Red Sox Spring Training 2023

[Hugh2]

I've been watching Duvall in all the ST games. A lot of swings and misses, pulling his head trying to pull everything -- especially the JD low-and-away slider.

 

Is a health issue causing this approach for Duvall? I ask this, because most of the successful Red Sox batters have been spraying the ball with a focus on the opposite-field: Tapia, Casas, Alfaro, Dalbec, Duran, Arroyo, etc. It's like the organization is really stressing the application of team-wide contact (which makes sense, after leading the league in extra-inning losses in '22).

 

Duval is an MLB vet who has proven he can hit when healthy, I'm unconcerned with how he looks after 1 week of spring training games.

[Hugh2]

In a perfect world Duvall is not in CF, but I think if healthy he can have an extremely Hunter Renfroe esq season at the plate.

 

I suppose in a perfect world Story and Mondesi are healthy and Push Kike back to CF allowing Duvall to play in an LF/RF/3B/1B/DH role.

[mvp 78]

Neither is anyone else in the Red Sox OF exactly JBJ with the glove.

 

I'm pretty happy when Kiké is out there.

[Old Red]

I'm pretty happy when Kiké is out there.

 

Kike is not out there now, and when he is Kike is a good CF, but he’s not in my opinion JBJ elite.

[Old Red]

In a perfect world Duvall is not in CF, but I think if healthy he can have an extremely Hunter Renfroe esq season at the plate.

 

I suppose in a perfect world Story and Mondesi are healthy and Push Kike back to CF allowing Duvall to play in an LF/RF/3B/1B/DH role.

 

If Story was healthy, and at SS, and Kike was back in CF i don’t believe Duvall would even be on the team.

[Hugh2]

If Story was healthy, and at SS, and Kike was back in CF i don’t believe Duvall would even be on the team.

 

No but he's on the team now, and he'd be a massive upgrade over what they have on the bench, and his positional versatility is valuable and may be needed by the time Story comes back. What are the odds that one of Turner/Devers/Casas/Verdugo/Yoshida either gets hurt or is tremendously struggling?

[mvp 78]

Kike is not out there now, and when he is Kike is a good CF, but he’s not in my opinion JBJ elite.

 

JBJ only had one season that was better than Kiké's 2021 DRS of 14 in CF. JBJ's defensive heyday was also a LOOONG time ago.

[Old Red]

No but he's on the team now, and he'd be a massive upgrade over what they have on the bench, and his positional versatility is valuable and may be needed by the time Story comes back. What are the odds that one of Turner/Devers/Casas/Verdugo/Yoshida either gets hurt or is tremendously struggling?

 

An upgrade of what they have on the bench? I’ll agree with that, but that’s not saying much. Definitely better than Duran, and the likes they had out there last year.

[Old Red]

JBJ only had one season that was better than Kiké's 2021 DRS of 14 in CF. JBJ's defensive heyday was also a LOOONG time ago.

 

I’ll agree that JBJ has slowed down.

[Hugh2]

An upgrade of what they have on the bench? I’ll agree with that, but that’s not saying much. Definitely better than Duran, and the likes they had out there last year.

 

Not saying much? do even ever check what's what before you comment. Duval is a plus defender on the corners and when healthy a 30/100 guy, which by all accounts he is healthy and fully recovered from his wrist injury.

 

It's almost like there's something that may be making you biased against Duval. He's a potential 30/100 guy who plays plus defense on the corners. That's a guy who starts on most teams, let alone rides the bench. The only knock on Duval right now is the fact he's playing out of position, but that ain't his fault.

[Hugh2]

JBJ only had one season that was better than Kiké's 2021 DRS of 14 in CF. JBJ's defensive heyday was also a LOOONG time ago.

 

Dude was about as Elite as JBJ had ever been in 2021 out in CF. It passes the eye test, my young mans 20/20 eyes.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

With pros, can it be said that each spring every ballplayer is trying to reclaim past glory of some sort?

