A Realistic View at 2022: Part III

[moonslav59]

It’s interesting that Betts would have been a star anywhere.

 

Betts was drafted in the fifth round and was the 172nd player chosen in 2011.

 

If he was such a obvious star talent who was going to succeed anywhere, why did he get passed over 171 times?

 

Nope we did nothing to "develope him," in fact he'd have been better elsewhere.

 

 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

It’s interesting that Betts would have been a star anywhere.

 

Betts was drafted in the fifth round and was the 172nd player chosen in 2011.

 

If he was such a obvious star talent who was going to succeed anywhere, why did he get passed over 171 times?

 

Mookie was obviously too short. It doesn't matter if he had the fastest hand-eye in the land, there was just no way such skills were going to translate in the pros.

 

It's not like he was going to lead the National League in home runs or something by age 29...

 

... that's why Epstein gave Betts every cent he asked for, about a minute before the signing deadline for draftees (source: Homegrown by A.Speier).

[a700hitter]

Mookie was obviously too short. It doesn't matter if he had the fastest hand-eye in the land, there was just no way such skills were going to translate in the pros.

 

It's not like he was going to lead the National League in home runs or something by age 29...

 

... that's why Epstein gave Betts every cent he asked for, about a minute before the signing deadline for draftees (source: Homegrown by A.Speier).

Scouting for many years wouldn’t look at players under 6 feet tall. Pitchers under 6’3” still can’t get noticed.

[notin]

Scouting for many years wouldn’t look at players under 6 feet tall. Pitchers under 6’3” still can’t get noticed.

 

I think a big part of it was a lot of scouts just didn’t see that level of talent in the 18yo kid from Tennessee. Some players just get a lot better after that age…

[MADSTORK]

How about the 6 4 prospect on the mound today vs Baltimore

70 pitches in 3 innings was a fine effort by the young man

 

Keep on trading Orlando, “you ain’t made a bad move yet”

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Whether or not the Red Sox get back to or over .500 soon may not matter as much as how far away they are from that final wild card berth. For the summer to be interesting, it may come down to their ability to overtake the next team closest to them.

 

Is it reasonable to expect Boston to become a legit contender if Bloom doesn't fortify the roster soon and fill some glaring holes with at least another average big league outfielder, first baseman and reliever? Will this club as is even be able to survive through July when they play 17 straight games vs. Tampa, New York and Toronto? (or is someone waiting for that stretch to justify a fire sale?)

 

Even if the Sox somehow stay afloat through the upcoming west coast trip and remain close to, say, the Angels, it's important to remember LA gets to play the majority of its games vs. the AL West. Boston would almost have to be ahead of the Angels in the WC in September, when the Halos play 11 of their last 14 vs. the M's, Rangers and A's...

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Winckowski's game plan was apparently to throw 93-95 MPH fastballs with no movement on nearly every pitch, many catching a large part of the plate. Shocker they teed off on him. Does he even have other pitches? That was incredibly unimpressive.

[moonslav59]

Winckowski's game plan was apparently to throw 93-95 MPH fastballs with no movement on nearly every pitch' date=' many catching a large part of the plate. Shocker they teed off on him. Does he even have other pitches? That was incredibly unimpressive.[/quote']

 

1. He may not have intended to have little or n o movement on his FB.

 

2. I'm sure management and the catcher had something to do with the "game plan."

[Larry Cook]

1. He may not have intended to have little or n o movement on his FB.

 

2. I'm sure management and the catcher had something to do with the "game plan."

 

Winkowski gave an interview where he said the baseballs were different and he could not get a good grip, it was like the baseballs were slick. He said he gave up pitching and just started aiming,

[moonslav59]

Winkowski gave an interview where he said the baseballs were different and he could not get a good grip, it was like the baseballs were slick. He said he gave up pitching and just started aiming,

 

You'd think he'd have had time to practice with MLB baseballs.

[moonslav59]

Cordero & Vaz just passed Story in OPS.

