2019 Spring Training Thread

[mvp 78]

Chavis/Lakins/Shepard/Taylor optioned to AA. Denyi Reyes optioned to AA.

 

@alexspeier

 

To be determined how long Darwinzon Hernandez remains in camp, but the fact that, as a guy anticipated to break in Double A, he’s not in the first-round of cuts speaks volumes about the impression he’s made. Cora has said he expects him to help after 3/28, before 9/1.

 

@alexspeier

 

Also among the non-cuts: Chavis got optioned to Pawtucket, while non-roster invitee Dalbec (entering camp, he seemed a likely candidate to open in Portland) remains up. Cora has been extremely impressed with Dalbec’s defensive tools and has spoken highly of offensive approach.

[mvp 78]

@jcmccaffrey

 

Cora says Porcello will start a minor league game Friday and Sale will make his Grapefruit League debut against the Braves on Saturday

[Jack Flap]

@alexspeier

 

Overall, it’s been a very good spring showing for top three Red Sox prospects (I had them, in order, as Dalbec, Chavis, and Darwinzon Hernandez). The Red Sox appear likely to get big league impact from that group this year - whether via Callis or trade.

 

No one guessed that our unsung MVP this year would be.......Jim Callis.

[mvp 78]

No one guessed that our unsung MVP this year would be.......Jim Callis.

 

He said his phone autocorrected that. Should have been call up.

[Jack Flap]

He said his phone autocorrected that. Should have been call up.

 

Lol, I know...it was still funny.

[cp176]

but... but but but - Before you get too excited, remember that these guys are a by-product of certainly one of the worst farm systems in ml baseball. It has been spoken.

[notin]

but... but but but - Before you get too excited, remember that these guys are a by-product of certainly one of the worst farm systems in ml baseball. It has been spoken.

 

 

I’m not sure you understand what that means...

[cp176]

I’m not sure you understand what that means...

 

Are you suggesting that I don't understand what I means? Or are you suggesting that I don't know what I am talking about?

A or B but only one is the correct answer -

[notin]

Are you suggesting that I don't understand what I means? Or are you suggesting that I don't know what I am talking about?

A or B but only one is the correct answer -

 

 

You sure only one is correct?

[cp176]

You sure only one is correct?

 

Are you a mystery in your own mind?

[jung]

It does look to me like Cora is working those truly contending for a spot on the 25 man in more gradually than he did last ST.

 

RemDog contends that the way to repeat is to start the next ST by turning the page completely from the championship season. Is that realistic given the amount of travel these guys have to do now having just gone through a 200+ game 2018?

 

I noted in an earlier post that the biggest dif to me in the 2018 Sox and the rest of MLB was the basically God Awful early season baseball virtually everybody else was playing in 2018 when you compare it to the ball the Sox were playing. Were we playing great ball early? NO!!!!! Were we playing God Awful baseball as was virtually everybody else early? NO!!!!!! More telling, we did it with Cora sticking to his "rest through the season" formula for getting through the 162.

 

The curent dynamics within the MLB is suggestive that seasons are likely to continue to go as 2018 did. Franchises appear all in on this idea of putting guys on the 25 man that just don't belong there right from the first day of the 162. The result....basically crappy baseball for a couple months.

 

I cannot tell with certainty what Cora is actually doing. But if he is trying to ease the guys that will actually be on the 25 man into ST intending to produce the same sort of result early in 2019 as he got early in 2018 in spite of just going through a 200+ game 2019, I don't think I can argue with him.

[jacksonianmarch]

Welcome back jung. The Sox early season schedule was putrid and it wasn’t because of the final result of the team’s records, but as you said, the putrid early season play. You caught TB with their pants down, Oakland was a joke in April, although they did take 2 of 3, you saw all of the Marlins, you got some KC, a bunch of BAL, bad Toronto and took 2 of 3 from the Yankees (the only team playing well on your schedule in April).

 

This year’s schedule looks a little more daunting. You start off with...

 

A west coast trip to Seattle for 4- Seattle is expected to suck, but west coast trips ain’t easy.

