Sox hitting??

[Bellhorn04]

A 52.6 career bWAR isn't so bad.

[devildavid]

he's gritty.

 

Do you have a problem with what he does when he takes the field?

 

Look, there are Sox players I was never personally fond of but if I have to judge performance I have to concede the truth. Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, and Pedro Martinez played great baseball for the Boston Red Sox. I personally did not really like any of them at all. But baseball is a selfish sport and rewards selfish behavior. Ted Williams achieved his stated goal to become the greatest hitter who ever lived. He didn't say much about winning championships. The nature of the game is such that if you achieve personal excellence on the field you will help your team win, even if some fans think you are a bad teammate or just a plain old jerk.

[mvp 78]

Are you being facetious (as I often am)? I ask because right now Pedroia has the 4th best OWAR (1.9) on the Sox, and, despite fewer games, higher than those Beni, HanRam, and Moreland. So, right there, I would put him ahead of any of them in the lineup were it not for the fact the Beni needs to stay in LF. But I would definitely put Pedroia at DH over HanRam, Young, et al. The three higher OWAR's belong to Betts, Bogie, and JBJ, and none of them play 2b or is used as the DH.

 

I would also play him ahead of Nunez at 2b and move Nunez to SS or wherever there is a weak bat--or have Nunez DH when Pedey is at 2b.

 

The only thing not good about Pedey this year is that darn knee (or knees). Based on past years when he showed an overabundance of zeal to play hurt, it is very unlikely he is malingering this year as some want to believe. Remember that season when Ellsbury had the rib issues and barely played? That was the year Pedey was taking infield practice on his knees because that's all the trainers would allow. And it was dumb even though it was vintage Pedey.

 

Pedey is just about the only veteran Sox regular who runs out every grounder full tilt. He plays a good 2b and used to be a great 2b. He is tough on pitchers when the Sox need a good at bat or just someone to get things started. He's banged up and 33, but his OPS this year of .791 is just below his career OPS of .809.

 

Are you kidding me?

 

According to Fangraphs, he's a 0.4 OWar guy right now and behind Travis and D'Arnaud, 8th on the Sox. http://www.fangraphs.com/teams/redsox

[Slasher9]

Do you have a problem with what he does when he takes the field?

 

 

i had a huge problem with how he handled the Machado slide and how he hung his teammates out to dry. sometimes it just takes 1 action to change how you feel towards someone.

[jad]

im not sure about "big part".

Hanley has played in 121 games. 5th most on the team. well ahead of gritty pedroia and his 92 games played....

as far as i can tell...gritty pedroia missed games because his vagina was sore from throwing teammates under the bus. i dont recall seeing any ligament damage, broken bones, or concussion protocols.....

 

Hey, I don't ... Wait ... Oh, I see. Like "vagina" as in, wow, Pedroia is a WOMAN!!! You mean figuratively. And thus not tough like guys are all tough and strong? Damn. I'm exhausted. That is such a devastating put-down! And so clever. You surely don't give this stuff away, do you?

[Slasher9]

Hey, I don't ... Wait ... Oh, I see. Like "vagina" as in, wow, Pedroia is a WOMAN!!! You mean figuratively. And thus not tough like guys are all tough and strong? Damn. I'm exhausted. That is such a devastating put-down! And so clever. You surely don't give this stuff away, do you?

 

yes figuratively. thank you!

[a700hitter]

Young playing again today instead of Raji Davis. Why?

[illinoisredsox]

Young playing again today instead of Raji Davis. Why?

 

Probably because Young is 4-4 against Manaea with a double while Davis is 0-3 with 2 Ks.

 

SSS I know, but those are the numbers that exist.

[mvp 78]

@alexspeier

 

Eduardo Nunez (knee ligament sprain) out for at least another week. Are Sox confident he'll be back? Farrell: 'Too early to tell' (cont)

 

@alexspeier

 

Farrell said that Nunez's injury is not to MCL or ACL. He is doing strengthening exercises/staying mobile. Will be reevaluated in a week.

[oldtimer]

@alexspeier

 

Eduardo Nunez (knee ligament sprain) out for at least another week. Are Sox confident he'll be back? Farrell: 'Too early to tell' (cont)

 

@alexspeier

 

Farrell said that Nunez's injury is not to MCL or ACL. He is doing strengthening exercises/staying mobile. Will be reevaluated in a week.

