sk7326
-
Posts
7,647 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Boston Red Sox Videos
2026 Boston Red Sox Top Prospects Ranking
Boston Red Sox Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
Guides & Resources
2025 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker
News
2026 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker
Forums
Blogs
Events
Store
Downloads
Gallery
Everything posted by sk7326
-
Bloom overall has done an okay job. That said, an architect of the Rays' machine - with the Red Sox resources - ending up just kind of spinning plates out there, is a bit of a bummer. The obvious comparison is to Bloom's mentor Friedman with the Dodgers - but that is a bit unfair considering the Dodgers were in better shape in 2015.
-
I don't blame him for stuff that has happened before him ... and I understand he is kind of executing a very muddled ownership position. But sure with what he had and with the resources he has - and the nature of baseball contention itself - being a big league afterthought 4 years in does reflect badly.
-
This is where moon is right - there was no farm for Bloom to trade anyway. But you'd like to see some of the development work bear fruit ... and the team has not been nearly aggressive enough when they have had chances to sell. I also understand 2020 threw off the development pathways a lot.
-
The way the playoffs have gone historically? Of course making the playoffs means you have a chance at the ring. This ain't the NBA. But the more important point is - the fans I think are totally justified expecting 2021 to be the sort of floor for a team like the Sox.
-
In year 2 they made the playoffs - and in baseball, that's all you need given how bonkers the playoff tournament is. I am sympathetic with Bloom to a degree - he has been left holding the bag for a lot of ownership choices. I think ownership is trying to recover but squandered a lot of goodwill with some of those choices.
-
The Paxton starts are fun - good for him ... but he is 34, and will he be an integral part of the next truly good Red Sox team? The Bello starts aside, this has been a thoroughly unremarkable team with a thoroughly unremarkable record.
-
THAT is the immensely depressing part of the missive.
-
I am! And I don't take back any of it. The team could go on a run. There is more org pitching than there has been in a while. Casas is coming along. But also taking inventory at the 82 game pole: 40-42 5 games out of the a playoff spot with 4 teams to hop over, two of them being the reigning ALCS participants I'm a fan before the rest of it with regards to the Sox. And from that aesthetic perspective, where is the juice here? Right now - it's the Bello starts and that's about it. Shows how spoiled folks like me were with the buzz surrounding Pedro Martinez starts and so on.
-
As much as the 40-42 record is just how uninteresting the team is ... it really feels like I can just go out and mow my lawn or something in between Bello starts and not miss anything. I almost want them to just promote Rafaela so there is something fun.
-
One mitigating factor of course for Boston is that they have gone 40-39 against the 2nd toughest schedule in the league to date. (the Rays SoS is 22nd per ESPN) How much that ultimately matters - who knows.
-
Wait ... you didn't think one of the architects of the Rays machine (the forefather of the current Dodgers machine) was not a good choice to run the Sox?
-
Trivia notes and questions (some of which may not be answerable)
sk7326 replied to Bellhorn04's topic in Other Baseball
Pedro's 1997-2000 is probably the best I'll ever see a pitcher do it. And that is fully acknowledging Clemens' ridiculous output (insert PED opinion here), The Big Unit, and Maddux's elegant brilliance. Like Pedro's 1.74 ERA led the majors by almost a full run. Kevin Brown was 2nd at 2.58. In the American League, Pedro was almost 2 full runs clear of 2nd place! (Clemens 3.70). Clemens was closer to 34th place among qualified AL starters than he was to 1st! -
It is always worth remembering that in his first exposure to the bigs, it looked more or less like Dustin Pedroia was totally incapable of playing major league baseball. Then 2007 happened, and the next year he was the MVP. The progress on Casas has been slow - but it has been real. He has always had command of the strike zone - but now he is making more regular contact. I don't worry as much about the defense - but he has to get a bit better there. He is hardly the main culprit of the Sox' wretched defense.
-
If it was easy, everyone would do it. And good teams by definition have fewer chances at blue chippers. The team has got more interesting pitching in the org than in a long time - but the ceiling is questionable. Bello's development is a very good datapoint in the team's corner tho
-
I guess. But - honestly - was there REALLY a part of this team ex ante you thought "we've got this". The nice thing is I thought the pitching and the offense both had chances to be above average to good. But I did not think either was a given. Even if I picked 84-78, it felt like a 90 win season was a 90th percentile outcome for the talent level, particularly without Story.
-
Yeah. The irony is that even with the injuries, the pitching has largely been fine. Basically the 2nd quarter of the season has been an inversion of the first. Early on, the offense was good and the run prevention was ho-ho-horrendous. Now it is kind of the opposite.
-
the problem with Pivetta is he is capable of throwing in a 2-3 start stretch (particularly with better opposition) where it looks like he has never pitched before.
-
2023 MLB Draft
sk7326 replied to sk7326's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
ESPN's mock 2.0 - Kiley McDaniel -
The thing about Pivetta is that he could go on a 5 start heater ... he is a #5 starter, but one whose upside outcomes are better than most
-
Yeah. The big problem last year was the Sox were getting nothing out of positions that should be high octane offensive ones (1B, outfield corners). There has been improvement on all three, even at first base where Casas is getting on base enough to keep the floor up.
-
I guess trading him is possible. But the one thing about rookies is that they are (for the most part) bad. It's why you play them. And Casas has been getting better - and he is getting on base enough to maybe get to the good stuff.
-
One thing is that salaries are (generally) negatively correlated with age. And so if you can capture some cheap cost controlled lightning - you can get something great. The challenge for a team like Tampa is you ALWAYS have to be cycling through.
-
The good news is that all of the Statcast batted ball data is also pointing in the good direction maxEV -> 112 from 110 launch angle from 7.6 to 9.4 Barrel rate from down 7.7 to 6.3 Hard hit rate up 37.3 to 44.9 So the barrel rate is slightly down - but he is doing the things you want to see that should lead to offensive success. All of the 2023 numbers are up from 2021, where you could cite some flukage.
-
I think it's probably #1 and #2, though #2 is not so bad. The team has - for the most part -not been in positions to draft high ceiling, lower risk pitching. But no, they have not made their luck too much either.
-
Maybe. Whitlock's development is the encouraging one - if he can stick as a starter that is a major win. Bello looks like a #2/#3 starter for real. Houck I think is the same as he ever was. Unless he can consistently handle left handed hitters, the impact will always be limited. The remarkable thing is that the pitching staff looks ... (ducking lightning bolt) fine?