Major Concerns

[Bellhorn04]

I'm willing to bet money that we will start better than the 3-9 start we had in 2019

 

I'll see your 3-9 start and raise it to a 2-10 start in 2011.

[moonslav59]

I'm willing to bet money that we will start better than the 3-9 start we had in 2019

 

Don't remind us.

 

We also had these records at various times in 2019:

 

6-13

 

13-17

 

After going 11-2 from 4/29 to 5/12, we went 7-11, then won 4 in a row, followed by 1-5 and 5-0 and 4-6 and on and on...

 

The real killer was winning 3 straight vs the Yanks, then losing 8 straight vs NYY & TBR.

 

We finished the 2019 season: 8-13.

 

[mvp 78]

I'll see your 3-9 start and raise it to a 2-10 start in 2011.

 

If they had only gone 4-8...

[moonslav59]

if they had only gone 4-8...

 

lol !

[mvp 78]

lol !

 

If they get into the playoffs and get swept in the WC round in 2011, do they still blow it up by forcing Theo and Tito out? Would they still bring Bobby V in that offseason?

[moonslav59]

If they get into the playoffs and get swept in the WC round in 2011, do they still blow it up by forcing Theo and Tito out? Would they still bring Bobby V in that offseason?

 

I have enough questions to ask and answer about this team.

[mvp 78]

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/05/tom-caron-patience-is-not-a-virtue-of-red-sox-fans/

 

Terry Francona used to say there’s no better place to play well than in Boston. The former Red Sox manager also liked to say there isn’t a tougher place to play poorly.

 

The 2021 Red Sox already know that. They were swept by Baltimore – the presumptive pick to finish last in the American League East – and heard boos from the 4,500 or so fans allowed at Fenway Park in the early days of the season.

 

In Boston, overreaction to the start of a baseball season is a tradition. And the reaction to an 0-3 start has not been good. It was just the second time in Red Sox history that Boston began the season with three straight losses at home. The last time it happened, Harry Truman was president.

 

The good news is that team went 64-27 down the stretch to win 96 games that season. The bad news is Ted Williams isn’t walking through the clubhouse door this time around.

 

If you sifted through the rubble of a lost weekend you could find a couple of positive notes like J.D. Martinez’s 5-for-10 start (and the team’s only home run) and 3 1/3 scoreless innings from Rule 5 Draft pickup Garrett Whitlock.

 

But no one was talking about any of that Monday. The talk was about a team picking up where it left off after a season, and a year, we all want to forget. That’s not an overreaction. That’s reality.

 

There is plenty of time for the Red Sox to put this behind them but it’s going to get late early for a team that desperately needs to build confidence internally, and externally with fans. A good start for this team was critical if it wanted to avoid becoming irrelevant in the Boston sports scene.

 

Three games isn’t a start. It’s a blip on the radar of a 162-game season. But when those three games come at the start of the year a team’s blemishes are magnified. It’s the worst start for the Red Sox since 2012.

 

You may remember 2012. That was the year Bobby Valentine managed the Red Sox, a year where the team seemed to hit rock bottom every couple of weeks.

 

We’re not sure if this is rock bottom for the 2021 Red Sox. We do know there is no where to go but up after being outscored 18-5 over the first three games of the season.

[jacksonianmarch]

Your pen will be interesting. Andriese is a mop up innings guy who is FAR too hittable to be used in high leverage situations. Darwinzon is what he is. Dazzling stuff, horrendous command. I think we can all say that his command issues arent getting better and he may end up best on another squad to fix. There's almost no way to continue to roster a guy who walks 8 per 9IP. Ottavino is Ottavino, an enigma himself with good stuff some days and horrible command another. Barnes is another enigma too. Your pen is going to have some lights out stuff but have considerable limitations, especially with the almost total inability of your rotation to go deep into games

[mvp 78]

DHern's problem is control, not command.

[Thunder]

I bet some of you will have major concerns after seeing these new Patriots Day jerseys: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNU8y66jTWu/

[notin]

I bet some of you will have major concerns after seeing these new Patriots Day jerseys: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNU8y66jTWu/

 

Go Boston Bananas!

[notin]

Your pen will be interesting. Andriese is a mop up innings guy who is FAR too hittable to be used in high leverage situations. Darwinzon is what he is. Dazzling stuff, horrendous command. I think we can all say that his command issues arent getting better and he may end up best on another squad to fix. There's almost no way to continue to roster a guy who walks 8 per 9IP. Ottavino is Ottavino, an enigma himself with good stuff some days and horrible command another. Barnes is another enigma too. Your pen is going to have some lights out stuff but have considerable limitations, especially with the almost total inability of your rotation to go deep into games

 

All Andriese has to do is pitch the final 3 innings in a blow out game and he gets credited with the all important save. Yeah, saves!

