Red Sox Day Off Musings

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

There is a major differ between a hitter having a bad season and a “crappy” hitter.  Bogaerts and Arraez are not comparable to Eaton and Sogard.  There is a reason two of them are on multi-year 8 figure contracts and the other two signed minor league deals.

 

And don’t lump all bad hitters in as replacement players.  Andres Gimenez has not only hit better, but is a former Platinum Glove winner.  How many defensive awards does Refsnyder have?

Ref is not a crappy hitter, so I'm not sure why you mentioned him.

Yes, Eaton, Sogard and DHam are all crappy. Usually only 2 play at once, due to the injuries to Anthony & Abreu.

I do think some of the hitters I listed are "crappy." What has Volpe done to prove he's even average?

Tell me why Iggy and the Padres catchers aren't 2 crappy hitters.

Clement and Straw are crappy.

HOU has 3-4 crappy batters. It's not even close, there.

[Maxbialystock]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If I had to order the blame on the reasons for the offensive swoon:

1. Anthony injury

2. Breggie

3. Duran mediocre season

4. Abreu injury

5. Bottom of the order guys hitting like bottom of the order guys

Agree!!!

Anthony's June OPS was .668, but his July and August OPS's were .946 and .909.  And it was in those 2 months plus Anthony's last 2 games on Sep 1 and 2, that the Sox went from 42-44 to 78-62.  I believe most of the credit should go to the Sox pitching, but you can't win if you can't score, and Anthony sure helped in the hitting department.  The Sox are 3-4 since Sep 2.  

Your other four examples simply exacerbate the loss of Anthony.  

And to me the big worry is that, while Anthony is out, Bregman and Duran could continue to be subpar, we have no idea what Abreu can do whenever he returns, etc.  

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Agree!!!

Anthony's June OPS was .668, but his July and August OPS's were .946 and .909.  And it was in those 2 months plus Anthony's last 2 games on Sep 1 and 2, that the Sox went from 42-44 to 78-62.  I believe most of the credit should go to the Sox pitching, but you can't win if you can't score, and Anthony sure helped in the hitting department.  The Sox are 3-4 since Sep 2.  

Your other four examples simply exacerbate the loss of Anthony.  

And to me the big worry is that, while Anthony is out, Bregman and Duran could continue to be subpar, we have no idea what Abreu can do whenever he returns, etc.  

If I was factoring out the blame pie, Anthony would definitely get the largest piece with Breggie getting a decent sized slice as a top of the order bat. Duran has been ok, but not a lightning bolt. Abreu goes through long cold streaks anyway so it's not a huge miss IMO. Bottom of the order really doesn't register to me. I was only annoyed by Wong early on because I thought of him as a bad glove guy. Since his glove has been better, I can overlook the bad offense.

[Cameron Tran]

41 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If I was factoring out the blame pie, Anthony would definitely get the largest piece with Breggie getting a decent sized slice as a top of the order bat. Duran has been ok, but not a lightning bolt. Abreu goes through long cold streaks anyway so it's not a huge miss IMO. Bottom of the order really doesn't register to me. I was only annoyed by Wong early on because I thought of him as a bad glove guy. Since his glove has been better, I can overlook the bad offense.

I think Wong has also emerged as a great clubhouse guy. Crochet speaks very highly of him, Bello's personal catcher, "fixed" Chapman. He's also always on the top step celebrating with Crochet after everything. Those guys are more important than you think!

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If I was factoring out the blame pie, Anthony would definitely get the largest piece with Breggie getting a decent sized slice as a top of the order bat. Duran has been ok, but not a lightning bolt. Abreu goes through long cold streaks anyway so it's not a huge miss IMO. Bottom of the order really doesn't register to me. I was only annoyed by Wong early on because I thought of him as a bad glove guy. Since his glove has been better, I can overlook the bad offense.

Wong kinda stopped being the black hole on offense, too. He's been at .700 since AUG 5th & .736 since AUG 11th. (.764 since AUG 17.)

The blame pie is an interesting idea and probably just as American as apple pie.

We have one poster who might say the failures at the deadline is over 50% of the reason. Others disagree on the bigger culprits.

It's interesting that our season OPS is .749 and our 14 days OPS is .750. However, we are at .704 for 7 days and .722 for 28 days.

Cheery-picked good:

.775 last 9 games

.763 last 18 games

.754 last 20 games and 42 games.

The bad:

.704 last 6 games

.731 last 17 games

I think the main reasons our offense has not been that good, this year as a whole (diverging from the topic) is...

