Entering last night’s rainy series finale at Yankee Stadium, they had the majors’ second-best record since Aug. 18, their 25-14 mark trailing only the AL East champion Blue Jays’ 26-12.

 

Coincidence?

 

“It’s a great story if I were to say yes. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the answer,” veteran reliever Craig Breslow said. “There may be other guys who feel differently. I just kind of feel like our objective was the same. It’s as big a story as (outsiders) care to make it, but I think guys had a lot to prove because the first four months of the season were so sour. What we had to prove was that we were better than the product we were putting out there.”

 

It’s undeniable, though, that the Red Sox haven’t simply played out the proverbial string, even if you haven’t noticed.

 

Individually, the Sox witnessed resurgent performances from underachieving starters Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly and faded prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. The brigade of young players, led by shortstop Xander Bogaerts, leadoff-hitting outfielder Mookie Betts, catcher Blake Swihart and underestimated first baseman Travis Shaw, matured faster than the most bullish backers of the farm system could’ve imagined.

 

And the Sox played themselves out of the AL East cellar.

 

It’s hardly consolation for a team that expected to return to the postseason, but the Sox even have a chance to finish with a .500 record, which seemed inconceivable when they were a season-worst 14 games under on Aug. 17, the final day of the pre-Dombrowski era.

 

Almost to a man, the Sox insist the past seven weeks are neither a mirage nor simply attributable to a so-called “Dombrowski Effect.”

 

“It’s given us a lot of hope for next year,” interim manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s given us a lot of confidence internally. It’s given each player confidence individually to say, ‘We’re ready to turn the page and contend for a championship next year.’ ”

 

Looking back, Lovullo wasn’t certain how the players would react to Dombrowski’s arrival, and there wasn’t much he could say to reassure them. After all, he was only five days into his role as Farrell’s stand-in when Dombrowski was hired, his future every bit as uncertain as any player.

 

After the Sox closed out the Guardians, they returned to the clubhouse where newly promoted team president Sam Kennedy and then assistant GM Mike Hazen were waiting to speak with them. Lovullo then said a few words.

 

“I tried to figure out what I could say. I wasn’t even sure if I was given a chance to say anything,” Lovullo said. “I just reacted in a way where I said, ‘We’re here to win baseball games, we’re here to be evaluated, and things aren’t going to change. We’re going to stick to our principles, stick to our beliefs and we’re not coming off that. Let’s band together because we have nobody else but each other.’ That’s the message that I delivered.”

 

It resonated.

 

“That was the first time I experienced anything like that,” Swihart said. “As a team, you’ve got to just kind of come together and be there for each other. That’s what I got out of what Torey said.”

 

It has helped, too, that the Red Sox have gone young. Cherington traded veteran right fielder Shane Victorino and first baseman Mike Napoli, creating playing time for Rusney Castillo and Shaw, respectively. Swihart, Bradley, Betts, Shaw, lefty Henry Owens and relievers Matt Barnes and Noe Ramirez came through the minor leagues in virtual lockstep and are reunited now in the big leagues. Not all will be in the plans for 2016, but they have certainly given Dombrowski something to think about.

 

“I think most of us recognized the scope of what had occurred,” Breslow said of the regime change. “I’m sure there are guys that may have had concerns or questions about loyalties or what this shakeup could potentially mean for them down the road. But in the near term, as indicative by how we’ve been playing, the focus was on doing a job out there.”

 

Dombrowski Effect or not, since Aug. 18 the Sox have done it better. Figuring out how to carry it into next year is the hard part.

If a mere change of regime ignited the team and sparked the late season drive to a third place finish, that speaks volumes as to the leadership vacuum that existed prior to the change. It may also suggest that Lovullo should be the manager next season.

[sk7326]

If a mere change of regime ignited the team and sparked the late season drive to a third place finish, that speaks volumes as to the leadership vacuum that existed prior to the change. It may also suggest that Lovullo should be the manager next season.

 

The implication would be that the team was half-assing it when the season was on the table, which seems awfully, awfully unlikely given the championship timber who was already on the team. They've played better - and it shows ... and if you look at the entire body of work, they've been roughly (perhaps a bit less) what we thought they were in April.

