Yankees (Gil) vs Red Sox (Early): 4/21/26, 6:45pm

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Actually that’s a bad is a classic bad use of eye test.   
 

While Anthony does have 1 HR and 4 RBI, there is more to hitting than just those two numbers accompanied by 1 observed pitch.

OPS is a good overall way to rate a hitter, but a questionable way to analyze one. Anthony has been hitting the ball quite well this season, but his main issue has been the strikeouts, mainly the swings and misses.  As he started off similarly last year before then taking off, there is hope he can do similarly…

Anthony's strike out looking % is 32%, which is a little high, but not Casas high. Seven other players on the Sox have a higher rate than that with Wong leading at 60%! 

Roman's swinging strike rate is better than league average at 18.6%. 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Does Duran “deserve” to play?  It’s a good question.

He is supposed to be one of the best hitters on this team, but instead he is one of the worst.  And playing him means benching a better hitter.

I’d understand if Cora benched Duran until someone else cooled off or until injuries necessitate returning him to the lineup…

The Red Sox are 2-11 when Masa starts the game. Duran should be starting instead of Masa. 

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

He was playing everyday, until he sucked.

That hasn't benched a few other players. 🤔

[notin]

50 minutes ago, Hitch said:

And Story stays at SS in that scenario. 

Moving Story to 2b is the most logical change and is not irreversible if it fails, unlike a trade at this point.

Right now, Story, Duran, Narvaez, Anthony, Mayer and Durbin are all having career-worst seasons at the plate (using OPS).  Four of them, it’s out of two seasons, so fairly limited data.  The Sox don’t have the worst lineup in MLB, but they do have the most underperforming one.  
 

Bringing up Cheng was always a Hail Mary, a low percentage for success move that was  probably more likely to maintain status quo than anything else.  But sometimes Hail Mary’s work.  It was change for the sake of change, and if you go down that route, at least make it a reversible change (which tis would have been).
 

Anthony is most likely to come around, given his StatCast profile.  Duran might be the least likely for the same reason.  
 

As for demotions, the best (re: only?) candidates might be Durbin, Narvaez and Mayer.  But with Durbin slowly coming around and very limited options for the other two, it turns into throwing names at the wall.  Cheng feels like an upgrade over Mayer, but it’s not hard to see that turning out even worse.

Maybe Yoshida at leadoff and Anthony second? Flip Story and Mayer in the field.  And DFA Watson to keep Samaniego?  Those are the best changes I make in April…

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

I am boycotting the product. But I am not boycotting MLB.COM.

The worst boycott ever devised.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Meh.  I agree the team is  depressing but  disagree with the manager part.   The center of every game is the confrontation between hitters and pitchers and both of those rely heavily on individual performance and not on "enthusiastic responses. "  I think the blame rests squarely on Breslow.    This is his team far more than it is Cora's.  To a degree it's also Chaim Bloom's team and after him it's JH's team.  

That does not mean Cora can't get fired.  Heck, JH fired (didn't renew his contract) Francona.     

This team has been in rough shape since Opening Day 2022. Five years later, Cora has to take some of the blame. He didn't shop for the groceries, but he's getting these guys ready at all. 

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That was another downside to trading Mayer, but had we gotten KMarte, I'd feel a lot better about the offense.

Mayer plus for Neto might have been the best target.

Neto wasn't a realistic option at all. 

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

Moving Story to 2b is the most logical change and is not irreversible if it fails, unlike a trade at this point.

Right now, Story, Duran, Narvaez, Anthony, Mayer and Durbin are all having career-worst seasons at the plate (using OPS).  Four of them, it’s out of two seasons, so fairly limited data.  The Sox don’t have the worst lineup in MLB, but they do have the most underperforming one.  
 

Bringing up Cheng was always a Hail Mary, a low percentage for success move that was  probably more likely to maintain status quo than anything else.  But sometimes Hail Mary’s work.  It was change for the sake of change, and if you go down that route, at least make it a reversible change (which tis would have been).
 

Anthony is most likely to come around, given his StatCast profile.  Duran might be the least likely for the same reason.  
 

As for demotions, the best (re: only?) candidates might be Durbin, Narvaez and Mayer.  But with Durbin slowly coming around and very limited options for the other two, it turns into throwing names at the wall.  Cheng feels like an upgrade over Mayer, but it’s not hard to see that turning out even worse.

Maybe Yoshida at leadoff and Anthony second? Flip Story and Mayer in the field.  And DFA Watson to keep Samaniego?  Those are the best changes I make in April…

If you want a hail mary, it's not to maintain the status quo but to find a huge success. The hail mary to change SS would be to call up Arias not Cheng. 

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

That hasn't benched a few other players. 🤔

They have fewer promising choices at SS, 3B and 2B than OF/DH.

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Neto wasn't a realistic option at all. 

If you think Mayer + Tolle was unrealistic, then yes.

[moonslav59]

30 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The hail mary to change SS would be to call up Arias not Cheng. 

Talk about unrealistic.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

They have fewer promising choices at SS, 3B and 2B than OF/DH.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If you think Mayer + Tolle was unrealistic, then yes.

I think they would have asked for more. He's under contract for 4 more years and is cheap. 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Talk about unrealistic.

Did you want a hail mary or a dink and dunk? 

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, urban cowboy said:

Seems like a classic #3 hitter. I'd put him there and leave him. We don't seem to have a leadoff hitter ... maybe Duran? Might be worth giving him a chance to work it out there. 

