The Alex Cora Managerial Decision Thread

[Dalas21000]

I agree....I just think JD has a lot of potential...

 

And after playing the game and knowing the game like I do, I just think you're putting yourself at such a disadvantage by standing that far off the plate....If he's hitting this good now....I'm thinking how much better could he be

[mvp 78]

And if you know the game like I do, you don’t question a guy whohas had world beating results. A guy who was released and still turned himself into a beast. A guy who when asked about his swing plane on a homer and said “you got 60 minutes?” He knows what he’s doing.

[dgalehouse]

No one has hit .400 since the immortal Ted Williams. But J.D. " could be a solid .400 hitter with a little tweaking . I know this because I played and know baseball. " As the lady in that Chevy commercial says , " Seriously ? " By the way , with about one quarter of the season gone , Martinez is outperforming Giancarlo Stanton by a large margin. Edited May 13, 2018 by dgalehouse

[mvp 78]

No one has hit .400 since the immortal Ted Williams. But J.D. " could be a solid .400 hitter with a little tweaking . I know this because I played and know baseball. " As the lady in that Chevy commercial says , " Seriously ? " By the way , with about one quarter of the season gone , Martinez is outperforming Giancarlo Stanton by a large margin.

 

He could be better tho!!!!!!!!

[SoxHop]

I see you the 400 ave and raise that with my extensive high school experience, I could make JD hit 500 ave or better... I know what I'm talking about...

[Maxbialystock]

I see you the 400 ave and raise that with my extensive high school experience, I could make JD hit 500 ave or better... I know what I'm talking about...

 

You get my vote. Highest for me was babe ruth league.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

I agree, he's a good hitter, but I think he's a solid .400 hitter with a little tweaking

 

 

Who is this guy?

[jacksonianmarch]

You get my vote. Highest for me was babe ruth league.

 

Mine was HS Varsity. .570

[Spudboy]

Mine was HS Varsity. .570

 

I thought that you pitched in College.

[S5Dewey]

I thought that you pitched in College.

 

Me too.

[StephenCurry30]

I didn't pitch, catch, or hit in college, but I did once eat some girls ass.

[User Name]

Stop being an annoying idiot. No one cares about BS like that here. Take it to the non-baseball part of the forums.

[Slasher9]

14-May-2018

Cora blows another game for the Sox. not having JBj in CF for this game absolutely cost us this game. the RBI "triple" that Beni butchered would have been an automatic out with JBj in CF. and I would almost understand if the reason that JBj was not starting in this game was because they wanted to get MM in the lineup. but that wasn't the case. nope. our rookie manager sacrificed an all star defense OF so that he could get.....Blake Swihart....into the lineup. terrible decision that cost the Red Sox a win and knocked us into 2nd place. cora pushing a lot of "wrong" buttons lately.......

[Bellhorn04]

14-May-2018

Cora blows another game for the Sox. not having JBj in CF for this game absolutely cost us this game. the RBI "triple" that Beni butchered would have been an automatic out with JBj in CF. and I would almost understand if the reason that JBj was not starting in this game was because they wanted to get MM in the lineup. but that wasn't the case. nope. our rookie manager sacrificed an all star defense OF so that he could get.....Blake Swihart....into the lineup. terrible decision that cost the Red Sox a win and knocked us into 2nd place. cora pushing a lot of "wrong" buttons lately.......

 

Of course, if JBJ wasn't flailing most of the season Cora wouldn't have to think about whether to start him against a tough lefty or not. You can't just let JBJ off the hook for his situation.

[Maxbialystock]

14-May-2018

Cora blows another game for the Sox. not having JBj in CF for this game absolutely cost us this game. the RBI "triple" that Beni butchered would have been an automatic out with JBj in CF. and I would almost understand if the reason that JBj was not starting in this game was because they wanted to get MM in the lineup. but that wasn't the case. nope. our rookie manager sacrificed an all star defense OF so that he could get.....Blake Swihart....into the lineup. terrible decision that cost the Red Sox a win and knocked us into 2nd place. cora pushing a lot of "wrong" buttons lately.......

 

Nonsense. Our problem last night was Porcello and nothing but Porcello. That triple you mock was by a guy hitting under .200 and it was into deep left centerfield and in fact hit the dadgum wall.

