mvp 78

Should have gotten Mike Fiers instead.

How's he doing this spring?

Sir, this is a thread about the starting pitching.

Big if true.

Fine, I'll adjust my calculation for all you guys... -10%

Is Verdugo now a two way player?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/camp-battles-bostons-rotation.html Ryan Weber, RHP: The 29-year-old Weber has pitched in the majors for the Braves, Mariners, Rays and Red Sox since 2015, but he hasn’t experienced much success in the bigs. Weber’s fastball averaged under 89 mph last year as a member of the Red Sox, with whom he struggled to a 5.09 ERA (with a much better 4.20 FIP) and 6.42 K/9, 1.77 BB/9 and a 48.6 percent groundball rate across a career-high 40 2/3 innings. While Weber worked mostly as a reliever in 2019, the Red Sox are optimistic about his chances of turning into a capable starter or at least a bulk pitcher, thanks to increased reliance on a cutter. Chris Mazza, RHP: Mazza debuted in MLB last season with the Mets at the age of 29, but he yielded 10 earned runs on 21 hits during that 16 1/3-inning span. To Mazza’s credit, he was far better last year in Triple-A, where he put up a 3.67 ERA/3.85 FIP with 7.34 K/9, 2.13 BB/9 and a lofty 58 percent groundball rate across 76 frames.The Mets cut Mazza loose after the season, and he ended up with the Red Sox via waivers. Mike Shawaryn, RHP: Shawaryn, 25, was a fifth-rounder of the Red Sox in 2016 who climbed to the majors for the first time last season. It didn’t go well; even though Shawaryn racked up 29 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings, he surrendered 22 earned runs on 26 hits and issued 13 walks. And he wasn’t great with Triple-A Pawtucket, either, evidenced by a 4.52 ERA/5.65 FIP with 7.63 K/9 and 4.92 BB/9 in 89 2/3 frames. Kyle Hart, LHP: A 19th-round pick of the Red Sox in 2016, Hart has consistently prevented runs at a solid clip in the minors, where he has never posted an ERA above the threes at any level. The 27-year-old made his Triple-A debut in 2019 and logged a 3.86 ERA/4.32 FIP with 7.18 K/9 and 3.23 BB/9 over 100 1/3 innings. Matt Hall, LHP: Hall, 26, joined the Red Sox in a minor trade with the Tigers in January. The spin rate darling has enjoyed some success in the minors, shown in part by a 4.25 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 144 Triple-A innings, but has allowed almost 10 runs per nine with 5.17 BB/9 in a smaller sample of major league frames (31 1/3). Phillips Valdez, RHP: Valdez was a waiver pickup from the Mariners just last week. He got his first taste of MLB action with the Rangers a season ago, and while he pitched to a 3.94 ERA, averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine and induced grounders at a 53.3 percent clip, he walked more than five per nine at the same time. And Valdez wasn’t as good at Triple-A, where he recorded a 4.92 ERA/5.59 FIP with 7.44 K/9 and 4.12 BB/9 in 78 2/3 innings of work. Brian Johnson, LHP: Unlike the names listed above, Johnson’s not on Boston’s 40-man roster, meaning he’s facing an especially steep climb to begin the season in the majors. Now 29, Johnson turned in passable numbers as a member of the Red Sox in 2017-18, but health problems helped hold the soft-tossing southpaw to a 6.02 ERA/5.32 FIP in 40 1/3 innings last year, when he walked over five hitters per nine.

Annual post for miscellaneous discussion around the starters. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/latest-on-bostons-rotation.html Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald spoke with Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke, who gave some details about a presentation from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. (Bloom, of course, was with the Rays when they pioneered the use of the opener.) Roenicke outlined that they are still considering using two openers, as well as using some pitchers to “pitch three innings every three days.” It seems the approach is still in a very speculative stage. One element being considered is the stretching out of Darwinzon Hernández. Before last year, Hernández had primarily been a starter in the minors. But 2019 saw him oscillate between starting and the bullpen, making 12 starts and and five appearances at two minor levels to go along with one start and 28 relief appearances in the big leagues. What form his contribution will take in 2020 seems to still be up in the air. “We talked about it again a couple days ago,” Roenicke said, “and I think that talk is probably going to continue on with him. Especially the better he does at more innings, we’ll probably keep talking about it. Maybe he’s at two innings and then goes to three. Then we’re like, ‘OK, do we try this guy and see how he does starting?’ Those conversations I imagine will probably happen through the years.” Another name to watch out for is Ryan Weber, according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Abraham notes that the Red Sox are trying to maximize Weber’s five-pitch mix by increasing the use of his cutter.

