Lineup Discussions

[Bellhorn04]

I know that makes sense, but I can't help but get frustrated with the offense, when we score 16 then 1 and split the two game sample size.

 

This used to happen under the old regime frequently, and I guess it's a by-product of having a high scoring team. You can't expect 5-6 runs every game. The runs are bound to be more randomly dispersed, but over the last two weeks, it's happened 4 times, so maybe it's just hitting a raw nerve that never healed from the "old days" (pre-Henry).

 

In the old days what made matters worse was that the Sox had offenses that were tailored for Fenway - mashers without much speed.

[moonslav59]

Young is a quality outfielder and his bat is hot now. I suppose he will platoon with Benintendi at left field as soon as Beni gets back. One more positive in a lineup that is a terror right now.

 

Young is on fire. He's been hitting RHPs very well since returning. I'm not sure I'd take him out of the line-up for anybody right now.

 

Last 28 days OPS:

1.151 Young

1.080 Ramirez

1.064 Ortiz

1.007 Pedroia

.903 Holt

.889 Beni

.825 Leon

.780 Betts

.742 Shaw

.740 JBJ

.713 Bogey

 

Nobody with 40 or more PAs has an OPS below .713!

 

5 guys over 1.000 !

 

WOW!

 

Keep playing Young as much as possible.

 

Last 14 days:

1.353 Young

1.207 Ramirez

1.084 Ortiz

1.048 Shaw

.993 Pedey

.951 Bradley

.891 leon

 

WOW, 7 guys over .890!

 

Young is at 1.583 over the last 7 days.

[moonslav59]

In the old days what made matters worse was that the Sox had offenses that were tailored for Fenway - mashers without much speed.

 

True, so the often went cold on the road and lost 3-2 and 2-1.

[oldtimer]

Young is on fire. He's been hitting RHPs very well since returning. I'm not sure I'd take him out of the line-up for anybody right now.

 

Last 28 days OPS:

1.151 Young

1.080 Ramirez

1.064 Ortiz

1.007 Pedroia

.903 Holt

.889 Beni

.825 Leon

.780 Betts

.742 Shaw

.740 JBJ

.713 Bogey

 

Nobody with 40 or more PAs has an OPS below .713!

 

5 guys over 1.000 !

 

WOW!

 

Keep playing Young as much as possible.

 

Last 14 days:

1.353 Young

1.207 Ramirez

1.084 Ortiz

1.048 Shaw

.993 Pedey

.951 Bradley

.891 leon

 

WOW, 7 guys over .890!

 

Young is at 1.583 over the last 7 days.

 

Thats a good problem to have. A young talent coming up but no place to play. I also think it is hard to see Young coming out when he is so hot. That leaves Beni as a utility outfielder (perhaps a sub to rest players) and/or a pinch hitter.

[Wade Boggs]

Thats a good problem to have. A young talent coming up but no place to play. I also think it is hard to see Young coming out when he is so hot. That leaves Beni as a utility outfielder (perhaps a sub to rest players) and/or a pinch hitter.

 

 

Beni against RHP/ Young against LHP...That's how I see this working out down the stretch. If Young goes a couple of hitless games they will make the switch. I agree ride him now while he swinging good. It's also safe to say Bradley is out of his slump as well.

[moonslav59]

Beni against RHP/ Young against LHP...That's how I see this working out down the stretch. If Young goes a couple of hitless games they will make the switch. I agree ride him now while he swinging good. It's also safe to say Bradley is out of his slump as well.

 

If Young keeps hitting righties like he is now, I think we may give Beni a few extra days to get 100% healthy. We may be able to afford to give JBJ and Betts a day off at some point, and we can let Beni get a game in at those positions.

 

We could also DH Young one game vs a LHP. Papi responded nicely to those 3 days off.

 

We have to ride Young till he shows us otherwise.

[bosoxmal]

If Young keeps hitting righties like he is now, I think we may give Beni a few extra days to get 100% healthy. We may be able to afford to give JBJ and Betts a day off at some point, and we can let Beni get a game in at those positions.

 

We could also DH Young one game vs a LHP. Papi responded nicely to those 3 days off.

 

We have to ride Young till he shows us otherwise.

 

We have to give Bradley and Betts a little time off. Especially Betts. Anyboody else notice that his hits have been coming early in the game? never noticed this before with anybody. And his average has slipped almost 10 points over the last couple of weeks. He still does so many other things that help win ball games, I don't think we notice that too much. Been awile since he's he's hit one out, also. Give haim a day or even parts of two games off, see what happens. May be as much mental fatigue as physical.