 

Maybe a player had a career year or won a ring a few seasons back, before injury set him back -- hey, Sox fans know a lot of those guys lately. But the pursuit could also include stardom in the minors or on the Cape, in college, high school, etc. At one time, all big leaguers were great at baseball.

 

Unfortunately, as guys age, it becomes harder to reclaim glory or even average contributions -- like we witnessed last year with Bradley or in what seems like a decade for several pitchers.

 

All we have now is what we see, and at least for me, it's encouraging when a batter with a poor rep like Alfaro keeps his head down and rips liners to the opposite field.

[Old Red]

Not saying much? do even ever check what's what before you comment. Duval is a plus defender on the corners and when healthy a 30/100 guy, which by all accounts he is healthy and fully recovered from his wrist injury.

 

It's almost like there's something that may be making you biased against Duval. He's a potential 30/100 guy who plays plus defense on the corners. That's a guy who starts on most teams, let alone rides the bench. The only knock on Duval right now is the fact he's playing out of position, but that ain't his fault.

 

What’s on the bench that would be saying much? Not much. I’m not biased against Duvall at all, but he’s just a stop gap, and if he turns out a Renfroe type year that will be great. He’s only played 100 games once in the last 4 years, and he’s pretty much a homer, or nothing else guy who K’s a lot. 101 in 287 AB last year, so I’m just not counting on him to be a big addition, but like I said if he does great.

[Old Red]

Dude was about as Elite as JBJ had ever been in 2021 out in CF. It passes the eye test, my young mans 20/20 eyes.

 

Yes Kike was good in 2021, but that was two years ago, and he sucked last year even before he got hurt. He didn’t pass the eye test last year.

[notin]

JBJ only had one season that was better than Kiké's 2021 DRS of 14 in CF. JBJ's defensive heyday was also a LOOONG time ago.

 

The point is defensively I don’t think Tapia is even as good as JBJ post heyday.

 

But yes, Kike is the clear best defensive option in CF. So maybe Mondesi pushes a struggling Duvall out if necessary. That does feel like a long shot…

[Old Red]

The point is defensively I don’t think Tapia is even as good as JBJ post heyday.

 

But yes, Kike is the clear best defensive option in CF. So maybe Mondesi pushes a struggling Duvall out if necessary. That does feel like a long shot…

 

Tapia is not rated as a good defensive OF, and neither is Yoshida, or Dugo playing RF, and add that to Duvall out of position in CF. Doesn’t should like a good defensive OF to me, which was a reason for bringing back JBJ last year.

[notin]

In a perfect world Duvall is not in CF, but I think if healthy he can have an extremely Hunter Renfroe esq season at the plate.

 

I suppose in a perfect world Story and Mondesi are healthy and Push Kike back to CF allowing Duvall to play in an LF/RF/3B/1B/DH role.

 

Duvall-Renfroe comparisons are pretty good offensively. Both are strong power hitters with a lot of swing-and-miss. Defensively Duvall is the much better player but Renfroe has the stronger arm.

[moonslav59]

Yes Kike was good in 2021, but that was two years ago, and he sucked last year even before he got hurt. He didn’t pass the eye test last year.

 

Talking D not O.

[Old Red]

Talking D not O.

 

I agree JBJ was the best CF on D last year. They both sucked with the bat also.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Duvall-Renfroe comparisons are pretty good offensively. Both are strong power hitters with a lot of swing-and-miss. Defensively Duvall is the much better player but Renfroe has the stronger arm.

 

Which one brings better rumors of fitting into the clubhouse camaraderie: Duvall, 3rd club in 3 years or Renfroe, 5th club in 5 years? Just saying, there may be factors we don't know about...

 

As for Tapia, all we know for sure is he killed Red Sox pitching, and maybe Toronto's outfield; the Jays totally remade their OF defense, moving Springer over, trading a former #1 MLB prospect for Varsho and signing Old Man Kiermaier -- who they apparently like better than Tapia's negative dWAR.

[Hugh2]

Duvall-Renfroe comparisons are pretty good offensively. Both are strong power hitters with a lot of swing-and-miss. Defensively Duvall is the much better player but Renfroe has the stronger arm.

