sk7326
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Everything posted by sk7326
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The Red Sox team OBP is .343. That leads the American League. .342 is well above the league average in an era where the average is lower than it has been in days of yore. Betts is off to a slow start, but there is no evidence he won't end the season as one of the league's better players.
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Costas is very annoying - a stupid person's idea of what a smart person sounds like. He was pretty good in the 80s before he became very very impressed with the sound of his voice. The broadcasts with Kaat have sounded like Waldorf and Stadler without the wit. The overall broadcast involves a lot of protection of old guard values. ranting against analytics and defensive shifts. Definitely not the sort of thing which helps the pursuit of younger viewers.
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Your best hitter should be batting 2nd. At least statistically it does the best job balancing "lots of plate appearance" with "lots of plate appearances with baserunners". Over a season the differences between 2nd and 3rd are small, but they can add up. But few teams do it - there are still significant silly little baseball princples old timey sorts have.
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It's April 30
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Looks like control is dicey but strikeout rate is impressive. As I said, have to study further - glad things are going well for him
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Oh wallow is a bit of hyperbole. The Red Sox tried both years - they signed top free agents. Indeed a lot of their mistakes were about trying too hard and making pointless roster moves. (2014 in particular) Both years there were paths to winning that didn't work out. Cherington paid for it with his job - but nobody was tanking here. The most important thing Dombrowski has going here is that he is empowered - Cherington was the tip of a collaborative spear. In Detroit he made smart trades, and ultimately his owner wanted to win now now now and he did what his boss wanted. If Henry is committed to a vibrant farm system and building organically then that will happen. Your alignment is certainly possible - but I have a hard time expecting Bradley to be the long term solution here, not because he is not a capable starter, but because he is such an obvious choice to be part of a meaningful trade.
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Need to study further - always skeptical of San Diego guys. Petco, Chavez and AT&T can run up pitching stats.
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1. You certainly don't bet on Benintendi being our LF this year. However, we know Schwarber and Conforto are recent precedents - polished college bats who got to the bigs very quickly. We'll know where Benintendi really is depending on how quickly he gets to Portland. 2. Moncada has been playing 2B because you try to keep a guy in the middle infield as long as possible. But he was 6'0 210 lbs as a 19 year old, and had a SS arm. The odds have always been on him outgrowing the middle infield. Moving to RF makes sense - and his bat should profile anywhere. 3. Assuming no crackerjack trade or FA, the Red Sox ideal outfield I think is Benintendi-Betts-Moncada. 4. Espinoza will not be rushed. Given the history of pitcher injuries and such, he might not be making >50 pitch outings until next year at the earliest. He is so accomplished as an 18 year old - it is easy to want to Dusty Baker him, but have to resist.
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Now while I say dealing a guy with "young pedro" comps is a big mistake - I will also say that pitchers health is so much more volatile than position players (along with being at Greenville as an 18 year old) puts him first on the list to trade. But you have to make it count. Other guys floors are higher.
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What is amazing about Benintendi is he is the rare college player who did not appear on radars until very recently. It is distinctly possible (I won't say likely) that Holt is keeping Benintendi or Moncada's seat warm in LF.
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It is possible. Losing Espinoza would be a serious mistake, especially if you are among those who bleat about the lack of org arms. The rental market honestly will probably not warrant that. The ability to get a big fish at the deadline just is not what it was. It won't be a barren market clearly - but because of revenue sharing and the 2nd wild card - it will take a long time to sort out.
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Obviously caveats abound (that the bat continues to grow and he grows as a catcher, both at least decent bets): What if it turns out Vasquez can't hit? For real? Maybe the gap between Vasquez and Swihart offensively trails the gap defensively. If that's true, maybe catcher is a true jobshare, where Swihart gets 80-90 starts and then 30-40 in other spots while Vasquez starts. Now Swihart's bat needs to develop for this to happen - but that is entirely possible. The team is very high on Swihart - and they should be. Remember, he played the position it takes the most time to develop, in the big leagues - without any significant AAA seasoning, and turned out to be adequate. That is a tremendous starting point.
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A rotation with a 4.00 ERA backed by a bullpen with a better one - that is workable. What Buchholz is doing is well ... not that.
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Young is precisely a professional 4th OF. Kapler specifically WAS a platoon partner for Trot Nixon. He also was a defensive and injury replacement in 2004. You can sleep through baseball games, just please, not the ones in THE title season. Eric Hinske wasn't even a 4th OF - he was a Matt Stairs professional bat. You'd have a designated pinch runner for him if he were a little leaguer. Jacoby Ellsbury was that team's 4th outfielder.
