5/18 vs Astros

[Maxbialystock]

The Astros did not even play all that well Saturday night. Their pitching gave up buckets of walks. We did nothing with them. All the Astros did was nudge us a little and we folded up and went into "I want to go home and cry in my beer" mode. Worse, the Astros literally felt that we were so out of it that they could just bait us into beating ourselves and they did that continually both Saturday night and Friday night.

 

Friday night, the Astros punished Cora and the team for thinking it would run that s*** OF out there to play in the toughest OF in baseball when we actually have the very best OF for playing in Fenway Park just right there, Beni in LF, JBJ in CF and Mookie in RF. We sat the league GG CFer, moved the GG RFer from his premier RF play to CF where he is barely average and moved JD, now an average OFer in any OF position to what is the most difficult corner OF position in baseball, RF in Fenway Park. There are ways to sit JBJ if you want to Alex. The ways you are choosing are crap on toast.

 

The Astros played like a team that wanted to win Saturday night, buoyed by the sort of confidence we brought to the game many times last year and we came looking like we did not even want to be there. We looked like we had a tough night Friday night, stayed out too late, yawned, rolled out of bed and crawled out onto the field as if it was a ST practice day in Florida. Kinda' funny since it appears the Sox did not bring their game with them to Florida this Spring but then managed to somehow leave it there. How do you do both of those? Did they have "their game" for about one day in early March and that was it? Did we miss that Spring game when they basically ejaculated the entire first quarter of the season in one magnificent and meaningless performance?

 

This in a game that it should not have been hard to get up for in our own building. Sadly our everyday players have looked much like this for what is now about 25% of the season. Saving JD, 1-6 in our batting order have been streaky at best so far. Frankly, it matters little to me who was pitching for us Saturday night. It matters more to me that the Sox starting pitcher on Saturday night appears to have been a phycological hurdle that our own players could not get over.

 

Agree our guys didn’t compete, but you are dead wrong about that great defensive outfield. I agree they are much better with JBJ and not JDM, but what difference did it make in game outcome? We lost both games because the Astros hitting and pitching was better. Actually, their defense was also better in both games.

 

I have no objection to JBJ in centerfield, but his defense is a game changer only now and then.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Maxbialystock

[Bellhorn04]

Friday night, the Astros punished Cora and the team for thinking it would run that s*** OF out there to play in the toughest OF in baseball when we actually have the very best OF for playing in Fenway Park just right there, Beni in LF, JBJ in CF and Mookie in RF. We sat the league GG CFer, moved the GG RFer from his premier RF play to CF where he is barely average and moved JD, now an average OFer in any OF position to what is the most difficult corner OF position in baseball, RF in Fenway Park. There are ways to sit JBJ if you want to Alex. The ways you are choosing are crap on toast.

 

Don't tease us. What are these better ways to sit JBJ?

[jung]

Don't tease us. What are these better ways to sit JBJ?

 

You leave the GG RFer in RF for one thing especially in Fenway. You don't turn your GG RFer into a barely average CFer because now you are going to force somebody far inferior to him playing RF out to the most difficult RF in all baseball to play. So that for starters.

 

Next while Beni is not a good CFer either, Beni is a better CFer than JD is a RFer especially in Fenway. So if you are going to sit JBJ you keep Mookie in RF, move Beni to CF and either play JD in LF (the easiest of the three OF position in Fenway) or you keep JD at DH and play Pearce in LF. As Cora plays it now, he turns his entire OF to s*** and allows aggressive teams to push said OF to try to make plays they are incapable of making regularly just as the Astros did with JD on Friday night.

 

While Beni is not much of a CFer, he can play barely average CF as easily as Mookie can and at least your premier, GG RFer is playing RF in the most difficult RF in all baseball to play, Fenway RF.

Edited May 19, 2019 by jung

[jung]

Agree our guys didn’t compete, but you are dead wrong about that great defensive outfield. I agree they are much better with JBJ and not JDM, but what difference did it make in game outcome? We lost both games because the Astros hitting and pitching was better. Actually, their defense was also better in both games.

 

I have no objection to JBJ in centerfield, but his defense is a game changer only now and then.

 

Had JD not thrown the baseball into the ground on Friday night we would have been down only 1 instead of down 2 at last bats. That was a nothing throw from RF that JD simply did not make as his suspect footwork failed him on the throw. JD might have gotten away with a throw like that from LF but not from RF.

 

You don't play down 1 the same way you play down 2. It is a huge dif, certainly greater than the dif between down 1 and down 3 and down 1 and down 4. You don't get to a more significant tactical and strategic difference between down 1 run and down 2 runs until you get to down 5 runs.

 

We would have played our last bats differently had we only been down 1 run instead of down 2 and we very well could have come back and at least sent that game to extras and won it there if not crawled back to a tie in the 9th and won it while still AB in that stanza.