 

Updated Sox OPS

1.027 JD

.987 Devers

 

.875 Bogey

.825 Cordero

 

.760 Vaz

.754 Story

 

.631 JBJ

.617 Kike

.614 Verdugo

.582 Arroyo

 

.558 Dalbec

.505 Plawecki

 

 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Cordero & Vaz just passed Story in OPS.

 

Updated Sox OPS

1.027 JD

.987 Devers

 

 

 

Updated MLB TOTAL BASES

124 Devers

117 the next best big leaguer (turned down a Betts' offer, wore a sour look in '21 Wild Card game, whenever FOX showed him, every other second)

 

... rest of top AL batters:

103 Hall of Fame Angel

102 the most underrated hitter in baseball (a Guardian)

96 Ty France

90 JD

[moonslav59]

AL SLG% Leaders

.669 Judge

.656 Trout

.634 Ramirez

.611 Devers

.588 JD

.533 Alvarez

.523 Stanton

.519 Springer

.510 Pena (Who needs Correa?)

.505 France

.503 Anderson

.480 Bogey

 

OBP

.456 Arraez

.439 JD

.414 France

.413 Trout

.399 Crawford

.398 Beni

.395 Bogey

 

[jad]

Winkowski gave an interview where he said the baseballs were different and he could not get a good grip, it was like the baseballs were slick. He said he gave up pitching and just started aiming,

 

I thought Garret Richards had claim to that excuse.

[moonslav59]

I thought Garret Richards had claim to that excuse.

 

...and a few others.

 

(Not that there may not be some truth to the position.)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

 

OBP

.456 Arraez

.439 JD

.414 France

.413 Trout

.399 Crawford

.398 Beni

.395 Bogey

 

 

Arraez is a 21st century rarity: more walks than strikeouts.

 

Others: Jose Ramirez, Yandy Diaz, Michael Brantley, Steven Kwan.

 

NL has one: Juan Soto... but only because no one will pitch to him. This is also why the Red Sox can never bat JD or Xander before Devers, to try to give him more RBI opportunities.

[moonslav59]

Arraez is a 21st century rarity: more walks than strikeouts.

 

Others: Jose Ramirez, Yandy Diaz, Michael Brantley, Steven Kwan.

 

NL has one: Juan Soto... but only because no one will pitch to him. This is also why the Red Sox can never bat JD or Xander before Devers, to try to give him more RBI opportunities.

 

I always wondered what Papi and Manny's numbers would have looked like, if they had flipped them in the batting order.

[Bellhorn04]

I always wondered what Papi and Manny's numbers would have looked like, if they had flipped them in the batting order.

 

Tito did flip them between 3 and 4.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Winkowski gave an interview where he said the baseballs were different and he could not get a good grip, it was like the baseballs were slick. He said he gave up pitching and just started aiming,

 

Well I hope this explains it. He was clearly determined to throw mostly all fastballs, he shook off the sign several times before throwing a fastball.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

How good has May been to the SOX offensively?

 

As of today the SOX team BA is 2nd in MLB.

They are 4th in runs scored.

And 3rd in team OPS.

 

The team pitching is ranked 15th based on ERA.

The pitching has given up 59 HR's, which is 11 more than the SOX have hit(48).

 

Btw, the Dodgers are #1 in both team hitting and team pitching. No surprise there.

[moonslav59]

Tito did flip them between 3 and 4.

 

I didn't remember it happening all that much, but I went back and looked, and it did happen more than I thought in the earlier years ('03-'04), but it became pretty regular: Papi 3rd/ Manny 4th afterwards- some years never flipped.

[Bellhorn04]

I didn't remember it happening all that much, but I went back and looked, and it did happen more than I thought in the earlier years ('03-'04), but it became pretty regular: Papi 3rd/ Manny 4th afterwards- some years never flipped.

 

What is the basis of your wondering about their numbers being different?

[moonslav59]

How good has May been to the SOX offensively?

 

As of today the SOX team BA is 2nd in MLB.

