jacksonianmarch

Now, to counter that. When guys who have success have a bad season, it’s great to see them exploding in ST. Sanchez looks amazing right now. He was in between last year and clearly seemed to be in his own head. Never lacked the talent. If he can hit to his capability, this lineup is dirty

One spring, Enrique Wilson hit .450 and everyone was like, wow, he is gonna snag the starting job. He lost the job in a month once he returned to being Enrique Wilson. Hitters can be ready for a season from report date to opening day in 2-4 weeks (younger guys 2, older guys 4). They dont need all 6 weeks of the spring. Spring is for the starting pitchers. Relievers need about 4 weeks to build up arm strength from report to games, starters need the whole 7 weeks. I think a good spring for a young pitcher is important. If their stuff pops and they are making batters look silly, that is more translatable, IMO, than much of anything else in the spring. We are nearing the 2 week mark before opening day. That is when performance needs a little less salt as the detritus has been demoted and guys are really in the final phases of readiness. If these guys vying for spots are still blowing people away these last couple weeks, then we are in for a treat

Brasier set to start year on the IL per Cora.

As proof of how little ST means to established big leaguers, look at Richards. Mercy ruled out of his first inning in first start, sucked in start 2, absolutely dominant in start 3. I loved the boston generated buzz that the Sox chose the wrong guy after two spring starts. The most important thing you get out of the first two to three starts is health, that’s it. Beyond that, I want to see velocity close to normal. By the final start, I want to see command. Spring training is for pitchers, allow the process to unfold

Luetge has apparently worked over the past year to add to his spin rate. His FB spin rate is up 200 rpm while the breaking balls are up 600 rpm on previous. He’s got a leg up to start the year in the bigs. At this point, these are my projected pitchers, assuming 13 make the roster 1. Cole 2. Taillon 3. Kluber 4. Montgomery 5. German 6. Chapman 7. Green 8. Cessa 9. Loaisiga 10. O’Day 11. Wilson 12. Luetge 13. Barraclough The rest have options, so King, Nelson, Kriske, Garcia, Schmidt (when or if healthy) can all work on their craft in AAA. If Luetge or Barraclough fade, they can easily be replaced. If they truly have found something then they stick until Britton comes back.

Hopefully while hydrating with Corona and Don Julio

Loaisiga is dominating. German has been dominant. Barraclough and Luetke have been lights out. Good problems to have, but ST stats are always taken with a mine's worth of salt. Reports on all 4 have been very positive with their stuff and command.

With vaccines rolling out hard and outdoor transmission incredibly low, I’m expecting NY and BOS to open full venues by mid July. We should have enough vaccine to get herd immunity for April. It takes 6 weeks to get top level immunity and assume it takes 3-4 weeks to accelerate delivery and you’re in mid June at earliest, likely into July

Plus range? Are we serious? Devers is going to size out of the position and is not that good defensively already. Devers is what he is. Value is based on the bat, not glove. If Dalbec is the better defender, it might be time for Raffy to move across the diamond a la Vlad Jr

It’s actually better news than I expected. They’re gonna slow play Britton. They’re gonna need him second half more than first. He’ll be shut down for a month, but will need to restart a throwing program. I expect he won’t return for 3 months

Same deal with Britton. If they see a tear, just fix it

Britton getting an MRI on his elbow. They are not expecting it to be a UCL injury, but they wont know til the MRI is done. He's a huge cog in that pen.

On his way or already there?

Verdugo, per UZR/150, was an average RFer in 2020. Park has to factor in here as Fenway's RF is immense. Coming in, year 1 and playing league average D in Fenway's RF is not easy. So he could be a plus over time. He is not a plus now. Thing is, he is not a minus either. Moving him to CF, where he was a minus with LAD, in Fenway is a good way to make him a big minus for 2021

Frazier got better, and clearly Franchy can as well, but you cannot preach defense then clearly build a team that doesn’t presently have it without sounding like an idiot

I am just busting you anyways.