[Slasher9]

Of course, if JBJ wasn't flailing most of the season Cora wouldn't have to think about whether to start him against a tough lefty or not. You can't just let JBJ off the hook for his situation.

I am also on record saying he should be our starting CFer batting .100. so there is no hook for me to let him off of. his defense is that important. and it was proven again last night.

[Natick to NC]

Nonsense. Our problem last night was Porcello and nothing but Porcello. That triple you mock was by a guy hitting under .200 and it was into deep left centerfield and in fact hit the dadgum wall.

 

This is spot on ....Rick had been fantastic he was due a game like last night .The bottom line Oakland is a very good hitting team we can still win the series with them if we pitch well.JBJ not Cora let his team down ...we need to hold him accountable .

Edited May 15, 2018 by Natick to NC

[Slasher9]

Nonsense. Our problem last night was Porcello and nothing but Porcello. That triple you mock was by a guy hitting under .200 and it was into deep left centerfield and in fact hit the dadgum wall.

 

here's a whacky thought....when a pitcher doesn't have his best stuff its probably a really excellent time to have your BEST DEFENSE on the field. defense can get a pitcher off the hook. or maybe you only care about batting average.

when JBj catches that triple it changes the entire game. that's why in certain instances the defense a player can offer you is FAR more important than his .170 batting average. and that defense was pulled - for blake swihart. not for JDM, not for Mitchy two bags, not for HanRam, not even for Holt. for blake swihart. let that sink in.

[Bellhorn04]

I am also on record saying he should be our starting CFer batting .100. so there is no hook for me to let him off of.

 

Yes, that's true, you have said that. Very few people would agree that you can have an everyday player hitting .100.

 

Managers can't please everyone no matter what they do.

[Slasher9]

 

Managers can't please everyone no matter what they do.

100% true.

I am using this thread to point out the individual games that I believe Cora made an error. other posters may not agree with some/any of them and conversely may have issues with cora in-game decisions for other games that I don't deem wrong. I can only use this space to share what I believe. and for me last night wasn't a case of it being JBj's scheduled day off. it was a case of benching elite defense to get blake swihart 3 or 4 AB's.....and in this particular game last night it probably cost us a W.

[cp176]

100% true.

I am using this thread to point out the individual games that I believe Cora made an error. other posters may not agree with some/any of them and conversely may have issues with cora in-game decisions for other games that I don't deem wrong. I can only use this space to share what I believe. and for me last night wasn't a case of it being JBj's scheduled day off. it was a case of benching elite defense to get blake swihart 3 or 4 AB's.....and in this particular game last night it probably cost us a W.

 

it's kind of looking like the baserunning decision to me - what is aggressive as opposed to what is stupid.

If Swihart had gotten 3 hits and Porcello hadn't reverted back to the real Rick Porcello, genius move by Cora I guess in some people's minds.

It is pretty obvious I think that he realizes that he has a big problem in the outfield. JBJ has gone through slumps before but this one is ridiculous. He doesn't start hitting, he won't be playing. I'm not going to criticize Cora but I might have played JBJ last night as well but the only reason being that he got a hit the night before. I think that the only way any manager in the game would stick with JBJ at this point is because they absolutely feel that he can't be as bad as he has looked at the plate this year.

Pretty soon though we start seeing people blame DD for trading Margot and that will take the heat of Cora.

[S5Dewey]

I'm completely on board with Slash on this one.

 

First, I was disappointed to see that JBJ wasn't starting in CF since he was on base twice in the preceding game. My next thought was that Cora must have wanted Moreland hitting, but no. Instead it was Blake Swihart who took JBJ's spot in the order and went 0-4 with 2 K's. I can almost promise you that JBJ wouldn't have done any worse!

 

As I was watching the game - and the play in question - I said at the time, "JBJ would have had that ball... for fun." As it turns out that decision cost the Sox the game. And as an aside there was another ball that dropped in front of Beni that JBJ also would have had but fortunately that one didn't amount to anything as the A's didn't score in that inning.

 

There's something I don't understand going on within that team. On the one hand we have a 3B who makes every defensive play into an adventure but he's allowed to continue there because he can hit. I have no problem with that because whether we like it or not we don't have another good option at 3B, plus we (apparently) need to live with Dever's "growing pains".

