A Realistic View at 2019: Part I

[notin]

The bullpen is not a factor when your starters take you out of the game early on . The test for the pen will come when the starters settle in and we start getting into a lot of close games . For whatever reason , the team in general has stunk on this early season road trip. Hopefully, some home cooking will straighten things out . But I still think that the offseason was not too good . Standing pat is seldom a good idea . Overconfidence and complacency is never a good thing .

 

 

Also, will the bullpen become a factor as they get overworked?

[notin]

The bullpen is not a factor when your starters take you out of the game early on . The test for the pen will come when the starters settle in and we start getting into a lot of close games . For whatever reason , the team in general has stunk on this early season road trip. Hopefully, some home cooking will straighten things out . But I still think that the offseason was not too good . Standing pat is seldom a good idea . Overconfidence and complacency is never a good thing .

 

 

A lesson learned after 2013...

[Kimmi]

Yanks ERA as a team is under 3 currently. How’s yours?

 

The Yanks staff ERA currently sits at 2.71 which is 4th in the AL

 

Let's see where they stand after more than one week of baseball, against teams not names the Orioles or the Tigers.

 

And yes, I know that our pitching staff has been horrendous.

[Kimmi]

I expected a possible 0.30 to 0.80 ERA differential between Leon and Swihart & Leon and Vaz with maybe a high of 1.00- maybe a little more during the learning curve period.

 

To be clear, in no way do I blame not having Leon for 7 to 12 run differentials.

 

That being said, I wish we never messed with what we had going.

 

I have been with you all the way on not messing with the Leon/Vaz duo. If it ain't broke, don't mess with it.

 

Swihart is not to be blamed for our pitching woes, but I do think that Leon might have been able to help somewhat.

 

That is not a knock on Swihart. I have always liked him. I just don't know what we have in him because he hasn't been given ample playing time to get anything going. Hopefully, he will turn into the very good catcher that he was once touted to become.

[Kimmi]

In any case, all three of our catchers are better defensively than Sanchez. If the defense starts with the catcher, than we have the best in the business (now in Pawtucket) and the Yanks must have one of the worst. Advantage Sox.

 

As to our relief pitchers at least coming through, well last evening they did not--or he, Brian Johnson, did not.

 

Post of the day.

[Kimmi]

We just won the WS guys. Everything is going to be alright. We won’t suck like this all season long. This is a 6-month-season sport which is played almost everyday. Our team is so talented. Maybe I’m this optimistic or relaxed because I’m in Tulum with a spectacular view of the beach while drinking a couple of beers and tequila... but still guys LOL!

 

 

Also we are the goddamn champions and the best franchise in the last 30 years for God’s sake! don’t forget that!

 

Second post of the day!

[Kimmi]

The bullpen is not a factor when your starters take you out of the game early on . The test for the pen will come when the starters settle in and we start getting into a lot of close games . For whatever reason , the team in general has stunk on this early season road trip. Hopefully, some home cooking will straighten things out . But I still think that the offseason was not too good . Standing pat is seldom a good idea . Overconfidence and complacency is never a good thing .

 

Except the team did not stand pat. It just didn't make the big bullpen moves that you were hoping for.

[Northern Star]

The bullpen is not a factor when your starters take you out of the game early on . The test for the pen will come when the starters settle in and we start getting into a lot of close games . For whatever reason , the team in general has stunk on this early season road trip. Hopefully, some home cooking will straighten things out . But I still think that the offseason was not too good . Standing pat is seldom a good idea . Overconfidence and complacency is never a good thing .

 

Besides the Marlins, who makes serious changes to a WS winning team, bar replacing free agents and retirees? This team won 108 games. There was little that needed fixing.

[moonslav59]

Besides the Marlins, who makes serious changes to a WS winning team, bar replacing free agents and retirees? This team won 108 games. There was little that needed fixing.

 

No Kimbrel makes a difference.

 

No Leon might make a difference, except for the .511 OPS in 288 PAs.

 

No Kelly probably doesn't matter much.

 

No these guys, based on their 2018 numbers only, looked like addition by subtraction:

OPS

.708 HRam (195 PAs)

.604 Kinsler (143)

.520 B Phillips (27)

 

ERA

6.08 Pomeranz (74 IP)

7.41 Cuevas (17)

8.10 Scott (7)

12.79 Beeks (6)

 

 

[cp176]

I've never tried to claim I know more than you or others, and I have said over and over that our poor start is NOT because Leon is not here.

 

I do think catcher defense and pitcher comfort level is more important than many here do, and perhaps I "rant" about it more than it deserves to be discussed, but that's because I think the concept is "under blown."

