Sox hitting??

[cp176]

If the Sox can't afford to pay market rate for a younger-than-normal FA stud, then who can?

 

Our problem is we have too many becoming FAs within a 2 year span. We should be able to keep 2 or 3 out of our big 4 (Betts, Sale, JBJ & Bogey) but probably not all 4.

 

 

 

Sale and Betts I get. The other two - no rush there. if we can't sign them, ho hum. They are replaceable.

[BstHcpr]

Sale and Betts I get. The other two - no rush there. if we can't sign them, ho hum. They are replaceable.

 

Betts and Sale AAV's are going to be $35 million or more. I'd bet one of them signs elsewhere.

[BstHcpr]

If the Sox can't afford to pay market rate for a younger-than-normal FA stud, then who can?

 

Our problem is we have too many becoming FAs within a 2 year span. We should be able to keep 2 or 3 out of our big 4 (Betts, Sale, JBJ & Bogey) but probably not all 4.

 

 

Teams that don't throw away $70 million dollars annually on Hanley Ramirez, David Price, and Pablo Sandoval.

[BstHcpr]

I shouldn't even say throw away, because those players were almost in the same boat as the players (save for Betts) we're discussing now three years ago.

[moonslav59]

Sale and betts are must signs.

 

I think bogey and Bradley are represented by boras and while we have had a good relationship with boras, they will still be difficult signings.

 

Maybe price opts out and makes this a non issue.

 

A Price opt-out would be a game-changer.

 

I'm not super high on Bogey, but he still won't be easily replaced. (Chatham?)

 

Losing JBJ would hurt very badly.

[sk7326]

A Price opt-out would be a game-changer.

 

I'm not super high on Bogey, but he still won't be easily replaced. (Chatham?)

 

Losing JBJ would hurt very badly.

 

The Red Sox have a Top 5 CF playing to Bradley's left right now. It will be hard to find a RF as good as Betts defensively, but it is possible to find a quality bat there.

[moonslav59]

The Red Sox have a Top 5 CF playing to Bradley's left right now. It will be hard to find a RF as good as Betts defensively, but it is possible to find a quality bat there.

 

True, but then you lose a GG RF'er's defense in a park that screams for one.

 

It won't be easy finding a replacement for JBJ. I hope we can find a wayt o keep him, despite who his agent is, but there is a cut-off on his value.

[oldtimer]

Young just homered again along with a double.I think Kimmi and I preached forebearance with him as a good fielder and a decent hitter for a ultility outfielder. He certainly is coming through today. Fister has gone 5 and we have a 3 run lead. Hope JF will take Fister out at the first sign of weakness.

[moonslav59]

Young has been one of MLB's best hitters vs LHPs over the significant sample size of 2014 to 2016.

 

A half a season of poor hitting vs lefties is not enough to give up on him, especially while he has been hitting righties better than he has in the last 3 years.

 

I've always thought Young was a perfect fit for this team both as support for Beni in LF vs LHPs and Moreland at 1B (DH as HRam slides to 1B) vs LHPs.

 

I hope today stops the nonsense about cutting him.

 

(Note: Seattle just picked up Alonso.)

[moonslav59]

Young is 33 (will be 34 in Sept), isn't hitting lefties this year, and is a washed up piece of crap. Brentz made adjustments (isn't the same hitter as last year) and is raking against lefties (over 1.000 OPS against lefties in AAA). I'm not sure why it is taking the Red Sox so long to make this move; though, as someone pointed out, Brentz probably gets called up in Sept when the rosters expand and will be given a shot to replace Young at that time. I would make the move now since we are fighting for the division and need to improve offensive output against lefties.

 

I couldn't resist going back and finding a post like this.

 

(Sorry it ended up being yours FSB. I'm sure there are plenty of others out there.)

[Jasonbay44]

I couldn't resist going back and finding a post like this.

 

(Sorry it ended up being yours FSB. I'm sure there are plenty of others out there.)

