Maxbialystock

Back to JBJ. His hitting is a big surprise to me, not this year but last year when suddenly in August he started blasting and finished with an OPS over .800, which this year so far is over .900. So I took a peak at the espn.com ratings of all AL centerfielders and was mildly surprised that Bradley Jr is ranked 5th despite having the second best OPS after Trout, just one less rbi than Trout, and all those defensive skills. Well it turns out, as has been noted already, that JBJ's defensive WAR is actually a -.3 despite that great arm, those great instincts, and a 4 assist/1 error ratio. What I am here to say is that, while I think the -.3 is wrong, I do think it suggests that JBJ, despite his enormous talent in the outfield, might not be quite as great as we all think. For one thing, that great arm isn't always accurate. When it is, I hasten to add, he is one of the very few centerfielders who can do what he did last night--go to his right and in a little to grab a single and then gun down the baserunner coming from 2d base. The throw was a little off line, but it was a shot that got to Hanigan on the fly and gave him time to dive across home plate and nail the runner on a very good play. Other times, I have the impression JBJ is a little cavalier about line drive ground balls to centerfield which at least twice have gotten right by him. Once I also saw Holt make a diving catch in left center that I honestly think JBJ was closer to. Plus sometimes he likes to showboat a little on easy catches.

Absolutely true, best offense in the AL and almost in MLB. A deep lineup with one terrific cleanup man, Ortiz. But one cautionary note: maybe we haven't faced much in the way of good pitching. On the other hand, Betts and Ramirez haven't quite hit their strides yet. The Sox are 7 games above .500 despite a woebegone rotation. That's how good this offense is.

Sox have not hit lefties well, so tonight 7 righties in the lineup, including Young and Rutledge. I'm not much of a Young fan, but you gotta play sometime when he's healthy and getting $13M for 2 years.

I was never that big of a JBJ fan because I liked Mookie better. On the other hand, I thought bringing him up last August, which finally worked, was a reasonable move. To me he is just a little too cavalier in the outfield and is the diametric opposite of both Betts and Bogaerts, both of whom feel the need to improve and to keep focusing on fundamentals. JBJ also has a terrific arm, but one that isn't always accurate,which tells me that needs some work. So does the way he plays the wall in left center and fly balls into that deep CF corner, the triangle. But my impression is that he thinks he doesn't need to improve in the field at all, that he's God's gift to centerfield. All that said, I'm really glad we have him both in the field and at bat. Zowie. The Yankees taking him off our hands is still years away.

That is a terrific article about pitching. O'Sullivan doesn't interest me nearly as much as Bannister does. What a pitching coach. I think I read somewhere at least a year ago that it is important to invest in quality people in your "system," including coaches, so I hope Bannister is well paid.

That's an eye-opener. Wow--especially on the Rivera numbers.

You're right. Fans gotta be allowed to fix or at least improve any position on the roster.

Can't buy that, sorry. A hitter is only 1 of 9 bats in a lineup and 1 of 25 on a roster, and virtually all hitters never throw a single pitch, which is half the game. I think it is more accurate to say that John Henry is the best owner the Sox have ever had because he put the right guys in the right places and finally ended the 86 year drought, not once, but three times. Plus Williams had to play left field and lost five seasons to military service. His lifetime OPS was 1.116, and he was walked almost 3 times as often as the struck out. Not that I don't think Ortiz isn't worthy of great praise because he was in fact key to all three world series wins--all three times his postseason OPS was over 1.200. But he said himself after Manny Ramirez left, that he "couldn't get a pitch to hit," which tells me it was very helpful to bat 3d with Manny batting 4th in 2004 and 2007. Indeed, Manny was the WS MVP in 2004, neither was in 2007 (but Mike Lowell was), and Ortiz was in 2013 when he batted 4th and Napoli batted 5th.

A pretty good point. I actually have no problems with anything said during a game and on a game thread--they should be fun and open to all kinds of assertions.

I'm not sure I want to indict him. I just kind of agree with Kimmi that maybe closers have one track minds and are only at their best when they are in fact closing.

To me the $13M was a reasonable investment. Buchholz has had real success in the past largely because he has had good stuff. Control is an issue with him as with most starters, and my guess is the cold weather hasn't helped, but that's only a guess.

I think this thread is unneeded. With Mookie leading off and leading the team in runs scored, the Sox are leading the AL in runs scored by a big margin--170 to the Rangers 147 and they've played one more game. Leading off is hard to do, so why move someone else in there? If Pedroia or Bogaerts, I would argue they are doing just fine batting 2d and 3d. Ditto everyone else in the lineup. In other words, the OP wants Farrell to fix something that ain't broke.

Maybe it depends on the closer. Kimbrel hasn't been so great in tie games and has been much better when a save is on the line. Rivera of the Yankees, on the other hand, seemed to be fine either way. Uehara too, at least in 2013. The great unknown in all these close games is usually what your own hitters will do. In the 3-2 loss to the Yankees, I thought we would do nothing, but I was wrong. Miller got the save, but only by the skin of his teeth.