[moonslav59]

We have to give Bradley and Betts a little time off. Especially Betts. Anyboody else notice that his hits have been coming early in the game? never noticed this before with anybody. And his average has slipped almost 10 points over the last couple of weeks. He still does so many other things that help win ball games, I don't think we notice that too much. Been awile since he's he's hit one out, also. Give haim a day or even parts of two games off, see what happens. May be as much mental fatigue as physical.

 

Hopefully, we can build a cushion and give these guys 2 days off.

[sk7326]

Sox have scored 802 runs this season ... need 82 runs in 19 games to get to Toronto's 884 from last season.

 

No team outside of Colorado has more than 713 runs this season to date.

[moonslav59]

Sox have scored 802 runs this season ... need 82 runs in 19 games to get to Toronto's 884 from last season.

 

No team outside of Colorado has more than 713 runs this season to date.

 

We're 13th in runs allowed (629), but second in runs allowed 2nd half (205). The Cubs are at 163.

 

Full season: runs allowed on the road (takes away much of the park factors, but not strength of opponent's offenses):

 

268 Nats

276 Cubs

276 Jays

283 Red Sox

 

We're 6th in road ERA at 3.76. I can't find ranking for team ERA- or ERA+.

 

We have the second best ERA for the 2nd half at 3.53 but way behind the Cubs 2.64.

[moonslav59]

2nd half individual ERA- AL rankings (50 qualified):

 

49 Kluber

53 Verlander

57 Sale

57 Porcello

61 M Boyd

62 ERod

#10 Price 67

#25 Pomeranz

 

[Wade Boggs]

We're 13th in runs allowed (629), but second in runs allowed 2nd half (205). The Cubs are at 163.

 

Full season: runs allowed on the road (takes away much of the park factors, but not strength of opponent's offenses):

 

268 Nats

276 Cubs

276 Jays

283 Red Sox

 

We're 6th in road ERA at 3.76. I can't find ranking for team ERA- or ERA+.

 

We have the second best ERA for the 2nd half at 3.53 but way behind the Cubs 2.64.

 

Through the last 54 games it was @ 3.31 but Sunday's game spiked it a little to 3.53 I guess. Clay lol.

[greenwell]

We're 13th in runs allowed (629), but second in runs allowed 2nd half (205). The Cubs are at 163.

 

Full season: runs allowed on the road (takes away much of the park factors, but not strength of opponent's offenses):

 

268 Nats

276 Cubs

276 Jays

283 Red Sox

 

We're 6th in road ERA at 3.76. I can't find ranking for team ERA- or ERA+.

 

We have the second best ERA for the 2nd half at 3.53 but way behind the Cubs 2.64.

 

This is a good point Moon. It made look at away team stats. I didn't realize how much of a pitchers park Houston is. They are actually one of the best hitting teams and one of the worst pitching teams. 3.17 home ERA vs 5.00 road ERA, tied with the redsox for runs on the road.

It also highlights that Dallas Keuchel did not deserve the Cy Young last year. He did have 20 wins, but a 2 run difference between his home and road ERA.

[sk7326]

Winning 16-2 then losing 2-1 is frustrating but it's mostly positive - you just got 2 very well-pitched games in a row. Winning 16-2 then losing 10-9 is much worse.

 

the 2-1 games have often been about us not getting a hit in a key spot - the chances have still been there. On one level it makes it more frustrating on another, all you can do is give yourself a shot sometimes.

[moonslav59]

This is a good point Moon. It made look at away team stats. I didn't realize how much of a pitchers park Houston is. They are actually one of the best hitting teams and one of the worst pitching teams. 3.17 home ERA vs 5.00 road ERA, tied with the redsox for runs on the road.

It also highlights that Dallas Keuchel did not deserve the Cy Young last year. He did have 20 wins, but a 2 run difference between his home and road ERA.

 

We have the...

 

Best AL 2nd half ERA.

Best AL 2nd half WHIP

2nd best AL away WHIP

3rd best AL road ERA

 

ERA-

2nd half

79 Red Sox

85 DET

86 NYY

89 TBR

98 TOR

(pretty big gap)

 

FIP

1st 3.75 vs LHBs

5th 4.22 vs RHBs

 

[bosoxmal]

Hopefully, we can build a cushion and give these guys 2 days off.

 

Mookie does s0 many other things to help the team win, I hadn't paid much attention to his BA, etc.

