6/6 Tigers @Boston

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Poyner threw nothing but strikes. Nice job. Edited June 7, 2018 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[vegasbob]

Notice Poyner finishing his 3 outs on 12 pitches by throwing strikes and not experimenting with a cockeyed screwball. Sometimes the game is simple , Matt Barnes .

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Except for a few exceptions in the league, when a manager goes to his BP, it's a crap shoot.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Notice Poyner finishing his 3 outs on 12 pitches by throwing strikes and not experimenting with a cockeyed screwball. Sometimes the game is simple , Matt Barnes .

 

Matt's been darn good out of the BP so far this year.

[d-money]

Gotta keep winning to stay close to the skanks. Got a rookie pitcher tomorrow. Blue Jays clearly not helping.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Except for a few exceptions in the league, when a manager goes to his BP, it's a crap shoot.

 

Having said that, the SOX BP has been throwing a lot of 7's so far this year.

[moonslav59]

Gotta keep winning to stay close to the skanks. Got a rookie pitcher tomorrow. Blue Jays clearly not helping.

 

They forced them to 13 innings.

[Maxbialystock]

Looks like another nice win--4 straight--this time with ERod going 5.2 and 1 run. These days Cora seems to have the magic touch with the pen, both bringing guys in and leaving them in.

 

I missed the first part because of an event had to attend, but got the game via my cell and the mlb.com app and picking up WEEI on my car radio via blue tooth. This time I was very happy with the announcing. Plus the first 4 run rally had just begun when I tuned in.

 

assuming the win, this team will shortly be 10-4 in games Mookie either didn't play in or only had 1 at bat and was removed. The Sox currently have easily the 2d best offense in MLB and it is virtually unnoticed. The rotation, now with Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, and Wright may not be all aces, but has to be close to the best rotation in MLB except for maybe the Astros.

 

And of course the best record in MLB--also pretty much unnoticed except by Sox and Yankees fans.

 

So I have to wonder out loud--yet again--why so many talksoxers are clamoring to get Swihart into the lineup, more at bats, etc, etc. Seriously, it seems to me that one of the reasons--certainly not the most important one--why the Sox have done so well this season is that they have used Swihart sparingly, and this especially applies to the catcher position.

 

Anyway, congratulations to SoxHop for a four game winning streak. Yankees are keeping up however with a 3 ran rally in the 13th for a likely win.

[Larry Cook]

Nice win tonight. Rodriguez looked really good. Command keeps improving and he is mostly hitting his spots.

 

Go beeks! Can not wait to see him throw. Hopefully the butterflies go away early and he has command control.

[d-money]

They have to beat on these crappy teams. They got the White Sox after this series.

[Spudboy]

Lol relax man. This team will win 90 plus games and make the playoffs.

 

Ignore the infection.

 

You have been here since 2009.

[a700hitter]

Just caught up live.

 

Nice to see Vaz coming to life. maybe leon getting hot and hints of Swihart getting a chance behind the plate lit a fire under him. Maybe he just got hot on his own.

 

Beni staying hot is great.

 

Looks like everyone is pitching in, now.

Vasquez hit the ball very well tonight.

E

[vegasbob]

Just keep winning series like this with 1 run allowed vs a team actually competing for the AL Central over the first two game while scoring 6 & 7 ourselves. Beeks can come in with nothing but self imposed pressure and can succeed, raising hopes all around for Drew Pomeranz's transfer to anywhere. Barnes was going well for the past month, so good for him . Tonight he threw a clunker of an inning and failed to show any kind of an out pitch.

[a700hitter]

I have been at several games this season where JD has played the OF. I think he is very serviceable out there. I am not seeing these “obvious “ deficiencies and limitations discussed by other posters.

[vegasbob]

Every team will win 60 and every team wil lose 60, more or less, but what you do in the other 42 determines your success or failure. Sox are 17 wins away from 60 (end of June?), but will have to drop 41 to get 60 losses. This team may well be on its way to a monumental, historic win total. What do you think. Is it all smoke and mirrors so far ? I would have pitched Sale vs Detroit to get the sweep and Beeks later against White Sox. Sherm Lollar sticks in my mind from the 1955 era White Sox.

[Spudboy]

I have been at several games this season where JD has played the OF. I think he is very serviceable out there. I am not seeing these “obvious “ deficiencies and limitations discussed by other posters.

 

I have been to no games. I have seen all of his games on TV. While it is next to impossible to see and evaluate his reeds and breaks, every other aspect of his left field play has been fine.

 

While he digs hard for every ball he does not have the speed of Beni or some other left fielders. I don't see this as a big problem overall.

 

 

I don't see the deficiencies that our resident stat geeks make him a defensive liability.

[cp176]

I have been at several games this season where JD has played the OF. I think he is very serviceable out there. I am not seeing these “obvious “ deficiencies and limitations discussed by other posters.

