Spring training

[User Name]

What's he going to say about an ST start? "Man, this guy f***ing sucks, DFA his ass!!!!". If he does it during the season, have at him, but what's the point about complaining about peachy reports during ST?

[Kimmi]

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

 

My preference would be for Pablo and Castillo to be our opening day starters. They might fail, but give them at least until Memorial Day, like you always say. No, I would not do a straight platoon at either position

[Kimmi]

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.

 

I said during the offseason that I was on the fence about Farrell. I am going to withhold my final judgment until after this season, but I'm telling you, he has me scratching my head right now.

[a700hitter]

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

Here's a riddle: What do you call a starting pitcher that has one bad inning per outing giving up 4-5 runs? A bad pitcher. Stuff means nothing if you can't execute.

[Kimmi]

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

 

This is the problem with having Holt and Shaw become everyday starters at a set position. They are supposed to be our utility guys. They offer a great deal of flexibility in those roles, not only in playing different positions, but in giving Farrell viable pinch hitting or pinch running options.

 

If Castillo and Pablo are our bench players, their roles would be much more limited.

[Kimmi]

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

 

This is true. Farrell gets the benefit of the doubt. For now.

[Kimmi]

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?

 

I sure would like to hear Farrell's explanation on this. I hope he is not basing his decisions solely on spring training numbers.

 

He said that Castillo needs to hit. Well he's not going to hit when he's sitting on the bench.

[Kimmi]

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.

 

All managers do this.

 

But you hit the nail on the head with your second sentence.

[a700hitter]

It is never the intent of any outing in Spring Training to give up a bunch of Home Runs. Whatever Kelly was working on, he wasn't executing if opposing hitters took him deep 3 times.

 

At this juncture of Spring Training, the intent is for the starting pitchers to go 5 or 6 innings. Kelly had trouble getting through 4.

[Bellhorn04]

I know spring training games don't mean much, but this year seems to have been especially dreary for Sox fans. Not much to cheer about.

[Spudboy]

What's he going to say about an ST start? "Man, this guy f***ing sucks, DFA his ass!!!!". If he does it during the season, have at him, but what's the point about complaining about peachy reports during ST?

 

I was just pointing out an example of how I don't like in Farrell's' post game assessment of his pitchers. It just so happened to be a ST game because I spoke of it several days ago and his comment today we relevant to my point.

 

Go s*** in your hat.

 

AS for Sk and his comment, I compare Francona and Farrell many times. It is my recollection that while Francona was known as a player's coach while in Boston, he never blew smoke up anyone's ass when speaking to the media. He would have said something more like Kind of a tough outing where he left to many balls up and he paid for it. He needs to do a better job of keeping the ball down. We'll continue to work on this."

 

You can go s*** in your hat as well.

[a700hitter]

After one of Bard's bad Spring Training starts, when Bobby V was asked for a comment he said that "[bard] had that backing up third base thing down pretty good." LOL!!

[Spudboy]

Here's a riddle: What do you call a starting pitcher that has one bad inning per outing giving up 4-5 runs? A bad pitcher. Stuff means nothing if you can't execute.

 

Yup. And it does not matter what the plan was for today's pitcher. It was likely his last start before the season starts or at least close to it. He should be on his game by now and consistently do the things he needs to do to be successful.

 

But I guess it's not cool to point out poor performance or a manager saying sugar coated nonsense to the media.

 

Maybe I expect too much after living in a major league city for 50 years.

[Spudboy]

All managers do this.

 

But you hit the nail on the head with your second sentence.

 

The intent was to continue to stretch out, and get batters out.

 

If He was out there working on one or more things that are not where they should be at the end of camp then he and the Sox season are f***ed.

[Spudboy]

It is never the intent of any outing in Spring Training to give up a bunch of Home Runs. Whatever Kelly was working on, he wasn't executing if opposing hitters took him deep 3 times.

 

At this juncture of Spring Training, the intent is for the starting pitchers to go 5 or 6 innings. Kelly had trouble getting through 4.

 

You sound like a Bernie supporter talking with Hillary supporters. You know. Facts.

[a700hitter]

you sound like a bernie supporter talking with hillary supporters. You know. Facts.

lol!!

[User Name]

I was just pointing out an example of how I don't like in Farrell's' post game assessment of his pitchers. It just so happened to be a ST game because I spoke of it several days ago and his comment today we relevant to my point.

 

Go s*** in your hat.

 

AS for Sk and his comment, I compare Francona and Farrell many times. It is my recollection that while Francona was known as a player's coach while in Boston, he never blew smoke up anyone's ass when speaking to the media. He would have said something more like Kind of a tough outing where he left to many balls up and he paid for it. He needs to do a better job of keeping the ball down. We'll continue to work on this."

 

You can go s*** in your hat as well.

 

I don't wear hats. I still have a full head of hair.

[User Name]

Farrell won't make it through Memorial Day. Mark my words.

[Spudboy]

I don't wear hats. I still have a full head of hair.

 

I was joking. Sort of.

[User Name]

I was joking. Sort of.

 

Hair envy. And penis envy. And weather envy.

[Spudboy]

Farrell won't make it through Memorial Day. Mark my words.

 

Well there is definitely blood in the water in the Boston area.