 

Last 7 days:--------.225BA----4RBI--- 0HR

 

Last 15 days---------.254------11RBI---4HR

 

Last 30 days----------.320-----29-------7

 

So the last two weeks haven't been "mookish"

[bosoxmal]

Make that .219 (7 day) and .238 (15 day!) The Yankees come in tomorrow. Fans will scream if he's not in the lineup. May be best to just yank him every time there's a laugher. eRod goes tomorrow; maybe a good time!

[oldtimer]

The Sox have their best hitting lineup in the game but seem unable to hit Gausman. I have been following on live update and know he has good velocity and doesn't walk many (1) and he also appears to be deceptive as there have been so many pop ups, weak ground balls and strike outs. The last batter he faced in the 8th were reaching up to 98,8 MPH on the gun. With 4 singles and 1 walk, the Sox can't even advance players to scoring position. Just once all night. I have to cut away from the game now, but hope they can do something in the 9th, as it would be a shame to lose when your starter puts up a 4 hit 1 run game.

[moonslav59]

It sucks letting Baltimore back into the thick of the division race.

 

These low scoring 1 run losses are killing me.

 

[oldtimer]

It sucks letting Baltimore back into the thick of the division race.

 

These low scoring 1 run losses are killing me.

 

 

It was hard to tell from watching live update how well Gausman was pitching. You could tell he was throwing a lot of first pitch strikes and many of those fast balls down in the center area of the plate from the live update box they show. Lots of swing and miss, lots of popups and lots of weak ground balls. Gausman had mid nineties velocity and at the end showed 98 mph getting Bogaerts out and that was after close to 120 pitches. He must either have a deceptive deliver or a lot of life on his pitches to make us look that bad. The first 4 batters got 0 hits while we didn't get a single extra base hit and only one walk. The Sox don't really go in for small ball so they can only string hits together or get extra base hits to score their runs. I guess we have to chalk it up to facing superior pitching, but it sure is hard to lose when your starter pitches very well and your relief is solid.

[Bellhorn04]

It was hard to tell from watching live update how well Gausman was pitching. You could tell he was throwing a lot of first pitch strikes and many of those fast balls down in the center area of the plate from the live update box they show. Lots of swing and miss, lots of popups and lots of weak ground balls. Gausman had mid nineties velocity and at the end showed 98 mph getting Bogaerts out and that was after close to 120 pitches. He must either have a deceptive deliver or a lot of life on his pitches to make us look that bad. The first 4 batters got 0 hits while we didn't get a single extra base hit and only one walk. The Sox don't really go in for small ball so they can only string hits together or get extra base hits to score their runs. I guess we have to chalk it up to facing superior pitching, but it sure is hard to lose when your starter pitches very well and your relief is solid.

 

That was 4 out of 5 games Gausman hasn't been scored on. He is doing something right.

[Maxbialystock]

It looked to me as though Gausman's fastball, 2 and 4 seam, had some movement. As I said on the game thread, he threw several right down the middle but still got guys out with ease.

[moonslav59]

Again, we outscore our opponent in a series, this time by 6 runs, and still lose the series. Yuck!

 

I guess that's better than getting hammered in 2 of 3 games, but it seems more frustrating to me losing or splitting series this way so often recently.

Since July 21st...

R- RA

23-15 vs MN- lost 2-1

13-17 vs DET lost 3-0

14-12 vs LAA split 2-2

7-9 vs SEA lost 2-1

14-11 vs LAD lost 2-1

11-16 vs NYY lost 2-1

31-9 vs AZ won 3-0

3-2 vs CLE won 1-0

13-4 vs BAL won 2-0

21-18 vs DET split 2-2

12-9 vs TBR split 2-2

15-9 vs KCR lost 2-1

20-14 vs TBR won 2-1

27-5 vs OAK won 2-1 (two blow-outs followed by a 1-0 loss)

13-5 vs SD won 2-1 (could have easily swept one of these west coast teams)

22-8 vs TOR won 2-1

15-9 vs BAL lost 2-1

 

That's six times we've outscored the opps and lost or split a series in the last 15 series. Then, there's the two near sweeps we missed out on with west coast teams.

[Bellhorn04]

Again, we outscore our opponent in a series, this time by 6 runs, and still lose the series. Yuck!

 

I guess that's better than getting hammered in 2 of 3 games, but it seems more frustrating to me losing or splitting series this way so often recently.

Since July 21st...