As for Velazquez, he’ll either be traded, run through outright waiver or released within the next seven days. The 31-year-old right-hander was knocked around to the tune of a 5.43 ERA through 56 1/3 innings in 2019. And although he notched a 3.12 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 47 percent grounder rate in 109 2/3 innings from 2017-18, Velazquez’s secondary metrics are less encouraging than that earned run average. His 4.28 FIP was noticeably higher, and he ranked near the bottom of the league in terms of spin rates, hard-hit rates and opponents’ exit velocity. He has a minor league option left and has worked as both a starter and reliever, so it’s possible another club will take him on as a depth piece.

McHugh signed for a base salary of 600K, with options to reach 4.25M based on production and service time.

From MLBTradeRumors "8 AL East Pitchers Looking for Redemption" https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/8-al-east-pitchers-looking-for-bounce-back-years.html Nathan Eovaldi, RHP, Red Sox: The flamethrowing Eovaldi was one of Boston’s many heroes during its World Series run in 2018, convincing the team to re-sign him to a four-year, $68MM contract thereafter. But the first year of the pact was a disaster for both sides, as Eovaldi missed significant time with elbow problems and didn’t perform well when he was able to pitch. The 30-year-old wound up with career-worst numbers in ERA (5.99), FIP (5.90) and BB/9 (4.66), thereby offsetting a personal-high K/9 of 9.31. There’s optimism he’ll rebound this year, which would be a boon for a Red Sox team that just traded David Price and has seen elbow issues weigh down Chris Sale this spring. Chris Sale, LHP, Red Sox: Speaking of Sale, the longtime ace simply didn’t deliver the type of results we had grown accustomed to seeing last season. The 30-year-old was still awfully good, notching 13.32 K/9 and 2.26 BB/9, but turned in a bloated ERA (4.40) and FIP (3.39) in comparison to prior campaigns. He also saw his mean fastball velocity dip by over a mile an hour from the prior couple years, as he averaged 93.2 mph with the pitch. That’s not what the Red Sox wanted after signing Sale to a five-year, $145MM extension last spring. Considering that deal won’t even take effect until this season, it’ll be all the worse for the Red Sox if his current elbow injury proves to be serious.

If they had starting pitching, they'd be competing for a WC spot IMO.

His body, his choice.

Some dumb ass bull s***............ @PeteAbe It's going to be an extraordinarily difficult season for Houston. But just watched Dusty Baker go down a line of fans at JetBlue Park signing autographs, posing for photos and even hugging a few folks. Baseball is better when Dusty is around.

Different lineup here: https://www.overthemonster.com/2020/3/5/21166289/boston-red-sox-houston-astros-spring-training-xander-bogaerts-andrew-benintendi-chavis-hart Benny LF Devers 3b XBo SS JD DH Chavis 1B Vaz C JBJ CF Pillar RF Peraza 2b That looks like an opening day lineup. EDIT: @ChrisCotillo Red Sox lineup today vs. HOU: Benintendi LF, Devers 3B, Bogaerts SS, Martinez DH, Chavis 1B, Vazquez C, Bradley CF, Pillar RF, Peraza 2B and Hart LHP Marco Hernandez was originally in it but was scratched, causing lots of shifting.

@PeteAbe #RedSox today vs. Astros: Benintendi RF, Devers 3B, Bogaerts DH, Martinez LF, Chavis 1B, Vazquez C, Bradley CF, Peraza SS, Hernandez 2B, and Hart LHP

Best case scenario for the Pats IMO.

Overpaid platoon player that is not a great defender... I think people remember the promise he showed while on the Rays. He just never came close to his ceiling.

Seems like a good egg. He only tore up those jerseys because they sucked and were horrible to play in. Unlike what thunder used to say, I think that makes him a good teammate. Maybe he's a pain in the ass employee, but he's a good teammate.

I thought he was supposed to be throwing in front of a bunch of teams at some point?

It's a one year rental in a lost season. What could go wrong?

@jcmccaffrey Sale on living up to his contract: I know what I mean to this organization, to this team, the success going forward. And I know the faith they put in me. That’s evident in the press conference I had in spring training last year with the contract. I couldn’t possibly feel worse... ...about any situation I’ve ever felt in my entire life because of that. I don’t think I’ve ever let anybody down this hard, ever. And that sucks. Someone gives you something because they believe in you, they expect something from you and you don’t live up to that.

SLASHER ALERT: @abigail_orbe how long will it take red sox twitter to realize ashley mchugh is the best thing that will ever happen to them

Also, maybe they just believe Velazquez can be snuck through waivers?

Mazza had a 3.52 FIP in his first taste of MLB last year. Maybe there's something there? Maybe he's just an org arm because they need bodies? Springs has ok MiLB numbers and was just a swap for a AAAA we didn't need anymore. Is he any worse than Velazquez? IDK.