The Andrew Benintendi Performance Thread

[Maxbialystock]

so you are going to respond to #2 with dWAR? dwar has zero value to me so your response using dwar is meaningless. i watch every game. 162 of them. every season. my eyes show me exactly how our LFer is playing Defense in 2019 compared to 2018. he is not getting to sinking line drives in 2019 like he did in 2018. do you want to debate that? if so, please use something besides the severely flawed dwar stat. war is not a conversation ender....remember????

 

i dont mind keeping beni. some on this thread were looking to trade him. trade him for a starter or a reliever. i dont mind keeping beni and not trading him for a starter or reliever. where is the argument? you would like to trade him?

 

Sadly, I use DWAR but sure can't defend it because sometimes the numbers seem spurious. That said, we are talking about the oxymoronic notion that defense is important for Red Sox leftfielders. It is only if your name is Hanley Ramirez. Even Ted Williams--Jimmy Piersall's complaints notwithstanding--was adequate. So was Manny, even when being Manny.

 

Overall, though, I grant you are not exactly attacking Beni at a time when others on talksox are. We agree that in general--there are always exceptions--he is a keeper. I just like to argue.

[Slasher9]

Sadly, I use DWAR but sure can't defend it because sometimes the numbers seem spurious. That said, we are talking about the oxymoronic notion that defense is important for Red Sox leftfielders. It is only if your name is Hanley Ramirez. Even Ted Williams--Jimmy Piersall's complaints notwithstanding--was adequate. So was Manny, even when being Manny.

 

Overall, though, I grant you are not exactly attacking Beni at a time when others on talksox are. We agree that in general--there are always exceptions--he is a keeper. I just like to argue.

 

fair.

would you say LF defense was unimportant in last years ALCS?

me? i would make an argument that we dont even make the WS if that catch isnt made....

[notin]

fair.

would you say LF defense was unimportant in last years ALCS?

me? i would make an argument that we dont even make the WS if that catch isnt made....

 

The Sox did won that series 4-1. It’s possible that if Benintendi misses that ball, they win 4-2.

 

And they even might have still won game 4. At best Bregman’s “hit” would have tied the score.

 

Any argument about “momentum shift” is countered by reminding you how much losing that 18 inning World Series Kinsler game shifted momentum...

[Slasher9]

The Sox did won that series 4-1. It’s possible that if Benintendi misses that ball, they win 4-2.

 

And they even might have still won game 4. At best Bregman’s “hit” would have tied the score.

 

Any argument about “momentum shift” is countered by reminding you how much losing that 18 inning World Series Kinsler game shifted momentum...

 

houston > LA.

i agree we still could win that game. or we could win the series 4-2 or 4-3. or lose 4-2 or 4-3. any of those things could have happened.

beni making that catch completely changed the series. instead of 2-2 game 5 in houston it was 3-1 and they were DOA. IMO.

[moonslav59]

houston > LA.

i agree we still could win that game. or we could win the series 4-2 or 4-3. or lose 4-2 or 4-3. any of those things could have happened.

beni making that catch completely changed the series. instead of 2-2 game 5 in houston it was 3-1 and they were DOA. IMO.

 

It was one play of many that won the game for us.

[MADSTORK]

The thought of trading a Cost controlled future Superstar with a stroke like Mattingly is not only criminal but also a potential

Bagwell Trojan horse!

[Slasher9]

It was one play of many that won the game for us.

 

well there are always "many plays". but that play was enormous. perhaps you disagree.

BR win probability had that play as a +17% win probability play. a double digit shift for a defensive play is....enormous.

the only other play that had a higher percentage in that entire game was the JBj 2 run dinger in the 6th inning to put us in the lead. but defensive plays there is nothing close to the +17% beni catch.

[dannycater]

The Beni play was one for the ages. One of the biggest defensive plays in MLB history, maybe not to the level of the Butler Did It For NFL, but easily one of the most clutch catches ever.

[Maxbialystock]

fair.

would you say LF defense was unimportant in last years ALCS?

me? i would make an argument that we dont even make the WS if that catch isnt made....

 

Sure it was important, which is why it was voted the best defensive play of the year. It wasn't that great a catch, but it saved the Sox ass. I doubt the Sox lose the ALCS is he doesn't make that catch. I happen to be very much in favor of good defense because it is the poetry of baseball, especially given the very prosaic nature of pitching and hitting. But to me one enduring reality of Red Sox baseball is that hitting is way more important than defense. Last night, to cite a recent example, Mookie made a couple of great grabs to prevent doubles/triples, but the pitching still did us in--and brother Price finally said screw it and gave up two solo, uncatchable gopher balls in the 5th.

 

Back to Beni. I do not get this insistence he is out of shape, can't defend, etc because to me he looks about the same as ever and certainly as trim as ever. I do remember his saying a couple or so years ago that he needed to beef up in the offseason because the 6 games a week for 26 weeks was wearing--and it is.

 

Back to defense. Neither Bogie nor Devers is a great defender, but you ain't going to hear me complain. JBJ is still pretty good defensively--despite my complaints--but his hitting slumps are getting to be a tad expensive.

[Maxbialystock]

The Sox did won that series 4-1. It’s possible that if Benintendi misses that ball, they win 4-2.

 

And they even might have still won game 4. At best Bregman’s “hit” would have tied the score.

 

Any argument about “momentum shift” is countered by reminding you how much losing that 18 inning World Series Kinsler game shifted momentum...

 

Ain't it great we are remembering all those details from last year's postseason? I know the Sox won 3 of 4, 4 of 5, and 4 of 5, but all three series to me were closer than that. Beni's catch is a reminder that the Astros were a tougher out than 4 of 5 would indicate. Ditto the Yankees. I thought, going in, that the Dodgers were going to get trounced. But game 3 in LA that lasted 48 innings or whatever, with the Dodgers winning, scared the heck out of me. And the Yankees split at Fenway (which led to playing New York, New York in the locker room) before going down at Yankee Stadium.

 

My point is that baseball can still be great precisely because almost nothing is a sure thing.

[devildavid]

Do I detect black humor here?

 

Nope. I'm serious.