sk7326
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Everything posted by sk7326
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just turned 27 one of the best outfielders in the league the last 3 or 4 seasons ... betting on this year being a fluke seems reasonable
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strikeout rate every bit his career norms ... walk rate has been normal too ... has been location mostly it seems
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The trick in the postseason - let alone getting there - is that there will be a much much quicker hook with the starters. This is not a rotation on current form which can win the World Series - but you get to the secondary question. Can you address that the way the Royals did ... just don't pitch them? Really when you look at this team's ability coming down the stretch, your real guys to watch are Barnes, Ross, Abad, Buchholz. Farrell isn't (or shouldn't) let ERod go through the order more than twice without having his finger on the eject button. That will apply to everybody but Price. But can those swing guys pick up a game in the 5th or 6th and consistently deliver it to the finishers.
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Offense has hit a funk - but also just came from 11 games in pretty pitcher friendly parks. On the bright side, it looks like Benintendi is at least no overwhelmed out there. You can see the .300/.370 sort of potential with 15 HR sort of pop. Of the two, he is not MVP material (that's Moncada), but quality starter who could make a few ASGs? That looks possible. And yes, the Fred Lynn salad is kind of amazing. As I noted - I think the team wants him to see the ball go through the net here ... not hold him back per se, but try to shift some matchups and whatnot so he does not come up here and go 2 for 30 right away. It feels like they have accomplished that, now I think he will play quite a bit more.
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Never - right now the rotation is ... well, there are not better options than these 5. They just gotta do it.
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The data favors the best hitter batting 2nd
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it is - but that means there is no real statistical evidence Vasquez would be better than Leon. And that is fine for now.
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As Kimmi noted, dealing with the media is a big one. Another one is every aspect of playing the right guys. Now clearly there is a part of that which falls under the auspices of on-field. But how do you balance the organizational priorities with the 25 guys in the clubhouse? That stuff is very important. How do you create a clubhouse environment which is about the work? Of course, these are all things which are relevant to real jobs. Management air-dropping Bogaerts into a pennant chase in 2013 is the sort of thing which you entrust to your manager to sort out with the guys who have been chopping wood all season. (obviously this year it is happening again)
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I think a kid could benefit from seeing the ball go through the hoop - so if you can massage matchups to give him some early success, there is nothing wrong with that. I am not saying play him once a week, but starting him as part of a job-share to maximize his chances to succeed early is not a bad idea.
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Vaz' hitting was bad. And the things you would expect from an elite defensive catcher did not bear out in the performance of the rotation. While on one hand Leon has been a crazy small sample fluke (arguably) ... he is also 27 and approximately as likely as Vasquez to actually be a good starter based on empirical evidence. (and since he is clearly a better one on current form, hoorray)
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I was somewhat ambivalent - but I had a sense early this season that he might end the season as one of their 4 best outfielders. There has been some solid recent precedent for quickly moving effective college bats. And I do think there is some human element to a spark in the middle of a slog.
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It's early ... breathe. Not quite at the "annoyed phone call from Dombrowski" stage yet.
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it is a bit of an overheated take. Sox are scoring at the rate last year's Jays did. Could the lineup switch score more? Maybe - but it'd be small.
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The history of moving people from tougher positions to easier ones as they age is vast (Stan Musial played 1B fergawdsakes). That he could not begin to cut it in a position that Ryan Klesko managed to only marginally embarass himself doing is rather amazing. As noted earlier this season, Ian Desmond and Alfonso Soriano were signed and move on the exact same pretense.
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Oh I agree - I am just not going to say much based on three nights evidence
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On a night to night basis, I think the game management matters - but the ones that matter the most are long-run sort of things which the staff has broken down before the game starts. The lineup card, bullpen usage and stuff. Certainly decisions have repercussions and whatnot. At the same time - for instance - Ned Yost and Mike Matheny are bad tactical managers - any cursory check of baseball social media during their games would get there - and it has often been more than offset by good players being good. It is also interesting that a couple of the most obvious examples of "active" game management - sacrifices and steals (often) often reduce run expectancy. And some of the high and mighty talk that NL fans have about strategy due to the pitcher hitting is bunk - most of those decisions are obvious.
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Extremely important - but in the way that an actual manager sort is in RealJobLand. Lot of delegation, and the guys on the line (or in the cubes) are the ones who have to deliver. Manager's job is to put the workers in the right roles, and create a work environment where guys can do their best. And then there is being the public face of the team, and making sure management's vision and priorities make it onto the field. (so while nobody wants to lose, wins and losses are a very reductive way of looking at it). Francona is a favorite of mine - but it is because, of all the great coaches/managers I know in sport, he most closely resembles what a really good boss looks like in the sort of world where most of us live and work.
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well the previous experience he had was as a SS (which is not a surprise since that's where your best athletes go). going from the middle to a corner is the easier adjustment than the reverse. (it is why Hanley's misadventures in LF were so surprising - it is hard to picture a SS playing an easier position so incompetently)
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The vast majority of those decisions are obvious
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Tracking the July to August west Coast Trip
sk7326 replied to bosoxmal's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
Team started the trip in a dogfight for one of three playoff spots. That is how it's going to end. Now what stinks is all four of the losses come under the "games we wish we had back" category. -
1. This is a strawman. 2. Often the numbers measure output. The human element is largely an input. There are lot of squishy things (that's why we have scouts and managers!) which work as inputs. Consistently positive measured outcomes usually are a pretty good indicator of all that human element stuff.
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Always bet on the athlete. He has picked up stuff quickly. Yes, the errors at 2B are a mild concern - errors are a garbage stat, but it is what it is - but he was (if not already) bound to outgrow the position. But the percentages are for an athlete of his caliber to figure it all out.
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I don't think it's that rigid. The platoon is a good place to start and let the kid dictate whether he is ready for more.
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The sorts of moves you can blame a manager for to me are things like, say the Grady Little game ... because the percentages were so low. A manager cannot guarantee an outcome, but you can shift the odds. This applies with John McNamara in one of those other games which inspire expletives.
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It's his third day on the job - I am okay with him being broken in gently - more to the point I am withholding judgment on these sorts of things for a little bit. If he is mothballed for the entire Dodgers series then eyebrows will be raised. I do agree with you - at least until Young returns (because Young is a proven lefty masher).