A Realistic View of 2024: Part II

[redsoxrules]

Yoshida looks awful in the early going. Pounding one ground ball after another to the right side.

 

I don't think he got the memo about launch angle being a thing...

 

He does his little tap step and chop swing.

Annoys the crap out of me. Like just hit the damn ball and swing through it. It's not wonder he doesn't strike out much, he half cuts chop swings

[mvp 78]

Yoshida looks awful in the early going. Pounding one ground ball after another to the right side.

 

I don't think he got the memo about launch angle being a thing...

 

He was terrible early on last year too. Maybe he can turn it around?

[Bellhorn04]

He does his little tap step and chop swing.

Annoys the crap out of me. Like just hit the damn ball and swing through it. It's not wonder he doesn't strike out much, he half cuts chop swings

 

He's on pace for about 25 extra base hits. Not what you want from your $18 million AAV DH.

[redsoxrules]

Devers certainly can still have a bust out year that blows 2019 or 2021 away. He's only 27.

 

I don't expect his defense to improve.

 

He's going to be 28 this year. He's hit his ceiling. He might have one year where he will hit 40 but I wouldn't expect that unless he changes his approach.

[Bellhorn04]

Let's face it, Yoshida was an incredibly dumb signing by Bloom. I wonder how much it played into him getting the axe.

[redsoxrules]

He was terrible early on last year too. Maybe he can turn it around?

 

Aside from that good stretch he had he was pretty awful

[mvp 78]

Rafaela getting PHed for by Hamilton was not a great thing to see either.

 

No comment. I get the excitement for his extension, but I think there was less than a 50% chance that he was going to make over 50M over that time period.

 

Dude just hasn't hit AT ALL at the MLB level. Sure he can field, but those guys aren't making a ton of ARB money.

[mvp 78]

Don't disagree, but the O's haven't done much over the last few decades to earn a role as a model franchise.

 

New ownership could change all that though.

 

They ran into some great prospects though. A lot of other teams are picking high in the draft and missing. O's have had a bunch of hits lately.

[mvp 78]

Pablo Reyes hitting 5th, 3rd and 6th in the order in his last 3 starts is another dreadfully ominous sign of the quality of our roster.

 

It's the lack of RHB. Even the young guys coming up are LHB... I'm totally not concerned about it.

[moonslav59]

He's going to be 28 this year. He's hit his ceiling. He might have one year where he will hit 40 but I wouldn't expect that unless he changes his approach.

 

He will turn 28, after the season is over. Many players have career bests at 28 or older.

 

He's had 2-3 great seasons, batting, and can do better with the same approach Vlad Guerrero rode to greatness.

 

I'm not saying a change can't help, nor am I predicting a .950+ season, but there is a significant chance he hits .950+ in the next few years.

[Bellhorn04]

They ran into some great prospects though. A lot of other teams are picking high in the draft and missing. O's have had a bunch of hits lately.

 

No question, somebody there was doing something right.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

It's the lack of RHB. Even the young guys coming up are LHB... I'm totally not concerned about it.

 

The future's so bright, you gotta...

[Bellhorn04]

He will turn 28, after the season is over. Many players have career bests at 28 or older.

 

He's had 2-3 great seasons, batting, and can do better with the same approach Vlad Guerrero rode to greatness.

 

I'm not saying a change can't help, nor am I predicting a .950+ season, but there is a significant chance he hits .950+ in the next few years.

 

He's already had 2 injury issues this year too. Those can take a toll.

[mvp 78]

I think they're going to call them all up, and not just for a shot of expresso in September. There are going to be a lot of job openings in Boston by the trade deadline.

 

We know they're not going to spend -- Brez already said they're going "internal" -- and if the season gets as ugly as if could, remotes will focus on dog shows before they'll watch the Dead Sox this summer. I also don't think Cora will make it to August.

 

Mayer - injured in '22

Mayer - injured in '23

Mayer - rushed to MLB in '24?

 

It doesn't make sense. I could see Anthony getting called up and maybe Teel. Mayer is a good player, but would need to bang the door down the way Benintendi and Devers were and I don't think he's that type of hitter. They'd be better off bringing him along slower than the other two.

[mvp 78]

Exactly!

 

Recent grads:

2023: Casas, Grissom, Bernardino, Valdez, Murphy, Kelly

2022: Bello, Duran, Crawford, Wink, Wong

2021: Houck & Whitlock

 

Rafaela, Slaten, Abreu, DHam and others will graduate this year, most likely.