 

This is a critical period going forward. We need to keep winning as the Yankees seem to be winning a high percentage. Nunez has been our best hitter so his loss will be felt. No Beni tonight either. Lets hope the lineup is so weakened that we can't score a few runs. At least Pedey is in the lineup.

[Kimmi]

He was called up to play 3B in 2013 after just 10 games at third in the minors. His .684 OPS was pretty decent considering the enormous pressure he was under while trying to learn a new position in the midst of a WS run. He went 8 for 27 in the playoffs with 6 BBs.

 

In 2014, he started out as our SS, but then we brought Drew back and he shifted back to 3B. He was at .816 right before starting to play 3B. He was at .815 9 days later, but then he started declining. He dipped to .627 before finishing at .660. It should be noted that Bogey went back to playing SS starting Aug 1. He was at .682 then. As I said, he ended at .660.

 

2014:

.724 as SS

.517 as 3Bman

 

2013:

.815 SS

.511 3B (but did well in WS)

 

Career:

.763 SS

.516 3B

 

Yeah, I'd say playing 3B could be considered an influence on his poor career second half numbers.

 

 

Thank you for that recap. I was specifically talking about when he was moved to 3B to make room for Drew at shortstop. I don't think he handled the move very well in terms of his ego taking a hit, but that's just my opinion.

[Kimmi]

The move to 3rd would explain 1 year (2014). It doesn't explain the other 3 full years.

 

I think oldtimer's point was that he performed poorly the 2nd half of 2014 because he typically drops off during the 2nd half, not because of the move to 3B.

[Kimmi]

Really? It doesn't feel like it. Maybe because they scored more Runs in August than either June or July. The hitting got worse (Even w/ Nunez and Devers???), but the ability to score Runs got better? f***in' figures.... This team is weird.

 

LOL They are hard to figure out, for sure.

[Kimmi]

that's because Pedroia takes time off and goes on DL for his bumps and bruises. X-Bo & HanRam play through theirs....

 

I disagree with your assertion that Pedroia is some kind of soft player, but this begs the question of whether Bogaerts and Hanley are doing their team more harm or more good trying to play through their injuries.

[Kimmi]

According to Fangraphs, he's a 0.4 OWar guy right now and behind Travis and D'Arnaud, 8th on the Sox. http://www.fangraphs.com/teams/redsox

 

This is a little misleading in terms of hitting. Pedroia's oWAR is being hurt by his terrible baserunning. I understand that baserunning is part of his overall offense, but that is where the disconnect is between his slash line and his oWAR.

[moonslav59]

Sox hitting has taken a turn for the worse in the 2nd half of the season:

 

1st half: .268/.340/.419/.759

 

2nd half: .245/.319/.387/.706

 

I really & truly thought we were going to turn things around with our offense for the second half. The, we add Devers and Nunez and still end up with much worse numbers.

 

Thank God our pitching and defense has carried us.

[devildavid]

i had a huge problem with how he handled the Machado slide and how he hung his teammates out to dry. sometimes it just takes 1 action to change how you feel towards someone.

 

But this doesn't mean he can't be a good teammate when he steps on the field or that his teammates don't believe he has their backs during game action. I get not liking players but it doesn't mean they aren't trying to help their team win.

[Larry Cook]

Mookie came alive tonight. Let's hope it is the start of a long hot streak.

[oldtimer]

Mookie came alive tonight. Let's hope it is the start of a long hot streak.

 

Yes and we had Pedey in and also Bogey had a surprising night for him. Hanley not anything. Kimmi has said, and i agree, we go nowhere without our young talent, like Betts and Bogey hitting. She included Hanley, and that would be nice, but we could work around him if the others are productive.

[SoxHop]

Really? It doesn't feel like it. Maybe because they scored more Runs in August than either June or July. The hitting got worse (Even w/ Nunez and Devers???), but the ability to score Runs got better? f***in' figures.... This team is weird.

 

I had to rehash this. I read it earlier. Emp you come up with some really good stuff. I thought this was really strange reading this...

[SoxnCycles]

Yes and we had Pedey in and also Bogey had a surprising night for him. Hanley not anything. Kimmi has said, and i agree, we go nowhere without our young talent, like Betts and Bogey hitting. She included Hanley, and that would be nice, but we could work around him if the others are productive.

