Red Sox (Gray) vs Tigers (Flaherty): 4/20/26, 11:10AM

[moonslav59]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

IKF is actually a very good all-around player.  Great defender and very versatile.  He’s been a starter for the bulk of his career for a reason.  And he had some key hits today.  If the Sox didn’t have him, we’d probably be seeing more Sogard or similar.  Yippy…

I'd have been fine with just one from Durbin or IKF, if we got an actual star 2B/3B/SS instead of the other.

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, notin said:

IKF is actually a very good all-around player.  Great defender and very versatile.  He’s been a starter for the bulk of his career for a reason.  And he had some key hits today.  If the Sox didn’t have him, we’d probably be seeing more Sogard or similar.  Yippy…

A very good all around player? His career OPS+ is 81-below average. Defensively he is good. But this team needs players who can hit the baseball. IKF won’t help. He belongs in the minors.

[FredLynn]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd have been fine with just one from Durbin or IKF, if we got an actual star 2B/3B/SS instead of the other.

Exactly 

[JoeBrady]

44 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The real Rafaela has consistently improved.

The real Raffy had a 4.7 bWAR last year.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

The real Raffy had a 4.7 bWAR last year.

He's waiting for another 4.7.

[moonslav59]

Ceddanne 2024>2025>2026

BA: .246>.249>.279

OBP: .274>.295>.362

OPS: .664>.708>.739

K%: 26%>20%>22%

BB%: 3%>5%>6%

BB/K: 0.10 (historically bad)> 0.24>0.27 (still bad but on the rise)

[FredLynn]

47 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

The real Raffy had a 4.7 bWAR last year.

And he still had no plate discipline. I don’t care what his bwaaah was. You have to be able to hit the baseball.

[moonslav59]

12 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

And he still had no plate discipline. I don’t care what his bwaaah was. You have to be able to hit the baseball.

He will likely never improve enough to be on the plus side of plate discipline and K/BB and eliminate pro-longed slumps, but if he keeps improving, his offense might end up near or above average, while his defense keeps him as a clear asset to the team.

Right now, he's one of just 3 Sox players with 50+ PAs over a 100 OPS+. He was at 115 before today.

[FredLynn]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He will likely never improve enough to be on the plus side of plate discipline and K/BB and eliminate pro-longed slumps, but if he keeps improving, his offense might end up near or above average, while his defense keeps him as a clear asset to the team.

Right now, he's one of just 3 Sox players with 50+ PAs over a 100 OPS+. He was at 115 before today.

Let’s give him a reasonable amount of time to show his true colors-maybe 40-50 games or more. I think he is what he is at the plate and that it will eventually show up in his stats. If I’m wrong so much the better because this group of bums can use all the help they can get on offense.

[mvp 78]

11 hours ago, FredLynn said:

There’s no reason they couldn’t have signed Suarez AND obtained a far more talented player or two instead of Durbin or IKF.

Except of course that the owner is a cheapskate.

Durbin and IKF Make 7M total. What more talented player are they getting for that? 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Rafaela is one of three Red Sox, along with Durbin and Yoshida, with a K-rate under 20%.

[mvp 78]

Rafaela is at 21.1%.

It's Wong, Durbin and Masa.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Let’s give him a reasonable amount of time to show his true colors-maybe 40-50 games or more. I think he is what he is at the plate and that it will eventually show up in his stats. If I’m wrong so much the better because this group of bums can use all the help they can get on offense.

I'm sure he'll slump, and you'll be right here letting us know.

By the end of the year, he will near the league OPS (like last season), and you'll still think he's a failure.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Rafaela is one of three Red Sox, along with Durbin and Yoshida, with a K-rate under 20%.

He's at 21.1%, but that is 8th out of 13.

Nobody on the team has more PAs and a lower K%, except Durbin.

His BB% in the last 2 years: 2.6>4.8>5.6 (He's more than doubled his 2024 historically lowmark.)

We should wait until he stops improving to keep projecting doom & gloom (not you.)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Rafaela is at 21.1%.

It's Wong, Durbin and Masa.

