Why are the Sox so much better this year?

[mvp 78]

This year:

#1 OPS

#5 ERA

 

Last year:

#22 OPS

#4 ERA

 

If you could pick one reason for the big change from last year, what would it be?

[Maxbialystock]

I said JDM, but give Cora a lot of credit.

[mvp 78]

I said JDM, but give Cora a lot of credit.

 

It's a real tough call.

[Bellhorn04]

If I could have split my vote it would have been Cora/JDM. I voted Cora because I figure most people will vote for JDM.

[SoxHop]

What's kind of cool about Cora is that he was working for a team that had to analize how to beat the Sox the last couple of years. He knew some of the Sox players weak points and strengths. He had been studying those players from another angle than an internal angle for a good time, and now can use that info to make the players better.

[Spudboy]

This year:

#1 OPS

#5 ERA

 

Last year:

#22 OPS

#4 ERA

 

If you could pick one reason for the big change from last year, what would it be?

 

The obvious choice is JD and OPS.

 

But I would tend to point to "positive regression" of our hitters.

 

[Station 13]

Other

 

Mookie Betts is back to being the 7WAR+ player

[Dojji]

JD replaces what we lost without Papi, but the real reason is threefold, all basically rounding up to the kids developing

 

First of all, the rotation. Sale was expected to dominate, and we'd be a winning team with him as long as we didn't have 4 sacks of potatoes in the rest of our rotation slots. But the emergence of E-Rod over the last couple seasons has been a pleasure to watch. With Porcello, E-Rod, and Sale in the top 3 rotation slots our rotation is an easy nominee for best rotation in MLB. Throw in Price as not quite what we paid for, but at least a highly durable starter who can save the pen, and we have the weapons we need to make a push in the postseason, with a little luck

 

Secondly, the young guns taking over on offense. Mooke Betts has been outstanding. Bogaerts has been living up to the hype so far. Benintendi has held up his end of the bargain. Devers is showing signs of "getting it." Our catchers have... managed not to be offensive liabilities at least. The rebuild is well underway. Yes having Martinez as the centerpiece of the offense helps, but he can't do it all by himself either.

 

Betts and Beni in particular deserve a lot of credit for the role they're playing. Benintendi has been having a low key fantastic season hiding behind JD and Betts. Most teams would kill to have a single young 5 tool prospect. We have two, even if one is so out-of-this-world good that the other kind of stands in the shadows a bit. But Andrew Benintendi's excellent showing this year is absolutely not to be overlooked. He's tied for third on the team in HR's, leads the team in steals, and has the 4th highest bWAR behind the obvious 3 -- Sale, Betts and Martinez.

 

The fact that the team is so talented that it can actually hide a monster like Benintendi behind 3 other superior players should make us fans very, very happy people.

 

Thirdly -- consider the number of our relievers who are either homegrown or "found talent". A large number of our current relief staff spent at least some time in Pawtucket before they got there. I could be mistaken, but I think that Kimbrel, Kelly and Thornberg are the only "mercenaries" among our relievers and replacements. We've had enormous good fortune with cost controlled middle relief options, and that gives us the freedom to pursue the mercenaries we need to complete a shutdown pen.

 

I dunno about anyone else, but if I needed a closer after Kimbrel's gone, letting Kelly and Barnes fight it out isn't the worst of the available options IMHO. We shouldn't just leave it at that, but at the very least it gives us the luxury of a better bargaining position with Kimbrel or whoever might ultimately replace him.

 

Long story short, our bullpen is strong, deep and cheap thanks to homegrown and "found" relief talent. That's pretty exciting, even if the lighthouse fallacy applies to every bullpen and they're only ever noticed when they fail. The fact that the bullpen ISN'T a major topic of conversation is a pretty ringing endorsement when you think about it.

[dgalehouse]

J.D. Martinez is the obvious choice. Cora also a big factor. Credit Dombrowski for both. Also , Mookie entering his prime. A true superstar. And then , there is the abundance of really weak opponents. But J.D. is the one that stands out the most.

[Kimmi]

If I had to pick just one factor, I'd go with Cora, even though I voted for regression, because I was expecting our offense to be much better this year even without the additions of Cora and JD. And someone had to vote for that option.

 

Of course, it's a combination of several factors.

