Mookie?

[mvp 78]

here's his career splits...let me know which months are the ones that he "falters" in:

April: .288 / .784

May: .293 / .791

June: .303 / .820

July: .306 / .818

August: .316 / .851

Sept: .296 / .815

 

If he doesn't get dinged up this season, I won't complain. I watch the games and remember that he typically gets hand and foot injuries. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll be healthy all year.

 

My point for trading Pedroia is as follows: the Sox need pitching, Pedroia would provide good value in a trade, the Sox have a ton of high upside IF guys on the farm, Pedroia typically gets injured and is only getting older and he's probably the most overrated player the Sox have ever had. If you don't agree with that assessment, fine. However, don't expect to change my mind on the matter. If we could get a #2 for Pedroia, I would do that deal in a second.

 

Do I think Pedroia is a problem on this team? No. Do I think he's one of the top 10 2b's in the game? Yes. Will the Sox realistically trade Pedroia? f*** no. Am I happy that he seems to be less pull happy this year? Of course. Is his defense slipping a little? Definitely. Am I crazy for putting "trade Pedroia" in my sig. Probably.

[User Name]

No way is Pedroia more overrated than Trot "True grit dirtdog dirty helmet rly tuff" Nixon.

[sk7326]

It is tempting to call Pedroia overrated. He is white, tiny, hustles - stuff reporters love. He's like our own cuddly David Eckstein.

 

Except ... the year he won the MVP (2008), Pedroia was also 2nd in the AL in bWAR behind Nick Markakis (who was on a 68 win team, and we know how that plays with MVP voters). He was unambiguously one of the best players in the league.

 

2013, the overrated Pedroia finished 10th in bWAR among all AL players (including pitchers). 2014, fighting injuries he was still a 4-5 win player.

 

Indeed you look at his seasons (and I'll use bWAR)

 

2008: 6.9 (2nd in the AL)

2009: 5.6

2010: 3.2 in 75 games

2011: 7.9 (5th in the AL)

2012: 5.1 (9th among AL position)

2013: 6.3 (10th in the AL)

2014: 4.9

2015: 2.0 in 93 games

2016: 2.2 in 51 games

 

It is tempting to get annoyed at the announcers talking about his scrappy mctufferson-ness. It obscures the fact that he is actually really really good at his job.

[User Name]

He was Altuve before being Altuve was cool.

[Emp9]

He just saved our $217M SP's season. Yeah... what a bum

[Hugh2]

It is tempting to call Pedroia overrated. He is white, tiny, hustles - stuff reporters love. He's like our own cuddly David Eckstein.

 

Except ... the year he won the MVP (2008), Pedroia was also 2nd in the AL in bWAR behind Nick Markakis (who was on a 68 win team, and we know how that plays with MVP voters). He was unambiguously one of the best players in the league.

 

2013, the overrated Pedroia finished 10th in bWAR among all AL players (including pitchers). 2014, fighting injuries he was still a 4-5 win player.

 

Indeed you look at his seasons (and I'll use bWAR)

 

2008: 6.9 (2nd in the AL)

2009: 5.6

2010: 3.2 in 75 games

2011: 7.9 (5th in the AL)

2012: 5.1 (9th among AL position)

2013: 6.3 (10th in the AL)

2014: 4.9

2015: 2.0 in 93 games

2016: 2.2 in 51 games

 

It is tempting to get annoyed at the announcers talking about his scrappy mctufferson-ness. It obscures the fact that he is actually really really good at his job.

 

At the absolute VERY least I think Pedroia is showing us this season that any type of decline he may be in is nowhere near as big as we thought it could have been last year.

[SoxnCycles]

At the absolute VERY least I think Pedroia is showing us this season that any type of decline he may be in is nowhere near as big as we thought it could have been last year.

 

I think most of Pedroia's issues had to do with his hands.

He looks plenty healthy now.

[a700hitter]

I think most of Pedroia's issues had to do with his hands.

He looks plenty healthy now.

The problem had been his hands. It was chronic but now they look to be fully healthy. Now that he is in his 30's he has to pay more attention to the conditioning of his legs. He seems to have addressed that too. I expect 2 to 3 more highly productive seasons from him.