Shows what a lazy chump I am -- he was under when I looked yesterday.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Shows what a lazy chump I am -- he was under when I looked yesterday.

Must have looked yesterday AM prior to Sunday's game being posted (3 k's). He was at 18.5%. 

He's been good at the plate. Can't complain about his hitting. His defense has taken a big step back though.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's been good at the plate. Can't complain about his hitting. His defense has taken a big step back though.

Which is stranger than his contact rate -- are the inconsistencies of supposedly better pitching causing Ceddanne to be more hesitant out there? In past years he looked more confident, like he knew he always needed full sprints off the crack of the bat.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Must have looked yesterday AM prior to Sunday's game being posted (3 k's). He was at 18.5%. 

He's been good at the plate. Can't complain about his hitting. His defense has taken a big step back though.

Yes what’s up with his D?🤔

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yes what’s up with his D?🤔

IDK. Even yesterday he had a ball just bounce right over him. Right now, you can put Duran out there and I don't know if it'd be too much of a drop off. 

[notin]

12 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd have been fine with just one from Durbin or IKF, if we got an actual star 2B/3B/SS instead of the other.

I think the hope was Durbin could be a rising star.  I think they liked his glove and his Fenway swing.

IKF was brought in to fill a bench role.  Unlikely they would have brought in Durbin for that type of role…

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Durbin and IKF Make 7M total. What more talented player are they getting for that? 

Josh Bell or Victor Caratini.  But not both…

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Josh Bell or Victor Caratini.  But not both…

The season is saved!

[notin]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The season is saved!

Oddly, those two are at the forefront of the surprising start by the Twins.

But - and this is coming from a guy who (in)actively campaigned for Josh Bell last July - I cannot see these two being an adequate response to cheapskate allegations.  Especially if the Sox only brought in one of them…

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Oddly, those two are at the forefront of the surprising start by the Twins.

But - and this is coming from a guy who (in)actively campaigned for Josh Bell last July - I cannot see these two being an adequate response to cheapskate allegations.  Especially if the Sox only brought in one of them…

Bell is pulling the ball at a rate he's never done before. Can't see him doing this through the summer. 

[notin]

12 hours ago, FredLynn said:

A very good all around player? His career OPS+ is 81-below average. Defensively he is good. But this team needs players who can hit the baseball. IKF won’t help. He belongs in the minors.

And yet he is a career starter that took on a bench role.  If your biggest problem with this team is they spent too much money on a Gold Glove winning infielder that can play all 8 positions and put him on the bench, maybe “cheapskate” shouldn’t be your primary accusation. 

Again, it’s a one year deal for $6.25 mill.  IKF is hardly the biggest issue, and it wasn’t a choice between him and Pete Alonso…

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

And yet he is a career starter that took on a bench role.  If your biggest problem with this team is they spent too much money on a Gold Glove winning infielder that can play all 8 positions and put him on the bench, maybe “cheapskate” shouldn’t be your primary accusation. 

Again, it’s a one year deal for $6.25 mill.  IKF is hardly the biggest issue, and it wasn’t a choice between him and Pete Alonso…

But what can posters complain about if not for the 26th man on the roster?!?!?

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bell is pulling the ball at a rate he's never done before. Can't see him doing this through the summer. 

His StatCast last year was actually very impressive, which was why I thought Boston could use him.  Granted, it’s better from the left side…

[notin]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

But what can posters complain about if not for the 26th man on the roster?!?!?

The Fenway Franks are now made with a lower grade of space age polymers…

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

The Fenway Franks are now made with a lower grade of space age polymers…

My daughter isn't complaining. She loves space and loves Fenway Franks. Not sure we'll make it to a game this trip. 

[moonslav59]

42 minutes ago, notin said:

I think the hope was Durbin could be a rising star.  I think they liked his glove and his Fenway swing.

IKF was brought in to fill a bench role.  Unlikely they would have brought in Durbin for that type of role…

Agreed, but I'd like Durbin in IKF's role due to less of a budget hit, longer team control and the promise of winning a FT role, at some point. He can't play SS like IKF, but we have Mayer and possibly Arias on the horizon.