 

In your arguments with who ever to hell this nimrod from New York is you do in fact imply that it is all about Leon. Maybe it is - who knows. I understand that you have not implied that you know any more about the game than any of the rest of us. not a problem. Once again anyone who knows one goddam thing about baseball understands the importance of the catcher pitcher relationship. if you feel that Leon's presence made that much of a difference last year than great. I don't share your thoughts. he is an excellent backup catcher cut from the same cloth that Vazquez is. they are not that good in my opinion. It is an area that would not hurt from an upgrade and maybe Swihart could provide that. it is possible .

[BillyWilliams]

... which, along with $6.00 and a predilection for turpentine-flavored liquids, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks...

 

The point was the stupid claim about being the best team over the last 30 yrs when the facts prove otherwise.

 

Thanks for playing though

[BillyWilliams]

... which, along with $6.00 and a predilection for turpentine-flavored liquids, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks...

 

Idiot

[moonslav59]

In your arguments with who ever to hell this nimrod from New York is you do in fact imply that it is all about Leon. Maybe it is - who knows. I understand that you have not implied that you know any more about the game than any of the rest of us. not a problem. Once again anyone who knows one goddam thing about baseball understands the importance of the catcher pitcher relationship. if you feel that Leon's presence made that much of a difference last year than great. I don't share your thoughts. he is an excellent backup catcher cut from the same cloth that Vazquez is. they are not that good in my opinion. It is an area that would not hurt from an upgrade and maybe Swihart could provide that. it is possible .

 

I never came close to saying this is all about Leon, except for the statement I made immediately followed by this...

 

"(Sarcasm alert)"

 

You keep acting like anyone who sees things differently than you is somehow disparaging you or claiming intellectual superiority.

 

Over the winter, I showed the differentials between Leon vs Vaz & Leon vs Swihart over the last few years with each of our starters and was very clear that I did not think the full differentials could be chalked up to Leon being that much better than the others with 2-3 of our starters. There were some pretty massive swings, and I have said maybe he makes a 0.50 or so difference with a couple of our pitchers.

 

When we got off to this horrible start, I went out of my way to say the sample size was "way way too small," yes I said "way" twice.

 

I then made a sarcastic statement and includes the alert. I followed that with a post about Swihart getting two hits and how some might be thinking what a wonderful thing it is to have a hitting catcher. That's probably the only post I made that hints at any sort of blame on our woes due to Leon not being here.

 

Look, everyone knows I wanted Leon over Swihart. Everyone knows I spoke of learning curves and messing with something that was working, but I have not come close to blaming our poor start on us not having Leon.

 

Do I wish we still had him? Yes, of course. Do I think Swihart and more of Vaz is the reason for a 6 run jump in starter ERA? Hell no. Not even close. I expected maybe a 0.50 to 1.00 jump in starter ERA during an indefinite learning curve period before settling somewhere between 0.30 and 0.80 with Sale & Price.

 

That's not earth-shattering. That's not close to blaming all this on the catcher choice DD & Cora made.

 

I'm not flipping my position, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of having to explain myself over and over, when I thought I was being pretty clear allalong, except for maybe the Swihart 2 hit post, which I made while pissed off at that lost game.

Edited April 7, 2019 by moonslav59

[BillyWilliams]

I never came close to saying this is all about Leon, except for the statement I made immediately followed by this...

 

"(Sarcasm alert)"

 

You keep acting like anyone who sees things differently than you is somehow disparaging you or claiming intellectual superiority.

 

Over the winter, I showed the differentials between Leon vs Vaz & Leon vs Swihart over the last few years with each of our starters and was very clear that I did not think the full differentials could be chalked up to Leon being that much better than the others with 2-3 of our starters. There were some pretty massive swings, and I have said maybe he makes a 0.50 or so difference with a couple of our pitchers.

 

When we got off to this horrible start, I went out of my way to say the sample size was "way way too small," yes I said "way" twice.

 

I then made a sarcastic statement and includes the alert. I followed that with a post about Swihart getting two hits and how some might be thinking what a wonderful thing it is to have a hitting catcher. That's probably the only post I made that hints at any sort of blame on our woes due to Leon not being here.

 

Look, everyone knows I wanted Leon over Swihart. Everyone knows I spoke of learning curves and messing with something that was working, but I have not come close to blaming our poor start on us not having Leon.

 

Do I wish we still had him? Yes, of course. Do I think Swihart and more of Vaz is the reason for a 6 run jump in starter ERA? Hell no. Not even close. I expected maybe a 0.50 to 1.00 jump in starter ERA during an indefinite learning curve period before settling somewhere between 0.30 and 0.80 with Sale & Price.