1. The Devers trade

2. The Anthony injury

3. The Bregman injury

4. The 2B (.648 OPS) merry-go-round: KC> DHam> Mayer & injury> Rafaela> DHam/Sogard (see below)

5. The Bregman "slump" where he has still hit the ball hard, at times.

6. Duran's regression from 2024

7. The Casas injury

8. The Abreu injury

Back to 2B: The interesting thing about 2B, is that Campbell will end the season with the most innings played there:

472 Campbell .658 OPS at 2B (actually better than what came afterwards!)

375 DHam .590 OPS at 2B

207 Romy (needed too much at 1B- see Casas injury) .899 OPS

165 Rafaela .309 when playing 2B

57 Mayer (needed at 3B- see Bregman injury) .826 at 2B

39 Sogard .871 at 2B

[notin]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Devers was even more of a "situational role player" this season for the Sox. He was the DH every day and all day long, and his OPS was .905.  Big Papi was a "situational role player" for the Sox and is in the HOF.  

Manny Ramirez was a liability in LF, always with a negative DWAR, but a huge asset at bat.  In 1958 Ted Williams DWAR in LF was a whopping -2.4, but he came in 7th in MVP voting because his OPS was 1.042.

Hitting isn't everything.  It's the only thing--and don't you forget it.  

So DH - which is a regular position in every lineup everyday - is no different than an outfielder that only starts vs LHP?  Where do I begin here?

I take it next you will be telling me Ozzie Smith is in Cooperstown because of his hitting…

[Cameron Tran]

16 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Wong kinda stopped being the black hole on offense, too. He's been at .700 since AUG 5th & .736 since AUG 11th. (.764 since AUG 17.)

The blame pie is an interesting idea and probably just as American as apple pie.

We have one poster who might say the failures at the deadline is over 50% of the reason. Others disagree on the bigger culprits.

It's interesting that our season OPS is .749 and our 14 days OPS is .750. However, we are at .704 for 7 days and .722 for 28 days.

Cheery-picked good:

.775 last 9 games

.763 last 18 games

.754 last 20 games and 42 games.

The bad:

.704 last 6 games

.731 last 17 games

I think the main reasons our offense has not been that good, this year as a whole (diverging from the topic) is...

1. The Devers trade

2. The Anthony injury

3. The Bregman injury

4. The 2B (.648 OPS) merry-go-round: KC> DHam> Mayer & injury> Rafaela> DHam/Sogard (see below)

5. The Bregman "slump" where he has still hit the ball hard, at times.

6. Duran's regression from 2024

7. The Casas injury

8. The Abreu injury

Back to 2B: The interesting thing about 2B, is that Campbell will end the season with the most innings played there:

472 Campbell .658 OPS at 2B (actually better than what came afterwards!)

375 DHam .590 OPS at 2B

207 Romy (needed too much at 1B- see Casas injury) .899 OPS

165 Rafaela .309 when playing 2B

57 Mayer (needed at 3B- see Bregman injury) .826 at 2B

39 Sogard .871 at 2B

I think Rafaeala's slump needs to be talked about more. I know his calling card is his Defense, and his offense will definitely take a hit, but when he is hot and going we are hot and going. He was arguably the guy during the 10 game winning streak going into the break and before Anthony broke out. If we can get him anywhere near that that will 100% mitigate some of Anthony being out. I have genuinely never felt more confident in an at-bat than when Rafaela came up against the Rays and launched that homerun. When he's hot, he's otherworldly hot, just needs to get his swagger and confidence back (that will hopefully come as he settles back into CF)

[notin]

10 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

I think Rafaeala's slump needs to be talked about more. I know his calling card is his Defense, and his offense will definitely take a hit, but when he is hot and going we are hot and going. He was arguably the guy during the 10 game winning streak going into the break and before Anthony broke out. If we can get him anywhere near that that will 100% mitigate some of Anthony being out. I have genuinely never felt more confident in an at-bat than when Rafaela came up against the Rays and launched that homerun. When he's hot, he's otherworldly hot, just needs to get his swagger and confidence back (that will hopefully come as he settles back into CF)

Or the weird fact that David Hamilton had a .938 OPS in August but only has 9 PA in September.  It’s like, why get hot?

