FINALLY! (Spring Training - ALL Games)

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Brez showing Bloom how it's done.

He's traded, drafted and signed more pitchers in his short time here than Bloon in 4 years.

[notin]

15 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

He could be 0 and 7 by May 15th 

He could also be 0-7 with a 3.50 ERA.  Is W-L record the criteria again?

[moonslav59]

I can't believe opening day is so near! I'm excited about this season, despite the rotation injuries and pen uncertainties. The Devers-Abreu-Story problems may work themselves out, and as always, we seem to have more questions than answers, but we have depth and some decent secondary chocies, some of which seem more promising than the likely opening day starters.

The 3 top prospects. Maybe a returning Sandoval. Maybe Hendriks finds a groove, before it's too late. Maybe, the second half by DHam-Romy was not a fluke. Maybe Wong & Casas improved their defense, over the winter. Maybe Slaten & Whitlock have great seasons. Maybe, maybe, maybe...

Hope springs eternal.

[Bellhorn04]

The Sox offense has been very quiet the last few games. 

[vegasbob]

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Sox offense has been very quiet the last few games. 

And the pitching has been loud, unpleasantly

[moonslav59]

I'm not too worried abut a couple games in ST'ing.

[mvp 78]

Mayer still hitting ropes and fielding smoothly.

[mvp 78]

Mayer is still hammering fastballs from RHP. It'll be interesting to see what his splits look like when he's in AAA. He has so many MLB tools right now. Hope he can work out some of the things we've noted previously (LHP/offspeed). 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mayer is still hammering fastballs from RHP. It'll be interesting to see what his splits look like when he's in AAA. He has so many MLB tools right now. Hope he can work out some of the things we've noted previously (LHP/offspeed). 

Most aspects of AAA are below MLB standards: ballparks, travel, accommodations, meals, umpiring? and especially pitching (getting strikes to swing at). Mayer's AAA stats might not signal whether or not, or when, he's ready for promotion. This is where we have to trust the front office...

... like when they promoted Roman Anthony to High A when most of his stats weren't too good. Or the Spring Training that Kristian Campbell started oh-fer at the plate and awkward at 2B, but made enough progress at both to make the majors (plus, he already had one trait they really liked: RHH).

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Most aspects of AAA are below MLB standards: ballparks, travel, accommodations, meals, umpiring? and especially pitching (getting strikes to swing at). Mayer's AAA stats might not signal whether or not, or when, he's ready for promotion. This is where we have to trust the front office...

... like when they promoted Roman Anthony to High A when most of his stats weren't too good. Or the Spring Training that Kristian Campbell started oh-fer at the plate and awkward at 2B, but made enough progress at both to make the majors (plus, he already had one trait they really liked: RHH).

Ok, but he couldn't even hit LHP or offspeed AA pitching. He needs to at least learn to do that moderately at the AAA level before we can say he's MLB ready, right? 

My worry is that if he's advanced too soon, he'll get eaten alive. He's looked so great this spring and I want him to continue on that path. 

[moonslav59]

As long as Story is healthy and playing plus D at SS (arm issues and all,) and Campbell is at 2B, there is no hurry on Mayer. No pressure.

He does need to figure out some things at the plate, and there may be an extended learning curve, once he gets the call, but I like what I see in him.

[moonslav59]

I know we were not playing a ML team, last night, but 12 Ks and no BBs was nice to see from our staff.

Who gets the last pen slot? Kelly or Weissert?

(I'm assuming Criswell is the 7th RP'er.)

[Old Red]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Ok, but he couldn't even hit LHP or offspeed AA pitching. He needs to at least learn to do that moderately at the AAA level before we can say he's MLB ready, right? 

My worry is that if he's advanced too soon, he'll get eaten alive. He's looked so great this spring and I want him to continue on that path. 

Agree, and like I’ve posted before Mayer lost valuable developmental time the last two years due to injury. There isn’t any big need with the Red Sox right now with Story at SS, but that could change in a blink of an eye with Story going down with an injury. More seasoning at Woo won’t hurt him a bit.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Merloni said last night that Mayer will be the first call-up for any infielder injured on the big club.

They all have weaknesses or holes in their swings that could use some improvement -- and that includes Story, Casas and Devers. But the way Mayer carries himself on and off the field like a big leaguer right now makes it unlikely that an inevitable batting slump (part of the game for most pros) will crush his future.

Or ours.

[moonslav59]

Mayer has missed about 40 games, in each of the last two seasons. He played in 77 & 78 games, or about 2/3 of the minor league seasons. This did not help his development, but he did still play quite a bit. It's too bad he got hurt just as he was called up to AAA, so playing some there in 2025 should help.

I think he's ready on D. I think he has the confidence, now. IMO, he can handle the mental and emotional part of the game, even if he struggles out of the gate. It's just his issues vs lefties and breaking balls that seems to be the problem. Maybe we are overblowing it- maybe not.

I think he's ready, but we have Story & Campbell, so this may help him make some strides, where needed. I guess we could ask, what if he looks awful ve lefties and breaking balls at AAA, does that mean we delay hius call-up? Cora seems to think he's ready, now.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Mayer has missed about 40 games, in each of the last two seasons. He played in 77 & 78 games, or about 2/3 of the minor league seasons. This did not help his development, but he did still play quite a bit. It's too bad he got hurt just as he was called up to AAA, so playing some there in 2025 should help.

I think he's ready on D. I think he has the confidence, now. IMO, he can handle the mental and emotional part of the game, even if he struggles out of the gate. It's just his issues vs lefties and breaking balls that seems to be the problem. Maybe we are overblowing it- maybe not.

I think he's ready, but we have Story & Campbell, so this may help him make some strides, where needed. I guess we could ask, what if he looks awful ve lefties and breaking balls at AAA, does that mean we delay hius call-up? Cora seems to think he's ready, now.

This will be the fifth year that Mayer has been a professional baseball player. He looks like he can handle all facets of the game. And we should be glad he looks ready right now, because -- as much as fans, media, and especially the club don't want to admit -- Trevor Story doesn't. 

We all want a healthy Story to solidify the defense, help balance the offense, and lead the Sox back to contention. But come on -- those who have watched a lot of Grapefruit games know what we're seeing.

The Red Sox are finally calling it a bad back; at least, that's the reason Story didn't go to Mexico... and presumably the reason he's made some glaring throwing errors this Spring. 

Stay tuned. We should be ok...

[Hitch]

15 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

This will be the fifth year that Mayer has been a professional baseball player. He looks like he can handle all facets of the game. And we should be glad he looks ready right now, because -- as much as fans, media, and especially the club don't want to admit -- Trevor Story doesn't. 

We all want a healthy Story to solidify the defense, help balance the offense, and lead the Sox back to contention. But come on -- those who have watched a lot of Grapefruit games know what we're seeing.

The Red Sox are finally calling it a bad back; at least, that's the reason Story didn't go to Mexico... and presumably the reason he's made some glaring throwing errors this Spring. 

Stay tuned. We should be ok...

I lean towards your view of things. It's a matter of time until Story gets shut down for one thing or another, and I am not expecting a great (or even good) season from him regardless. Mayer will be the starting SS sooner than we suspect I believe. 

[mvp 78]

His 26 games in the complex league in '21 doing a lot of lifting for that stat.