A Realistic View of 2023: Part II

[Nick]

We all should love Duran's .600 OPS vs LHPs, this year and .498 career.

 

Cora is such a dummy!

Wow now you are ripping Duran just to give props to Cora?

 

The guy just can't help himself not playing Kike?

 

Didn't you just post player ranking for fWar? You know that stat showed he was second from bottom on the team? Kike is dead last in the majors for guys that qualify

 

I will take Duran over Kike and Duval.

 

How many games you sppose Kike has cost us?

 

And who plays him? I sure don't make up the lineup.

 

It would be very interesting to see the lineup made up by each starter. I bet you see Duran in every starter's lineup.

[Old Red]

He was also very good for the second half of 2021. We may not have even made the playoffs without Kike and Dalbec- two guys in a doghouse similar to Duran's, last year.

 

See you keep living off of 2021. He sucked in 2022, and he’s sucked this year. He’s your boy toy, but most unfortunate Cora’s favorite son.

[moonslav59]

I have been so impressed watching Turner lately. The term professional hitter gets overused, but I think he really is one. I think he's just as happy fisting one into right for a bloop single as hitting one out. Take what the pitcher gives ya. I think he's actually underrated looking at his numbers with the Dodgers. An OPS+ of 133 is serious.

 

The guy has been a serious hitter going on 10 years, now. I'm not sure why hardly anyone noticed.

 

He's also been a playoff hero a few times.

 

Another player who has proven he can hit is Duvall. He's had more down years than Turner, but the guy can hit. He's hit .774 since 2019. His 650 PA line would be:

 

.232 40 110

 

I guess the .232 really upsets certain people, even the one who loved Renfroe's 100 rbi season to death.

[Old Red]

Wow now you are ripping Duran just to give props to Cora?

 

The guy just can't help himself not playing Kike?

 

Didn't you just post player ranking for fWar? You know that stat showed he was second from bottom on the team? Kike is dead last in the majors for guys that qualify

 

I will take Duran over Kike and Duval.

 

How many games you sppose Kike has cost us?

 

And who plays him? I sure don't make up the lineup.

 

It would be very interesting to see the lineup made up by each starter. I bet you see Duran in every starter's lineup.

 

Kike has lived off of 2021, and Cora lives off 2018. All in the family reruns.

[Nick]

Starting pitchers aren't stupid.

 

I bet you Cora is so biased that Duran won't start both games coming up.

 

He has to keep Duval and Kike happy. This season is all about the two.

[moonslav59]

Wow now you are ripping Duran just to give props to Cora?

 

The guy just can't help himself not playing Kike?

 

Didn't you just post player ranking for fWar? You know that stat showed he was second from bottom on the team? Kike is dead last in the majors for guys that qualify

 

I will take Duran over Kike and Duval.

 

How many games you sppose Kike has cost us?

 

And who plays him? I sure don't make up the lineup.

 

It would be very interesting to see the lineup made up by each starter. I bet you see Duran in every starter's lineup.

 

I never said anything close to this.

 

I'm not ripping Duran. He's been great for us- just not vs lefties.

 

Duvall is no chump, and I'd take his bat over Duran's vs a lefty any day of the week.

 

I've been a Kike fan for a long time, but have not been defending his overuse at SS, despite the lack of many other options. I do think Cora is playing him a bit too much, but he does hit lefties better than Duran, and I don't think Arroyo is a clear choice at 2B over Kike.

 

Please stop making up positions I do not hold.

 

[moonslav59]

Starting pitchers aren't stupid.

 

I bet you Cora is so biased that Duran won't start both games coming up.

 

He has to keep Duval and Kike happy. This season is all about the two.

 

I'd certainly like to see Duran get more chances vs lefties, to see if he can turn around his horrible numbers vs them. He's turned around other aspects of his profile, so maybe he can.

 

I'm not sure now is the time to experiment.

 

vs LHPs:

.863 Duvall (.774 career)

.677 Kike (.813 career)

.600 Duran (.498 career)

 

They are all plus OF'ers on D.

 

Cora is so dumb to play the better hitters.

[Bellhorn04]

We've won 6 of 7, and 5 of those were against good teams. We've scored 17 runs the last 2 games. I don't get the bellyaching about Cora's lineup management right now.

[Nick]

We've won 6 of 7, and 5 of those were against good teams. We've scored 17 runs the last 2 games. I don't get the bellyaching about Cora's lineup management right now.

 

He says he wants more offense but sits down Yoshida.

 

Why say anything?

 

Yoshida will play today. My guess is either Duval or Duran will sit.

 

Cora also thinks Kike's defense has improved at short. But we all know that it's only a matter of time before he throws another into dugout.

 

Lucky for us that Chang is back.

 

My only point is Duran and Yoshida are swinging hot bats and should stay in the lineup.