 

It’s actually a pretty darn good comp, which is why I brought it up to Red. The results were….predictable.

[Old Red]

It’s actually a pretty darn good comp, which is why I brought it up to Red. The results were….predictable.

 

What results? Duvall hasn’t produced any in a Red Sox uniform yet, and if he comes anywhere near 96 RBI that Renfroe did I’ll be happy, but like I said Duvall has only played 100 games once in the last 4 years.

[Old Red]

Good article today from Tomase on NBC Sports Boston on Duvall.

[notin]

Which one brings better rumors of fitting into the clubhouse camaraderie: Duvall, 3rd club in 3 years or Renfroe, 5th club in 5 years? Just saying, there may be factors we don't know about...

 

As for Tapia, all we know for sure is he killed Red Sox pitching, and maybe Toronto's outfield; the Jays totally remade their OF defense, moving Springer over, trading a former #1 MLB prospect for Varsho and signing Old Man Kiermaier -- who they apparently like better than Tapia's negative dWAR.

 

Tapia is not a guy you hand a position to. He’s a light-hitting (when not facing Boston) bat-to-ball guy with some speed and plate discipline issues that you settle for when no other solution worked out.

 

He did hurt the Sox badly last year, but some of that was inflated by poor defense. His inside-the-park grand slam, for example, was really just a routine fly to center that was horribly misplayed…

[notin]

What results? Duvall hasn’t produced any in a Red Sox uniform yet, and if he comes anywhere near 96 RBI that Renfroe did I’ll be happy, but like I said Duvall has only played 100 games once in the last 4 years.

 

I think we can forgive him for not playing 100 games in 2020. He did play in 57 out of 60 games. So credit him with 2 full time roles…

[notin]

Neither is anyone else in the Red Sox OF exactly JBJ with the glove.

 

Duvall is probably the closest, unless you count Hernandez.

 

Fun fact - Duvall has as many Gold Gloves as Bradley (one) and win his more recently (2021, vs 2018 for Bradley)

 

I’d like Duvall better in RF, but with no better option for CF, I get why he is there…

[moonslav59]

It just seems strange to me, that the Sox seem to change their priorities, so quickly.

 

It seems like last winter, they felt the need to shed Renfroe's poor D and add JBJ and his plus D. Then, this year, they flip back.

 

One can argue, we got worse at all 3 OF positions, on D, over the winter. (We should get way better on O at all 3.)

 

All defenders listed with 100+ Inning at this position:

 

LF: Dugo/Pham > Yoshida

CF: Kike/Duran/JBJ/Ref> Duvall

RF: JBJ.Dugo/Ref?Cordero/Arroyo> Dugo

[notin]

It just seems strange to me, that the Sox seem to change their priorities, so quickly.

 

It seems like last winter, they felt the need to shed Renfroe's poor D and add JBJ and his plus D. Then, this year, they flip back.

 

One can argue, we got worse at all 3 OF positions, on D, over the winter. (We should get way better on O at all 3.)

 

All defenders listed with 100+ Inning at this position:

 

LF: Dugo/Pham > Yoshida

CF: Kike/Duran/JBJ/Ref> Duvall

RF: JBJ.Dugo/Ref?Cordero/Arroyo> Dugo

 

It’s also entirely possible the Sox got exactly what they wanted from Renfroe - one season that made him attractive trade bait to help build up the farm.

 

It’s also possible they were hoping Bradley could bounce back and give them the same thing…

[mvp 78]

Dude was about as Elite as JBJ had ever been in 2021 out in CF. It passes the eye test, my young mans 20/20 eyes.

 

Just nobody mention the elite defense that Coco Crap displayed in 2007. Surely JBJ was the greatest that any man has ever seen play CF.

[mvp 78]

The point is defensively I don’t think Tapia is even as good as JBJ post heyday.

 

But yes, Kike is the clear best defensive option in CF. So maybe Mondesi pushes a struggling Duvall out if necessary. That does feel like a long shot…

 

Tapia? He's a corner OFer at best.