7/11 New York Yankees @ Boston

[jacksonianmarch]

Maybe because your lineup has more lefties than a good day at Ned Flanders' Leftorium store

 

Maybe, but we have ARod, Tex, Headley, and Young starting vs lefties. We have a .723OPS vs lefties and .754 vs righties, so we definitely are worse vs them.

[Station 13]

Please dump Nap in the Fenway alley somewhere. Tell him not to return.

[d-money]

The fact that this team's still in the division race speaks volume of how s***** this division is.

[mvp 78]

Please. I could have caught that. I caught something close to that on Thursday in my game.

 

Was your RF as big as Fenway's?

[Thunder]

Was your RF as big as Fenway's?

 

I was in LF.

[mvp 78]

I was in LF.

 

Was it as big as Fenway's massive RF?

[Spudboy]

Was listening to the call in the car. Sounded like Betts triple should have been caught. Is that true?

 

No.

[Spudboy]

Was your RF as big as Fenway's?

 

And did the ball come off the bat at 100 mph?

[Spudboy]

The honest answer Jacko is that if Kareem Abdul Jabaar had been standing there he may have had it.

[SoxHop]

Let's get these bastards tomorrow too..................

[a700hitter]

Was listening to the call in the car. Sounded like Betts triple should have been caught. Is that true?

it would have taken a very good play. Your manager outsmarted himself by taking Nova out with only 86 pitches. Other than Ortiz and Hanley, he tore through our lineup and was still throwing well. I realize that Betts had taken him for a double in the prior plate appearance, but in 5 ABs against Warren, Betts had 2 doubles. Now he has 2 doubles and a triple. When he took out Nova, I was grateful and felt that we would blow it open and we were one Hanley swing from blowing the doors off. Stupid managers never cease to amaze me.

[a700hitter]

Note to Farrell for tomorrow's game and the rest of the season. XB is a good player and developing into a star, but he is not the #3 hitter on this team. Ortiz is in a groove and he and Hanley are the 3/4 or 4/3 hitters on this club. Ortiz batted lead off 3 times today. That can't happen. If XB didn't get the 2 out infield hit with the bases loaded in the 7th inning I was going to storm the dugout and strangle Farrell. Stop with the stupid lineup. You are losing runs for your team.

[a700hitter]

Finally, Napoli needs to go. But for Panda's cross body block at second base, Napoli makes 6 outs today. Bring up Craig. What is the point of having him in the organization.

[BigPapi]

Finally, Napoli needs to go. But for Panda's cross body block at second base, Napoli makes 6 outs today. Bring up Craig. What is the point of having him in the organization.

 

Might as well bring craig up. He's certainly not raking in triple a but it would be nearly impossible for him to do worse than what nap is doing right now (Whose batting .147 over the last month with only 1 hr). Even though Craig only batted .135 when he was up this year, it's still worth a shot brining him up to start at first.

Edited July 12, 2015 by BigPapi

[Jasonbay44]

Craig is just as s*****, if not worse than Napoli.

[mvp 78]

Craig is not lighting the world on fire in AAA.

[a700hitter]

We are stuck with Craig's big contract for the next couple of years. It would be in our best interests to re-establish his value. It would be hard to contribute less than Napoli at this point who is helpless at bat and a liability in the field. If Craig does alright, maybe we can get something for him in a trade in the offseason

[a700hitter]

Another alternative would be to continue watching the futility of Napoli and make predictions about how low his batting average can go.

[NativeBostonian]

We are stuck with Craig's big contract for the next couple of years. It would be in our best interests to re-establish his value. It would be hard to contribute less than Napoli at this point who is helpless at bat and a liability in the field. If Craig does alright, maybe we can get something for him in a trade in the offseason

 

We should just do addition by subtraction. Get rid of Napoli; I don't care for what. Hell, it could be a bag chips for all I care. Then put Brock Holt at first-base. We need Holt and Pedroia's bats in the lineup.

[Kimmi]

Note to Farrell for tomorrow's game and the rest of the season. XB is a good player and developing into a star, but he is not the #3 hitter on this team. Ortiz is in a groove and he and Hanley are the 3/4 or 4/3 hitters on this club. Ortiz batted lead off 3 times today. That can't happen. If XB didn't get the 2 out infield hit with the bases loaded in the 7th inning I was going to storm the dugout and strangle Farrell. Stop with the stupid lineup. You are losing runs for your team.