 

Plus, Devers is younger than Houck, Crawford, Whitlock and Wong!

 

We have a pretty solid base of young and controlled players on the 26, already. Lord knows, we still have holes- some very big, but add a few more from the big 3 and beyond, and that core should get even better.

 

Brennan Bernardino is 32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Old Red]

It's the lack of RHB. Even the young guys coming up are LHB... I'm totally not concerned about it.

 

JT’s bat was huge in the middle of the order last year, and it wasn’t replaced. They maybe was counting on Story Land to fill that void, but that was far from a certainty anyway, and now even that’s gone, but as we all know that Brez will figure things out.

[mvp 78]

Let's face it, Yoshida was an incredibly dumb signing by Bloom. I wonder how much it played into him getting the axe.

 

1% at most.

[moonslav59]

Aside from that good stretch he had he was pretty awful

 

You make "that stretch" sound like it was a month long, or something.

 

He was still at .901 on June 4th, 2023.

 

From April 20 to Sept 9th, he hit .830 (112 games and 469 PAs out of his 580 total.)

 

His two bad stretches were:

.560 to start the year (13 games- sound familiar?)

.591 last 15 games of the season.

 

It seems more accurate to say his 2023 season was marred by two 2-week stretches than to say he was carried by pretty strong 5 month "stretch."

 

That being said, I am losing confidence, very quickly, here, despite the fact that he started off slowly, last year, too.

 

[Bellhorn04]

1% at most.

 

Hard to say. He devoted an awful lot of the 2023 spending budget to it.

[Dipre]

It's been 12 games into 2024.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Mayer - injured in '22

Mayer - injured in '23

Mayer - rushed to MLB in '24?

 

It doesn't make sense. I could see Anthony getting called up and maybe Teel. Mayer is a good player, but would need to bang the door down the way Benintendi and Devers were and I don't think he's that type of hitter. They'd be better off bringing him along slower than the other two.

 

Does this make sense: Team's #1 prospect shows he's finally healthy, rakes in Double A, succeeds in Triple A for the month of August, and ultimately gets a taste of The Show in September, filling the position that is the biggest hole on the big league diamond?

[Bellhorn04]

You make "that stretch" sound like it was a month long, or something.

 

He was still at .901 on June 4th, 2023.

 

From April 20 to Sept 9th, he hit .830 (112 games and 469 PAs out of his 580 total.)

 

His two bad stretches were:

.560 to start the year (13 games- sound familiar?)

.591 last 15 games of the season.

 

It seems more accurate to say his 2023 season was marred by two 2-week stretches than to say he was carried by pretty strong 5 month "stretch."

 

That being said, I am losing confidence, very quickly, here, despite the fact that he started off slowly, last year, too.

 

 

It's not the numbers so much as how he looks. He's small, he's slow and he has trouble getting the ball in the air.

[Bellhorn04]

It's been 12 games into 2024.

 

So what? It's a team that finished under .500 the last 2 years and is projected to do the same this year.

[Old Red]

Hard to say. He devoted an awful lot of the 2023 spending budget to it.

 

Story Land 1 year, and NOshida the next.

[mvp 78]

Aside from that good stretch he had he was pretty awful

 

Through 7/25/23, he had an 888 OPS. That's 2/3's of the season.

[Dipre]

So what? It's a team that finished under .500 the last 2 years and is projected to do the same this year.

 

We're not talking about the team's overall performance, but rather the offense. Or what? Are you expecting this roster to somehow make the playoffs? I'm not buying the smoke and mirrors of this starting pitching staff. My money's on them scoring 800 runs but being bottom 10 in pitching and defense.

[mvp 78]

No question, somebody there was doing something right.

 

And when the Sox tried to pry the O's FO guys away from them for their open CBO position, they said no.

[mvp 78]

Hard to say. He devoted an awful lot of the 2023 spending budget to it.

 

From all reports, they were more concerned about the trade deadlines and Blooms inactivity than bad FA signings.

[mvp 78]

It's been 12 games into 2024.

 

It's the second quarter of week 2 and the damned QB threw another pick!!!!

[Old Red]

From all reports, they were more concerned about the trade deadlines and Blooms inactivity than bad FA signings.

 

Looking for that darn 3rd option in the fork in the road. Cora’s vouching for Bloom I guess wasn’t enough to keep him either.