 

That's not earth-shattering. That's not close to blaming all this on the catcher choice DD & Cora made.

 

I'm not flipping my position, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of having to explain myself over and over, when I thought I was being pretty clear allalong, except for maybe the Swihart 2 hit post, which I made while pissed off at that lost game.

 

But I thought the catchers had nothing to do with the pitchers sequencing? Or do they?

 

You flip flop so much it's hard to follow. Much like your stance on small sample sizes.......

[cp176]

I never came close to saying this is all about Leon, except for the statement I made immediately followed by this...

 

"(Sarcasm alert)"

 

You keep acting like anyone who sees things differently than you is somehow disparaging you or claiming intellectual superiority.

 

Over the winter, I showed the differentials between Leon vs Vaz & Leon vs Swihart over the last few years with each of our starters and was very clear that I did not think the full differentials could be chalked up to Leon being that much better than the others with 2-3 of our starters. There were some pretty massive swings, and I have said maybe he makes a 0.50 or so difference with a couple of our pitchers.

 

When we got off to this horrible start, I went out of my way to say the sample size was "way way too small," yes I said "way" twice.

 

I then made a sarcastic statement and includes the alert. I followed that with a post about Swihart getting two hits and how some might be thinking what a wonderful thing it is to have a hitting catcher. That's probably the only post I made that hints at any sort of blame on our woes due to Leon not being here.

 

Look, everyone knows I wanted Leon over Swihart. Everyone knows I spoke of learning curves and messing with something that was working, but I have not come close to blaming our poor start on us not having Leon.

 

Do I wish we still had him? Yes, of course. Do I think Swihart and more of Vaz is the reason for a 6 run jump in starter ERA? Hell no. Not even close. I expected maybe a 0.50 to 1.00 jump in starter ERA during an indefinite learning curve period before settling somewhere between 0.30 and 0.80 with Sale & Price.

 

That's not earth-shattering. That's not close to blaming all this on the catcher choice DD & Cora made.

 

I'm not flipping my position, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of having to explain myself over and over, when I thought I was being pretty clear allalong, except for maybe the Swihart 2 hit post, which I made while pissed off at that lost game.

 

Wow - you really put me in my place. I apologize for totally misinterpreting what you have been saying for so long. Sometimes I guess I just don't get it.

[S5Dewey]

I never came close to saying this is all about Leon, except for the statement I made immediately followed by this...

 

"(Sarcasm alert)"

 

You keep acting like anyone who sees things differently than you is somehow disparaging you or claiming intellectual superiority.

 

Over the winter, I showed the differentials between Leon vs Vaz & Leon vs Swihart over the last few years with each of our starters and was very clear that I did not think the full differentials could be chalked up to Leon being that much better than the others with 2-3 of our starters. There were some pretty massive swings, and I have said maybe he makes a 0.50 or so difference with a couple of our pitchers.

 

When we got off to this horrible start, I went out of my way to say the sample size was "way way too small," yes I said "way" twice.

 

I then made a sarcastic statement and includes the alert. I followed that with a post about Swihart getting two hits and how some might be thinking what a wonderful thing it is to have a hitting catcher. That's probably the only post I made that hints at any sort of blame on our woes due to Leon not being here.

 

Look, everyone knows I wanted Leon over Swihart. Everyone knows I spoke of learning curves and messing with something that was working, but I have not come close to blaming our poor start on us not having Leon.

 

Do I wish we still had him? Yes, of course. Do I think Swihart and more of Vaz is the reason for a 6 run jump in starter ERA? Hell no. Not even close. I expected maybe a 0.50 to 1.00 jump in starter ERA during an indefinite learning curve period before settling somewhere between 0.30 and 0.80 with Sale & Price.

 

That's not earth-shattering. That's not close to blaming all this on the catcher choice DD & Cora made.

 

I'm not flipping my position, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of having to explain myself over and over, when I thought I was being pretty clear allalong, except for maybe the Swihart 2 hit post, which I made while pissed off at that lost game.

 

Please keep in mind that much of what you've posted wasn't really in response to what cp176 was saying, it was a reaction to your frustration toward BW (and maybe the losses).

 

BW served his own purpose here. He trolled by insulting us and our team, and got us fighting among ourselves. In that regard he was a good troll. Now he's gone. Let's move on.

[cp176]

Please keep in mind that much of what you've posted wasn't really in response to what cp176 was saying, it was a reaction to your frustration toward BW (and maybe the losses).

 

BW served his own purpose here. He trolled by insulting us and our team, and got us fighting among ourselves. In that regard he was a good troll. Now he's gone. Let's move on.