 

Yeah, I've fallen into the trap, where I think "this game is their breakout game!"

If the season continues like it has previously, they'll score 2 runs tonight.

[oldtimer]

Yeah, I've fallen into the trap, where I think "this game is their breakout game!"

If the season continues like it has previously, they'll score 2 runs tonight.

 

Good pitching can make any team look weak. Our problem is that even the higher ERA average guys have often made us look weak. We have had way too many guys in protracted slumps. If Mookie is really coming out of his that is a nice step forward for us. We still have a lot of guys that need a drink of Red Bull or something. Think of:

 

JBJ

Leon

Bogey

Moreland

Hanley

Holt

Young

 

While some are not regular players and their use can be avoided, others are lineup regulars and hurt us with their ineptitude. Maybe Betts explosion last night will stimulate others going forward.

[Slasher9]

Yeah, I've fallen into the trap, where I think "this game is their breakout game!"

If the season continues like it has previously, they'll score 2 runs tonight.

 

dammit. me too....

[SoxnCycles]

Good pitching can make any team look weak. Our problem is that even the higher ERA average guys have often made us look weak. We have had way too many guys in protracted slumps. If Mookie is really coming out of his that is a nice step forward for us. We still have a lot of guys that need a drink of Red Bull or something. Think of:

 

JBJ

Leon

Bogey

Moreland

Hanley

Holt

Young

 

While some are not regular players and their use can be avoided, others are lineup regulars and hurt us with their ineptitude. Maybe Betts explosion last night will stimulate others going forward.

 

Yup, Bogearts, Moreland and Hanley are definitely hurting the team.

And it's the lack of offense against mediocre pitching that's frustrating to watch.

If they can't hit average pitching, they don't have a prayer against playoff starters, which is why I'm not real cofident in the team's ability to go very far.

 

But, maybe there is something to the "hitting is contagious" stuff.

If the offense can get going the next couple of weeks their chances in the playoff will improve.

[devildavid]

Yeah, I've fallen into the trap, where I think "this game is their breakout game!"

If the season continues like it has previously, they'll score 2 runs tonight.

 

Mookie has always done this. He has one fantastic game and we get all excited. He still needs to do this more consistently. But a lot of the young hitters are like that.

[devildavid]

Yup, Bogearts, Moreland and Hanley are definitely hurting the team.

And it's the lack of offense against mediocre pitching that's frustrating to watch.

If they can't hit average pitching, they don't have a prayer against playoff starters, which is why I'm not real cofident in the team's ability to go very far.

 

But, maybe there is something to the "hitting is contagious" stuff.

If the offense can get going the next couple of weeks their chances in the playoff will improve.

 

Moreland is not really hurting the team unless you expected more than a typical season from him. He was supposed to split time with Hanley at 1b but that did not work out.

[a700hitter]

Yup, Bogearts, Moreland and Hanley are definitely hurting the team.

And it's the lack of offense against mediocre pitching that's frustrating to watch.

If they can't hit average pitching, they don't have a prayer against playoff starters, which is why I'm not real cofident in the team's ability to go very far.

 

But, maybe there is something to the "hitting is contagious" stuff.

If the offense can get going the next couple of weeks their chances in the playoff will improve.

Unlike in past years, where the team could always battle and often beat premium pitchers, this group looks helpless against top pitchers.

[S5Dewey]

Yup, Bogearts, Moreland and Hanley are definitely hurting the team.

And it's the lack of offense against mediocre pitching that's frustrating to watch.

If they can't hit average pitching, they don't have a prayer against playoff starters, which is why I'm not real cofident in the team's ability to go very far.

 

But, maybe there is something to the "hitting is contagious" stuff.

If the offense can get going the next couple of weeks their chances in the playoff will improve.

 

I don't believe that hitting is contagious game to game, but I do believe that it can be contagious AB to AB.

 

The thing I've always wondered about is whether that's because of the adrenaline of the hitters or if it's because the pitcher loses his focus and gives up better pitches to hit. Or a combination of the two.

[devildavid]

Unlike in past years, where the team could always battle and often beat premium pitchers, this group looks helpless against top pitchers.

 

Maybe they had better hitters than this team.

[mvp 78]

Maybe they had better hitters than this team.

 

Only real difference is Ortiz vs Moreland.