A Realistic View at 2016

[SoxnCycles]

Wright might be a little faster than Ortiz but you can't really expect him to have much clue how to run the bases...so it doesn't seem like much was gained replacing Ortiz with him.

 

With two out, all you need to know is run until the 3b coach tells you to stop.

Wright was dumb for wandering so far off the bag.

[a700hitter]

With two out, all you need to know is run until the 3b coach tells you to stop.

Wright was dumb for wandering so far off the bag.

And the manager should have known that he didn't know how to run the bases since he hadn't done it in about 15 years.

[Jasonbay44]

And the manager should have known that he didn't know how to run the bases since he hadn't done it in about 15 years.

 

This. I don't get what's so hard to understand. It was an idiotic move.

[Bellhorn04]

With two out, all you need to know is run until the 3b coach tells you to stop.

Wright was dumb for wandering so far off the bag.

 

Good base runners know how much lead to take, how to round the third base bag properly and how to slide etc. There was really no reason to think Wright would be anything but s***** at all the necessary skills.

[User Name]

Why is it so hard to admit JF f***ed up? What the f*** is wrong with you people?

[sk7326]

To me the bigger folly is why the pitchers are not running the bases as part of the drillwork - I don't like getting into coach micromanaging ... but in the era of 13 man pitching staffs, there is just not the luxury to burn a position player on a single pinch running episode - except for very specific circumstances. I'd make sure the starters actually had some comfort there because it is bound to come up in any sort of extra inning game.

[Spudboy]

if wright misses an extended period of time, and buchholz shits the bed and we miss the playoffs, farrell will look like one of the biggest idiots in baseball. which he already is considering one of the biggest, so this will be impressive if he can pull it off.

 

I agree with a700 and you.

 

Losing one of your top 3 starters unnecessarily is dumb enough. If we come up one game short of the playoffs it could be because we had a lesser pitcher for 3-4 starts that Wright stood a good chance of winning.

 

Otherwise your comment is absurd!!!!!!

[Spudboy]

This. I don't get what's so hard to understand. It was an idiotic move.

 

THIS.

 

Idiotic any way you look at it. You should never risk an asset if you don't have to do so. He risked the health of one of his key players. That alone makes it idiotic regardless of how Wright runs the bases.

 

But Farrell has an out. It turns out that both functioning neurons had been given the game off.

[moonslav59]

Can we talk about something else? I'm just glad it wasn't Papi going on the DL with a bum shoulder.

 

This horse has been beaten to death several times over.

 

Here's some subjects: twalk among you selves....

 

Good to see PomPom almost go a full 8.

 

Looks like JBJ benefited from the day off a couple days back.

 

Today was HanRam's turn for a day off.

 

Tito really blew that game, huh?

 

.

[a700hitter]

THIS.

 

Idiotic any way you look at it. You should never risk an asset if you don't have to do so. He risked the health of one of his key players. That alone makes it idiotic regardless of how Wright runs the bases.

 

But Farrell has an out. It turns out that both functioning neurons had been given the game off.

The day off is mandated under the collectively bargained agreement.

[moonslav59]

Expanding the sample size splits to 2014-2016:

vs RHPs:

.980 Ortiz

.858 Betts

.778 Pedey

.776 Shaw

.759 Leon

.783 Sandoval (multiple teams)

.747 Ramirez (Multiple teams)

.734 Bradley

.734 Young

.727 Swihart

.724 Bogey

.715 Ramirez

.705 Holt

.650 Rutledge

.633 Castillo

.590 Vazquez

.566 Hannigan

 

vs LHPs

1.042 Young

.882 Ramirez

.847 Betts

.831 Bogey

.806 Leon

.804 Ortiz

.793 Shaw

.783 Castillo

.758 Pedroia

.738 Holt

.736 JBJ

.673 Swihart

.647 Hanigan

.643 Vazquez

.521 Sandoval (worst in MLB)

 

The longer sample size may not correctly reflect the abilities of younger players as they have grown and adjusted. Sometimes they are more accurate for mid to older ranged players than the shorter recent sample sizes.

 

No matter what size recent sample size you use, Young looks awesome vs LHPs and HanRam looks pretty bad vs RHPs.

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by moonslav59

[oldtimer]

Can we talk about something else? I'm just glad it wasn't Papi going on the DL with a bum shoulder.

 

This horse has been beaten to death several times over.

 

Here's some subjects: twalk among you selves....

 

Good to see PomPom almost go a full 8.

 

Looks like JBJ benefited from the day off a couple days back.

 

Today was HanRam's turn for a day off.

 

Tito really blew that game, huh?

 

.

 

I agree.

 

JBJ has now gone deep twice and perhaps just having a day off helped him. Hard to know as these guys have to be also superhuman to play every day, to travel and play in different Parks, and to face the emotions of losing games they had won. I am all for getting the slumping players a rest day as often as we can.

[greenwell]

Can we talk about something else? I'm just glad it wasn't Papi going on the DL with a bum shoulder.

 

This horse has been beaten to death several times over.

 

Here's some subjects: twalk among you selves....

 

Good to see PomPom almost go a full 8.

 

Looks like JBJ benefited from the day off a couple days back.

 

Today was HanRam's turn for a day off.

 

Tito really blew that game, huh?

 

.

 

One thing that stuck with me from that game is when Tito took out Tomlin after he got an out. There is likely a big difference in how a pitcher feels about his game when he finishes with an out compared to a hit. I can't remember the last time when Farrell did that with a starter. Yesterday was the perfect chance when Pomeranz got the second out of the inning and the top of the order was coming up.