[Bellhorn04]

You leave the GG RFer in RF for one thing especially in Fenway. You don't turn your GG RFer into a barely average CFer because now you are going to force somebody far inferior to him playing RF out to the most difficult RF in all baseball to play. So that for starters.

 

Next while Beni is not a good CFer either, Beni is a better CFer than JD is a RFer especially in Fenway. So if you are going to sit JBJ you keep Mookie in RF, move Beni to CF and either play JD in LF (the easiest of the three OF position in Fenway) or you keep JD at DH and play Pearce in LF. As Cora plays it now, he turns his entire OF to s*** and allows aggressive teams to push said OF to try to make plays they are incapable of making regularly just as the Astros did with JD on Friday night.

 

Left may be the easiest of the three in Fenway, but it's probably asking a bit too much from JD to play right field in other parks and left field in Fenway.

[jung]

Left may be the easiest of the three in Fenway, but it's probably asking a bit too much from JD to play right field in other parks and left field in Fenway.

 

Its corner OF. Frankly, I don't think JD should be playing OF anywhere but Corner OF and he should not be playing Corner OF in anything but the least taxing Corner OF's in baseball. That would suggest that JD should not play Corner OF in Fenway at all at any time and Pearce should be sent out to LF if need be in Fenway. Approached from the perspective of least taxing the dif between one corner OF in baseball and another is nominally nothing. If you can't do that with JD, keep him at DH. Cora is over-managing and turning something that is not that difficult into rocket science.

 

Play JD in LF in Fenway or not in the OF at all in Fenway. Pick your spots around baseball for opportunities to play JD in the OF (least taxing corner OF's in baseball) to keep his hand in out there. Suppose JD had not only thrown the ball into the ground from RF Friday night but since his bad throw was footwork related lets toss a turned ankle or twisted knee in there for good measure. Now what! You just lost the best and so far only consistent bat in your lineup for some number of games.

 

Then there is the issue of what the Sox got in return for offense by sitting JBJ Friday night. They got NUNEZ at DH. Whoopie ding-dong!

[Bellhorn04]

Its corner OF. Frankly, I don't think JD should be playing OF anywhere but Corner OF and he should not be playing Corner OF in anything but the least taxing Corner OF's in baseball. That would suggest that JD should not play Corner OF in Fenway at all at any time and Pearce should be sent out to LF if need be in Fenway. Approached from the perspective of least taxing the dif between one corner OF in baseball and another is nominally nothing. If you can't do that with JD, keep him at DH. Cora is over-managing and turning something that is not that difficult into rocket science.

 

Play JD in LF in Fenway or not in the OF at all in Fenway. Pick your spots around baseball for opportunities to play JD in the OF (least taxing corner OF's in baseball) to keep his hand in out there. Suppose JD had not only thrown the ball into the ground from RF Friday night but since his bad throw was footwork related lets toss a turned ankle or twisted knee in there for good measure. Now what! You just lost the best and so far only consistent bat in your lineup for some number of games.

 

Then there is the issue of what the Sox got in return for offense by sitting JBJ Friday night. They got NUNEZ at DH. Whoopie ding-dong!

 

Nunez at DH is pretty ridiculous, agreed.

 

I can only guess it's the injury concern with not wanting JD to play left in Fenway. It's not a large area to cover but it's a little on the tricky & dangerous side.

[jung]

Nunez at DH is pretty ridiculous, agreed.

 

I can only guess it's the injury concern with not wanting JD to play left in Fenway. It's not a large area to cover but it's a little on the tricky & dangerous side.

 

RF in Fenway is no bargain for physical risks either. you have no foul ground approaching the wall in foul ground in RF and you have the optical illusion created by that bulge in the RF wall from the foul pole out to the bullpens which is what sent Tori Hunter heels over tea kettle a few years ago or can crush a shoulder if you bang into it. Hard to think of the Green Monster in terms of an optical illusion. Its there and you know its there. Can you imagine a guy JD's size going heels over tea kettle into the bullpen like Tori did? It is as you say, tighter in LF and you are more likely to still think you can make a play going into that foul ground and toward the foul ground wall in Fenway LF than in Fenway RF. No fun....ask Swi or Ramirez.

 

In my view, those are all cases for keeping JD out of the Fenway OF entirely unless absolutely forced to it by circumstances (as in injury to everybody else). There are plenty of Corner OF's in baseball that do not present anything like the challenges of the Fenway OF.

 

As for the specifics on JD's throw, you can sometimes get away with a throw like that from LF because the Catcher has the play entirely in front of him. He has the runner coming down the line and the ball coming at him parallel to the runner. The whole play is right there. Make a throw like that from RF and your Catcher has to manage to catch the bounding ball and then turn into the runner coming down the 3rd base line.

[Slasher9]

We missed out on a defensive out in the first inning or 2 when JD didn’t get to the flyball that bounced into the seats. No runs scored but it shifts the batting lineup/outs for all future innings after that. Every out matters.