R- RA

23-15 vs MN- lost 2-1

13-17 vs DET lost 3-0

14-12 vs LAA split 2-2

7-9 vs SEA lost 2-1

14-11 vs LAD lost 2-1

11-16 vs NYY lost 2-1

31-9 vs AZ won 3-0

3-2 vs CLE won 1-0

13-4 vs BAL won 2-0

21-18 vs DET split 2-2

12-9 vs TBR split 2-2

15-9 vs KCR lost 2-1

20-14 vs TBR won 2-1

27-5 vs OAK won 2-1 (two blow-outs followed by a 1-0 loss)

13-5 vs SD won 2-1 (could have easily swept one of these west coast teams)

22-8 vs TOR won 2-1

15-9 vs BAL lost 2-1

 

That's six times we've outscored the opps and lost or split a series in the last 15 series. Then, there's the two near sweeps we missed out on with west coast teams.

 

It is kind of a crazy and frustrating pattern.

[Wade Boggs]

It looked to me as though Gausman's fastball, 2 and 4 seam, had some movement. As I said on the game thread, he threw several right down the middle but still got guys out with ease.

 

 

Mookie Betts, was saying Gausman's fastball was 92 on one pitch , on the next one was 98. He painted the corners all night. When it jumps on you an average of 5/6 mph its tough to time it. The approach go the other way, which he did on the single to right. They where over swinging last night.

 

I will give Gausman all the credit in the world. He was 1-9 coming in , He pitched great. But Bellhorn the poster on here brought up a stat ,he's pitched good of late. This time of year that, is all that matters. I'm getting sick and tired of these low one run losses. They can't do anything about it. They have to fight through it.

[Wade Boggs]

Mookie Betts, was saying Gausman's fastball was 92 on one pitch , on the next one was 98. He painted the corners all night. When it jumps on you an average of 5/6 mph its tough to time it. The approach go the other way, which he did on the single to right. They where over swinging last night.

 

I will give Gausman all the credit in the world. He was 1-9 coming in , He pitched great. But Bellhorn the poster on here brought up a stat ,he's pitched good of late. This time of year that, is all that matters. I'm getting sick and tired of these low one run losses. They can't do anything about it. They have to fight through it.

 

He was 1-9 on the road. I was trying to say...error on my part not the first won't be the last.

[illinoisredsox]

If you look at Gausman overall this year, he has pitched better than his 8-10 record. 3.43 ERA. He's been tagged for 5 losses when where he has given up 3 or fewer runs (4 where he has given up 2 or less). He's the guy the O's aren't scoring for this season.

 

He was the #4 overall pick in 2012; there's a lot of talent there, and he appears to have started to harness it. If he adds a breaking pitch that he can throw to righthanders, you are talking about potentially one of the best in the game.

[bosoxmal]

If you look at Gausman overall this year, he has pitched better than his 8-10 record. 3.43 ERA. He's been tagged for 5 losses when where he has given up 3 or fewer runs (4 where he has given up 2 or less). He's the guy the O's aren't scoring for this season.

 

He was the #4 overall pick in 2012; there's a lot of talent there, and he appears to have started to harness it. If he adds a breaking pitch that he can throw to righthanders, you are talking about potentially one of the best in the game.

 

Gausman pitched one helluv game, that's for sure. That doesn't explain Mookie's .222 avg over the last 15 games. (with 1 HR) He's physically and mentally exhausted. Needs at least 2 days off. He doesn't get it (or a miraculous recovery) this season is history. Can one player make that big a difference? He can if he's been the spark all year. Look at the other guys that got a little rest. They came back like gangbusters. Benintendi can fill in for a couple of days.

[moonslav59]

Gausman pitched one helluv game, that's for sure. That doesn't explain Mookie's .222 avg over the last 15 games. (with 1 HR) He's physically and mentally exhausted. Needs at least 2 days off. He doesn't get it (or a miraculous recovery) this season is history. Can one player make that big a difference? He can if he's been the spark all year. Look at the other guys that got a little rest. They came back like gangbusters. Benintendi can fill in for a couple of days.

 

As much as I hate to do it, I'd give Betts a day or two off once Beni starts. That also allows the hot Young to stay in the line-up.

[oldtimer]

As much as I hate to do it, I'd give Betts a day or two off once Beni starts. That also allows the hot Young to stay in the line-up.

 

If the cause of Bett's slump is physical then some kind of rest might help. If it's instead some kind of emotional funk, then rest may also help as just a change of scene or doing things could impact outlook. Another possible way of achieving the same kind of result would be to revise the batting order again. MOve Bett's to 3rd and Ortiz to 4th. Really, Bogaerts, Betts and Ortiz have gone through or are in slumps so it might do them all some good.