 

1. Cora, as I have already mentioned.

 

2. Positive regression, which was not just possible, but highly expected. With that, Cora gets some credit too. He encouraged our hitters to be more aggressive, rather than taking that first pitch fastball right down the heart of the plate. Also, I heard a couple of days ago that part of Bogaerts' improvement was due to Cora telling him that he'd rather Bogaerts be a .285 hitter with some power than a .330 singles hitter, or something to that effect.

 

3. JD obviously lengthens the line up. In terms of being a positive role model and taking some pressure off of the other guys, he has helped as well. In terms of providing line up protection, no can do.

[Hitch]

I would go for the effect of the coaching staff. I have no hard proof but I always felt that the players didn't really respect the coaches we had last year.

[a700hitter]

JD Martinez period. The team won the division and is better this season. He is the reason. All the other positive perforformances are countered by negative performances to a great degree. JD has been the difference. If he gets injured, we will be in deep doo doo.

[Kimmi]

I would go for the effect of the coaching staff. I have no hard proof but I always felt that the players didn't really respect the coaches we had last year.

 

I really had no issue with Farrell last year and didn't think that he was a problem. However, many comments were made in ST and early this season about how guys were not having fun last year and similar types of things. Perhaps Farrell's management was a bigger issue than I realized.

[Kimmi]

JD Martinez period. The team won the division and is better this season. He is the reason. All the other positive perforformances are countered by negative performances to a great degree. JD has been the difference. If he gets injured, we will be in deep doo doo.

 

Before the season started, I posted that it's too bad that we wouldn't have the chance to see what this offense would do this season without JD. Note: I am not saying that's it's too bad that we signed JD.

 

They were going to improve either way. Of course our offense, as a whole, would not be as good without JD as they are with him, but the other guys in the lineup would have seen marked improvements even if JD had not been signed.

[mvp 78]

I really had no issue with Farrell last year and didn't think that he was a problem. However, many comments were made in ST and early this season about how guys were not having fun last year and similar types of things. Perhaps Farrell's management was a bigger issue than I realized.

 

Perhaps some of us were right all along.

 

To me, I didn't care about lineups or any of that crap. We can even see now that the Sox can't run the bases, so it can't all be attributed to Farrell. However, the glaring issue last year was how Farrell handled the Pedroia (it's them not me) and the Price (Eck) issues. It just seemed like he wasn't a leader and wasn't able to handle things in house. To me, that's the most important job of a manager.

[a700hitter]

Before the season started, I posted that it's too bad that we wouldn't have the chance to see what this offense would do this season without JD. Note: I am not saying that's it's too bad that we signed JD.

 

They were going to improve either way. Of course our offense, as a whole, would not be as good without JD as they are with him, but the other guys in the lineup would have seen marked improvements even if JD had not been signed.

Betts improvement is probably matched and evened out by Bradley’s terrible performance. Bogey’s uptick is probably countered by both catchers being dogshit. The difference is JD.

[Kimmi]

Perhaps some of us were right all along.

 

To me, I didn't care about lineups or any of that crap. We can even see now that the Sox can't run the bases, so it can't all be attributed to Farrell. However, the glaring issue last year was how Farrell handled the Pedroia (it's them not me) and the Price (Eck) issues. It just seemed like he wasn't a leader and wasn't able to handle things in house. To me, that's the most important job of a manager.

 

Perhaps some of you were right all along.

 

I 100% agree that handling the clubhouse is the most important job of the manager.

[a700hitter]

Perhaps some of us were right all along.

 

To me, I didn't care about lineups or any of that crap. We can even see now that the Sox can't run the bases, so it can't all be attributed to Farrell. However, the glaring issue last year was how Farrell handled the Pedroia (it's them not me) and the Price (Eck) issues. It just seemed like he wasn't a leader and wasn't able to handle things in house. To me, that's the most important job of a manager.

It became starkly apparent that Farrell needed to go when the team turned around its performance for Lovullo when Farrell left for medical treatment. I firmly believe that Farrell would have been fired had it not been for the cancer. I think they didn’t want to be viewed as heartless.

[SoxHop]

This poll is a setup. There is no one right answer.

[sk7326]

Betts improvement is probably matched and evened out by Bradley’s terrible performance. Bogey’s uptick is probably countered by both catchers being dogshit. The difference is JD.

 

Catchers weren't good last year either. Bradley was worse than last year, but he wasn't good last year either. (OPS+ from 89 to 73)

Betts and Bogaerts leaps have been comparatively enormous. Heck, Benintendi's improvement more than offsets Bradley's dropoff.