[Thunder]

Go Boston Bananas!

 

We should be able to tell the Red Sox apart from the White Sox now, in case we couldn't already...

[mvp 78]

I bet some of you will have major concerns after seeing these new Patriots Day jerseys: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNU8y66jTWu/

 

[mvp 78]

All Andriese has to do is pitch the final 3 innings in a blow out game and he gets credited with the all important save. Yeah, saves!

 

When Andriese came in, it was 5 - 0 and he needed to get 12 outs. Sounds like he'd be deserving of a save in that case. Now, Ottavino came in with the score 7 - 2 with the bases loaded and 2 outs. He k's the batter and gets a hold. Seems reasonable enough to me! Valdez gets 3 outs in a 11 - 2 game and doesn't get a save. Seems fine?

[moonslav59]

Your pen will be interesting. Andriese is a mop up innings guy who is FAR too hittable to be used in high leverage situations. Darwinzon is what he is. Dazzling stuff, horrendous command. I think we can all say that his command issues arent getting better and he may end up best on another squad to fix. There's almost no way to continue to roster a guy who walks 8 per 9IP. Ottavino is Ottavino, an enigma himself with good stuff some days and horrible command another. Barnes is another enigma too. Your pen is going to have some lights out stuff but have considerable limitations, especially with the almost total inability of your rotation to go deep into games

 

All pens are fickle, and a select few RP'ers can really be "counted on" in a consistent and meaningful way.

 

I'm not a huge Andriese fan, but he's decent for the role he has, and he's light years better than the circus carnival we had in the pen, last year.

 

Sawamura is largely unknown. DHern does not seem to be able to improve his command, but he's only 24. Some pitchers have been able to get past control problems after 24, but not all that many.

 

Whitlock could be the "steal of the year." (Yes, too man coulds and not enough shoulds in our pen.)

 

Barnes and Ottavino have been decent set up men. Closing may prove beyond their reach. That's the big "what if" of our pen.

 

Guys like Valdez, Brice, Taylor (not off to a great start), Brewer and others are a dime a dozen.

 

This pen could surprise you.

 

It could also bring me great pain and suffering.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

All Andriese has to do is pitch the final 3 innings in a blow out game and he gets credited with the all important save. Yeah, saves!

 

Is there a stat for cross-ups that hurtle past the catcher and advance baserunners? They can't be all pass balls if the pitcher misreads the sign or refuses to throw what's called. Then again, we don't know if the catcher is the one confusing everyone else. Maybe the lights are just too shiny on the laminated cards.

 

More likely, they'll point fingers like in schools districts and blame the scores on the teachers.

[mvp 78]

Is there a stat for cross-ups that hurtle past the catcher and advance baserunners? They can't be all pass balls if the pitcher misreads the sign or refuses to throw what's called. Then again, we don't know if the catcher is the one confusing everyone else. Maybe the lights are just too shiny on the laminated cards.

 

More likely, they'll point fingers like in schools districts and blame the scores on the teachers.

 

It's called the Gedman. Only the Bill James Handbook counts that stat.

[notin]

It's called the Gedman. Only the Bill James Handbook counts that stat.

 

I know Gedman's was poorly times, but it seems like it was Mike Stanley who mastered the art of giving up the passed ball....

[Maxbialystock]

I didn't say it on the game thread, but I thought Cora was an idiot for not pulling Andriese sooner. I thought leaving him in for the 7th was fine with that lead, but staying with him in the 8th so that he could load the bases with no one out was foolhardy. Cora was lucky. Of course, Napoleon really did say the would rather have a lucky general under his command than a smart one. Maybe luck is the residue of design.

[Bellhorn04]

I didn't say it on the game thread, but I thought Cora was an idiot for not pulling Andriese sooner. I thought leaving him in for the 7th was fine with that lead, but staying with him in the 8th so that he could load the bases with no one out was foolhardy. Cora was lucky. Of course, Napoleon really did say the would rather have a lucky general under his command than a smart one. Maybe luck is the residue of design.

 

Andriese loaded the bases with one out.

 

You're always off by one these days.

[mvp 78]

I know Gedman's was poorly times, but it seems like it was Mike Stanley who mastered the art of giving up the passed ball....

 

You could name it a Stanley if you wanted, but it'd be for the Steamer instead.