#alloutsmatter

[Kimmi]

We missed out on a defensive out in the first inning or 2 when JD didn’t get to the flyball that bounced into the seats. No runs scored but it shifts the batting lineup/outs for all future innings after that. Every out matters.

#alloutsmatter

 

This is a great point that often gets overlooked. So maybe a missed defensive out did not directly result in a run that inning, but it does affect things in future innings.

[moonslav59]

For more context, they are 4-8 against teams over .500

 

2 wins away from .500 on a small sample size of games.

[dgalehouse]

The idea of sitting Bradley , thereby weakening the defense , just so Nunez can DH against a tough right hander makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don't get it . Maybe Cora was just trying to send JBJ a message . Who knows .

[notin]

The idea of sitting Bradley , thereby weakening the defense , just so Nunez can DH against a tough right hander makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don't get it . Maybe Cora was just trying to send JBJ a message . Who knows .

 

It’s

True.

 

I think the biggest reason the Sox haven’t benched Bradley earlier is the absolute lack of other available options that don’t suck...

[Bellhorn04]

It’s

True.

 

I think the biggest reason the Sox haven’t benched Bradley earlier is the absolute lack of other available options that don’t suck...

 

So where do these reasons rank?

 

-He has had extended slumps before and come out of them.

-You can't come out of a slump on the bench.

[vegasbob]

So where do these reasons rank?

 

-He has had extended slumps before and come out of them.

-You can't come out of a slump on the bench.

 

You can afford JBJr's .150/.430 if the rest of the lineup merely hits to their career averages , so that your overall OF defense is optimized (Betts RF ; Beni LF; JBJ CF) . Now that Vazquez seemingly has cured the prior hitting deficiency at Catcher, JBJ is all the more affordable. Cora may be trying to send JBJ a message (no hit--no play= no future contract) Putting any mention of Pearce as an OF plug-in is laughable this year. Just play Jackie and ask the rest of the lineup to do their jobs.

[vegasbob]

I come back to this point : How does an FO expect to win 96-100 games with a 3 man bench consisting of Pearce, Nunez and Leon"s bat , with no regular secondbaseman , now relying on a powerful but raw rookie who has no well defined position ? Addressing the BP is a whole other conversation.

 

I imagine DD's answer would include ; Didn't you see the same lineup players win 119 in 2018 ? I didn't know whether Pedey and his contract wouldn't be able to make it back, that Holt would be a dud and then get injured for about 2 months ? A teamwide slump to open the season ? These guys went 17-2 last year ! Alex Cora ? Can't get a better players manager and analyst than that . A soft ST ? Save it for October baseball, not the Grapefruit League . Eovaldi's floating elbow bodies, who knew ? Brewer and Thorny, gotta roll the dice sometimes . New faces ?? Why disturb the clubhouse tightness ? Hangover syndrome ? That's as silly as clutch, momentum, lineup protection and defense wins theories !

 

I do think that DD and Cora (and most fans) are suffering from a little snakebite after assuming the same guys would play reasonably well and competitively as they did in 2018. Kimbrel and Kelly's moving on is not the core problem. Playing up to their abilities is the challenge. Oh, and a reset next year .

[Bellhorn04]

I come back to this point : How does an FO expect to win 96-100 games with a 3 man bench consisting of Pearce, Nunez and Leon"s bat , with no regular secondbaseman , now relying on a powerful but raw rookie who has no well defined position ? Addressing the BP is a whole other conversation.

 

I imagine DD's answer would include ; Didn't you see the same lineup players win 119 in 2018 ? I didn't know whether Pedey and his contract wouldn't be able to make it back, that Holt would be a dud and then get injured for about 2 months ? A teamwide slump to open the season ? These guys went 17-2 last year ! Alex Cora ? Can't get a better players manager and analyst than that . A soft ST ? Save it for October baseball, not the Grapefruit League . Eovaldi's floating elbow bodies, who knew ? Brewer and Thorny, gotta roll the dice sometimes . New faces ?? Why disturb the clubhouse tightness ? Hangover syndrome ? That's as silly as clutch, momentum, lineup protection and defense wins theories !

 

I do think that DD and Cora (and most fans) are suffering from a little snakebite after assuming the same guys would play reasonably well and competitively as they did in 2018. Kimbrel and Kelly's moving on is not the core problem. Playing up to their abilities is the challenge. Oh, and a reset next year .

 

It is indeed the same team and the same bench as last year.

 

I think the 'year after' syndrome is real. It's not an excuse for bad play. But history shows it's really hard to repeat in MLB. There's some fatigue, there's psychological letdown, there's the opposite teams getting a little more psyched to beat you, there's the law of averages dictating that things aren't going to go your way like they did the year before.

 

Also, DD's hands were pretty well tied financially as far as making upgrades.