Spring training

[Kimmi]

Castillo is going to be platoon.

 

Farrell has officially lost his freaking mind.

 

I stated before that having a sense of urgency is not necessarily a good thing.

 

He is in full blown panic mode, and he is making some very poor decisions. SMH

[Kimmi]

And where does that leave Chris Young?

 

Farrell stated today that he sees Betts and JBJ as everyday players.

 

Holt is going to get the majority of playing time in LF against righties, and Young is going to get every at bat against lefties, presumably mostly in LF. That leaves Castillo very little playing time.

 

That being the case, they should have kept Murphy and sent Castillo down to AAA.

 

Still SMH.

[Kimmi]

I'm sure we know as much as Farrell does.

 

I'm hoping for an 0-6 start, Farrell gets canned, Lovullo is promoted and the Sox play like they did at the end of last year. If Farrell sticks around knowing that he's on the hot seat, the Sox may crawl to AS break at .500.

 

As much as I disagree with the decisions on who our starting LF and 3B are likely to be, I sincerely hope Farrell is right. The last thing I want to see is this team get off to another slow start.

[mvp 78]

Farrell has officially lost his freaking mind.

 

I stated before that having a sense of urgency is not necessarily a good thing.

 

He is in full blown panic mode, and he is making some very poor decisions. SMH

 

It's one thing if he was just following a plan and letting the best players play. He seems to just be haphazardly deciding what they lineup would be. Maybe he has made his own thoughts known in the media, but is now singing a different tune with DUMBrowski and ownership itching for success in the near future?

 

I'm ok with a platoon of Holt and Young in theory. Does that mean Marrero has a future with this team as middle infield sub?

[mvp 78]

As much as I disagree with the decisions on who our starting LF and 3B are likely to be, I sincerely hope Farrell is right. The last thing I want to see is this team get off to another slow start.

 

Who would you prefer to be our opening day 3b and LF? Would you use a platoon at either position?

[mvp 78]

Oh my god... From today's Herald:

 

"Holt will still move around the diamond, especially if Xander Bogaerts or Dustin Pedroia need a day off at shortstop or second base. Because Holt is the only backup middle infielder on the roster, Travis Shaw could get some reps at second base to protect the Sox in emergency situations."

[mvp 78]

Holy s*** that's crazy...

[jung]

Completely nuts...WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE???

[Bellhorn04]

Farrell is a goner.

[Station 13]

The likelihood of Shaw getting a game in at 2B comes down to Dustin being struck by lightning.

[mvp 78]

The likelihood of Shaw getting a game in at 2B comes down to Dustin being struck by lightning.

 

Pedroia is injured every year. This is a good possibility.

[a700hitter]

Farrell has officially lost his freaking mind.

 

I stated before that having a sense of urgency is not necessarily a good thing.

 

He is in full blown panic mode, and he is making some very poor decisions. SMH

He's not in panic mode. If you lit a fire under his ass, he would barely react. He is in idiot mode, which is where he has always been. I followed his Toronto teams closely, and the last 2 years in Boston were more of the same. There is no rhyme or reason to his moves and his teams run the bases like imbeciles.

[Spudboy]

I just do not see Shaw being mobile and athletic enough to play second. Let alone that he has not played there before ( I think ).

 

To paraphrase an old Malt Liqueur commercial "That's roster flexibility for you".

 

Oh but 88-92 wins are in the bag!

[User Name]

Lovullo plz

[Dojji]

Moving Mookie Betts to second would be a 10,000% better idea than experimenting with Shaw there. Apparently Farrell has no idea that betts was playing second base as recently as 2014 and looked pretty good

[Station 13]

Mookie is an OF. They're not changing his role for a temp job.

[Dojji]

Yeah but at least he's played the freaking position.

[Station 13]

So does Brock Holt. Which he will play if Pedroia comes down by lightning.

[Dojji]

if he's not busy doing Rusney Castillo's job.

[Station 13]

if he's not busy doing Rusney Castillo's job.

 

You replace your starting 2B with somebody who actually played there. Betts no longer play 2B. Castillo will start if Holt play 2B.

[Elktonnick]

You replace your starting 2B with somebody who actually played there. Betts no longer play 2B. Castillo will start if Holt play 2B.

 

It seems that there is a consensus that Farrell doesn't have a freaking clue.

[Spudboy]

It seems that there is a consensus that Farrell doesn't have a freaking clue.

 

Or maybe he does know some things that we do not know.

[User Name]

Or maybe he does know some things that we do not know.

 

Voice of reason.

[mvp 78]

Or maybe he does know some things that we do not know.

 

1. He has written off Rusney.

2. He is not concerned about 1b at all.

3. JBJ is considered an everyday player.

4. 3b is still a toss up.

[Elktonnick]

Or maybe he does know some things that we do not know.

 

Yea like what Dombrowski has told him his fate would be if the Sox continue to suck like they did last year.