On the other hand we have a GG caliber CF who's on the bench because he allegedly can't hit so it's ok to weaken two more defensive positions.

 

I like a lot of what Cora's doing but he has to stop thinking like a TalkSox poster who thinks offense is everything and defense will take care of itself.

[illinoisredsox]

here's a whacky thought....when a pitcher doesn't have his best stuff its probably a really excellent time to have your BEST DEFENSE on the field. defense can get a pitcher off the hook. or maybe you only care about batting average.

when JBj catches that triple it changes the entire game. that's why in certain instances the defense a player can offer you is FAR more important than his .170 batting average. and that defense was pulled - for blake swihart. not for JDM, not for Mitchy two bags, not for HanRam, not even for Holt. for blake swihart. let that sink in.

 

Perfectly true, except that Cora somehow was supposed to know that Porcello wouldn't have his best stuff before the game started?

 

Or, assuming he figured it out in the 1st or 2nd or even 3rd inning and decided to put Bradley in, who do you remove, Benni, Martinez or Betts?

[illinoisredsox]

I'm completely on board with Slash on this one.

 

First, I was disappointed to see that JBJ wasn't starting in CF since he was on base twice in the preceding game. My next thought was that Cora must have wanted Moreland hitting, but no. Instead it was Blake Swihart who took JBJ's spot in the order and went 0-4 with 2 K's. I can almost promise you that JBJ wouldn't have done any worse!

 

As I was watching the game - and the play in question - I said at the time, "JBJ would have had that ball... for fun." As it turns out that decision cost the Sox the game. And as an aside there was another ball that dropped in front of Beni that JBJ also would have had but fortunately that one didn't amount to anything as the A's didn't score in that inning.

 

There's something I don't understand going on within that team. On the one hand we have a 3B who makes every defensive play into an adventure but he's allowed to continue there because he can hit. I have no problem with that because whether we like it or not we don't have another good option at 3B, plus we (apparently) need to live with Dever's "growing pains".

On the other hand we have a GG caliber CF who's on the bench because he allegedly can't hit so it's ok to weaken two more defensive positions.

 

I like a lot of what Cora's doing but he has to stop thinking like a TalkSox poster who thinks offense is everything and defense will take care of itself.

 

I'm guessing the fact that JBJ vs. Manaea is 0-6 with 3 Ks and slashing .088/.139/.237 this year against southpaws may have factored into the decision. Not sure which would be worse, he goes 1-3 and sits or he plays and looks awful at the plate (again), which could undo whatever good thoughts he had from the day before.

[notin]

I'm completely on board with Slash on this one.

My next thought was that Cora must have wanted Moreland hitting, but no. Instead it was Blake Swihart who took JBJ's spot in the order and went 0-4 with 2 K's. I can almost promise you that JBJ wouldn't have done any worse!

 

As I was watching the game - and the play in question - I said at the time, "JBJ would have had that ball... for fun." As it turns out that decision cost the Sox the game. And as an aside there was another ball that dropped in front of Beni that JBJ also would have had but fortunately that one didn't amount to anything as the A's didn't score in that inning.

 

 

1. I think Swihart was only in the lineup because Moreland and Bradley are lefties. Personally, I would take Moreland in a lefty-lefty match up right now over offensive non-factor Swihart batting from his weaker side. But I think Coara was taking into account that Manea had no-hit the Sox his last time out and was hoping for better results.

 

2. There are the occasional plays where I think "Bradley would have had that", but really, that is just conjecture. It might occasionally be correct, but there are a lot of factors. There was a sac fly in the Yankee series when Betts was in CF and his throw home was short and late and my first thought was "Bradley nails that guy at the plate." But in reality, probably not. He's more likely to sail his throw 20 feet up the third base line as he is to nail the runner. A better chance with Bradley? Defintely. But anything beyond that is conjecture...

[mvp 78]

Point 2 above is spot on.

[Maxbialystock]

I'm completely on board with Slash on this one.

 

First, I was disappointed to see that JBJ wasn't starting in CF since he was on base twice in the preceding game. My next thought was that Cora must have wanted Moreland hitting, but no. Instead it was Blake Swihart who took JBJ's spot in the order and went 0-4 with 2 K's. I can almost promise you that JBJ wouldn't have done any worse!