 

The constant comments telling us how lousy he is out there have stopped flooding in. He has done a very good job.

[Maxbialystock]

Agree with "serviceable" with regard to JDM in the outfield. Beni, JBJ, and Betts make him look a tad slow because they are so quick out there, but he handles himself well in LF or even RF. Interesting that he played LF last night so Travis could be the DH (against a lefty starter).

 

Buster Olney has an article on espn about how managers over the past 10 years have used fewer "small ball" tactics--pitchouts, SB's , bunts, hit and run, etc because of statistics/sabermetrics. Perhaps the movie Moneyball was prophetic.

 

Last year the Sox were dead last or close to it in home runs in MLB. This year they are 2d with 92. NYY have 98. Guardians have 89.

 

Benintendi is getting virtually no notice outside of Boston, but now (age 23--24 next month) has an OPS of .922 and is 4th in the AL in RBI's and 6th in runs scored and 2d in triples. jacksonianmarch will love this: Judge has more dingers, 17 to 10, and a higher OPS, .967, but otherwise Benintendi is pretty close or better in rbi's, runs, doubles, average, etc. and has half as many K's. Judge is two years older than Benintendi.

[S5Dewey]

I have been at several games this season where JD has played the OF. I think he is very serviceable out there. I am not seeing these “obvious “ deficiencies and limitations discussed by other posters.

 

My personal views of JDM were at ST and I have to say that he looked like a butcher out there. As I said back then, he makes the plays (mostly) but looks horrible doing it. He misjudged balls over his head and in front of him and made several leaping grabs on what should have been routine plays.

HOWEVER.... he's found his stride out there now. He's not playing like JBJ or Mookie, but not many are. He's fine. I don't cringe any more when a ball is hit his way. He makes the routine plays without the drama and looks like he knows what he's doing on just about every ball hit in his direction. As a700 said, he's perfectly serviceable.

 

Every sunny day having a cloud, the only thing I don't like about JDM now is that he's playing defense so well that he'll be taking that first opt-out and the Sox will be looking to replace him - which will be hard to do.

[cp176]

Agree with "serviceable" with regard to JDM in the outfield. Beni, JBJ, and Betts make him look a tad slow because they are so quick out there, but he handles himself well in LF or even RF. Interesting that he played LF last night so Travis could be the DH (against a lefty starter).

 

Buster Olney has an article on espn about how managers over the past 10 years have used fewer "small ball" tactics--pitchouts, SB's , bunts, hit and run, etc because of statistics/sabermetrics. Perhaps the movie Moneyball was prophetic.

 

Last year the Sox were dead last or close to it in home runs in MLB. This year they are 2d with 92. NYY have 98. Guardians have 89.

 

Benintendi is getting virtually no notice outside of Boston, but now (age 23--24 next month) has an OPS of .922 and is 4th in the AL in RBI's and 6th in runs scored and 2d in triples. jacksonianmarch will love this: Judge has more dingers, 17 to 10, and a higher OPS, .967, but otherwise Benintendi is pretty close or better in rbi's, runs, doubles, average, etc. and has half as many K's. Judge is two years older than Benintendi.

 

seviceable - What exactly does that mean? No one is saying that he is a gold glover out there but in my world serviceable isn't much of a compliment. He is better than that and it is ok if people can say that maybe the "metrics" were misleading. It isn't always about what you have done in the past, it is about what you are dong right now. He will sit again when Mookie returns and that is ok.

As for the statistics/sabermetrics point of view: JD is currently batting third - Cora uses the hit and run - Our guys aren't opposed to stealing bases. Does Cora just not get it or what?

The approach to the game has changed and saber metrics have contributed to some of those changes. I believe in their use but I also think that some traditional approaches to the game are just as valuable.

[S5Dewey]

seviceable - What exactly does that mean? No one is saying that he is a gold glover out there but in my world serviceable isn't much of a compliment. He is better than that and it is ok if people can say that maybe the "metrics" were misleading. It isn't always about what you have done in the past, it is about what you are dong right now. He will sit again when Mookie returns and that is ok.

As for the statistics/sabermetrics point of view: JD is currently batting third - Cora uses the hit and run - Our guys aren't opposed to stealing bases. Does Cora just not get it or what?

The approach to the game has changed and saber metrics have contributed to some of those changes. I believe in their use but I also think that some traditional approaches to the game are just as valuable.

 

Serviceable and what does it mean.... That's an interesting point. As fans we tend to compare one player against another. Is Hanley a better 1B than Moreland? Is Nunez better than Holt at any position? Is Devers 'serviceable' at 3B?

 

Long story short, "serviceable" to me means that he's not hurting the team, which is really part of the criteria for a player. Anything beyond that is a plus.

 

When I used that word to describe JDM in the outfield I didn't mean it as a knock on JDM. What I meant was that IMO (and without seeing every outfielder in baseball) it was my opinion that he's at least average now defensively. However, my opinion may be skewed because, as I said, I don't see every outfielder in baseball so I tend to compare JDM against the two I see the most of - Mookie and JBJ.