I agree.  Maybe moving him back to 3-4-5, and telling him to swing for the fences might change his approach,  Yoshida, imo, should bat 2nd every game, until someone around him starts hitting.  Seattle is #29 in OPS in the 2-hole with a .582 OPS,  We aren't even remotely  close to them with our .443.Lock in Yoshida at the #2 and then try to  resolve the lead-off slot.

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

 Yoshida, imo, should bat 2nd every game, until someone around him starts hitting.  Seattle is #29 in OPS in the 2-hole with a .582 OPS,  

Too many grounders to 2B- maybe too many DPs.

Masa at leadoff?

 

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If you want a hail mary, it's not to maintain the status quo but to find a huge success. The hail mary to change SS would be to call up Arias not Cheng. 

The only reasons to call Cheng were

1. Hot start to season after a very good WBC performance

2. Already on the 40 man so no ancillary moves needed.

Basically, a hit hand that the Sox kept in their pocket…

 

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Too many grounders to 2B- maybe too many DPs.

Masa at leadoff?

 

His best year was '23 when he used all fields. He's not going oppo enough. 

[notin]

My big shake up:

Yoshida DH

Anthony LF

Contreras 1b

Abreu RF

Story 2b

Durbin 3b

Mayer SS

Rafaela CF

Narvaez/Wong C

I will be shocked if it happens.

 

Also, Sox need to run more. Last year the SB was a weapon; this year it’s an afterthought..

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

The only reasons to call Cheng were

1. Hot start to season after a very good WBC performance

2. Already on the 40 man so no ancillary moves needed.

Basically, a hit hand that the Sox kept in their pocket…

Cheng has been hitting very poorly over the past 8 games (since hitting for the cycle). Call him up and he'll do even worse. 

Arias has 5 HR's in his last 6 games. If you want a hot hand, you'd be calling the wrong guy up by bringing up Cheng. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

My big shake up:

Yoshida DH

Anthony LF

Contreras 1b

Abreu RF

Story 2b

Mayer SS

Rafaela CF

Narvaez/Wong C

I will be shocked if it happens.

 

Also, Sox need to run more. Last year the SB was a weapon; this year it’s an afterthought..

It would be a major shake-up to go with an 8 man line-up and no 3Bman, but let's keep this real.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Cheng has been hitting very poorly over the past 8 games (since hitting for the cycle). Call him up and he'll do even worse. 

Arias has 5 HR's in his last 6 games. If you want a hot hand, you'd be calling the wrong guy up by bringing up Cheng. 

How about Gasper the friendly ghost and Delay?

[Old Red]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Too many grounders to 2B- maybe too many DPs.

Masa at leadoff?

 

He hit one of his ping pong grounders over a drawn in infield the other day, and you were touting Masa for Mayor.🙈

[notin]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Cheng has been hitting very poorly over the past 8 games (since hitting for the cycle). Call him up and he'll do even worse. 

Arias has 5 HR's in his last 6 games. If you want a hot hand, you'd be calling the wrong guy up by bringing up Cheng. 

Bear in mind the suggestion was originally made before Arias did that and while Cheng’s OPS was over 1.300…

[Hitch]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It would be a major shake-up to go with an 8 man line-up and no 3Bman, but let's keep this real.

Screw it, it can't get worse. I say lets do it! 

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The thing about trading Mayer for someone like KMarte was that we'd still need another trade for an infielder- in theory.

I'd have traded Mayer + Phillips + more for KMarte.

All these things ignore the problem with the team.  The problem is that the guys that we came into the off-season with, are greatly under-performing.  There is almost no combinations of off-season moves that would've made a material difference.

Imagine on of the most popular ideas:  sign Bregman and trade for Marte.  Imagine we added Bregman *.668) and Marte (.664).  The cost for that would likely have been Mayer + Early, plus the ~$48M, $26M of which we spent on Suarez.  As of today, that would be a disaster, without considering the long-term payroll liabilities.

Or acquiring Alonso instead of Contreras.  Or adding Paredes or Eugenio Suarez.

[Old Red]

Just have a set lineup for a couple of weeks would be a novel idea IMO. Duran has been pretty much an everyday player for a few years now, and so has Masa. What Cora had done these 20+ games hasn’t worked. Not everyone has to play, or get days off at this point in the season. Even Abreu who was the best hitter early on has been as bad as anyone lately. Outside of an injury I don’t see any big roster moves, or positional changes in the near future.

[notin]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It would be a major shake-up to go with an 8 man line-up and no 3Bman, but let's keep this real.

Youre so stuck in the box…

[notin]

12 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

All these things ignore the problem with the team.  The problem is that the guys that we came into the off-season with, are greatly under-performing.  There is almost no combinations of off-season moves that would've made a material difference.

Imagine on of the most popular ideas:  sign Bregman and trade for Marte.  Imagine we added Bregman *.668) and Marte (.664).  The cost for that would likely have been Mayer + Early, plus the ~$48M, $26M of which we spent on Suarez.  As of today, that would be a disaster, without considering the long-term payroll liabilities.

Or acquiring Alonso instead of Contreras.  Or adding Paredes or Eugenio Suarez.

And no one wanted Ryan O’Hearn (.936 OPS)….

[JoeBrady]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

The only reasons to call Cheng were

1. Hot start to season after a very good WBC performance

2. Already on the 40 man so no ancillary moves needed.

Basically, a hit hand that the Sox kept in their pocket…

 

A lot of these suggestions are lottery tickets.  Career minor leaguers rarely figure things out.  Guys like Arias have a path already designed.  They don't get promoted unless there is a long-term injury, and usually not even then.