They are 4th in runs scored.

And 3rd in team OPS.

 

The team pitching is ranked 15th based on ERA.

The pitching has given up 59 HR's, which is 11 more than the SOX have hit(48).

 

Btw, the Dodgers are #1 in both team hitting and team pitching. No surprise there.

 

Our everyday players currently rank 5th in fWAR at 8.2, behind LAD 10.8, NYM 10.0, LAA 9.4 and HOU 8.8. (The NYY are 8th at 7.9, TBR are 13th at 6.5 and the much-hyped TOR line-up is 17th at 5.4.)

 

On offense, we place...

2nd in BA at .262 (STL is .263)

3rd in OPS at .745 (just .003 behind LAA)

3rd in SLG at .425 (LAD at .429, LAA .426)

6th in wRC+ at 112

7th in OBP at .320, despite being 28th in BB% at 7.3%)

7th in ISO at .163

 

Posters complain about all our K's, but we have the 8th lowest K% in MLB at 20.6%. 13 teams are over 23%. (We are 20th in BB/K at 0.35. The mean is 0.38)

 

[moonslav59]

Our team pitching rankings:

 

23rd in fWAR at 2.6, despite being tied for 3rd with the lowest BAbip at .266 (Looks like our defense improved a bunch from 2021!)

 

10th in WHIP at 1.19

10th BA Against at .225

11th best BB% at 8.2%

12th best K% at 23.1%

12th best K-BB% at 14.9%

16th in ERA- at 101

17th in xFIP 3.92

 

We have the 3rd worst HR/9 at 1.24!

 

Our starters have the 13th best ERA- at 98 and xFIP- at 99.

Our pen places 17th in ERA- at 100 and 24th in xFIP_ at 102.

[moonslav59]

Fangraphs has us ranked 10th in Defense. I'm not sure what they use for this ranking, since we are ranked at ...

 

3rd in UZR/150 at +5.4

 

4th in DRS at +23.

 

Maybe our catching D brings us down.

 

Last year, we ended up ranked 23rd. (11th in UZR/150 at +1.4 & 18th in DRA at +4.)

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

How good has May been to the SOX offensively?

 

As of today the SOX team BA is 2nd in MLB.

They are 4th in runs scored.

And 3rd in team OPS.

 

The team pitching is ranked 15th based on ERA.

The pitching has given up 59 HR's, which is 11 more than the SOX have hit(48).

 

Btw, the Dodgers are #1 in both team hitting and team pitching. No surprise there.

 

 

Yeah when I heard on the telecast that they were 2nd in the AL in runs a few days ago I was shocked, just goes to show you what a few 16 run games this early can do to the numbers.

[jacksonianmarch]

We all knew the sox would hit. But when you look at the sox, they are basically living off a revived Story and ridiculous years from JD, Devers, and Xander. They are going to need some help because JD isn't hitting .380 this year.

[Bellhorn04]

We all knew the sox would hit. But when you look at the sox, they are basically living off a revived Story and ridiculous years from JD, Devers, and Xander. They are going to need some help because JD isn't hitting .380 this year.

 

Cordero and Vazquez have been a big help recently.

[moonslav59]

We all knew the sox would hit. But when you look at the sox, they are basically living off a revived Story and ridiculous years from JD, Devers, and Xander. They are going to need some help because JD isn't hitting .380 this year.

 

JD won't hit .380 the rest of the way, but he may hit more HRs, and Bogey will likely end up better than his current OPS.

 

I'm thinking Kike will end up over .750, and Story over .850.

 

It might come down to Vaz, Dalbec, Cordero, Arroyo and the enigmatic Verdugo.

 

Really, it will come down to pitching and defense. The latter is much improved.

[Larry Cook]

I think hernandez timing is starting to get better. He may heat up soon.

 

Dalbec remains a mystery. All the tools are there except maybe discipline, and yet it is hard to tell if he just gets lucky or is just not picking up the spin of the ball?

 

Bradley is just a walking D.O.A.