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

I think Rafaeala's slump needs to be talked about more. I know his calling card is his Defense, and his offense will definitely take a hit, but when he is hot and going we are hot and going. He was arguably the guy during the 10 game winning streak going into the break and before Anthony broke out. If we can get him anywhere near that that will 100% mitigate some of Anthony being out. I have genuinely never felt more confident in an at-bat than when Rafaela came up against the Rays and launched that homerun. When he's hot, he's otherworldly hot, just needs to get his swagger and confidence back (that will hopefully come as he settles back into CF)

Fred makes up for all the Rafaela bad offense talk, and then some. The rest of us shy away from encouraging Fred.

To me, .690-.740 is likely his range, and GG type CF makes that fine with me. .675 is acceptable. .650ish starts raising my eyebrow. The thing is, I'd always be thinking he was just about to have a hot streak, when I'd suggest we bench him.

Right now, he's at...

.508 in last 86 PAs (23 gms)

.479 in last 124 PAs (33 gms)

but...

.708 in last 259 PAs (thanks to an .801 47 game stretch at the start.)

[Cameron Tran]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Fred makes up for all the Rafaela bad offense talk, and then some. The rest of us shy away from encouraging Fred.

To me, .690-.740 is likely his range, and GG type CF makes that fine with me. .675 is acceptable. .650ish starts raising my eyebrow. The thing is, I'd always be thinking he was just about to have a hot streak, when I'd suggest we bench him.

Right now, he's at...

.508 in last 86 PAs (23 gms)

.479 in last 124 PAs (33 gms)

but...

.708 in last 259 PAs (thanks to an .801 47 game stretch at the start.)

Haha very fair and very understandable. My problem is the GG in CF doesn't matter if he isn't playing CF. I know we have a very crowded outfield but that glove needs to be out there. It's also worrying we are seeing the same trends as last year (stretches of low plate discipline, high strikeout rates and no walks). His speed will also be a major plus if we can bump that OBP up to atleast 300. I'd really like to know what Cora and the coaching staff are relying to him, as it was looking promising pre all star break (.314 OBP) but has since fallen off a cliff (.234 since). It's weird this coincides with him playing multiple positions again....

[moonslav59]

Selected feel good cherry-picked stats:

1.127 Refsnyder since his return (27 PAs)

1.038 Romy in last 41 PAs(many vs RHPs) .797 '24-'25 in 506 PAs (The new Ref!)

.989 Narvaez in last 48 PAs (got some rest after a long slump- .503 in previous 94 PAs)

.956 Eaton in last 10 PAs

.890 Duran since June 29th (253 PAs) Way better than 2024!

.862 Story since June 1st (359 PAs) 28 SBs and 0 CS (record is 30/30)

.785 Bregman in last 3 games (15 PAs)

.748 Wong in last 13 PAs

.706 and 5 gm hit streak in SEPT Sogard (17 PAs)

[Cameron Tran]

Duran played 2nd in college and a little in A- ball. Could we move him to 2nd? I feel like that is a conversation we should have

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The blame pie is an interesting idea and probably just as American as apple pie.

It's something an older AM radio guy in the Boston area would do when talking about sports back in the day. When assigning blame, he'd call it "the blame pie." 

[mvp 78]

Just now, Cameron Tran said:

Duran played 2nd in college and a little in A- ball. Could we move him to 2nd? I feel like that is a conversation we should have

The last time he played it was for Lowell. It must have been pretty rough if they never tried moving him back to the IF because there were A LOT of growing pains in the OF with him. 

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Haha very fair and very understandable. My problem is the GG in CF doesn't matter if he isn't playing CF. I know we have a very crowded outfield but that glove needs to be out there. It's also worrying we are seeing the same trends as last year (stretches of low plate discipline, high strikeout rates and no walks). His speed will also be a major plus if we can bump that OBP up to at least 300. 

I worry a lot about Ceddanne's offense- just don't tell Fred, but this encourages me:

Last 3 years hard hit %: 18%>25%>32%

K%: 24%>23%>22%

BB%: 3.9%>4.2%> 4.4%

BB/K: 0.16>0.18>0.20 (Maybe not a fast enough improvement, but steady in all of these areas.)

CF Defense: '22+'23> '24

DRS: 12>18 and OAA: 7>17

[Cameron Tran]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The last time he played it was for Lowell. It must have been pretty rough if they never tried moving him back to the IF because there were A LOT of growing pains in the OF with him. 

Something has to give in the outfield. Breslow has commited long term to Rafaela and Anthony, so I doubt either of them are going anywhere. Unless we can find someone to take Yoshidas contract, he's pretty much locked in at DH, and I doubt Cora would want to DH Abreu or Duran. That means one of them should probably get traded this offseason. Abreu is younger and has more control, but Duran is a fan favorite and a better player. Suffering from success i guess...

