Sox hitting??

[Bellhorn04]

Mookie leads the team with 13 HR's, 10 of which have been solo shots. Betts should be put in a position where more of these could drive in more runs. Leadoff is not that position.

 

Moreland has 12 HR's, 8 solo shots and 4 2 run HR's. Not much difference.

 

Last night Mookie had runners on in front of him all night. Looks like 7 total.

[cp176]

Mookie leads the team with 13 HR's, 10 of which have been solo shots. Betts should be put in a position where more of these could drive in more runs. Leadoff is not that position.

 

it would be one thing if the back end of our lineup looked like they could maybe get on base just a little more in the event of Mookie coming up after them. I believe that he should be in the third position in our batting order.

[Bellhorn04]

What folks seem to forget is that we've been scoring significantly more runs since Farrell moved Mookie from third in the lineup to leadoff in early May, and you could look it up.

[devildavid]

Moreland has 12 HR's, 8 solo shots and 4 2 run HR's. Not much difference.

 

Last night Mookie had runners on in front of him all night. Looks like 7 total.

 

The leadoff spot starts every game with zero runners on base. Mookie is a top power bat, and not the top OBP bat for this team.

[cp176]

What folks seem to forget is that we've been scoring significantly more runs since Farrell moved Mookie from third in the lineup to leadoff in early May, and you could look it up.

 

If Mookie is actually hitting, we would score more with him hitting third. I have no stats to back this statement up.

[Bellhorn04]

Here you go, folks.

 

Up until May 5 Mookie was hitting 3rd. Since May 6 he's been hitting leadoff.

 

Up until May 5 we scored 110 runs in 29 games, or 3.79 per game.

Since May 6 we've scored 267 runs in 51 games, or 5.24 per game.

[Bellhorn04]

The leadoff spot starts every game with zero runners on base.

 

Absolutely true. But the flip side is that the leadoff spot will get the most plate appearances of anyone.

[S5Dewey]

Mookie does seem to do it all. I like having him lead off because he can set the tone for the entire game with a big hit. And, as Bell said, he gets more AB's than anyone on the team when batting 1st.

 

One of the things that could help this team a lot would be if our 7-8-9 guys can get on base for him. They did a nice job last night and look what happened!

[devildavid]

Mookie has had 35% of his plate appearances with runners on base. Moreland has had 48%. I would like to increase Mookie's chances to hit with men on base. Moving him to third or fourth in the batting order should do that.

[Bellhorn04]

Mookie has had 35% of his plate appearances with runners on base. Moreland has had 48%. I would like to increase Mookie's chances to hit with men on base. Moving him to third or fourth in the batting order should do that.

 

Did you not see the difference in team runs when he moved from third to first?

 

I guarantee you Farrell and the team staff have analyzed a lot more numbers on this than any of us have.

[Bellhorn04]

Mookie does seem to do it all. I like having him lead off because he can set the tone for the entire game with a big hit. And, as Bell said, he gets more AB's than anyone on the team when batting 1st.

 

He's a multi-faceted player and that's the key.

[devildavid]

Did you not see the difference in team runs when he moved from third to first?

 

I guarantee you Farrell and the team staff have analyzed a lot more numbers on this than any of us have.

 

Moving Mookie to leadoff is not the cause of increased run production. If Mookie produced the same numbers from the three hole it would also lead to increased scoring. Can't Mookie hit for power batting third? How does batting leadoff change Mookie's power production?

[S5Dewey]

Moving Mookie to leadoff is not the cause of increased run production. If Mookie produced the same numbers from the three hole it would also lead to increased scoring. Can't Mookie hit for power batting third? How does batting leadoff change Mookie's power production?

 

I hear you, but Mookie helps everyone below him in the order. If he is batting 3rd he's not batting first and not being on base for that #3 hitter. Is it better for him to be getting on base as the #1 guy and having the #3 come up with someone on base, or having him hit in the 3-hole and come up with nobody on base?

[Bellhorn04]

Moving Mookie to leadoff is not the cause of increased run production. If Mookie produced the same numbers from the three hole it would also lead to increased scoring. Can't Mookie hit for power batting third? How does batting leadoff change Mookie's power production?

 

Like I say, Farrell and the team studies the numbers more than we do and the team is scoring a lot more runs since they moved Mookie from third to first.

