Sox to hire Alex Cora as manager

[mvp 78]

816 OPS pre injury, 661 after.

[oldtimer]

He was noticeably injured last season. How would having an injured hand not affect his consistency?

 

While his injured hand/wrist had to have an impact, he still took balls down the middle early and couldn't recognize the slider down and away. I am hoping that different coaching will help him, but he has to listen and change. Not every player is disposed to do that. Its like alcohol addiction, first you have to admit you have a problem and then you can start to solve it. At his size and past cntact rate, he should be able to improve, but will he? Big question.

[a700hitter]

He was noticeably injured last season. How would having an injured hand not affect his consistency?

Agreed, but in years when he has been healthy he has also been very inconsistent shifting between the slapping to RF hitch swing and a smoother power stroke That is why I am concerned.

[cp176]

It might be the hardest pitch to recognize but if you have had any success at all in the bigs and you can't recognize a slider wherever it is pitched - ridiculous.

[moonslav59]

Recognizing a slider is important, but using your wrists to adjust is a big part of the split second process.

 

I wouldn't assume Bogey will continue having difficulty hitting the slider. He was doing fine in previous seasons.

[a700hitter]

Recognizing a slider is important, but using your wrists to adjust is a big part of the split second process.

 

I wouldn't assume Bogey will continue having difficulty hitting the slider. He was doing fine in previous seasons.

He did fine with the slider when he is in slap mode -- which is a strange looking swing an much different from his power stroke. It is not just an adjustment with his wrists. I his case it is a hitch. My recollection is that U.N. also noticed it and found it odd. So, yes he can be successful with the slider if he is happy being a .280 slap hitter. if he is looking to hit for power, he will have trouble with the slider.

[moonslav59]

He did fine with the slider when he is in slap mode -- which is a strange looking swing an much different from his power stroke. It is not just an adjustment with his wrists. I his case it is a hitch. My recollection is that U.N. also noticed it and found it odd. So, yes he can be successful with the slider if he is happy being a .280 slap hitter. if he is looking to hit for power, he will have trouble with the slider.

 

Let's see how healthy wrists help Bogey with sliders.

 

I'm not assuming greatness or weakness. I'm just saying give it time.

 

By the way, when was it, exactly, that Bogey switched his approach from slap to power, or are you suggesting he's about to enter that phase?

 

[a700hitter]

Let's see how healthy wrists help Bogey with sliders.

 

I'm not assuming greatness or weakness. I'm just saying give it time.

 

By the way, when was it, exactly, that Bogey switched his approach from slap to power, or are you suggesting he's about to enter that phase?

 

I am hopeful that last years problems were due to the bad wrists. I expect marginal improvement by him and better power numbers in 2018, but I don't expect a break out season.

[sk7326]

He did fine with the slider when he is in slap mode -- which is a strange looking swing an much different from his power stroke. It is not just an adjustment with his wrists. I his case it is a hitch. My recollection is that U.N. also noticed it and found it odd. So, yes he can be successful with the slider if he is happy being a .280 slap hitter. if he is looking to hit for power, he will have trouble with the slider.

 

What is interesting is in 2015, he figured out how to slap it. The next level - which he showed flashes of in 2016 - is laying off of them and getting something to drive. Ultimately, these sorts of injuries while small have shown to have a pretty pernicious effect over the season. Whether it be Chavis on the farm or Bryce Harper in the show - I could see just being able to get some rest having real impact.

[sk7326]

I am hoping that it was just an injury issue.

 

I am confident it was mostly that ... that specific injury is so damaging to hitters.

[Kimmi]

Imagine how good his rep will be once he's actually managed..

 

Dude is undefeated as a Red Sox manager. Put him in the Hall!

[Kimmi]

All you guys sleep on Xander. X gonna give it to ya this year.

 

I agree.

[moonslav59]

Some of the early talk on Bogey was that he was going to "fill in" and maybe even outgrow the SS position. Some expected plus power that has never really materialized.

 

I'm fine with him never being a power hitter. I've often suggest he should lead off or hit second, even if just against lefties.

 

Although he declined last year, his OBP was just .001 worse than Betts, who was 3rd on the team. He was .373 vs lefties last year and career .384.

[cp176]

Some of the early talk on Bogey was that he was going to "fill in" and maybe even outgrow the SS position. Some expected plus power that has never really materialized.

 

I'm fine with him never being a power hitter. I've often suggest he should lead off or hit second, even if just against lefties.

 

Although he declined last year, his OBP was just .001 worse than Betts, who was 3rd on the team. He was .373 vs lefties last year and career .384.

 

So am I hearing you say that you don't agree with Coach Cora with respect to the lefty righty thing? You stop that.

[moonslav59]

So am I hearing you say that you don't agree with Coach Cora with respect to the lefty righty thing? You stop that.