[Cameron Tran]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I worry a lot about Ceddanne's offense- just don't tell Fred, but this encourages me:

Last 3 years hard hit %: 18%>25%>32%

K%: 24%>23%>22%

BB%: 3.9%>4.2%> 4.4%

BB/K: 0.16>0.18>0.20 (Maybe not a fast enough improvement, but steady in all of these areas.)

CF Defense: '22+'23> '24

DRS: 12>18 and OAA: 7>17

I think we can compare him to PCA a little, maybe with a bit of a lower ceiling. Both players have really great stretches and REALLY poor stretches, looks like consistency will be the main problem for him. I'd rather him be a 700ish OPS guy year round than an 800 guy first half and a 600 guy second half.

[Bellhorn04]

I just noticed a very odd scheduling quirk.

The Red Sox and Yankees play 4 series this year.

All 4 times, the Yankees play the day before and the Sox are off.

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Something has to give in the outfield. Breslow has commited long term to Rafaela and Anthony, so I doubt either of them are going anywhere. Unless we can find someone to take Yoshidas contract, he's pretty much locked in at DH, and I doubt Cora would want to DH Abreu or Duran. That means one of them should probably get traded this offseason. Abreu is younger and has more control, but Duran is a fan favorite and a better player. Suffering from success i guess...

I'm not so sure Rafaela is a lock, but it does seem like the trade talk is more about Duran vs Abreu.

[moonslav59]

TOR is up 5-0 on HOU in the 8th. It looks like they might be too far ahead to catch, unless we sweep them.

HOU is doing their very best to let SEA win the ALW and TEX get back in the race. They play 3 v SEA and 3 V TEX, next week.

[drewski6]

Im seeing similarities between what people have said re: pitching and what ive seen this year on offense.  We went into the season, 7 deep at pitching, and we still needed this dude off waivers, or this dude from the farm.

I think we are just living in the era of attrition on both sides of the ball.  I dont think that you can divorce the bottom third of our lineup being noodle bats (its really the bottom 6) from the injuries.  Its why we have such few hitters.  The era of stockpiling talent may be back. So yes, keep your guys w options in the minors just because its one more dude you can have. Hoard.

This is also why I think the deadline is so important. Because youre a lot closer to the playoffs, so if someone is healthy and productive at the deadline there is a greater chance that they will be healthy and productive once playoffs roll in.

You gotta add and keep adding. I dont think we should be looking at log-jams much differently than how we would view a pitching stff.  You have 5 solid starters and a few intriguing minor leaguers and depth options you think are capable, but you arent freaking out because "cant have too much pitching" or "every year , we end up dipping into our 8th starter"  But with offense, it doesnt seem the same.  It seems 4 of'ers! One MUST go.  Or two leadoff guys? One must go! 

I think the era of you cant have too much pitching has passed. I think we are now in the era of you cant have too much talent. Its not the age of aquarius. Its the age of attritionarious. Or something. We're gonna workshop that line, I promise.

[moonslav59]

54 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im seeing similarities between what people have said re: pitching and what ive seen this year on offense.  We went into the season, 7 deep at pitching, and we still needed this dude off waivers, or this dude from the farm.

I think we are just living in the era of attrition on both sides of the ball.  I dont think that you can divorce the bottom third of our lineup being noodle bats (its really the bottom 6) from the injuries.  Its why we have such few hitters.  The era of stockpiling talent may be back. So yes, keep your guys w options in the minors just because its one more dude you can have. Hoard.

This is also why I think the deadline is so important. Because youre a lot closer to the playoffs, so if someone is healthy and productive at the deadline there is a greater chance that they will be healthy and productive once playoffs roll in.

You gotta add and keep adding. I dont think we should be looking at log-jams much differently than how we would view a pitching stff.  You have 5 solid starters and a few intriguing minor leaguers and depth options you think are capable, but you arent freaking out because "cant have too much pitching" or "every year , we end up dipping into our 8th starter"  But with offense, it doesnt seem the same.  It seems 4 of'ers! One MUST go.  Or two leadoff guys? One must go! 

I think the era of you cant have too much pitching has passed. I think we are now in the era of you cant have too much talent. Its not the age of aquarius. Its the age of attritionarious. Or something. We're gonna workshop that line, I promise.

I actually thought we went 11-12 deep in the rotation, last winter, and I was not counting Newcomb, who won a slot in ST'ing plus Tolle and Early.