 

Then you go to the stool park in Oakland for 4. If they live up to last seasons capability, that’ll be tough.

 

To Arizona for 3. They’re not exactly rebuilding, but they’re not exactly good either

 

Then home for 6 vs garbage in Baltimore and Toronto.

 

A quick 2 games at the Yanks. Then 3 at Tampa. Home for 3 vs Detroit. Tampa and the A’s then finish out the month at Fenway.

 

If we assume that Oakland and Tampa will be over .500 this year and Seattle and Arizona will be under .500 while other teams stay the same, the Sox will play 15 of their first 28 games against teams who should be over .500 and they start the year on the west coast for 11 games. This April won’t be as easy.

[Slasher9]

welcome back jung. The sox early season schedule was putrid and it wasn’t because of the final result of the team’s records, but as you said, the putrid early season play. You caught tb with their pants down, oakland was a joke in april, although they did take 2 of 3, you saw all of the marlins, you got some kc, a bunch of bal, bad toronto and took 2 of 3 from the yankees (the only team playing well on your schedule in april).

 

This year’s schedule looks a little more daunting. You start off with...

 

A west coast trip to seattle for 4- seattle is expected to suck, but west coast trips ain’t easy.

 

Then you go to the stool park in oakland for 4. If they live up to last seasons capability, that’ll be tough.

 

To arizona for 3. They’re not exactly rebuilding, but they’re not exactly good either

 

then home to hand out the 2018 world series championship rings and then play 6 vs garbage in baltimore and toronto.

 

A quick 2 games at the yanks. Then 3 at tampa. Home for 3 vs detroit. Tampa and the a’s then finish out the month at fenway.

 

If we assume that oakland and tampa will be over .500 this year and seattle and arizona will be under .500 while other teams stay the same, the sox will play 15 of their first 28 games against teams who should be over .500 and they start the year on the west coast for 11 games. This april won’t be as easy.

 

ftfy

[Bellhorn04]

Welcome back jung. The Sox early season schedule was putrid and it wasn’t because of the final result of the team’s records, but as you said, the putrid early season play. You caught TB with their pants down, Oakland was a joke in April, although they did take 2 of 3, you saw all of the Marlins, you got some KC, a bunch of BAL, bad Toronto and took 2 of 3 from the Yankees (the only team playing well on your schedule in April).

 

What was really cool, though, was going 11-3 (.786) in October against the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

[Slasher9]

What was really cool, though, was going 11-3 in October against the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

 

post of the year.

[jung]

What was really cool, though, was going 11-3 (.786) in October against the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

 

Not only that but as generally expressed in a post i made much earlier in this thread, IMO the Sox came down the stretch in great shape going 19-6 in July, 18-9 in the dog days and 15-11 in September. The September record is not as impressive but they would have had to suffer an epic fail by September to fall out of 1st and Cora knew it, managed like it.

 

Whether some of our Yankee brethren like it or not if we want to call what we saw early in the 2018 campaign from most MLB teams, MLB quality baseball we would be putting our head in the sand. In addition we can see with our own eyes that there were guys on these 25 man rosters that have no business being there on day 1 of the 162. Just the way it is these days.

 

Assuming I am guessing correctly on Cora's direction at this point, I have a hard time questioning it. In spite of my own skepticism at times and expressed in these pages last year, I have to say that Cora did a masterful job managing his assets last year, all the way through from beginning to end. I would be denying everything I know about this game to claim otherwise. Hence I have no basis to question what he might be doing at this point in ST.

 

I should also add that the managers that appear to be enjoying success these days are the managers that are completely invested in the MLB we have today, not the MLB we had 10-15-20 years ago. Cora might be the best current example.

Edited March 13, 2019 by jung

[jacksonianmarch]

Not only that but as generally expressed in a post i made much earlier in this thread, IMO the Sox came down the stretch in great shape going 19-6 in July, 18-9 in the dog days and 15-11 in September. The September record is not as impressive but they would have had to suffer an epic fail by September to fall out of 1st and Cora knew it, managed like it.

