Bellhorn04

(Cherry-picking alert) E-Rod has been very good since May 1. 13 starts with a 3.76 ERA, and a (by today's standards) whopping 6.08 innings per start.

From the piece by Peter Abraham: Question 1: Why didn’t Hernandez bunt? He had bunted Bradley from first to second in the ninth inning. Alex Cora: “[With a runner] at second, I like taking three shots. At the end it was a 3-1 count. He put a good at-bat. We like taking three shots there.” Analysis: I’m anti-bunt almost always because an out is worth more than advancing 90 feet. Bradley is a good base runner who would have scored from second on a single. With first base open, the Dodgers would have walked Mookie Betts with Bradley at third. Hernandez has hit well this season, too. Swing the bat. Question 2: What was Bradley thinking? Bradley: “With Marco, they were going to be shifted more up the middle. As the pitch is being delivered, I saw [seager] shuffling towards the hole. Off the bat I didn’t necessarily think it was hit hard enough. I had to slow down in order for it to go by or it would have hit me. It was a tough play for me to read. Initially I thought it was the right read.” Cora: “That ball was right in front of him. He knows you stay at second and we have Mookie and Raffy [Devers] lined up. It’s a mistake. He knows it.” Analysis: Bradley screwed up. Not much more you can say. He’s one of their smartest base runners and wasn’t that time.

Good catch!

It's not at all uncommon for major league players to have games or stretches of games where they played below replacement level.

What you're pointing out is that there may be some quirks in defensive ratings for outfielders who play in parks with odd dimensions that need to be addressed. JBJ's overall dWAR ratings for his career are hugely positive. WAR has benefitted him, not hurt him.

I don't think the play ratings these guys do are all that mysterious or complicated. They just try to assess whether some guys are making plays other guys are not making. I think guys who are making more plays should get credit for it. And guys like Jeter who don't make many errors but have statue-like range should be penalized for it.

I think if the Sox had won this game there would be much less talk about packing in the season and selling off.

FWIW, although I didn't see the plays myself, I read some comments in more than one of the game threads early in the season about JBJ's defense not being up to par.

That's the spirit!

FWIW here's a decent piece from Peter Abraham about moves/mistakes in the game. https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2019/07/14/onball/MzLoOoYM1vNAQ4fFv8vA5M/story.html?p1=Article_Feed_ContentQuery

Get out of here with your positive thoughts LOL

Looks like he's finished around #5 or #6 the last few years. I guess that's fair enough.

I have no desire to watch and review every play either. But I'm fine with someone else doing it.

C'mon Denny, we have always had 'official scorers' who decide whether it's a hit or an error. This is not a huge difference.

Big Data has nothing to do with Jackie Bradley Jr.'s defensive ratings.

Personally I've always hated bad ball and strike calls even when I was a little kid.

Yikes, that's a confused perspective.

So you have full faith in the team to do what?

And I've always defended Jeter, because, in spite of the bad defensive metrics, his offense made him a big plus.

Those are Hall of Fame rest-of-season WAR's.

Analytics certainly don't do anything to humanize the game. It's all part of the same deal - the march of technology, the quest for more accurate information.

Just have to cut out the middleman, and have a robot make the call directly-perhaps in a humanized voice.

To hell with the offseason, we've got a lot of real season left to play.

The enigma is that the team obviously felt his health was not a big issue when they signed him to the extension.

Moving Pearce seems rather senseless anyway.