Crochet

Houck (our 2024 ace)

Bello

Buehler

Giolito

Crawford (IP leader in '24)

Criswell (was good in '24- 2nd best SP ERA)

Fitts

Dobbins

Winckowski

Sandoval (Expected AUG)

Whitlock was expected to be FT pen, but he was a consideration for the rotation

Murphy

I was more worried about top pen arms and too much mediocre depth, there. I expected some of those on the list above to be used from the pen. Hardly any were, except Whitlock.

[Larry Cook]

Hitting is contagious and I would love to see Bregman and rafeala get hot these next 15 games. 

[cp176]

5 hours ago, Cameron Tran said:

I think Wong has also emerged as a great clubhouse guy. Crochet speaks very highly of him, Bello's personal catcher, "fixed" Chapman. He's also always on the top step celebrating with Crochet after everything. Those guys are more important than you think!

Wong is and has been an excellent clubhouse guy since coming to Boston.  He has worked to become a pretty decent catcher and I’m pretty sure that for him playing more equals hitting more.  We are very fortunate to have him as our backup.

[notin]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Ref is not a crappy hitter, so I'm not sure why you mentioned him.

Yes, Eaton, Sogard and DHam are all crappy. Usually only 2 play at once, due to the injuries to Anthony & Abreu.

I do think some of the hitters I listed are "crappy." What has Volpe done to prove he's even average?

Tell me why Iggy and the Padres catchers aren't 2 crappy hitters.

Clement and Straw are crappy.

HOU has 3-4 crappy batters. It's not even close, there.

Now you’re just repeatedly proliferating Bellhorn’s weak interpretation.  I called Refsnyder (and others) bench players. Specifically “last man on the bench.”  Refsnyder spent 8 years bouncing from New York to Tampa to Toronto to Minnesota making MLB cameos along the way.  The description is apt.  I also said he his a situational role player.  He is.  He excels at hitting LHP (the situation) and really, noting else.  Hes not a starter.

But right now folks are worried about Lowe because he was released by Washington.  Lowe is a Gold Glove winning first baseman with a Silver Slugger whose resume absolutely squashes that of Refsnyder, Eaton, Sogard, and numerous other starters on this team.

The whole crappy hitter thing was from Bellhorn.  Stop trying to refute the entire point with irrelevancy.  

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Now you’re just repeatedly proliferating Bellhorn’s weak interpretation.  I called Refsnyder (and others) bench players. Specifically “last man on the bench.”  Refsnyder spent 8 years bouncing from New York to Tampa to Toronto to Minnesota making MLB cameos along the way.  The description is apt.  I also said he his a situational role player.  He is.  He excels at hitting LHP (the situation) and really, noting else.  Hes not a starter.

But right now folks are worried about Lowe because he was released by Washington.  Lowe is a Gold Glove winning first baseman with a Silver Slugger whose resume absolutely squashes that of Refsnyder, Eaton, Sogard, and numerous other starters on this team.

The whole crappy hitter thing was from Bellhorn.  Stop trying to refute the entire point with irrelevancy.  

I was just responding to one comment you made about several teams not having 2 or more "crappy batters." Why not tell me how the Astros don't have 2 crappy hitters?

Yes, Ref is a role player, but he's been a top batter vs LHPs since he came to BOS. He's legit. This is year 4. He's a top 20 OPS guy vs LHPs. He's a bench player due to be a RHB, but not a crappy batter.

I like Lowe, but if 70% of pitchers were lefty, you'd be saying Ref squashes Lowe's resume.

Since we've seen Anthony and Abreu go down, and this after losing Casas then Devers, we do have 2 or more crappy batters in every line-up. My point was so do other teams. I was not disputing your point about us having 2+, now.

I am not disputing your entire point. I actually agree with most of it.

Why not respond to my point about some of the teams that do have 2+ crappy batters. You mentioned SDP, and it was a good point. Arraez and Bogey are not known crappy batters: they are just having a bad year or maybe starting to be somewhat crappy, but answer about the other teams I mentioned.

Is Volpe crappy?

Does HOU not have 2-3 crappy batters?

Clement is a .671 career batter. Straw is .631. Are they good batters just having a bad year?

Hell, Ref and Romy can hit .631 v RHPs- off handed.

[notin]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I was just responding to one comment you made about several teams not having 2 or more "crappy batters." Why not tell me how the Astros don't have 2 crappy hitters?