 

I'm not sure what Cora's position is, but I've never been for making a line-up into a lefty, then righty thing. I'd prefer going with the best hitters, which I think Cora wants.

 

I do think it's a good idea to adjust the line-up to move guys up who do very well vs righties or lefties. If Cora is against that, then I guess I disagree, but that doesn't mean I think I'm smarter or dislike Cora.

 

I liked his hiring. I liked the JF firing.

 

I like our direction.

[mvp 78]

@redsoxstats

 

Cora says Martinez will bat 3rd or 4th. Hopefully not 3rd, where he'd bat a lot with 0 on and 2 outs. You bat him 4th where he will hit in the first with a runner, or leading off the 2nd with 0 outs where it's easier to start a rally.

 

 

@alexspeier

 

Red Sox' No. 3 hitter batted with bases empty, two outs 161 times last year. That split by Sox batting order position in 2017:

 

1 - 86

2 - 74

3 - 161

4 - 81

5 - 77

6 - 107

7 - 87

8 - 93

9 - 87

 

PAs w/RISP:

1 - 163

2 - 184

3 - 200

4 - 218

5 - 196

6 - 168

7 - 176

8 - 164

9 - 165

[Emp9]

I’ve read that Cora wants to influence more fly balls and adapt to a more launch-angle heavy type of offense. IMHO, now that we have JD (who is all about adjusting his Swing for best launch-angle), I doubt how effective this approach would be if EVERY batter in our lineup did this. For as many batters this could help, it could hurt some too. For example, I don’t think Betts, Beni, or Bogey need to change their swings much at all if any (not to say Bogey’s needs a bit of work going by last season, Beni cld even out his splits as well). On the other hand, I think it could over-all help guys like HR, JBJ, Moreland, and in the long run Devers. In my view, having JD as a long awaited Papi replacement in the lineup (what we were missing last season) could be all this offense needed. Sox had the #1 offense in MLB that last year w/ Ortiz. Guys simply got on base for the most part and it worked.

 

But the Cora approach I DO like, is being more aggresive on pitches a batter likes, regardless of the count. A lot of us on here have been clamoring for this approach for years. The patience approach to wait out the SP did work for many years but not any more. And of course, this can vary from match-up to match-up. But, Over-all... team’s BPs are too good for this to be the macro-strategy.

 

I don’t think we have to worry about Cora and some written in stone Lefty-Righty approach for the sake of having a Lefty-Righty approach. So that’s good.

[Emp9]

@redsoxstats

 

Cora says Martinez will bat 3rd or 4th. Hopefully not 3rd, where he'd bat a lot with 0 on and 2 outs. You bat him 4th where he will hit in the first with a runner, or leading off the 2nd with 0 outs where it's easier to start a rally.

 

 

@alexspeier

 

Red Sox' No. 3 hitter batted with bases empty, two outs 161 times last year. That split by Sox batting order position in 2017:

 

1 - 86

2 - 74

3 - 161

4 - 81

5 - 77

6 - 107

7 - 87

8 - 93

9 - 87

 

PAs w/RISP:

1 - 163

2 - 184

3 - 200

4 - 218

5 - 196

6 - 168

7 - 176

8 - 164

9 - 165

 

But doesn’t the 2nd most w/ RISP even all that out? I would think to a degree it does. Regardless, I’d consider HanRam for #3 spot because... SOMEONE has to bat 3rd. It’d be his spot to lose anyway.

[mvp 78]

But doesn’t the 2nd most w/ RISP even all that out? I would think to a degree it does. Regardless, I’d consider HanRam for #3 spot because... SOMEONE has to bat 3rd. It’d be his spot to lose anyway.

 

I would say probably not since the greater disparity of the first item is probably a little more important.

[Emp9]

I would say probably not since the greater disparity of the first item is probably a little more important.

 

I’d like to see the numbers w/ simply men-on, but I digress. I’d definitely bat JD 4th, no question. And not just due to his ability to hit HRs. He’s just a fantastic hitter all around. I’m really excited having him on board. With a little luck, we can have an uptick in production from most of our team from last season since there was some regression by everyone besides Vaz. Who would you bat 3rd mvp?

[Bellhorn04]

I’d like to see the numbers w/ simply men-on, but I digress. I’d definitely bat JD 4th, no question. And not just due to his ability to hit HRs. He’s just a fantastic hitter all around. I’m really excited having him on board. With a little luck, we can have an uptick in production from most of our team from last season since there was some regression by everyone besides Vaz. Who would you bat 3rd mvp?

 

If I could jump in here, based on what Kimmi has said in the past, you should probably have your 5th-best hitter in the #3 spot.

[Emp9]

If I could jump in here, based on what Kimmi has said in the past, you should probably have your 5th-best hitter in the #3 spot.

 

I’d probably go by not last year’s numbers to find that out... I’d take the last 3 years tho.