There has been dozens of posts like this about Young. I don't understand it. Young is our 4th OF and doesn't make or break the team. He's a good clubhouse guy and its a very difficult job to be thrown in 1-2 times week and be expected to produce. He's fine as our 4th OF.

[Larry Cook]

Seems like when a lineup is working and jelling, you get contributions from different guys most every night.

 

I do not know if we are at that level yet, but I know that I do not dread Nunez and devers having a "zero fer" night as much now.

 

I would still love to see mookie get hot.

[moonslav59]

Seems like when a lineup is working and jelling, you get contributions from different guys most every night.

 

I do not know if we are at that level yet, but I know that I do not dread Nunez and devers having a "zero fer" night as much now.

 

I would still love to see mookie get hot.

 

I firmly believe Mookie is going to get red hot at some point. Maybe he's saving it for the playoffs-- like "clutch" players do.

[moonslav59]

There has been dozens of posts like this about Young. I don't understand it. Young is our 4th OF and doesn't make or break the team. He's a good clubhouse guy and its a very difficult job to be thrown in 1-2 times week and be expected to produce. He's fine as our 4th OF.

 

I never understood the negativity either. It's not like Young was hitting under .650 like some of our players have been for long stretches.

 

I tried to see the positive: he was hitting righties very well. I hoped that would continue while his skill ve LHPs would manifest itself shortly. It took a while longer than any of us wished, but maybe this is what we've been waiting for and then some.

[Larry Cook]

I firmly believe Mookie is going to get red hot at some point. Maybe he's saving it for the playoffs-- like "clutch" players do.

 

Is mookie a clutch hitter or a guy who needs to see the ball well to order to get the confidence going.?

[moonslav59]

Is mookie a clutch hitter or a guy who needs to see the ball well to order to get the confidence going.?

 

Maybe he just needs "protection"...LOL (I couldn't resist.)

 

I don't think it's lack of confidence. Maybe there's something with is mechanics. Maybe he's pressing too hard.

 

I have confidence he will make the necessary adjustment(s) and get red hot soon.

[S5Dewey]

Is mookie a clutch hitter or a guy who needs to see the ball well to order to get the confidence going.?

 

Unless you believe in "clutch" that's a poor choice. Has it been statistically proven that a player's confidence affects his hitting?

[moonslav59]

When you don't play much like Young, one's numbers can be skewed by one bad streak (or one good one). One game can make a big difference.

 

Young's OPS just went from .706 to .760 after today's monster game.

 

Sox updated OPS leaders:

 

1.034 Devers

.807 Nunez (2 teams) 1.225 with the Sox

.805 Betts

.791 Pedey

.775 Beni

.766 JBJ

.760 Young

.756 Moreland

.740 Bogey

.701 Vaz

.692 Leon

.508 Holt

 

Young was never the problem, even at .706.

[sk7326]

True, but then you lose a GG RF'er's defense in a park that screams for one.

 

It won't be easy finding a replacement for JBJ. I hope we can find a wayt o keep him, despite who his agent is, but there is a cut-off on his value.

 

Oh sure - but then again, Bradley is 8th in the majors in DRS - which is pretty good ... Lorenzo Cain territory, but other guys have had better seasons. Betts by any metric has been the dominant defensive outfielder in the league.

[Kimmi]

Young just homered again along with a double.I think Kimmi and I preached forebearance with him as a good fielder and a decent hitter for a ultility outfielder. He certainly is coming through today. Fister has gone 5 and we have a 3 run lead. Hope JF will take Fister out at the first sign of weakness.

 

It was really nice to see Young have a great game like that. As many have mentioned, it can't be easy keeping your timing right when you're not playing every day. For a 4th outfielder, he is fine.

[Kimmi]

There has been dozens of posts like this about Young. I don't understand it. Young is our 4th OF and doesn't make or break the team. He's a good clubhouse guy and its a very difficult job to be thrown in 1-2 times week and be expected to produce. He's fine as our 4th OF.

 

It's like I read your mind. LOL

[Kimmi]

Maybe he just needs "protection"...LOL (I couldn't resist.)

 

I don't think it's lack of confidence. Maybe there's something with is mechanics. Maybe he's pressing too hard.