[Hugh2]

The problem had been his hands. It was chronic but now they look to be fully healthy. Now that he is in his 30's he has to pay more attention to the conditioning of his legs. He seems to have addressed that too. I expect 2 to 3 more highly productive seasons from him.

 

Right, I remember after Ortiz wrist injury everybody thought he was in a serious decline and his career wouldn't last much longer.....he's lasted almost a whole other decade. It did take about 2 seasons to get him right though.

[mvp 78]

No way is Pedroia more overrated than Trot "True grit dirtdog dirty helmet rly tuff" Nixon.

 

Nixon was great in MVP 2004. I think they added extra grit to his stats.

[User Name]

Nixon was great in MVP 2004. I think they added extra grit to his stats.

 

I platooned his ass with Gabe Kapler. I don't give a f***.

[Bellhorn04]

It is tempting to call Pedroia overrated. He is white, tiny, hustles - stuff reporters love. He's like our own cuddly David Eckstein.

 

Except ... the year he won the MVP (2008), Pedroia was also 2nd in the AL in bWAR behind Nick Markakis (who was on a 68 win team, and we know how that plays with MVP voters). He was unambiguously one of the best players in the league.

 

2013, the overrated Pedroia finished 10th in bWAR among all AL players (including pitchers). 2014, fighting injuries he was still a 4-5 win player.

 

Indeed you look at his seasons (and I'll use bWAR)

 

2008: 6.9 (2nd in the AL)

2009: 5.6

2010: 3.2 in 75 games

2011: 7.9 (5th in the AL)

2012: 5.1 (9th among AL position)

2013: 6.3 (10th in the AL)

2014: 4.9

2015: 2.0 in 93 games

2016: 2.2 in 51 games

 

It is tempting to get annoyed at the announcers talking about his scrappy mctufferson-ness. It obscures the fact that he is actually really really good at his job.

 

Numbers don't lie.

[mvp 78]

I platooned his ass with Gabe Kapler. I don't give a f***.

 

Kapler was a monster against LHP. I don't have a problem with that. I would have moved Nixon to DH against LHP (unless you did a FA acquisition for Ellis Burks).

[Dojji]

And that's how the convo gets around to bringing up the one guy in our team's history that Mookie most reminds me of -- Ellis Burks. What an impressive 5 tool guy Burks was in his years with this team!

[greenwell]

He just saved our $217M SP's season. Yeah... what a bum

 

My thought on this is why didn't Carl Willis see this. I don't usually blame the coaches, but maybe he needs some blame for the horrendous starting pitching. I don't think he can take any credit for Wright. Price's recent uptick is thanks to Pedroia. The rest of the limited starting pitching success is probably more due to AAA than anything. Even Kelley looked good his first start after rehab in the minors.

[mvp 78]

And that's how the convo gets around to bringing up the one guy in our team's history that Mookie most reminds me of -- Ellis Burks. What an impressive 5 tool guy Burks was in his years with this team!

 

Letting him go was ridiculously stupid. They treated the early 90's Sox teams like garbage.

[Maxbialystock]

Letting him go was ridiculously stupid. They treated the early 90's Sox teams like garbage.

 

Probably so. One more reason to appreciate what John Henry has done for this franchise. They've won three WS after 86 years of nothing and are on their third GM and third manager and today have one of the best lineups the Sox have ever had. The pitching is a little scary, granted.

[Dojji]

The decision of where to hold and where to move on is the single most mystifying, and the single most important, decision a franchise makes every day.

[devildavid]

After Papi retires, maybe Mookie is our cleanup hitter.

[Spudboy]

And that's how the convo gets around to bringing up the one guy in our team's history that Mookie most reminds me of -- Ellis Burks. What an impressive 5 tool guy Burks was in his years with this team!

 

Plus Ellis "My Man' was politically "correct."

[Spudboy]

The decision of where to hold and where to move on is the single most mystifying, and the single most important, decision a franchise makes every day.

 

Where doe the decision to blow-up a rotation fit in?