 

If you want to be one of the armchair tinkerers who thinks they know better than the team suit yourself.

[S5Dewey]

..and in something not related to this thread....

It's 3 hours 'til game time and there's no Game Thread yet! Is Sox Hope shirking his duty of keeping his mojo going? :-)

 

For you non-fans of John Farrell, he's not going to be at the game today. He's in KC watching his son pitch his first ML game. Whether we like Farrell as a manager or not, we can still hope for the best for his son today. Some things transcend his ability to manage.

[SoxHop]

..and in something not related to this thread....

It's 3 hours 'til game time and there's no Game Thread yet! Is Sox Hope shirking his duty of keeping his mojo going? :-)

 

For you non-fans of John Farrell, he's not going to be at the game today. He's in KC watching his son pitch his first ML game. Whether we like Farrell as a manager or not, we can still hope for the best for his son today. Some things transcend his ability to manage.

 

 

dude........ the game thread isn't mine..... it's d-moneys.......

 

oh forget it...... I'll do it..

 

Farrell's not at the game today........... peoples mind will explode if we lose this....

[moonslav59]

We've made it to the top half in runs scored:

 

449 HOU

447 WSH

445 NYY

428 LAD

422 AZ

416 COL

398 SEA

397 TEX

395 TBR

394 MIL

385 CIN

385 NYM

377 BOS

We're 22 runs from 7th place.

 

We're 5th in OBP at .338 (just .010 from 1st)

 

We are 19th in SLG (.417), which is .007 from the top half of the leaague despite ranking 26th in HRs with just 80. We'd need 18 more HRs to be 15th in MLB.

[moonslav59]

Sox OPS leaders:

 

.860 JBJ - taking a commanding lead

.840 Betts- needs to get hot

.826 Bogey- hanging tough

.818 Moreland- might need some more rest

(.808 Travis in 33 PAs)

.782 Beni- I'd like to see him get over .800

.768 HRam- needs to get over .800

.746 Pedroia

.734 Young

.700 Vaz

.695 Leon

 

.622 Pablo

.558 Rutledge

.552 Marrero

(What a putrid trio of 3Bmen offensively)

 

[Bellhorn04]

Sox OPS leaders:

 

.860 JBJ - taking a commanding lead

.840 Betts- needs to get hot

.826 Bogey- hanging tough

.818 Moreland- might need some more rest

(.808 Travis in 33 PAs)

.782 Beni- I'd like to see him get over .800

.768 HRam- needs to get over .800

.746 Pedroia

.734 Young

.700 Vaz

.695 Leon

 

.622 Pablo

.558 Rutledge

.552 Marrero

(What a putrid trio of 3Bmen offensively)

 

 

20 points is not a commanding lead when it comes to OPS.

[moonslav59]

20 points is not a commanding lead when it comes to OPS.

 

True. It could be gone in a game or two.

 

Bad choice of words.

[Nick]

We've made it to the top half in runs scored:

 

449 HOU

447 WSH

445 NYY

428 LAD

422 AZ

416 COL

398 SEA

397 TEX

395 TBR

394 MIL

385 CIN

385 NYM

377 BOS

We're 22 runs from 7th place.

 

We're 5th in OBP at .338 (just .010 from 1st)

 

We are 19th in SLG (.417), which is .007 from the top half of the leaague despite ranking 26th in HRs with just 80. We'd need 18 more HRs to be 15th in MLB.

 

I'd like to see a stat by each team, how many different run differential games are won or lost. Losing a 7-8 game gives us very rosy run production picture but we lost. On the other hand, winning 1-0 shows us as being bad offensively. So anyone out there with tons of free time? Analyze games won by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Then analyze games lost by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Where do good teams fall? Bad teams. Is it simply that 'good' teams have more +1, +2 run differential games than 'bad' teams?

 

I thought Kansas City had been outscored this year but has a winning record? I'm not sure gross runs scored means winning.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Nick

[oldtimer]

We seem to be seeing an ebb and flow of hitting on by various players on the Sox and I believe it is the managers job to use the guys who are hot and who can hit lefties or righties to maximize our run production without giving up too much defense. Our pitching has been solid and may still improve, so if we can score at least a few a game we are in it.