 

Whether some of our Yankee brethren like it or not if we want to call what we saw early in the 2018 campaign from most MLB teams, MLB quality baseball we would be putting our head in the sand. In addition we can see with our own eyes that there were guys on these 25 man rosters that have no business being there on day 1 of the 162. Just the way it is these days.

 

Assuming I am guessing correctly on Cora's direction at this point, I have a hard time questioning it. In spite of my own skepticism at times and expressed in these pages last year, I have to say that Cora did a masterful job managing his assets last year, all the way through from beginning to end. I would be denying everything I know about this game to claim otherwise. Hence I have no basis to question what he might be doing at this point in ST.

 

I should also add that the managers that appear to be enjoying success these days are the managers that are completely invested in the MLB we have today, not the MLB we had 10-15-20 years ago. Cora might be the best current example.

 

there were 3 100 game winnners in the AL, a 97 game WC winner, a 91 game winning division winner who won their division by 13 games and a 90 game winning team who missed the playoffs by 7 games. The AL was a feast or famine league a season ago, so yes, saying some clubs didn't have MLB caliber players is an understatement. I anticipate we will see more of the same with the Mariners blowing it up after winning 89 games themselves and nobody really going for it who were in the bottom tier. The compounding factor about last year was that two of the better clubs had poor starts with TB and Oakland being .500 on May 1. There were only two AL teams who started strong who ended up finishing at or below .500 in Toronto and Anaheim.

[notin]

Tampa was essentially a .500 team as late as August 1.

[jung]

I would also offer as to the lack of hitting early in ST, I cannot remember a time when pitchers threw their secondary pitches as early in ST as they do now. Usually they took a bit more time to shake the cobwebs off the arm. Now, I am having a hard time finding the "shake the cobwebs off" period. Hitters always have to catch up to the pitchers but its been like watching them try to hit whiffle balls from guys that can actually throw. As for the guys that "hope" they can throw....not so much.

[Maxbialystock]

Not only that but as generally expressed in a post i made much earlier in this thread, IMO the Sox came down the stretch in great shape going 19-6 in July, 18-9 in the dog days and 15-11 in September. The September record is not as impressive but they would have had to suffer an epic fail by September to fall out of 1st and Cora knew it, managed like it.

 

Whether some of our Yankee brethren like it or not if we want to call what we saw early in the 2018 campaign from most MLB teams, MLB quality baseball we would be putting our head in the sand. In addition we can see with our own eyes that there were guys on these 25 man rosters that have no business being there on day 1 of the 162. Just the way it is these days.

 

Assuming I am guessing correctly on Cora's direction at this point, I have a hard time questioning it. In spite of my own skepticism at times and expressed in these pages last year, I have to say that Cora did a masterful job managing his assets last year, all the way through from beginning to end. I would be denying everything I know about this game to claim otherwise. Hence I have no basis to question what he might be doing at this point in ST.

 

I should also add that the managers that appear to be enjoying success these days are the managers that are completely invested in the MLB we have today, not the MLB we had 10-15-20 years ago. Cora might be the best current example.

 

You're almost as long-winded as I, but I agree completely it's awfully hard to second guess anything Cora does.

[moonslav59]

If you take away our March and April record from 2018 (21-7) vs patsies and add our playoff record vs the very best in MLB (seems fair, right?), we still went ...

 

98-50

 

A .662 winning % wins 107 games over a 162 game season.

 

Game, set, match!

[Maxbialystock]

What was really cool, though, was going 11-3 (.786) in October against the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

 

Definitely cool.

 

But, honestly, I thought all three series were contested despite the Sox winning 3 of 4, 4 of 5, and 4 of 5. The Yankees split in Boston in the ALDS with their ace leading off in NYC, but the Sox hammered Severino and then the Yankees bullpen. But even down 2-1, the Yankees had a shot in game 4 because of the late, great Craig Kimbrel, who got one very flaky save.

 

Then the Astros took game 1 in the ALCS and went back to Houston tied 1-1 in games, but lost 3 straight. But that game 4 win was thanks to a great catch by Benintendi with the bases loaded in the 9th.