 

The fact of the matter is that batting order makes such little difference over the course of the season that it is better for a manager to put hitters into spots where they feel comfortable hitting, and to alternate righties and lefties to avoid allowing the opposing team's LOOGY to pitch to more than one lefty, than it is to try to put the "stereotypical" #3 hitter into the #3 slot. The idea that the #3 hitter should be your best hitter is a traditionalist view which has been proven false.

 

The optimal lineup in terms of importance of OBP should be 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, which would make our lineup look like this: Holt, De Aza (or Victorino), Betts, Hanigan, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Ramirez, Sandoval, Napoli. This goes so much against traditional thinking that a manager would never do this.

[a700hitter]

U

The fact of the matter is that batting order makes such little difference over the course of the season that it is better for a manager to put hitters into spots where they feel comfortable hitting, and to alternate righties and lefties to avoid allowing the opposing team's LOOGY to pitch to more than one lefty, than it is to try to put the "stereotypical" #3 hitter into the #3 slot. The idea that the #3 hitter should be your best hitter is a traditionalist view which has been proven false.

 

The optimal lineup in terms of importance of OBP should be 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, which would make our lineup look like this: Holt, De Aza (or Victorino), Betts, Hanigan, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Ramirez, Sandoval, Napoli. This goes so much against traditional thinking that a manager would never do this.

you sabremetricians use the term "proved" much too loosely which is why it is hard to give many of you any credibility. It is the study of patterns, not cause and effect. I am okay with looking at all sorts of stats to study and evaluate probability. They don't prove anything. Imo, the most productive lineup's stack their best hitters at the top of the lineup. Putting a lesser hitter in the middle of the the good hitters lowers production in my experience.

[Spudboy]

Pedroia will be batting 3rd when he returns.

[a700hitter]

Pedroia will be batting 3rd when he returns.

i hope so, but I wouldn't presume to predict what Farrell will do. Your brain is much larger than his brain.

[User Name]

Pedroia will be batting 3rd when he returns.

 

As he should.

[Kimmi]

Uyou sabremetricians use the term "proved" much too loosely which is why it is hard to give many of you any credibility. It is the study of patterns, not cause and effect. I am okay with looking at all sorts of stats to study and evaluate probability. They don't prove anything. Imo, the most productive lineup's stack their best hitters at the top of the lineup. Putting a lesser hitter in the middle of the the good hitters lowers production in my experience.

 

Call it what you want, but it doesn't change the point. The fact remains that the idea that your #3 hitter should be the best hitter on the team is a myth. Best hitters, in terms of avoiding outs, should be at the top of the lineup. Currently Ortiz and Ramirez are not the best hitters in terms of OBP.

 

Regardless, tweaks in the line up, such as changing the positions of Bogaerts and Ramirez, have very little effect over the course of the season. Your implication that Farrell is costing this team runs is false. OK, he might cost the team .2 runs for the whole season, if your belief that Hanley needs to bat 3rd were correct, which it's not.

[Kimmi]

The conventional ideas about batting orders are so ingrained in managers', players', and fans' heads that no manager will create an optimal line up anytime in the near future.

[a700hitter]

The conventional ideas about batting orders are so ingrained in managers', players', and fans' heads that no manager will create an optimal line up anytime in the near future.

they would do it if they were convinced that it would produce results whether it be conventional or not. The shifts were unconventional until they had demonstrable results and now they are conventional and over used.

[Thunder]

Pedroia will be batting 3rd when he returns.

 

That's actually a really good fit for him, and it forms a solid top 3... Assuming Holt still gets regular playing time.

[Spudboy]

That's actually a really good fit for him, and it forms a solid top 3... Assuming Holt still gets regular playing time.

 

Unless Holt goes into a protracted slide ( predicted by some here who say he will be "exposed" ), Holt will start at least 5 games each week as stated by Farrell.

 

I think Betts, Holt, Pedroia 1-2-3 is the Sox best top of the order option. On base skills and speed. Table setters.

[Kimmi]

they would do it if they were convinced that it would produce results whether it be conventional or not. The shifts were unconventional until they had demonstrable results and now they are conventional and over used.

 

Well, that's my point. Their conventional wisdom is so ingrained in them as being the truth, that it's going to take a long time for them to be convinced otherwise. That doesn't mean that they're right right. Could you imagine the outrage if a manager batted Barry Bonds lead off?