[a700hitter]

The implication would be that the team was half-assing it when the season was on the table, which seems awfully, awfully unlikely given the championship timber who was already on the team. They've played better - and it shows ... and if you look at the entire body of work, they've been roughly (perhaps a bit less) what we thought they were in April.

So, do you think they were "half-assing it"?

[sk7326]

So, do you think they were "half-assing it"?

 

No. Really it was mostly the offense getting on track. From a 30,000 foot level, the idea was the Red Sox would have the year the Jays had mostly. Lineup provides cover for middle of the road run prevention. The run prevention was worse than expected (in particular the ghastly defense on the left side) and the offense went in the tank for a solid 2 months (neither of the left side culprits hit enough). When the offense woke up, suddenly things have been entertaining.

 

Really - the improvement lately can all be traced to tangible things at each position:

 

1B: Travis Shaw clearly improved on what Napoli gave

OF: Hanley's replacements have not been that much better than 2015 Hanley offensively. But they can catch the ball, and that works wonders. Hanley's misadventures were particularly untenable once his offense went to seed. And of course, Bradley has been solid in a way which looks like it's for real (i.e. aligned with the guy he has been his entire professional baseball life).

C: Swihart once he got his legs under him has been a monster improvement over the pu pu platter (Which included overpromoted Swihart) before

 

And the rotation has been largely okay - the sort of thing which we could have hoped for entering the season (no real Arrieta sized hot streaks, aside from Kelly I guess).

 

There are enough tangible reasons for the turnaround.

[Palodios]

If a mere change of regime ignited the team and sparked the late season drive to a third place finish, that speaks volumes as to the leadership vacuum that existed prior to the change. It may also suggest that Lovullo should be the manager next season.

 

It seems likely that many of the team's new players had adjustment periods here.

 

Mookie had a .670 OPS through the first few months adjusting to major league pitching. Swihart struggled early as well.

Miley had a 8.00 ERA through April before he went back to his career averages.

Porcello moved away from his best pitch, and ended up getting shelled until recently. Who knows what he'll look like in 2016.

The Vazquez/Hannigan injuries probably didn't do the pitching staff any favors.

[cp176]

No. Really it was mostly the offense getting on track. From a 30,000 foot level, the idea was the Red Sox would have the year the Jays had mostly. Lineup provides cover for middle of the road run prevention. The run prevention was worse than expected (in particular the ghastly defense on the left side) and the offense went in the tank for a solid 2 months (neither of the left side culprits hit enough). When the offense woke up, suddenly things have been entertaining.

 

Really - the improvement lately can all be traced to tangible things at each position:

 

1B: Travis Shaw clearly improved on what Napoli gave

OF: Hanley's replacements have not been that much better than 2015 Hanley offensively. But they can catch the ball, and that works wonders. Hanley's misadventures were particularly untenable once his offense went to seed. And of course, Bradley has been solid in a way which looks like it's for real (i.e. aligned with the guy he has been his entire professional baseball life).

C: Swihart once he got his legs under him has been a monster improvement over the pu pu platter (Which included overpromoted Swihart) before

 

And the rotation has been largely okay - the sort of thing which we could have hoped for entering the season (no real Arrieta sized hot streaks, aside from Kelly I guess).

 

There are enough tangible reasons for the turnaround.

 

Noted as well is the fact that Ramirez, Buchholtz, and Sandoval (to some extent ) have not been around as well. I hope management considers this carefully going forward. It has been said before that too often our best prospects waste away time in the minors when we are counting on lightening to strike with an aging veteran or another free agent signing. We have a fairly healthy group of young players who appear hungry to win and to play hard daily. Here's hoping that the size of a player's contract does not inhibit actually putting the best team on the field daily.

[a700hitter]

It seems likely that many of the team's new players had adjustment periods here.

 

Mookie had a .670 OPS through the first few months adjusting to major league pitching. Swihart struggled early as well.

Miley had a 8.00 ERA through April before he went back to his career averages.

Porcello moved away from his best pitch, and ended up getting shelled until recently. Who knows what he'll look like in 2016.

The Vazquez/Hannigan injuries probably didn't do the pitching staff any favors.

porcello will be 4 ERA pitcher next season -- a full run better than 2015, but still not a top of th rotation starter.