 

Finally, LA loses both in Boston, but wins game 3 in LA and had a golden opportunity after the game 3 marathon to tie the series. They had a 4-0 lead after 6 in game 4, but pulled Hill--after which their bullpen disintegrated, giving up 8 runs in 3 innings. Kimbrel tried to get them back in the game in the 9th, but it was just too hard with that 5 run lead.

[jacksonianmarch]

If you take away our March and April record from 2018 (21-7) vs patsies and add our playoff record vs the very best in MLB (seems fair, right?), we still went ...

 

98-50

 

A .662 winning % wins 107 games over a 162 game season.

 

Game, set, match!

 

The sox were awesome last year. A great start followed by a sustained period of winning. No question

[Kimmi]

Welcome back jung. The Sox early season schedule was putrid and it wasn’t because of the final result of the team’s records, but as you said, the putrid early season play. You caught TB with their pants down, Oakland was a joke in April, although they did take 2 of 3, you saw all of the Marlins, you got some KC, a bunch of BAL, bad Toronto and took 2 of 3 from the Yankees (the only team playing well on your schedule in April).

 

This year’s schedule looks a little more daunting. You start off with...

 

A west coast trip to Seattle for 4- Seattle is expected to suck, but west coast trips ain’t easy.

 

Then you go to the stool park in Oakland for 4. If they live up to last seasons capability, that’ll be tough.

 

To Arizona for 3. They’re not exactly rebuilding, but they’re not exactly good either

 

Then home for 6 vs garbage in Baltimore and Toronto.

 

A quick 2 games at the Yanks. Then 3 at Tampa. Home for 3 vs Detroit. Tampa and the A’s then finish out the month at Fenway.

 

If we assume that Oakland and Tampa will be over .500 this year and Seattle and Arizona will be under .500 while other teams stay the same, the Sox will play 15 of their first 28 games against teams who should be over .500 and they start the year on the west coast for 11 games. This April won’t be as easy.

 

Our second half schedule last season was also very daunting, according to you, and the Yankees were going to run away with the division.

 

You need to stop.

[Kimmi]

What was really cool, though, was going 11-3 (.786) in October against the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

 

!!!

[Larry Cook]

No two years are alike. I suspect that if we are resting our starters early in the year, we may not have the early season success we had last year.

[moonslav59]

No two years are alike. I suspect that if we are resting our starters early in the year, we may not have the early season success we had last year.

 

Our starters got extra rest early last season, too- mostly due to several days off early, something we don't get this year.

 

Here's how we started last year:

 

(Also, look who our 4th and 5th starters were to start the season and who will be this year.)

 

Sale

Price

Porcello

Velazquez

Johnson

Sale

Off

Price +1 day rest

Porcello +1

ERod (1st start- 3 IP))

Off

Sale +1

Price

Porcello

ERod

Velazquez +11

Sale

Off

Price +1

Porcello +1

ERod +1

Pomeranz (1st start- 3.2 IP)

Sale +1

 

End of 17-2 start. ERod & Pom only started 3 games out of 19.

Sale had 5 starts (2 with an extra day off)

Price had 4 starts (2 with an extra day off)

Porcello had 4 starts (2 with extra day)

 

While 13 of our first 19 games were started by our big 3, 6 of those 13 were with an extra day off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vegasbob]

Ironic that JDM is 1 for 16 , bit of a late start, while Pedey is hitting .500 ! However, that's 2 for 4 AB's, not exactly in full playing mode yet . Could easily start the year on DL for the initial road trip, show up more ready to play in Boston .

[kenmeister]

Ironic that JDM is 1 for 16 , bit of a late start, while Pedey is hitting .500 ! However, that's 2 for 4 AB's, not exactly in full playing mode yet . Could easily start the year on DL for the initial road trip, show up more ready to play in Boston .

 

It looks like the Sox having a "World Series hangover" and getting off to a slow start is a real possibility.

[moonslav59]

It looks like the Sox having a "World Series hangover" and getting off to a slow start is a real possibility.

 

Nope.

 

We'll win 60%+ in April.