 

Of course you and Moon will argue what a genius Cora is to time exactly correctly to sit the two out so that they stay hot. I get the game.

 

Head Cora wins and tails we lose.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Nick

[Nick]

BTW you tell me to shut up because we've won 6 out of 7.

 

You know that my complint about the two extends way before the last 7 games.

 

Ok I am done.

 

I know you two care about the Sox as anyone.

[Nick]

Lets just enjoy Paxton's return.

 

I am ok with Duval and Kike having great second half and me getting crucified here.

[Old Red]

We've won 6 of 7, and 5 of those were against good teams. We've scored 17 runs the last 2 games. I don't get the bellyaching about Cora's lineup management right now.

Twisting in the wind, and turning on a dime, and which way is the wind blowing today in, or out?

[moonslav59]

He says he wants more offense but sits down Yoshida.

 

Why say anything?

 

Yoshida will play today. My guess is either Duval or Duran will sit.

 

Cora also thinks Kike's defense has improved at short. But we all know that it's only a matter of time before he throws another into dugout.

 

Lucky for us that Chang is back.

 

My only point is Duran and Yoshida are swinging hot bats and should stay in the lineup.

 

Of course you and Moon will argue what a genius Cora is to time exactly correctly to sit the two out so that they stay hot. I get the game.

 

Head Cora wins and tails we lose.

 

I've been critical of Cora's choices, like resting players too much and vs the wrong handed pitchers and many other times, but not so much singular moves.

 

Kike is still a very good defensive CF'er and 2Bman. I haven't wanted him playing SS for a long time, but really.... who else did we have whan Story, Chang and Reyes were on the IL. Arroyo, EValdez, DHam? I'm not busting a gut defending those 3 SS D.

 

Why are you so for playing a career .498 OPS guy vs lefties?

[moonslav59]

On the Red Sox D:

 

C: Wong has come a long way. Alfaro is a step down from McGuire (on IL.) I think the "learning curve" is over on building pitcher-catcher confort.

 

1B: Casas has been a huge letdown on D. I thought there was just no way we'd see just a slight improvement on D at 1B, this year vs 2022. Hopefully, he improves second half.

 

2B: Kike and Arroyo are fine on D as a combo. I'd like to see Story here, upon his return (see Chang at SS.)

 

SS: I'd prefer Chang, but Story seems to be the guy at SS, when he returns. We should see great improvement here over Kike, who has started almost 60% of our games, here.

 

3B: Devers has improved greatly from his earlier years. He's okay, here.

 

LF: Good thing Fenway can hide some poor OF D. Yoshida is scary out there. Duvall is a previous GG'er.

 

CF: What a great turnaround by Duran at CF D. Kike still plays plus CF D, despite his horrific SS D.

 

RF: Dugo is fine on D.

 

Maybe we can see some improvement on D over the last 3 months.

 

 

 

 

[Dipre]

Kike is bad, and he should feel bad.

[Old Red]

I've been critical of Cora's choices, like resting players too much and vs the wrong handed pitchers and many other times, but not so much singular moves.

 

Kike is still a very good defensive CF'er and 2Bman. I haven't wanted him playing SS for a long time, but really.... who else did we have whan Story, Chang and Reyes were on the IL. Arroyo, EValdez, DHam? I'm not busting a gut defending those 3 SS D.

 

Why are you so for playing a career .498 OPS guy vs lefties?

Really? You are really asking the question who else did the Red Sox have to play SS. The answer was no one, but the solution should have been to have gone out, and gotten a real SS who could play a good D shortly after Story went down' which the Red Sox have plenty of time to so, but instead stuck Kike out there, and had a parade of replacements trying to do the job after Kike failed so bad. That was bad management by both Bloom, and Cora.

[Bellhorn04]

Twisting in the wind, and turning on a dime, and which way is the wind blowing today in, or out?

 

I've always been a Cora supporter. It's Bloom I've gone back and forth on.

[Old Red]

I've always been a Cora supporter. It's Bloom I've gone back and forth on.

 

I just don’t think Cora is as good a manager, and is living off from 2018, which was winning in his first year, but even John Farrell did that.

[notin]

Really? You are really asking the question who else did the Red Sox have to play SS. The answer was no one, but the solution should have been to have gone out, and gotten a real SS who could play a good D shortly after Story went down' which the Red Sox have plenty of time to so, but instead stuck Kike out there, and had a parade of replacements trying to do the job after Kike failed so bad. That was bad management by both Bloom, and Cora.

 

Mondesi was a bad idea. Although the Sox did hold on to Chang, who can certainly field the role. I also wondered why it took so long to promote Hamilton, especially since he was considered enough of a talent to be placed on the 40 man roster.