 

I don't know what the defensive metrics say about JDM as an outfielder and I don't much care. The more discussion I hear about defensive metrics the less faith I have in them especially as they pertain to outfielders. All I care about with JDM in the outfield is that he goes out there and gets at least an average job done - which he's doing now without the drama or misjudged balls.

[cp176]

Serviceable and what does it mean.... That's an interesting point. As fans we tend to compare one player against another. Is Hanley a better 1B than Moreland? Is Nunez better than Holt at any position? Is Devers 'serviceable' at 3B?

 

Long story short, "serviceable" to me means that he's not hurting the team, which is really part of the criteria for a player. Anything beyond that is a plus.

 

When I used that word to describe JDM in the outfield I didn't mean it as a knock on JDM. What I meant was that IMO (and without seeing every outfielder in baseball) it was my opinion that he's at least average now defensively. However, my opinion may be skewed because, as I said, I don't see every outfielder in baseball so I tend to compare JDM against the two I see the most of - Mookie and JBJ.

 

I don't know what the defensive metrics say about JDM as an outfielder and I don't much care. The more discussion I hear about defensive metrics the less faith I have in them especially as they pertain to outfielders. All I care about with JDM in the outfield is that he goes out there and gets at least an average job done - which he's doing now without the drama or misjudged balls.

 

I know exactly what you meant. My comment was meant for the saber metric folks here who will try to give him just a little credit for doing a good job by calling it "serviceable".

[jung]

I said at the time and I will repeat it now that I thought the cold weather effected JD maybe more than any other player on the roster. He was flat terrible in the OF at the start of the season not helped by the difficulties of playing in our own home OF positions. He looked like and played like a stick man. He is not great out there now. But he is not terrible now that we have more temperate weather particularly when ranked among the horrors that are filling ML unis these days.

 

My biggest concern about JD in the OF is now and was then the same. His bat is just too important to this team and the Fenway Park OF is the physically most dangerous OF in baseball which we know from our own experiences. No matter what he does in the grass of the Fenway Park OF we will rue the day we put JD out there the very day he slams into something out there or turns an ankle out there or makes a physical mistake with the myriad of issues confronted in the Fenway Park OF.

 

And I would not be patting myself on the back too hard for beating the Tigers either. They are a horrible team "competing" in a horrible division where the Guardians are eventually just going to run away and hide. Almost the entire Tigers rotation is convalescing and was not very good in the first place.

[moonslav59]

I have observed a noticeable improvement in JD's defense. I'm not sure I'd take him out of the below average category just yet, but he's been better, of late.

[a700hitter]

My personal views of JDM were at ST and I have to say that he looked like a butcher out there. As I said back then, he makes the plays (mostly) but looks horrible doing it. He misjudged balls over his head and in front of him and made several leaping grabs on what should have been routine plays.

HOWEVER.... he's found his stride out there now. He's not playing like JBJ or Mookie, but not many are. He's fine. I don't cringe any more when a ball is hit his way. He makes the routine plays without the drama and looks like he knows what he's doing on just about every ball hit in his direction. As a700 said, he's perfectly serviceable.

 

Every sunny day having a cloud, the only thing I don't like about JDM now is that he's playing defense so well that he'll be taking that first opt-out and the Sox will be looking to replace him - which will be hard to do.

Those opt outs are not looking like a good thing for the Red Sox. This guy is a wrecking ball with a bat in his hands.

[OH FOY]

Taking care of business against the weaker teams has to be done. Cant control the other teams Roster only ours. Losing to the weaker teams is worse to me. That's when I start to worry about our Roster.

Good Job Boys! Keep it going.

[S5Dewey]

Taking care of business against the weaker teams has to be done. Cant control the other teams Roster only ours. Losing to the weaker teams is worse to me. That's when I start to worry about our Roster.

Good Job Boys! Keep it going.

 

Absolutely right. A team has to play the teams on their schedule. In order to win the division a team has to beat the teams they can beat and beat them like a rented mule - frequently. Every game you lose to a worse team is a loss you can't get back and given the fact that the two best teams in the ALE are fairly evenly matched, the team that wins the ALE will do it by virtue of beating the bad teams more than the team that finishes second did.

[kenmeister]

Those opt outs are not looking like a good thing for the Red Sox. This guy is a wrecking ball with a bat in his hands.

 

Which do the Sox have to resign first given opt-outs, Sale or JDM?

 

My guess is they can only keep one.

[vegasbob]

Which do the Sox have to resign first given opt-outs, Sale or JDM?

 

My guess is they can only keep one.

 

Try to resign JDM first. Sale is not the pitcher who will win you a WS. He is obviously very talented and can be dominating on occasion but it's a little hard to see it recently.

[jung]

JDM first, without question..even with my penchant to favor pitching.