[S5Dewey]

One thing that stuck with me from that game is when Tito took out Tomlin after he got an out. There is likely a big difference in how a pitcher feels about his game when he finishes with an out compared to a hit. I can't remember the last time when Farrell did that with a starter. Yesterday was the perfect chance when Pomeranz got the second out of the inning and the top of the order was coming up.

 

That was something I noticed early-on in Tito's tenure in Boston. While he may be accused off occasionally pulling a pitcher too early, he always made every effort to make sure the pitcher left the game on a positive note.

[mvp 78]

That was something I noticed early-on in Tito's tenure in Boston. While he may be accused off occasionally pulling a pitcher too early, he always made every effort to make sure the pitcher left the game on a positive note.

 

Around here, the concern was that he left starters in for too long (i.e. 7 run rule).

 

I never complained about Tito as it was painfully obvious that he new more about baseball than all of us combined.

[Eddy Ballgame]

Around here, the concern was that he left starters in for too long (i.e. 7 run rule).

 

I never complained about Tito as it was painfully obvious that he new more about baseball than all of us combined.

 

Any manager who can last for 8 years in Boston is doing a hell of a lot more right than wrong. Tito and Joe Cronin are the only two in Sox history to do so. Tito was completely burnt out in the end, but he has to be considered one of the best managers in the game right now.

[moonslav59]

That was something I noticed early-on in Tito's tenure in Boston. While he may be accused off occasionally pulling a pitcher too early, he always made every effort to make sure the pitcher left the game on a positive note.

 

I remember quite a few 1.2 IP 8H 8ER 3BB games for some of our starters.

[moonslav59]

Any manager who can last for 8 years in Boston is doing a hell of a lot more right than wrong. Tito and Joe Cronin are the only two in Sox history to do so. Tito was completely burnt out in the end, but he has to be considered one of the best managers in the game right now.

 

I was wrong in my assessment of Tito's overall record. I guess I just let his last year stick in my craw.

[sk7326]

I was wrong in my assessment of Tito's overall record. I guess I just let his last year stick in my craw.

 

They ran out of pitchers, that's it. That is a GM/spaghetti monster problem.

 

2011 was not Tito's best year. But 2010 might have been - so the idea that it all went awry that quickly is batty.

[moonslav59]

They ran out of pitchers, that's it. That is a GM/spaghetti monster problem.

 

2011 was not Tito's best year. But 2010 might have been - so the idea that it all went awry that quickly is batty.

 

He had outside issues going on, so in his case his mastery "going away" taken within the context of his personal life and the clowns in the clubhouse, I still feel like he "lost it" at the end. I didn't mean in a permanent sense, but even good managers sometimes lose their players for stretches.

[Nick]

Well, he's no Madden

[moonslav59]

They ran out of pitchers...

 

No, they were there.

 

They were just in the clubhouse having some beers.

 

They had Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Buch and Wake.

 

They had Papelbon, A Miller, Bard & Aceves when they were still good and more.

[a700hitter]

They ran out of pitchers...

 

No, they were there.

 

They were just in the clubhouse having some beers.

 

They had Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Buch and Wake.

 

They had Papelbon, A Miller, Bard & Aceves when they were still good and more.

Lackey needed surgery, but didn't want to invoke the minimum salary additional year clause of his contract. Wake was a fossill. Buch was long lost to the DL.

[moonslav59]

Lackey needed surgery, but didn't want to invoke the minimum salary additional year clause of his contract. Wake was a fossill. Buch was long lost to the DL.

 

That's why they got Tito the great Erik Bedard who gave them 8 "mid rotation" starts like Dempster and PomPom.

[a700hitter]

That's why they got Tito the great Erik Bedard who gave them 8 "mid rotation" starts like Dempster and PomPom.

Bedard was a broken relic on his way out, and he injured his knee the day before we acquired him. Poms is 27 years old and hopefully on the way up.

[mvp 78]

Bedard was a broken relic on his way out, and he injured his knee the day before we acquired him. Poms is 27 years old and hopefully on the way up.

 

That 2011 rotation was in such disarray that the media was clamoring for Bruce Chen to be brought in to pitch a one game playoff if they won game 162. Bruce Chen. I'm not sure his name has been said on WEEI since that date.

[S5Dewey]

I remember quite a few 1.2 IP 8H 8ER 3BB games for some of our starters.

 

Yes, and there's not much a manager can do about that. A pitcher has to be given a little bit of slack early in the game, even if it's just to get the BP ready.

 

I was referring more to the games I remember when he'd pull a pitcher after an out or at the end of an inning. It had to be obvious that the pitcher had lost it all before he'd pull a pitcher after giving up a hit. It seemed to me like he always wanted a pitcher leaving the game to be able to say, "I got my last guy out", which would give the pitcher a feeling of success (no matter how badly he sucked before that!)

[moonslav59]

Bedard was a broken relic on his way out, and he injured his knee the day before we acquired him. Poms is 27 years old and hopefully on the way up.

 

I was being sarcstic towards all the Dempster type pitcher supporters.

[a700hitter]

I was being sarcstic towards all the Dempster type pitcher supporters.

I picked up on the sarcasm.

[Eddy Ballgame]

I was being sarcstic towards all the Dempster type pitcher supporters.

 

You should go back & look at Dempster's individual game logs for the 2013 season. I would gladly take those numbers out of a number 5 every single year.

 

He was also a huge part of Ben Cherington's "We need to change the culture of the clubhouse" mission after the Valentine fiasco. Some players even cited his absence as a key part to their slow start in '14. Some players bring a lot more to the party than just numbers. Ryan Dempster is definitely one of them.