 

The SS situation definitely took a wrong turn or two. I don’t know how much faith they had in Kike, and I totally understand giving him a chance. But it went on far too long…

[Old Red]

Mondesi was a bad idea. Although the Sox did hold on to Chang, who can certainly field the role. I also wondered why it took so long to promote Hamilton, especially since he was considered enough of a talent to be placed on the 40 man roster.

 

The SS situation definitely took a wrong turn or two. I don’t know how much faith they had in Kike, and I totally understand giving him a chance. But it went on far too long…

 

And I believe Cora had to be told to stop putting Kike out there everyday.

[notin]

And I believe Cora had to be told to stop putting Kike out there everyday.

 

Then fire him. It’s the manager’s job to put what he thinks is the best team on the field. Not the GMs. Not the President of Operations’. Not the Owner’s.

 

The whole feud between Billy Beane and Art Howe in the movie Moneyball was all just movie make-believe.

 

Turns out in real life, that wasn’t even Beane and Howe; it was two actors named Brad Pitt and Phillip Seymour Hoffman…

[Randy Red Sox]

The minors are full of "good glove-no bat types" Chang is one of many of those. He is a stop gap till Story returns

Mondesi was a bad idea. Although the Sox did hold on to Chang, who can certainly field the role. I also wondered why it took so long to promote Hamilton, especially since he was considered enough of a talent to be placed on the 40 man roster.

 

The SS situation definitely took a wrong turn or two. I don’t know how much faith they had in Kike, and I totally understand giving him a chance. But it went on far too long…

[moonslav59]

The minors are full of "good glove-no bat types" Chang is one of many of those. He is a stop gap till Story returns

 

We all saw why D Hamilton was not called up earlier.

 

EValdez did not kill us on D, but over time, he'd have been exposed as a poor defender.

 

Reyes is not great at SS, but he was better than Kike.

 

Having Story, Mondesi, Chang and Reyes all out at the same time is something most teams cannot overcome. Two, we knew were hurt, to start the season.This is not meant as an excuse for Bloom's SS choices. I wish we'd have just raded Taylor for a minor leaguer and signed Iggy.

 

[notin]

The minors are full of "good glove-no bat types" Chang is one of many of those. He is a stop gap till Story returns

 

Exactly. But that was exactly what the complainant said the Sox needed…

[vegasbob]

We've won 6 of 7, and 5 of those were against good teams. We've scored 17 runs the last 2 games. I don't get the bellyaching about Cora's lineup management right now.

 

The majority of that scoring of 17 runs came in single inning bursts , built around walks, dinks/dunks/bloops and poor defensive plays ... Not saying we didn't deserve some breaks but an offensive outburst it was not. A win by any means is a win and good for us. A close look at the ABs over the past two games will show that in some respects the offense is still in a mild funk. The occasional double or Duran's triple, but no HR's . Our overall run differential is +19, better than only the Angels (+14), for American league teams at .500 or better W-L record.

 

Getting Chang in the lineup doesn't help move the line much ( appreciate the defensive upgrade), Kike is marginal, Wong is tired, and Duvall is slow to come back. Despite the pitching mess of injuries, they are winning but could use better hitting than currently showing up , especially at home. Duval in last 15 games ( since returning) he is at .154/.493 OPS with 6 rbis . And he is sitting in Saturday's published lineup.

Edited July 8, 2023 by vegasbob

[Bellhorn04]

I just don’t think Cora is as good a manager, and is living off from 2018, which was winning in his first year, but even John Farrell did that.

 

Cora did pretty well in 2021 too, when they knocked out the Yankees and heavily favored Rays, and were 2 wins from the World Series.

[Nick]

MassLive essentially called Cora a liar or at the very least not trustworthy.

 

They said why is Kike playing short after Cora saying he won't play short anymore.

 

At least many of the players are fun to watch.

[Old Red]

MassLive essentially called Cora a liar or at the very least not trustworthy.

 

They said why is Kike playing short after Cora saying he won't play short anymore.

 

At least many of the players are fun to watch.

 

And Kike is playing SS today. It does pay to be a crybaby sometimes.

[Nick]

Let see Cora bench Duran tomorrow! Fenway won't be happy.

[oldtimer]

Let see Cora bench Duran tomorrow! Fenway won't be happy.

 

 

I originally wanted to give Duran a chance because of his speed and his prospect ranking. At the time we needed help and he seemed ready. When he came up he was a disappointment. His hitting was below expectations and his defense was worse. This year things have changed for the better. He is essentially leading the club in BA and his speed plays well on the bases. His defense has also markedly improved so he can play CF fairly well. I don't understand why Cora doesn't put him in the lineup, especially against right hand pitching. I assume it is because of Duvall and perhaps doing it to showcase some trade bait. I like a lot of what Cora does but often wonders why he sets the lineups to rest players when games are on the line.