I heard an interview a few days back with Cora saying that the sox need to get better on their D. Then they let JBJ walk and move Verdugo to CF which is a clear defensive downgrade for 2021. You get Renfroe for LF who is at best equivalent to Beni defensively, who was no gold glover caliber guy to begin with. You move Verdugo from RF in Fenway, where he was decent last year and move him to CF opening RF for Cordero, who never can stay healthy, and has been a butcher in the OF in his limited time in the bigs. Cora then says Kike Hernandez is the "best defensive 2b in baseball" even though metrics say he isnt even an average second baseman, yet he is a very good OFer. Marwin Gonzalez is an equivalent 2b to Hernandez, so if you wanted your best defensive lineup, you move Hernandez to CF, Marwin to 2b, Verdugo to RF and keep Cordero away from his glove. The moves made and the comments said are contradictory at this point. Hard to say what is standard ST bluster and what the actual plans are. FYI, Cora says he loves Kike as the 1 hitter so he can jump on early fastballs. As a pitcher, I would love to face a guy with a .313 career OBP leading off.

Soooooo the sox got disciplined for 2018 for a video cheating scandal while Cora was the manager. Cora also happened to be integral in the use of a video cheating scandal with the Astros the year prior. Strange coincidence, wouldnt you say? If the manager doesnt know about a cheating element on his team he is either lying or clueless. The fact that he is back tells me it was the former. He is no dummy

JBJ had to go. It was the smart play. JBJ is entering the down phase of a player with his skill set. He's a defense first, good baserunner, below average hitter who made this contract due to his glovework. It is an absolute certainty that his defense drops as he ages and CF is one of the most competitive defensive positions there is. The Brewers are doing him a favor moving him to RF. In RF, he very well may vie with Betts to win a GG and really pump up his value. But his days as a plus CFer were numbered and the sox werent going to have him go to a COF spot if they kept him around

did I strike a nerve there? Does it make you a little peeved that 18* is a bit tainted by Cora's shadow and now he is back running the thing again like nothing ever happened?

This isn't standard medicine. This isnt like a gallbladder or appendix issue where the problems are more apparent and recovery path more concrete. This isn't a 40 year old soft ball player on weekends who has a mild tear who will just rest it and suck it up. This is a professional athlete who is able to use his arm to throw a baseball 98 mph. That is not normal. The UCL keeps the elbow together, for lack of a better term. If it is partially torn, frayed, whatever you want to call it, then surgery is your FASTEST option to get back to prior performance. This is a prime athlete who needs to weigh the risks and benefits of lost prime years to his earning potential. If he rests, rehabs, goes through the throwing programs and tears it late in the season, then he loses all of next year too. If he goes under the knife now, he has less risk of losing all of next year. Here is how I look at it. He is now cooked for the next 3-4 months at a minimum. Now we are into July best case. He is already staring at a lost half season with recovery being uncertain thereafter. By the time he returns, Sale is back, so he isn't an option at the big league level at the outset anyway, so he is gonna be in the minors. If all things work swimmingly, he is looking at a month or two of starting in the minors and maybe, just maybe he can find a way to crack the rotation next year, provided his elbow doesnt explode or his stuff doesnt drop. That is best case, and as we have seen over, and over, and over again, the best case rarely if ever happens. The likelihood is he rests, rehabs, gets PRP, works his way back, pitches in a few games on the minor league level and has return of pain. Then, he gets his TJS in July or August and loses all of 2022 as well. Need I remind you how many times I am right on these things?

Not sure if Cora is willing to risk cheating again, kimmi

Nearly every f***ing time they rehab this, it ends in surgery. Just fix it

True, there was some adjustment, but losing that 97 mph 4 seamer up in the zone really dropped the efficacy of his splitter. In his debut season, he was dynamite. Slider was far less than what it became. He was heat up and split down and he got weak contact

That’s not math at all. Doesn’t take into account how much you may have lost by. Pitchers don’t control wins just like hitters don’t.