[mvp 78]

I’d like to see the numbers w/ simply men-on, but I digress. I’d definitely bat JD 4th, no question. And not just due to his ability to hit HRs. He’s just a fantastic hitter all around. I’m really excited having him on board. With a little luck, we can have an uptick in production from most of our team from last season since there was some regression by everyone besides Vaz. Who would you bat 3rd mvp?

 

As I said in another post:

 

For a lineup including Hanley, I'd go:

 

Betts

Beni

Nunez

JD

Devers

Xander

Hanley

JBJ

Vazquez

 

Hanley is a 7th hitter all day.

 

I don't want to go too in depth about my reasoning, because Bellhorn will just get mad at me again. I agree that 4 and 5 are probably more important than the 3rd hitter. I'd put my best hitter 1st (Betts) and the next 2 at cleanup and 5th. I think the 2nd and 3rd spots should be high OBP guys (top 3 last year were Pedey/Nunez/Beni). With Pedey out, Nunez should hit 3rd. I don't care too much how 6-9 is slotted.

[cp176]

It is always and will always be a great discussion - the old batting order. I 'm still going to go with this overall perspective - Sale, Hanley and probably every other hitter on this team has had something to say about what it will mean for them to have JD in the middle of the lineup. Better pitches for them. Less pressure and less anxiety - they get to relax just a little.

[Emp9]

As I said in another post:

 

 

 

I don't want to go too in depth about my reasoning, because Bellhorn will just get mad at me again. I agree that 4 and 5 are probably more important than the 3rd hitter. I'd put my best hitter 1st (Betts) and the next 2 at cleanup and 5th. I think the 2nd and 3rd spots should be high OBP guys (top 3 last year were Pedey/Nunez/Beni). With Pedey out, Nunez should hit 3rd. I don't care too much how 6-9 is slotted.

 

That’s interesting. I almost forgot about Nunez. I don’t disagree w/ that choice. I think there’s a lot of candidates to choose from too (Devers, HR, Nunez, XB). I can see Nunez due to his speed & base-running, decent/good OBP. I hope to see Nunez in the top 3 of the order.

[mvp 78]

That’s interesting. I almost forgot about Nunez. I don’t disagree w/ that choice. I think there’s a lot of candidates to choose from too (Devers, HR, Nunez, XB). I can see Nunez due to his speed & base-running, decent/good OBP. I hope to see Nunez in the top 3 of the order.

 

If Betts, Xander, JBJ and others hit like it's 2016, the batting order won't matter all that much. Playing well is obviously the most important thing.

 

I think Betts and Beni are a good 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup due to their speed and OBP skills. JD should slide in easily at cleanup. I wouldn't want Devers to hit 3rd because that would be two lefties in a row. I don't trust Hanley to be productive enough to stay at the top of the lineup. I think Xander has the potential to hit towards the top of the lineup, but he has to prove it first. I wouldn't say no if Nunez was 6th and Xander 3rd (Xander has a higher career OBP and Nunez was probably just on a really good hot streak for the Sox last year). Once Pedey comes back, he's probably better suited for the 3rd spot due to his high OBP anyway (not that I want Pedey running into outs before JD and Devers).

[Kimmi]

@redsoxstats

 

Cora says Martinez will bat 3rd or 4th. Hopefully not 3rd, where he'd bat a lot with 0 on and 2 outs. You bat him 4th where he will hit in the first with a runner, or leading off the 2nd with 0 outs where it's easier to start a rally.

 

My man.

[Kimmi]

If I could jump in here, based on what Kimmi has said in the past, you should probably have your 5th-best hitter in the #3 spot.

 

My man.

[Kimmi]

It is always and will always be a great discussion - the old batting order. I 'm still going to go with this overall perspective - Sale, Hanley and probably every other hitter on this team has had something to say about what it will mean for them to have JD in the middle of the lineup. Better pitches for them. Less pressure and less anxiety - they get to relax just a little.

 

Pitchers do indeed pitch differently to batters who have this so called 'protection'. And yet, their offensive production remains unchanged.

 

Our offense will be better this year, without a doubt. But outside of JD lengthening our lineup, the improvement will come from positive regression, not from 'protection'.

[cp176]

Pitchers do indeed pitch differently to batters who have this so called 'protection'. And yet, their offensive production remains unchanged.

 

Our offense will be better this year, without a doubt. But outside of JD lengthening our lineup, the improvement will come from positive regression, not from 'protection'.

 

It is interesting that the guys on the field really don't seem agree with this. What I have liked so far about Cora, is that he is not robotic. I am sure that he will use every available piece of research to help him with the decisions that he will make. Now Kimmi, I do not want to argue with you or your legion of fans who support most of what you say. Hey - I respect you too with respect to some things. I like Alex as much now as when he played the game. That says something about the direction I'm coming from most of the time.