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Indeed - is it an approach built to last? Maybe. Is it one that can reduce chances for crooked numbers? Maybe. I am not being a Grinch - just watching.
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Yes, it's because he can't hit righties. Against lefties he has a career slash of .263/.362/.474 ... when you consider most of his career he played able to play at least an adequate center field. That is a borderline All-Star, if all he had to do was face lefties. Against righties .224/.292/.410 He always has looked bad to the eye test at the plate, once again because at his peak, he was Mike Napoli as a good defensive centerfielder. He walked a lot, he struck out a lot, and he hit the ball out of the yard a lot.
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wRC+ splits (100 is average) 2015: 162 v LH, 58 v RH (175 PAs vs LH, 181 PAs v RH) 2014: 66 v LH, 106 v RH (93 PAs v LH, 273 PAs v RH) 2013: 98 v LH, 67 v RH (175 PAs v LH, 200 PAs v RH) 2012: 100 v LH, 78 v RH (134 PAs v LH, 229 PAs v RH) 2011: 152 v LH, 87 v RH (158 PAs v RH, 501 PAs v RH) Young has had a consistent, very significant split ... the split did not follow in 2014, but that is a clear outlier (and also the one year in the last five he had fewer than 130 plate appearances against lefties)
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4/28 vs Atlanta Baseball Team
sk7326 replied to mvp 78's topic in Mike Grace Memorial Game Thread Forum
Major test with Buchholz on the mound is to see whether you can cook a dinner in between his pitches with men on base. -
Making less quality contact with pitchers pitches - and not taking as many walks. We're not talking about flailing like Dave Kingman or Rob Deer so much as looking for mistakes to crush instead of working with pitchers pitches. I think of them not being able to generate any baserunners past the 3rd inning vs Tampa. Currently Boston is 5th in the bigs in On-Base%, but 15th in walk rate. The top 4 in On Base are in the Top 5 in walk rate. What they are doing is a softer version of what the Royals have done (last year the Royals were 11th in onbase while dead last in walk rate). They are generating baserunners without the walks, and without necessarily the power to consistently turn the baserunners into runs.
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The approach is helpful - but there are some pitfalls in that while it gives a durable approach to handling stuff away and off the plate, it reduces the chances to get (and crush) mistakes. The team is tops in the AL offensively but they are doing it in a very peculiar way. 15th in walk%, 20th in K-rate. Like last year, Davis clearly has put an emphasis on contact. The power has gone down in exchange for contact. (near the bottom of the league in HRs, but lead in doubles) The opposite field approach influences this. As opposed to taking some of those pitches and making the pitcher throw something in a hot zone - you are seeing them make solid contact. It is a fair approach - but I do think it is a bit more susceptible to slumps.
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2nd in strikeout percentage, but 20th worst in walk percentage. 10th in opposing batting average. Essentially, there hasn't been a lot of contact, but when there has been - it has been a big problem. Basically we make our opponents into Mike Napolis
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Certainly. I mean (assuming health) I think we have 3 starters who can consistently crank out competitive outings. Now 6 IP and 3 runs is not good in a global ERA perspective - but that is a start which this team can work with. I am not sure the extraordinary teamwide strikeout rate can hold.
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The high replacement level for 1B is the culprit. A .265/.284/.373 won't cut it - and with a .339 BABIP and a microscopic walk rate - there are signs that it could get worse. Now, SSS abounds and I am definitely betting on his bat to come around. But that's what is driving the replacement level (or a little below) results, regardless of which WAR flavor you use. His defense has risen to average at 1B from shockingly incompetent - he is definitely more comfortable there, but any Gold Glove talk is deeply flawed.
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4/27 vs Atlanta Baseball Team
sk7326 replied to mvp 78's topic in Mike Grace Memorial Game Thread Forum
Yeah the league I'm in (for 6 years - I am generally not good) is a head to head standard 5x5. I really liked the one year I did a standard roto ... this year I picked 9th and 11th in the 10 team league. Somebody drafted for me with my player list (I have little kids so attending a live draft is tough - especially when guys are taking way too long in the 22nd round). My top pick was McCutchen. So far hovering around .500 - which I am not displeased with. But this week Cutch and Pedey have clearly helped! -
I am skeptical of the offense. That said if there is a part of his game which could warrant some patience - it's the bat.