 

Those moves were sure mystifying to me!

[sk7326]

Letting him go was ridiculously stupid. They treated the early 90's Sox teams like garbage.

 

His back issues did move him off of CF - but yeah the bat continued to play ...

[bosoxmal]

Probably No. 3 even before that!

[bosoxmal]

You can have Kapler, Nixon and Ellis B. How old is this kid? He's going to make us forget a lot of good players. This guy is very special, and some of us recognized it over a year ago. His talents are obvious, and as good as I have ever seen.

[bosoxmal]

Not to worry. It won't be long, and they'll all be talking about the 'Pocket' Willie Mays

[Kimmi]

He starting to hit outside pitches with more power now. One can imagine he starts to walk more because of this, which will definitely help his OBP. Teams shy away from pitching him inside, now he's taking them yard on pitches outside.... We've seen this movie before, it's called 'Take Your Base'.

 

Read an interesting article at Fangraphs yesterday about how the league has not adjusted to Betts' power yet. Maybe its because he bats leadoff or maybe its because he doesn't fit the physical profile of a power hitter, but pitchers are challenging Mookie much more than they typically challenge power hitters.

 

Mookie has seen the 5th highest rate of strikes of any hitter over the past year, despite the fact that he ranks in the top 25 in power (ISO).

 

In other words, opposing pitchers haven't learned yet.

[southpaw777]

Read an interesting article at Fangraphs yesterday about how the league has not adjusted to Betts' power yet. Maybe its because he bats leadoff or maybe its because he doesn't fit the physical profile of a power hitter, but pitchers are challenging Mookie much more than they typically challenge power hitters.

 

Mookie has seen the 5th highest rate of strikes of any hitter over the past year, despite the fact that he ranks in the top 25 in power (ISO).

 

In other words, opposing pitchers haven't learned yet.

 

Because Mookie, like Xander, have little to no holes in their swing...they both cover the outside part of the plate and can clear out an inside fb as well...its hard to get guys loke these two out...so much talent.

[Emp9]

I think opposing pitchers realized early last season to stay away from pitching to the inner half of the plate vs Betts. If its middle-in "swing level" Betts will pull it and go yard. At this point, when Betts does get a pitch like that, i think its more of a mistake pitch. The pitcher missed his spot and Betts makes him pay for it. They did adjust to him and it's usually attacking the plate down and away (staying away from that pull power). Now, up until now, if Betts connected with a pitch from the outside part of the plate, he may get a base hit or a 2B or even a 3B, but theres also a good portion of fly outs especailly to RF. For an opposing pitcher that was THE adjustment. Betts hitting HRs going the opposite way has only started to happen this week and to me its a very significant development. I'm not sure how they can adjust to him developing power to all fields. My guess is they continue to pitch him low and away, definitely away, because it's still the least likely location for Betts to hurt them. Only now, its not a guarantee.

[Spudboy]

I think opposing pitchers realized early last season to stay away from pitching to the inner half of the plate vs Betts. If its middle-in "swing level" Betts will pull it and go yard. At this point, when Betts does get a pitch like that, i think its more of a mistake pitch. The pitcher missed his spot and Betts makes him pay for it. They did adjust to him and it's usually attacking the plate down and away (staying away from that pull power). Now, up until now, if Betts connected with a pitch from the outside part of the plate, he may get a base hit or a 2B or even a 3B, but theres also a good portion of fly outs especailly to RF. For an opposing pitcher that was THE adjustment. Betts hitting HRs going the opposite way has only started to happen this week and to me its a very significant development. I'm not sure how they can adjust to him developing power to all fields. My guess is they continue to pitch him low and away, definitely away, because it's still the least likely location for Betts to hurt them. Only now, its not a guarantee.

 

Good post. The kid has real talent. One of his talents is the ability to learn and adapt quickly.

[bosoxmal]

Agree 100%. No pitcher perfectly locates every pitch. Ut is easier to miss than to hit that exact spot. Mookie is learning to see the mistakes while at the same time developing more and more power. a 'pocket' Willie Mays in the making. Enjoy it!