 

This doesn't dispute Martinez' impact. He has been everything they could have asked for - including being able to provide ample enough outfielding to allow them to not have to run JBJ every day.

[a700hitter]

Catchers weren't good last year either. Bradley was worse than last year, but he wasn't good last year either. (OPS+ from 89 to 73)

Betts and Bogaerts leaps have been comparatively enormous. Heck, Benintendi's improvement more than offsets Bradley's dropoff.

 

This doesn't dispute Martinez' impact. He has been everything they could have asked for - including being able to provide ample enough outfielding to allow them to not have to run JBJ every day.

Vasquez is our primary catcher and his performance is way down (OPS .735 vs .548). Bradley is down significantly down (.725 vs .642). From season to season, some guys do better and others do worse. Devers is down .819 vs .715. Nunez is down .892 to .644. These are significant and they are matched by and exceeded by the increased performance of Betts, Benny and Bogey. The big difference maker is dropping a 1.037 guy into the lineup that hadn’t been there in 2017.

[bosoxmal]

Cora, Cora and Cora

[dgalehouse]

The theory called " Occams's Razor " states that the best solution to a problem is usually the simplest and most obvious one. In improving on last year's team , the simplest solution was getting a big bat in the lineup. J.D. Martinez was the answer. No doubt , the change in managers also is a factor . Some people like to think too deeply into things , usually looking for something that supports their personal opinions.

[jacksonianmarch]

I told you all that the loss of Ortiz’ bat had a trickle down effect on the other players. These guys don’t play in vacuums. It’s eaiser to pitch to a lineup when nobody scares you. With JDM lurking in the middle, everyone got better

[vegasbob]

JD replaces what we lost without Papi, but the real reason is threefold, all basically rounding up to the kids developing

 

First of all, the rotation. Sale was expected to dominate, and we'd be a winning team with him as long as we didn't have 4 sacks of potatoes in the rest of our rotation slots. But the emergence of E-Rod over the last couple seasons has been a pleasure to watch. With Porcello, E-Rod, and Sale in the top 3 rotation slots our rotation is an easy nominee for best rotation in MLB. Throw in Price as not quite what we paid for, but at least a highly durable starter who can save the pen, and we have the weapons we need to make a push in the postseason, with a little luck

 

Secondly, the young guns taking over on offense. Mooke Betts has been outstanding. Bogaerts has been living up to the hype so far. Benintendi has held up his end of the bargain. Devers is showing signs of "getting it." Our catchers have... managed not to be offensive liabilities at least. The rebuild is well underway. Yes having Martinez as the centerpiece of the offense helps, but he can't do it all by himself either.

 

Betts and Beni in particular deserve a lot of credit for the role they're playing. Benintendi has been having a low key fantastic season hiding behind JD and Betts. Most teams would kill to have a single young 5 tool prospect. We have two, even if one is so out-of-this-world good that the other kind of stands in the shadows a bit. But Andrew Benintendi's excellent showing this year is absolutely not to be overlooked. He's tied for third on the team in HR's, leads the team in steals, and has the 4th highest bWAR behind the obvious 3 -- Sale, Betts and Martinez.

 

The fact that the team is so talented that it can actually hide a monster like Benintendi behind 3 other superior players should make us fans very, very happy people.

 

Thirdly -- consider the number of our relievers who are either homegrown or "found talent". A large number of our current relief staff spent at least some time in Pawtucket before they got there. I could be mistaken, but I think that Kimbrel, Kelly and Thornberg are the only "mercenaries" among our relievers and replacements. We've had enormous good fortune with cost controlled middle relief options, and that gives us the freedom to pursue the mercenaries we need to complete a shutdown pen.

 

I dunno about anyone else, but if I needed a closer after Kimbrel's gone, letting Kelly and Barnes fight it out isn't the worst of the available options IMHO. We shouldn't just leave it at that, but at the very least it gives us the luxury of a better bargaining position with Kimbrel or whoever might ultimately replace him.

 

Long story short, our bullpen is strong, deep and cheap thanks to homegrown and "found" relief talent. That's pretty exciting, even if the lighthouse fallacy applies to every bullpen and they're only ever noticed when they fail. The fact that the bullpen ISN'T a major topic of conversation is a pretty ringing endorsement when you think about it.

 

If a pitchoff between Kelly and Barnes was to be in the offing for the closer successor to Kimbrel, the odds would favor slitting your wrists now and not having to watch either of them. Far too inconsistent to be a closer.