4/22 vs Mariners

[notin]

Just finished watching SOX's well-deserved loss after I'd DVR'd the game earlier. Some observations:

 

1)Pivetta pitched very well and deserved a better outcome;

2)Cora manages about as well as I play the piano, which I play very badly;

3)The pitchers in the SOX Bull/Pig Pen have one thing in common with the hitters in the SOX line-up; There's a handful of good ones and a handful of bad ones.

4)On a positive note, 2-5 in the SOX line-up will, imho, put up some excellent offensive stats this season. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep the SOX in contention.

 

Ottavino has been a flop thus far, but if this team is to stay in contention, his return to form is essential...

[TylerD]

We've had the same umpire crew for 3 series now

 

Ya they have been inconsistent at the best of times.

[harmony]

Robo umps, NOW!

 

... and a more detailed Seattle perspective:

 

https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2021/4/22/22398754/mariners-need-just-three-hits-to-defeat-red-sox-human-element

 

Scroll down.

[moonslav59]

We've had the same umpire crew for 3 series now

 

That should not be allowed. Is it a COVID thing? (Not mixing up people.)

[Thunder]

That should not be allowed. Is it a COVID thing? (Not mixing up people.)

 

I believe so. Umpire crews must be regionalized this year. Only way to explain it

[moonslav59]

 

... and a more detailed Seattle perspective:

 

https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2021/4/22/22398754/mariners-need-just-three-hits-to-defeat-red-sox-human-element

 

Scroll down.

 

Where's the chart on Sox called strikes?

[TylerD]

Where's the chart on Sox called strikes?

 

There was two strikes Ottavino threw last night that instead were walks and Cost us the game. I usually don’t blame calls but they were terrible last night.

[Maxbialystock]

Ian Browne write-up of the games says Cordero was positioned 252 feet from home plate on the double over his head but which hit grass before hitting the wall. Browne adds that in prior years the average position was 277 feet from home plate, but that this year so far the average has been 287 feet. Cora says he will not second guess the positioning.

 

I love it!!! This is one more glaring example of how computers are trusted far more than human eyesight and experience.

[Maxbialystock]

When Cordero let that drive go over his head, the talksox cognoscenti condemned him. Looks to me as though the finger-pointing was misdirected. I love Cora, but 252 ft was asinine.

[harmony]

There was two strikes Ottavino threw last night that instead were walks and Cost us the game. I usually don’t blame calls but they were terrible last night.

Terrible calls hurt the Mariners as well.

 

MLB Gameday suggests that Adam Ottavino did not get the strike call on one borderline pitch (perhaps two):

 

MLB Gameday: Mariners 7, Red Sox 3 Final Score (04/22/2021) | MLB.com

WWW.MLB.COM

---

Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Mariners vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park

 

Go to eighth-inning plays.

 

Compare:

 

https://twitter.com/DKramer_/status/1385398389093797895/photo/1

Edited April 23, 2021 by harmony

[mvp 78]

Terrible calls hurt the Mariners as well.

 

MLB Gameday suggests that Adam Ottavino did not get the strike call on only one borderline pitch:

 

MLB Gameday: Mariners 7, Red Sox 3 Final Score (04/22/2021) | MLB.com

WWW.MLB.COM

---

Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Mariners vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park

 

Go to eighth-inning plays.

 

Two.

 

[mvp 78]

Two.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1186[/ATTACH]

 

Those two calls aren't why the Sox lost though. Ottavino just couldn't throw strikes.

[mvp 78]

@PeteAbe

Seattle starter Justin Dunn, a BC product, had "Team Frate Train" embossed on his glove for his first MLB start at Fenway Park last night.

 

Great tribute to the late Pete Frates.

 

Dunn was playing at BC when Pete was the team operations director.

[Thunder]

I wish weekend games with warm weather wouldn't cost $100 more per ticket than weeknight games with s***** weather, but that's the world we live in

[TylerD]

Those two calls aren't why the Sox lost though. Ottavino just couldn't throw strikes.

