mvp 78

lololol

Nah, he goes unsigned if they offer him the QO.

Chavis' problem is he has a big hole at the top of the strike zone where pitchers are going after him right now. He can't make any contact on a count with 2 strikes. Xander can at least cover the plate with his swing and protect with 2 strikes.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/xander-bogaerts-is-selectively-aggressive/ Since the start of the 2018 season, Bogaerts has found another gear. He’s batting a scintillating .291/.366/.526, good for a 134 wRC+, and the power has miraculously appeared, with his .235 ISO ranking in the 84th percentile among qualifying batters. Still only 26, Bogaerts now looks like one of the best players in the game, full stop. The player fans and scouts saw glimpses of in 2013 is finally here. What did Bogaerts do to tap into his enormous potential? Well, given that his power numbers have spiked across the board while his strikeout and walk numbers have barely budged (18.5% strikeouts and 7.2% walks 2013-2017 versus 18.1% and 10.2% thereafter), it would be easy to say he just started hitting the ball harder. He always looked like he had the potential to do that. Bogaerts has the same strength he’s always had. He’s converting it into usable outcomes at a better rate over the last two years, though, and that’s what shows up in his stats. Take a look at the percentage of batted balls that Bogaerts has barreled up each year since 2015: Barrels per Ball in Play Year Barrels/BIP 2015 2.51% 2016 5.26% 2017 1.31% 2018 9.83% 2019 11.30% We’ve found the source of Bogaerts’ increased power, but not what allowed him to tap into it. After all, every player would follow the advice of “just make excellent contact more often” if they could. We need to find something that’s changed that’s letting Bogaerts square the ball up nine times more often in 2019 than he did in 2017. The answer isn’t that surprising, honestly. You’ve probably already guessed it. Bogaerts is getting more power because he’s swinging at the ball in locations where he can do more damage. Xander Bogaerts’ subtle breakout is a lesson in the nuanced ways baseball players can change and improve. You don’t need to get stronger, change your swing to put the ball in the air, or start swinging from your heels to boost your power. You don’t need to be a totally different player. Sometimes, doing something as basic as trying to focus more on the part of the strike zone where you’re good at hitting is all you need to do. Sometimes the batted balls you’re looking for were always there, just covered by the noise of the batted balls you didn’t want. The actual article is much longer and has great info. Everyone, go read it.

Xander is killing it this year. 10th ranked fWAR for all offensive players.

Lugo wasn't available yet. They worked on trades with TB that offseason, but nothing came to fruition.

He was traded because Lugo was Theo's binky and no other SS would compare. He absolutely loved that guy.

You are also apparently not allowed to invalidate their opinion of you being crazy. Sorry, those are the rules.

East Coast bias doesn't care about pitcher friendly arguments. East Coast bias does care about cool names though. +1 point to notin. -1 point to harmony.

I would have gone: Betts Bogey Beni JD Devers Vaz Chavis Nunie JBJ

He needed to inject it straight into his eyeballs.

It's more valuable than your eye test. Unless your evidence is something more than "my binky JBJ's dWAR sucks so it must be a bad stat."

This year, Gallo is better than JBJ in CF. JBJ is getting slower and may need to be put in RF going forward. Sad!

Per Bruce Cassidy, Zdeno Chara and Matt Grzelcyk are game-time decisions. “They’re on the ice now, so that’s a good sign. We’ll see how they feel around 7-7:30 tonight.”

I thought the same thing, but he had a down season in 2004 too. Honestly, Renteria was fine here. He wasn't a Rentawreck.

Betts RF, Benintendi LF, Bogaerts SS, Martinez DH, Devers 3B, Vazquez C, Chavis 1B, Nuñez 2B, Bradley CF I like this lineup!

@AmalieBenjamin Zdeno Chara - in full shield - is on the ice for morning skate.

You need to subtract 1 fWAR for playing on the West Coast.

Joey Gallo playing CF in 2019 has a higher dWAR than JBJ.

Nah, we'd see that if he developed warning track power. He still mashes, just can't make contact.

He is NOT decent at 3b. They moved him off the position because he's a statue with bad footwork. Chavis just sells out for power. He has it in droves, but many people have questioned what his numbers would look like once the book got out on him. I wasn't alone on an island in this aspect. It was even mentioned by Eck and Remy on various broadcasts.

Yup. His power to LF is what stood out back when I followed him in AA.

@SoxNotes Rafael Devers had 3 RBI in his first 24 games (through Apr. 23). In 36 games since then, his 35 RBI rank T-1st in the AL. Devers leads the AL with 52 hits since Apr. 25. In 35 games in that time, he has hit .344 with 9 HR, 33 RBI, and a .995 OPS.

Not sure how sustainable his 385 BABIP is, but he was killing it before he got injured.

Poor man's Joey Gallo?