 

I have confidence he will make the necessary adjustment(s) and get red hot soon.

 

I think that with the absence of Papi, some of our guys tried to do too much. Mookie being one of them, Hanley being another.

 

I worry about a lot of things. Mookie Betts is not one of them.

[fxkatt]

Where can one find the RISP ave. for players? Or has that been replaced with one of the new metrics--which are beyond me.

 

This was so simple and so important in terms of "clutch" hitting. But it seems to have vanished. What metric has displaced it? I guess I'll have to try to learn it some day when I got a clear noggin.

[harmony]

Where can one find the RISP ave. for players? Or has that been replaced with one of the new metrics--which are beyond me.

 

This was so simple and so important in terms of "clutch" hitting. But it seems to have vanished. What metric has displaced it? I guess I'll have to try to learn it some day when I got a clear noggin.

Go down to Bases Occupied:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=BOS&year=2017

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=bettsmo01&year=2017&t=b

[moonslav59]

Oh sure - but then again, Bradley is 8th in the majors in DRS - which is pretty good ... Lorenzo Cain territory, but other guys have had better seasons. Betts by any metric has been the dominant defensive outfielder in the league.

 

I'll never argue JBJ is better than Betts on deffense, but with a park like Fenway, having JBJ and Betts id CF and RF puts us at a huge advantage on defense. Even on the road, I'm not sure any team has a better one-two defensive punch at those key positions.

 

Yes, we can replace JBJ with some other FA, but most FAs will be about the same age as JBJ, and if they are close to him in skill level, they will be just as costly.

 

I'd like to lock up Betts and JBJ as long as the numbers aren't way way over board. Bogey is my "one man out", if I had to choose, and I think we will, if we want to keep Chris Sale around.

[Kimmi]

I don't know about locking them up, but I really love their 1-2 defensive punch in the outfield.

[moonslav59]

I don't know about locking them up, but I really love their 1-2 defensive punch in the outfield.

 

I'll certainly understand, if the price is too high. I'd hate to lose these two. Same with Sale, but locking up SP'ers long term after a certain age is riskier.

[fxkatt]

Go down to Bases Occupied:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=BOS&year=2017

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=bettsmo01&year=2017&t=b

 

Thanks! That's some reference. The one thing I didn't get is why or how Mookie has two RISP lines, one high and one low. The high one starts with 67 games, the other with 107 games??? Did his RISP actually drop from .404 to .223 over 40 more games, and how could he have an additional 185 RISP at bats in 40 more games??? I'm missing something.

[moonslav59]

Thanks! That's some reference. The one thing I didn't get is why or how Mookie has two RISP lines, one high and one low. The high one starts with 67 games, the other with 107 games??? Did his RISP actually drop from .404 to .223 over 40 more games, and how could he have an additional 185 RISP at bats in 40 more games??? I'm missing something.

 

No, the first line is RISP

 

The second line titled "---" is all his combined PAs with no men on base.

 

The third line , "men on base" is all the combined opportunities with any man on any base with any amount of outs.

 

Betts has 110 PAs with RISP

190 with men on base

311 with no men on base (one big downfall with putting a very good hitter up first)

 

He hits .404 with RISP.

 

He's hit .223 with no men on base (.296 OBP- another reason not to have him lead off)

 

He's hit .348 with men on base.

[harmony]

Thanks! That's some reference. The one thing I didn't get is why or how Mookie has two RISP lines, one high and one low. The high one starts with 67 games, the other with 107 games??? Did his RISP actually drop from .404 to .223 over 40 more games, and how could he have an additional 185 RISP at bats in 40 more games??? I'm missing something.

I am not sure but I think Mookie Betts has come up to bat with no one on base 311 times in 107 games (and up to batter with runners in scoring position 190 times in 90 games). The 311 and 190 plate appearances combine to match his 501 plate appearances for the season.

 

The 2017 American League splits are not so pronounced:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=AL&year=2017

 

Moon beat me to it again.

Edited August 7, 2017 by harmony