 

I think that you are likely right with this. I did reread the post that I made that I guess is the one that Moon responded to. Probably just me but I didn't see much in it to get riled up over. If ever I don't agree with you, I hope that you don't get the feeling that I think that you are trying to act in an intellectually superior way to me. That is just me being sarcastic - lol. Sadly i do get the feeling here that if you don't agree with certain people's points of view, they tend to get all sputtery and hit you with one million pieces of statistical garbage to attempt to prove their points of view. Thanks for trying to keep the peace.

[yankee0313]

Who got the SAVE for the sox last night ?????

[S5Dewey]

I think that you are likely right with this. I did reread the post that I made that I guess is the one that Moon responded to. Probably just me but I didn't see much in it to get riled up over. If ever I don't agree with you, I hope that you don't get the feeling that I think that you are trying to act in an intellectually superior way to me. That is just me being sarcastic - lol. Sadly i do get the feeling here that if you don't agree with certain people's points of view, they tend to get all sputtery and hit you with one million pieces of statistical garbage to attempt to prove their points of view. Thanks for trying to keep the peace.

 

Everyone has their own way of trying to make their points. While I tend to lean toward the "human" side of the game others rely on statistics. And it's all ok. What works well for me is "Everything in moderation - even moderation." Your results may vary.

[S5Dewey]

Who got the SAVE for the sox last night ?????

 

Babe (a/k/a BillyWilliams) gets booted last night and today yankee0313 makes his first post. Coincidence?

[Bellhorn04]

The bullpen is not a factor when your starters take you out of the game early on . The test for the pen will come when the starters settle in and we start getting into a lot of close games . For whatever reason , the team in general has stunk on this early season road trip. Hopefully, some home cooking will straighten things out . But I still think that the offseason was not too good . Standing pat is seldom a good idea . Overconfidence and complacency is never a good thing .

 

A lesson learned after 2013...

 

The Red Sox stood pat after 2007 and went to ALCS Game 7 in 2008.

 

There are no hard and fast rules about which approach is best.

[Slasher9]

Babe (a/k/a BillyWilliams) gets booted last night and today yankee0313 makes his first post. Coincidence?

 

Hahahaha. Good look.

[Slasher9]

Also, will the bullpen become a factor as they get overworked?

 

 

I don’t expect the arms we are using up in the blowouts are expected to see much high leverage situations. As of now I am going to say...no factor at this point.

[Thunder]

Babe (a/k/a BillyWilliams) gets booted last night and today yankee0313 makes his first post. Coincidence?

 

Touche, but this account was made in March. Unless BillyWilliams was planning ahead for the inevitable, it may just be a coincidence

[cp176]

Everyone has their own way of trying to make their points. While I tend to lean toward the "human" side of the game others rely on statistics. And it's all ok. What works well for me is "Everything in moderation - even moderation." Your results may vary.

 

Absolutely true - I don't mind it all when someone disagrees with an opinion of mine. You and i have had this discussion before. Almost everything that is posted here is opinion and conjecture. Having a strong opinion and expressing it does not in the slightest have anything to do with what someone else here thinks of anyone from an intelectual standpoint.

Edited April 7, 2019 by cp176

[Station 13]

Babe (a/k/a BillyWilliams) gets booted last night and today yankee0313 makes his first post. Coincidence?

 

Billy Boy would post "sawx" instead. Unless he didn't want to get caught!

[Bellhorn04]

Billy Boy would post "sawx" instead. Unless he didn't want to get caught!

 

Billy Boy wouldn't stop at one quick post either. He posts in flurries.

[jacksonianmarch]

One word of caution to those applauding Billy’s disappearance. Quiet for a board isn’t always a good thing. I don’t decide if someone gets banned or not and I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it, but having a disruptor who isn’t overtly trolling can be a good thing for a board. It can bring people into the conversation who have been lurking, but at some point it can drive away people who are reliable. It’s a balance.

[S5Dewey]

One word of caution to those applauding Billy’s disappearance. Quiet for a board isn’t always a good thing. I don’t decide if someone gets banned or not and I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it, but having a disruptor who isn’t overtly trolling can be a good thing for a board. It can bring people into the conversation who have been lurking, but at some point it can drive away people who are reliable. It’s a balance.

 

I can see that. It all depends on whether one suffers fools lightly. I don't.

Personally I'm glad he's gone because I had him on ignore but that didn't stop others from quoting him, so I couldn't get away from his posts.

[kenmeister]

Hey all, I've been quiet so far this season myself, and the slow start is agonizing, but I stick by what I said last week; I think it will take this team until mid-May to jell and then they'll take off like a rocket. So, no worries yet