Yes, Ref is a role player, but he's been a top batter vs LHPs since he came to BOS. He's legit. This is year 4. He's a top 20 OPS guy vs LHPs. He's a bench player due to be a RHB, but not a crappy batter.

I like Lowe, but if 70% of pitchers were lefty, you'd be saying Ref squashes Lowe's resume.

Since we've seen Anthony and Abreu go down, and this after losing Casas then Devers, we do have 2 or more crappy batters in every line-up. My point was so do other teams. I was not disputing your point about us having 2+, now.

I am not disputing your entire point. I actually agree with most of it.

Why not respond to my point about some of the teams that do have 2+ crappy batters. You mentioned SDP, and it was a good point. Arraez and Bogey are not known crappy batters: they are just having a bad year or maybe starting to be somewhat crappy, but answer about the other teams I mentioned.

Is Volpe crappy?

Does HOU not have 2-3 crappy batters?

Clement is a .671 career batter. Straw is .631. Are they good batters just having a bad year?

Hell, Ref and Romy can hit .631 v RHPs- off handed.

Still proliferating.  I did not say any players were “crappy” hitters in the original comment.  Bellhorn brought that in and I only used the phrase in quotes to refute it.  And for good reason - MLB has always had crappy hitters who were still deserving starters.  
 

You clearly jumped into this in the middle.  It’s a short thread. Re-read it.  
 

And more important -a player having a bad 2025 isnt necessarily a “crappy hitter.”  You called Luis Arraez - a man whose career compares reasonably to Tony Gwynn’s - a crappy hitter based on 2025 alone.  Volos hit well last year, right?  When did Eaton or Sogard ever have a season comparable to that?  Refsnyder is 8th in OPS vs LHP in MLB over the last 3 years - a stat I cited earlier.  That still doesn’t make him an MLB starter.  It does make him a situational role player - yes or no?

You e been missing the point all along.  I know your vision isnt great and don’t know if you use ZoomText or any equivalent. But if anyone else kept repeating as you have, I would justifiably question them.

Re-read.  This started when 5Gold questioned the Sox using Lowe as a cleanup hitter since he was released from a last place team.  I replied the Sox have several career bench players in the lineup regularly who are far, far bigger concerns.  And they do.  Yes or no?

[moonslav59]

39 minutes ago, notin said:

Still proliferating.  I did not say any players were “crappy” hitters in the original comment.  Bellhorn brought that in and I only used the phrase in quotes to refute it.  And for good reason - MLB has always had crappy hitters who were still deserving starters.  
 

You clearly jumped into this in the middle.  It’s a short thread. Re-read it.  
 

And more important -a player having a bad 2025 isnt necessarily a “crappy hitter.”  You called Luis Arraez - a man whose career compares reasonably to Tony Gwynn’s - a crappy hitter based on 2025 alone.  Volos hit well last year, right?  When did Eaton or Sogard ever have a season comparable to that?  Refsnyder is 8th in OPS vs LHP in MLB over the last 3 years - a stat I cited earlier.  That still doesn’t make him an MLB starter.  It does make him a situational role player - yes or no?

You e been missing the point all along.  I know your vision isnt great and don’t know if you use ZoomText or any equivalent. But if anyone else kept repeating as you have, I would justifiably question them.

Re-read.  This started when 5Gold questioned the Sox using Lowe as a cleanup hitter since he was released from a last place team.  I replied the Sox have several career bench players in the lineup regularly who are far, far bigger concerns.  And they do.  Yes or no?

Yes, and when did I disagree with that.

I get your point and agree. My response to one part of your point, and I admitted some of the guys I suggested were crappy, were not. They were just having a bad year or two.

I was only responding to this exchange: (Yes, I went and reread it)

 

Are there any teams in baseball that don't put at least 2 crappy hitters in the lineup most games?

Yes.

Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros

[notin]

37 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, and when did I disagree with that.

I get your point and agree. My response to one part of your point, and I admitted some of the guys I suggested were crappy, were not. They were just having a bad year or two.

I was only responding to this exchange: (Yes, I went and reread it)

 

Are there any teams in baseball that don't put at least 2 crappy hitters in the lineup most games?

Yes.

Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros

And even if Volpe - a 3 bWAR player the 2 previous seasons - is a crappy hitter, you named Austin Wells as one.  Wells has a career OPS+ of 99.  If he’s a crappy hitter, so is 50% of MLB…

[mvp 78]

16 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I just noticed a very odd scheduling quirk.

The Red Sox and Yankees play 4 series this year.

All 4 times, the Yankees play the day before and the Sox are off.

🙏