 

By ebb and flow I am referring to a guy like JBJ. There were a lot of unhappy fans calling for his trade early in the year. Others advocated more patience, since he had hit before and was so good defensively. I was concerned about his long loopig swing. Now his swing looks better and he may just be the hottest hitter on the team. We will hear more about moving him up in the lineup.

 

Handley is another one who was being heavily criticized for attitude, overstated injuries and lack of production. Some realized he miht be our only hitter with true power potential and one whose contract dictated we should be patient. Lately there are signs of he too coming around.

 

Bogey has great potential as a hitter but has looked somewhat lost at the plate and it may just be physical and/or mental fatigue. He was given a day off yesterday but it may take more, erhaps the all star break to get him going. Last year he also had a bit of a swoon so it may well be just fatigue of some sort.

 

Moreland was our most productive hitter for a while but he too has looked tired and a little off at the plate. He also has difficulty with left handed pitching. It is probably good to sit him against lefties and give him a rest now and again. He is now in his 30's so a little rest is a good idea. Too bad Travis hasn't been producing, but he has a history of being a good minor league hitter and may come through.

 

I think Betts is okay although i would move him in the lineup to an RBI position. What I noticced about him was his propensity to hit the ball into the big part of center field making loud outs. He seems to be doing a better job of hitting to all fields and it may pay off in both total hits and HR's.

 

Beni infrequently pulls the ball these days, preferring to hit into left field. His power has disappeared since he has done that and I believe he would be better served to go with the pitch. He has the potential to be a 300 hitter and needs to continue to make adjustments at the plate to help the team.

 

I liked JF's idea of stacking the lineup against lefty or righty starting pitching. He gives the team an advantage by doing that and is able to rest some players who need it at the half season mark. We are fortunate to have good back up defensive players so little is lost by stacking.

 

Here we are in first place. That doesn't mean we should become complacent. We still need to deal with the 3rd base issue and we probably need another relief pitcher. I look forward to watching this team make progress in the second half.

[Nick]

I'd like to see a stat by each team, how many different run differential games are won or lost. Losing a 7-8 game gives us very rosy run production picture but we lost. On the other hand, winning 1-0 shows us as being bad offensively. So anyone out there with tons of free time? Analyze games won by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Then analyze games lost by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Where do good teams fall? Bad teams. Is it simply that 'good' teams have more +1, +2 run differential games than 'bad' teams?

 

I thought Kansas City had been outscored this year but has a winning record? I'm not sure gross run scored means winning.

 

Ok, I will have a conversation with myself. Take a quick look at Sox/Yankees comparison. According to Moon, Yanks have outscored us by 68 runs despite having played 2 less games. Yet we led by a full game before today's games.

 

Here are the records of two teams by run differentials.

 

Sox Evil Empire

 

1 11-8 9-15

2 16-15 13-18 (cumulative, +1 and +2 combined)

3 28-23 17-25 (cumulative +1, +2, +3 combined)

4 33-24 22-30 (cumulative, +1 through +4 combined)

5+ 12-11 21-5

 

Basically we won with pitching. We are 33-24 in games decided by 4 runs or less, Yankees are 22-30. Yankees have out hit their way to 21-5 record in games decided by 5 runs or more. Sox are only 12-11.

 

This makes sense as to why the Yankees have outscored us by a ton yet trail the Sox in standings. Yankees need pitching.

 

DD was right in trading for Sale and passing on Encarnacion during the off season. You can't fault him for trading for Thornburg either. Pitching still wins championships. Brilliant.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Nick

[Kimmi]

It's possible that having a guy like Ortiz takes a little pressure off some of the other hitters and keeps them from trying to do too much.

 

That is a fair point.

[Kimmi]

Moving Mookie to leadoff is not the cause of increased run production. If Mookie produced the same numbers from the three hole it would also lead to increased scoring. Can't Mookie hit for power batting third? How does batting leadoff change Mookie's power production?

 

Mookie should not be batting 3rd. The 3rd hitter comes up far too often with 2 outs and no men on. It's better that he comes up with 0 outs and no men on.

 

I would not have a problem moving him to clean up.

[Kimmi]

Like I say, Farrell and the team studies the numbers more than we do and the team is scoring a lot more runs since they moved Mookie from third to first.