 

But what if the Sox do really well this year? Will the FO have the sack to get rid of him? My guess is that Dombrowski will have "his guy" in place before next season. And it won't be Leuvello.

[Spudboy]

Hair envy. And penis envy. And weather envy.

 

This reminds me. Since you have seen me last, I have lost some hair on the top-back of my head. You know the spot that I am talking about.

 

Recently I rented a car for the weekend so I could go get your favorite tiny person ( she is now 5'7" by the way ). Anyway I got a small Mazda on the cheap which was fine. Except for getting into and out of the car. No mater how much I tried to avoid it, each time I got into or exited the car I would biff that spot on the top-back of my head. And each time a bunch of hair would be pulled out.

 

f*** me.

[cp176]

Well there is definitely blood in the water in the Boston area.

 

But what if the Sox do really well this year? Will the FO have the sack to get rid of him? My guess is that Dombrowski will have "his guy" in place before next season. And it won't be Leuvello.

 

I agree with you I think here. If farrell goes, and Louvello gets the job, he won't be there for long. Everybody seems to be on his bandwagon - I'm not but see the following :

I am (or so I have been told):

passive aggressive -

old and traditional -

a hater -

 

I am on board with all that stuff plus I have s*** in my hat. to my credit, i left the hat behind so to speak.

[Elktonnick]

The way I see it, if Farrell gets canned in midseason then Louvello would be named interim manager for the rest of the year. That's why the FO signed him to the contract they did. He is manager in waiting so to speak. At the conclusion of the year, if the Sox finish strong and either make the playoffs or make a good run then Louvello would probably keep the job. If the Sox record doesn't improve over what it was when Farrell gets fired then Louvello too would probably be gone. In any case, if Farrell gets fired either mid year or at the end of the year the FO will still conduct a search for manager regardless of whether they decide to keep Louvello. It would simply be a good business practice to exercise due diligence.

[cp176]

I'm not a big fan of Farrell's but by the same token I'm not holding him as accountable for how some of the knuckleheads are playing or for some of the out of character somewhat strange things that we are hearing these days. Very unusual for John Farrell to even allude to the fact that there is an ongoing battle for the third base job as well as the latest moves relating to Castillo. His career has been highlighted by being overly cautious about making any moves and tireingly boring with respect to his allegiance to players that have done nothing to deserve it. Maybe he got the memo that the season starts before Memorial Day weekend!

[cp176]

I also just read that Farrell was impressed with Kelly's performance today. that is scary. I don't care what anyone thinks about the importance of spring training, performances like he had today are only impressive if you are talking about how bad they are.

[User Name]

This reminds me. Since you have seen me last, I have lost some hair on the top-back of my head. You know the spot that I am talking about.

 

Recently I rented a car for the weekend so I could go get your favorite tiny person ( she is now 5'7" by the way ). Anyway I got a small Mazda on the cheap which was fine. Except for getting into and out of the car. No mater how much I tried to avoid it, each time I got into or exited the car I would biff that spot on the top-back of my head. And each time a bunch of hair would be pulled out.

 

f*** me.

 

5'7? Jesus Christ, time flies.

[User Name]

I'm not a big fan of Farrell's but by the same token I'm not holding him as accountable for how some of the knuckleheads are playing or for some of the out of character somewhat strange things that we are hearing these days. Very unusual for John Farrell to even allude to the fact that there is an ongoing battle for the third base job as well as the latest moves relating to Castillo. His career has been highlighted by being overly cautious about making any moves and tireingly boring with respect to his allegiance to players that have done nothing to deserve it. Maybe he got the memo that the season starts before Memorial Day weekend!

 

It's not him. This is Dombrowski's MO. He has that reputation as a young-player trader, but he gives zero f***s about kicking out a veteran for a promising prospect/young player. And he's also not afraid to pull the trigger on a productive but redundant veteran for younger players.

[sk7326]

It is never the intent of any outing in Spring Training to give up a bunch of Home Runs. Whatever Kelly was working on, he wasn't executing if opposing hitters took him deep 3 times.

 

At this juncture of Spring Training, the intent is for the starting pitchers to go 5 or 6 innings. Kelly had trouble getting through 4.

 

Are you sure? What if it's just throw X fastballs, Y curves, whatever. Are they gameplanning hitters, changing stuff 2nd time through? I am not pleased - but spring training means virtually nothing aside from some income for some towns in Florida/Arizona. If his job was to get the work in, make a number of each kind of pitch - I don't think anything happened to impact that one way or the other. It's not like they are using advance scouts here.

[iortiz]

Are you sure? What if it's just throw X fastballs, Y curves, whatever. Are they gameplanning hitters, changing stuff 2nd time through? I am not pleased - but spring training means virtually nothing aside from some income for some towns in Florida/Arizona. If his job was to get the work in, make a number of each kind of pitch - I don't think anything happened to impact that one way or the other. It's not like they are using advance scouts here.

 

Aside the scores and the stats, I think some young players try to make a case here in order to be considered in the final roster. Others just try to improve some fundamentals, others try to improve/practice stuff that usually are not that good at, others just try to get rhythm, others try to make the opening day game when there's internal competition for a spot, etc.

BL. I think ST could be useful depending on what a team/coach/player need.