 

As I was watching the game - and the play in question - I said at the time, "JBJ would have had that ball... for fun." As it turns out that decision cost the Sox the game. And as an aside there was another ball that dropped in front of Beni that JBJ also would have had but fortunately that one didn't amount to anything as the A's didn't score in that inning.

 

There's something I don't understand going on within that team. On the one hand we have a 3B who makes every defensive play into an adventure but he's allowed to continue there because he can hit. I have no problem with that because whether we like it or not we don't have another good option at 3B, plus we (apparently) need to live with Dever's "growing pains".

On the other hand we have a GG caliber CF who's on the bench because he allegedly can't hit so it's ok to weaken two more defensive positions.

 

I like a lot of what Cora's doing but he has to stop thinking like a TalkSox poster who thinks offense is everything and defense will take care of itself.

 

You must mean me, so I'm delighted you put me on the same level as Alex Cora.

 

Just so we know what we are arguing about, here again is what I wrote earlier. I think 80% of defense is the guy on the mound. This might explain why every MLB team without exception carries 12 pitchers on their 25 man rosters. That leaves 20% for the 9 guys, including the pitcher, defending against various flies, grounders, liners, bunts, etc. Divide 20% by 9 and you get a little over 2% of the defense depends on any given defender.

 

The offense depends on the 9 guys in the lineup--100%. Divide that by 9 and you get something over 10% for each guy in the lineup.

 

So a lineup player contributes 10% to the offense and 2% to the defense, so his bat is 5 times as important as his glove. You can probably make a case that some fielders, especially very good ones, are contributing more than 2%. In JBJ's case, maybe it's 3%, but I doubt seriously it's more than 4% because outfielders don't have as many total chances as infielders and catchers have more than anyone else.

 

So best case for JBJ is that his bat is 2.5 times as important as his glove. This could explain why, season to date, he has played in the second most games of anyone on the team. Cora likes him in CF (occasionally RF, but not often).

 

As for last night, JBJ in CF could have made that grab that Beni just missed. Beni is actually faster afoot--this is not arguable--and he had to come a long way from right center field (batter was a lefty) to left centerfield. We can assume JBJ would have gotten a better jump on the ball, but I'm not so sure about the better route. The real question is how much closer to the wall--the ball did hit it on the fly--was JBJ willing to go vs. Beni because he clearly slowed a little when he got close and in fact ran into the green monster, but not hard into it.

 

Even assuming JBJ makes the grab, it saves one run. The score is still 5-5. So it's really hard for me to see how that missed grab cost the Sox the game. It did happen in the 4th inning, not the 8th or 9th.

 

Me, I blame Porcello for having his 2d straight lousy start and for letting a really weak hitter like Fowler hit one off the wall in left center field.

 

As for the lineup, Cora was clearly loading up with righty bats. The two lefties in the lineup, Beni and Devers, both scored and knocked in runs. Swihart was the only righty bat left on the bench besides Vazquez--Moreland and Holt are both lefty hitters. Is if fair for me to point out that this stupid, no good manager put in a lineup that scored 4 runs off the exact same pitcher who pitched a no-hitter against the Sox the last time he faced them? It seems to me you have a really weak case on the lineup because this one worked way better than I expected.

 

The guy who didn't work was Porcello. I blame him and no one else. I don't even blame Smith because the bullpen went 3 innings and gave up just 1 run and were far better than Porcello.

[Station 13]

It's extremely difficult to win games consistently with mediocrity or worst. That's what everyone is except Betts and JD in the lineup.

[notin]

It's extremely difficult to win games consistently with mediocrity or worst. That's what everyone is except Betts and JD in the lineup.

 

The wOBA for the American League is .316. Only Devers, Nunez, Bradley and the catchers are below that.

 

If the Sox start Moreland and Holt over Bradley and Nunez, that leaves 2 hitters at or below league average. And Devers (.310) is barely below...

[Slasher9]

let's not forget that Blake Swihart also grounded into an inning killing double play with 1st and 2nd 0 outs. JBj K's there and it's still 1st & 2nd 1 out.

to hurt our D in 2 positions to get Blake Swiharts bat into the lineup is negligent.