 

Oh I agree completely. The umps have been inconsistent at the best of times this year and it’s frustrating. But this is for sure not the entire reason we lost. It sure didn’t help but it’s not The only reason. Our offense also can’t do squat lately. We are still hitting like crazy , but we just can’t seem to capitalize with men on base. You won’t win many games scoring 2 or 3 runs like they have against Chicago, Jays and now Seattle. The pitching isn’t surprising me. I knew it wasn’t our strong point, but I also know if we score 5 a game we can win most of those. 2 and 3 runs generally isn’t good enough most nights to win games especially when we have the top offense currently in the league. I expect more than this. But it is what it is. Rebound tonight!

[illinoisredsox]

Those two calls aren't why the Sox lost though. Ottavino just couldn't throw strikes.

 

Including one to 3rd base.

[moonslav59]

One thing about having so many bad calls is that it then forces hitters to swing at pitches they may normally take. That's hard to quantify with charts and diagrams.

[mvp 78]

Including one to 3rd base.

 

That one is called "the yips."

[TylerD]

One thing about having so many bad calls is that it then forces hitters to swing at pitches they may normally take. That's hard to quantify with charts and diagrams.

 

Agreed! Hitting doesn't seem to be an issue with us lately, (18 hits in 2 games is pretty good in my opinion) but it's more less the fact that we can't get crucial hits when needed. We are still leaving too many men stranded and not getting the hits that make a difference..... like a homerun with 2 or 3 men on base.

[moonslav59]

Agreed! Hitting doesn't seem to be an issue with us lately, (18 hits in 2 games is pretty good in my opinion) but it's more less the fact that we can't get crucial hits when needed. We are still leaving too many men stranded and not getting the hits that make a difference..... like a homerun with 2 or 3 men on base.

 

Before these recent games, our OPS in Late & Close situations and with men on base or RISP was higher than our overall OPS. Maybe it's just regressing to the norm.

 

Now, it's....

 

.807 overall

 

.722 RISP

.718 Men on Base

.779 Late & Close

.781 High Leverage

Edited April 23, 2021 by moonslav59

[Maxbialystock]

This is now a whine thread. No way did the home plate umpire cost us a game, not when a Sox hitter swung on a pitch that hit him well inside the batters box. Plus Pivetta got several calls. Plus almost every “bad” call was close.

Meanwhile the biggest miscue was by Cora and his guys when they grossly malpositioned their left fielder.

[TylerD]

This is now a whine thread. No way did the home plate umpire cost us a game, not when a Sox hitter swung on a pitch that hit him well inside the batters box. Plus Pivetta got several calls. Plus almost every “bad” call was close.

Meanwhile the biggest miscue was by Cora and his guys when they grossly malpositioned their left fielder.

I don’t think it cost us the game but I do think the umps have been inconsistent. But the Sox just didn’t hit when we needed to hit and the pitching needed to be better. It’s sucks, but we need to move on. Of course it feels worse as we have now lost 3 of our last 4 games (or 5) whatever it is. We need to win tonight it to take back some momentum.

[moonslav59]

This is now a whine thread. No way did the home plate umpire cost us a game, not when a Sox hitter swung on a pitch that hit him well inside the batters box. Plus Pivetta got several calls. Plus almost every “bad” call was close.

Meanwhile the biggest miscue was by Cora and his guys when they grossly malpositioned their left fielder.

 

Max, they would have called that HBP a strike!

 

 

[Bellhorn04]

This is now a whine thread. No way did the home plate umpire cost us a game, not when a Sox hitter swung on a pitch that hit him well inside the batters box. Plus Pivetta got several calls. Plus almost every “bad” call was close.

Meanwhile the biggest miscue was by Cora and his guys when they grossly malpositioned their left fielder.

 

I was going to call shenanigans on the word 'malpositioned', but instead I've learned a new word.

[moonslav59]

I was going to call shenanigans on the word 'malpositioned', but instead I've learned a new word.

 

Webster...

 

Mispositioned: adj incorrectly or improperly positioned

 

Malposition*: n. wrong or faulty position

 

*Not sure if using it as a verb is correct.

[Bellhorn04]

Webster...

 

Mispositioned: adj incorrectly or improperly positioned

 

Malposition*: n. wrong or faulty position

 

*Not sure if using it as a verb is correct.

 

Certainly close enough for Talksox, though.

[moonslav59]

Certainly close enough for Talksox, though.

 

Indeed. I've been known to take liberties, too.