 

[illinoisredsox]

I didn't say it on the game thread, but I thought Cora was an idiot for not pulling Andriese sooner. I thought leaving him in for the 7th was fine with that lead, but staying with him in the 8th so that he could load the bases with no one out was foolhardy. Cora was lucky. Of course, Napoleon really did say the would rather have a lucky general under his command than a smart one. Maybe luck is the residue of design.

 

Andriese loaded the bases with one out.

 

You're always off by one these days.

 

Of course, if the ground ball doesn't hit 2nd base, it's a DP and Andriese pitches 3 scoreless.

[Maxbialystock]

Andriese loaded the bases with one out.

 

You're always off by one these days.

 

1 or 2, true.

 

It seemed like no outs, and it sure seemed to be the beginning of a deluge until Hernandez got that K followed by Ottavino getting a K for out 3.

 

It was 7-2 Sox with Tampa having the bases full with one out when Adames struck out for out 2. Alternatively, a soft pop dropping in or a grounder with eyes could have made it 7-3 (or 7-4) with 1 out and 2 or 3 on base.

[mvp 78]

Of course, if the ground ball doesn't hit 2nd base, it's a DP and Andriese pitches 3 scoreless.

 

That damn second base...

[notin]

That damn second base...

 

Robot bases now!!

 

Use modifed Roomba's that move out of the way when the ball or a Yankee baserunner are approaching...

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

You could name it a Stanley if you wanted, but it'd be for the Steamer instead.

 

 

Worst pitch in modern Red Sox history. The official scorer called it a wild pitch, because it almost hit Wilson... and how history could've changed if it did.

 

There are plenty of contenders for worst nightmare: the Leephus to Tony Perez in '75 that tied Game Seven (Yaz called it "that slop curveball by Bill Lee"); Torrez' meatball to Dent; maybe Wakefield's floater to Boone or something by Pedro -- (probably the one Matsui ripped after the mound conference; Posada tied it with a pop-up)... but both those guys are thought of as heroic for their efforts.

 

Stanley's to the backstop had to be the biggest letdown, one out away from a world title. That was worse for me than Buckner's E, because once NY tied it -- and the way they tied it -- we all knew the outcome was inevitable. But I remember my step-father, who was a catcher and a Mets fan, just saying, "That had to be a cross-up."

[mvp 78]

Robot bases now!!

 

Use modifed Roomba's that move out of the way when the ball or a Yankee baserunner are approaching...

 

No, the base would elevate when a player with an RFID chip got close enough. Otherwise, it would be at ground level.

[mvp 78]

Worst pitch in modern Red Sox history. The official scorer called it a wild pitch, because it almost hit Wilson... and how history could've changed if it did.

 

There are plenty of contenders for worst nightmare: the Leephus to Tony Perez in '75 that tied Game Seven (Yaz called it "that slop curveball by Bill Lee"); Torrez' meatball to Dent; maybe Wakefield's floater to Boone or something by Pedro -- (probably the one Matsui ripped after the mound conference; Posada tied it with a pop-up)... but both those guys are thought of as heroic for their efforts.

 

Stanley's to the backstop had to be the biggest letdown, one out away from a world title. That was worse for me than Buckner's E, because once NY tied it -- and the way they tied it -- we all knew the outcome was inevitable. But I remember my step-father, who was a catcher and a Mets fan, just saying, "That had to be a cross-up."

 

I think Wakefield's loss was a foregone conclusion at that point. It was bound to happen and not his fault.

 

I remember watching that wild pitch. I don't remember the ball going between Buckner's legs. I was probably shellshocked at that point.

[notin]

Worst pitch in modern Red Sox history. The official scorer called it a wild pitch, because it almost hit Wilson... and how history could've changed if it did.

 

There are plenty of contenders for worst nightmare: the Leephus to Tony Perez in '75 that tied Game Seven (Yaz called it "that slop curveball by Bill Lee"); Torrez' meatball to Dent; maybe Wakefield's floater to Boone or something by Pedro -- (probably the one Matsui ripped after the mound conference; Posada tied it with a pop-up)... but both those guys are thought of as heroic for their efforts.

 

Stanley's to the backstop had to be the biggest letdown, one out away from a world title. That was worse for me than Buckner's E, because once NY tied it -- and the way they tied it -- we all knew the outcome was inevitable. But I remember my step-father, who was a catcher and a Mets fan, just saying, "That had to be a cross-up."

 

I was thinking Mike Stanley as the "Father of the Modern Passed Ball" because he had like 98 of them in about 5600 innings behind the plate. A lot of people had more, but most (all?) of them also had a lot more innings at catcher.

 

Of course, being Charlie Hough's teammate was certainly a factor...