 

If you want to be one of the armchair tinkerers who thinks they know better than the team suit yourself.

 

We do like to 'tinker' with the line up, despite the fact that the tinkering makes very little difference.

[Kimmi]

I'd like to see a stat by each team, how many different run differential games are won or lost. Losing a 7-8 game gives us very rosy run production picture but we lost. On the other hand, winning 1-0 shows us as being bad offensively. So anyone out there with tons of free time? Analyze games won by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Then analyze games lost by run differential of 1, 2, 3 etc. Where do good teams fall? Bad teams. Is it simply that 'good' teams have more +1, +2 run differential games than 'bad' teams?

 

I thought Kansas City had been outscored this year but has a winning record? I'm not sure gross runs scored means winning.

 

Run differential, in all of its simplicity, is actually a pretty good indicator of how good a team has been, and it doesn't matter really matter if a good bit of that run differential comes in a handful of games where a team scored 10+ runs.

 

The closer the score of the game, the more the outcome is due to luck or randomness. A team's record in one run games will tell you very little.

 

A team's record in blowout games (5+ runs) will give you a better indication of how good a team is, or at least how well they've been playing.

 

It pains me to say that the Yankees should have a better record than us, but it doesn't pain me the least bit that they don't.

[Kimmi]

We seem to be seeing an ebb and flow of hitting on by various players on the Sox and I believe it is the managers job to use the guys who are hot and who can hit lefties or righties to maximize our run production without giving up too much defense. Our pitching has been solid and may still improve, so if we can score at least a few a game we are in it.

 

By ebb and flow I am referring to a guy like JBJ. There were a lot of unhappy fans calling for his trade early in the year. Others advocated more patience, since he had hit before and was so good defensively. I was concerned about his long loopig swing. Now his swing looks better and he may just be the hottest hitter on the team. We will hear more about moving him up in the lineup.

 

Handley is another one who was being heavily criticized for attitude, overstated injuries and lack of production. Some realized he miht be our only hitter with true power potential and one whose contract dictated we should be patient. Lately there are signs of he too coming around.

 

Bogey has great potential as a hitter but has looked somewhat lost at the plate and it may just be physical and/or mental fatigue. He was given a day off yesterday but it may take more, erhaps the all star break to get him going. Last year he also had a bit of a swoon so it may well be just fatigue of some sort.

 

Moreland was our most productive hitter for a while but he too has looked tired and a little off at the plate. He also has difficulty with left handed pitching. It is probably good to sit him against lefties and give him a rest now and again. He is now in his 30's so a little rest is a good idea. Too bad Travis hasn't been producing, but he has a history of being a good minor league hitter and may come through.

 

I think Betts is okay although i would move him in the lineup to an RBI position. What I noticced about him was his propensity to hit the ball into the big part of center field making loud outs. He seems to be doing a better job of hitting to all fields and it may pay off in both total hits and HR's.

 

Beni infrequently pulls the ball these days, preferring to hit into left field. His power has disappeared since he has done that and I believe he would be better served to go with the pitch. He has the potential to be a 300 hitter and needs to continue to make adjustments at the plate to help the team.

 

I liked JF's idea of stacking the lineup against lefty or righty starting pitching. He gives the team an advantage by doing that and is able to rest some players who need it at the half season mark. We are fortunate to have good back up defensive players so little is lost by stacking.

 

Here we are in first place. That doesn't mean we should become complacent. We still need to deal with the 3rd base issue and we probably need another relief pitcher. I look forward to watching this team make progress in the second half.

 

No, we should not become complacent, and I don't think Dombrowski will be. OTOH, I think your post emphasizes the point that we must be patient. The team cannot make a 'panic' move every time a player or the team goes into a little slide. Ebb and flow is a reality of pretty much every player and every team throughout the long season. Patience.

[moonslav59]

I agree on not panicking.

 

I do think we need to make a minor trade or two, like we did with Ziegler last year.

Edited July 2, 2017 by moonslav59

[Emp9]

Mookie should not be batting 3rd. The 3rd hitter comes up far too often with 2 outs and no men on. It's better that he comes up with 0 outs and no men on.

 

I would not have a problem moving him to clean up.

 

0 men on base, he can only drive himself in. Tragic waste of resources