[Spudboy]

I'm wondering what has happened to our $72 mil. wonder boy.

 

Why, seemingly all of a sudden, has he been pushed back on the depth chart?

 

Is it that he can not hit MLB curve balls? Is it that he does not work hard to get better? Is he a dummy with an attitude?

 

I thought that there was confidence that he would be the starting LF for the Sox this year.

 

Everyone knows that I have had little confidence in him. I won't say anything bad about the guy.

 

I just think that it is odd that he has been supplanted in left ( against RHP no less ) by Holt at the last minute.

 

I do think that Holt has to see the field on most days. Even if many see him as nothing better than a good utility player ( an opinion I do not share ) and not an everyday player.

 

Is something going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of? Is Castillo going to be moved? Is he damaged in any way? What gives?

[sk7326]

I'm sure we know as much as Farrell does.

 

I'm hoping for an 0-6 start, Farrell gets canned, Lovullo is promoted and the Sox play like they did at the end of last year. If Farrell sticks around knowing that he's on the hot seat, the Sox may crawl to AS break at .500.

 

- I don't know if Lovullo would want it - especially if there could be a league perception of knifing his best friend. (not sure if it would happen, but given what a solid candidate he is for any job, would make sense for him to be protective)

 

- One of the wacky vestiges of the 75 man pitching staffs are decisions like this. Seriously. Look at the roster:

 

C (2): Two of the three

IF (6): Bogaerts, Ramirez, Pedroia, Sandoval, Shaw, Holt

OF (4): Castillo, Bradley, Betts, Young

DH (1): Ortiz

12 pitchers

 

It seems goofy to ask Shaw and Holt to learn 2B, but your non-starters have to cover a lot of ground when you have so few roster slots. Now this is a strong argument for small pitching staffs, but that ship has sailed.

[Spudboy]

See. This is the s*** from Farrell that I hate. Rationalizing poor performance. He does it almost every day during the season.

 

From McAdam just now:

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The pitching line -- four runs on eight hits (three of them homers) in just four innings -- wasn't anything to brag about. But both Joe Kelly and John Farrell said it wasn't anyhting to be alarmed about, either.

"He had great stuff today,'' insisted Farrell after the Sox lost to the Twins, 6-2 in a game halted by rain in the seventh. "He had power to his fastball, he was down in the strike zone quite a bit. He made some pitches out over the plate (for the homers) and he wasn't as efficient as the last two-three times out for him. But we got him to 90-plus pitches on a day when you're getting close to Opening Day.''

"Couple of mistake pitches,'' shrugged Kelly. "But I felt pretty good about all my other off-speed pitches. Got a couple of swing-and-misses and threw some good righty-righty changeups. Slider was sharp, curve ball felt good. I was down in the zone. Other than (the two homers), the fastball location felt pretty good.

''This is probably the best my arm has felt all spring. I'm definitely excited for the beginning of the year.''

Farrell had indicated that the third spot would go to the pitcher who was throwing the ball best, and even after Kelly was hit around, his 2.73 is still world's better than Porcello's 9.77.

Either way, a decision won't come until the weekend.

"We've got Saturday's work (both pitchers will throw camp games in Fort Myers while the rest of the Red Sox travel to Monteal to face Toronto) and we'll use that day to aling things.''

[Spudboy]

But hey, everyone's an ace!!!!!

[sk7326]

See. This is the s*** from Farrell that I hate. Rationalizing poor performance. He does it almost every day during the season.

 

From McAdam just now:

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The pitching line -- four runs on eight hits (three of them homers) in just four innings -- wasn't anything to brag about. But both Joe Kelly and John Farrell said it wasn't anyhting to be alarmed about, either.

"He had great stuff today,'' insisted Farrell after the Sox lost to the Twins, 6-2 in a game halted by rain in the seventh. "He had power to his fastball, he was down in the strike zone quite a bit. He made some pitches out over the plate (for the homers) and he wasn't as efficient as the last two-three times out for him. But we got him to 90-plus pitches on a day when you're getting close to Opening Day.''

"Couple of mistake pitches,'' shrugged Kelly. "But I felt pretty good about all my other off-speed pitches. Got a couple of swing-and-misses and threw some good righty-righty changeups. Slider was sharp, curve ball felt good. I was down in the zone. Other than (the two homers), the fastball location felt pretty good.

''This is probably the best my arm has felt all spring. I'm definitely excited for the beginning of the year.''

Farrell had indicated that the third spot would go to the pitcher who was throwing the ball best, and even after Kelly was hit around, his 2.73 is still world's better than Porcello's 9.77.

Either way, a decision won't come until the weekend.

"We've got Saturday's work (both pitchers will throw camp games in Fort Myers while the rest of the Red Sox travel to Monteal to face Toronto) and we'll use that day to aling things.''

 

It's easier to read when they are winning - Francona did it all the time.

 

Evaluating this stuff is always tough because I just don't know what the intent of the start was.