Really? Is it reasonable and fair to criticize decisions that work out as well as those that don't? Better to say, "I just don't like him as a manager, whatever he does. The Sox finished last in 2014 and in 2015, end of story." My own belief is that the overwhelming majority of decisions by any manager, not just Farrell, are better informed than any alternatives we can think up. He not only has his own experience and knowledge of the players, but the benefit of all kinds of stats and inside knowledge, to say nothing of--in the case of a pitcher--insights from both the pitching coach and the bench coach. Last night, I think on espn.com, the story was that Buchholz fully expected to go back out for the 6th inning because his pitch count was under 90. But Farrell sent in a reliever, which I think was the right decision if only because right now the Sox have 8 relievers and the night before Farrell didn't need the bullpen. But guess what? If Farrell had sent Buchholz out, I would defend that too because I trust his collective judgment and insight a whole lot more than mine.

Farrell has 8 relievers, none of whom were needed last night, so I don't think he will wait for 7 runs.

Of course I want the Sox to win, but for now it's enough there is going to be a Monday night game at Fenway with the possibility if not probability that Buchholz will have a quality start. Beginning to look as though JBJ's move to the 8th spots is semi-permanent. Until he moves up again.

This is an incredible thread if only because the answer to the question is so obvious--no--one has to wonder why it was asked at all.

85 today. In his remarks at his HOF induction, he said he never saw anyone play the game better, and I have to agree with that. I did see him play and don't think there was a better all around player. He won a bunch of gold gloves in CF and still hit 660 dingers, 5th most all time. He also stole bases and won batting titles and played 24 seasons (despite serving in the US Army, 1952-53).

I think the game last night, nailing down 2 of 3 at Chicago, the best team with the best ERA in the AL, was a defining game for this team. Not defining the whole season, of course, but where they are. Why defining? 1. Starter Owens left after 3 innings, which has happened way too often this season. But Farrell brought the right guys in at the right times--except for Hembree, who had a bad night and almost cost the game--and the Sox held Chicago to 3 runs. 2. Seven rbi's, all by different guys. That's a deep lineup, which the Sox have enjoyed all season long, even when Young was in. 3. Solid if not brilliant defense. I think of Holt as the weak link, but he made a great grab and has shown a pretty good arm now and then. Ramirez surprisingly solid at 1B. So now the Sox are 6 games over.500 and .5 ahead of the Orioles despite a rotation with too many Freddy Krugers--Owens, Buchholz, and even Price come to mind. Kimrel too even though he usually frightens the opposition. Biggest surprise is that with five youngsters--Bogaerts, Betts, JBJ, Shaw, and Vazquez--this might be the least experienced good Sox team in a long, long time, maybe ever. I give Farrell credit for keeping JBJ in the 9 slot even though he has an OPS over .800. That has to drive opposing teams nuts. But it probably won't last.

I completely disagree with the notion of what I call "the big fix." Stanton would make the hitting better, of course, but it's already very good with Holt in LF. Fernandez would almost certainly help our woebegone rotation, but right now I'm enjoying watching the Sox find ways to compensate and still win games.

Actually, you killed the thread ( a defining game?) on the Talk Sox forum by attaching it to slasher's game thread.

Can they play tonight? Lots of rain here in DC. In his last start, ER was lousy, than very good. The hope is that Sunday will be a further step in the right direction. Owens is one of the very few Sox starters I've seen who can be sent to the showers before giving up 6 or 7 runs and before throwing 100 pitches. At least one famous manager once remarked, "if you don't have control, you have nothing."

I don't want to overstate Farrell's role because my inclination is always to give the players credit. I would have fired him last year. I have defended him this year only on general principles because I don't sweat in-game decisions or even lineups. I go by wins and losses. But I wanted to note that the rotation has made the in-game decisions a little tougher than usual and think Farrell has done that part well, last night being a great example. Even there, however, the relievers had to come through--Farrell hasn't thrown a single pitch this year. My real intent was to focus on the team, which I think shows a lot of promise even with a rotation with too many Freddy Kruegers (Owens and Buchholz come immediately to mind, but also Price and Kimbrel the closer).

Last night's win over Chicago might have been. The starter stunk. It was a cold night in Chicago and, more importantly, the rubber game against the current best team in the AL with the best pitching staff. The three things I like the most about last night are (in no particular order): 1) Seven runs batted in by seven different hitters, reaffirming this is a deep lineup; 2) Solid, if not brilliant defense; 3) astute management of pitching staff to replace Owens after 3 innings and Hembree, who did his best to open the floodgates for the White Sox, which allowed us to hold the White Sox to just 3 runs. We are still way early in the season. It this were 30 or more years ago, we would be looking for the infamous Red Sox "June swoon." For a Sox team, this one is pretty young, so you have to worry about their ability to stay focused thru that brutal 162 game season of basically 6 games a week. The rotation is a real concern, but the team ERA is coming down thanks in part to a pretty good bullpen, and dare I say it, managing. And the hitting, honestly, has been amazing. Ortiz is unreal, Ramirez seems to be coming around, Pedroia is like the 2008 version, Shaw is a huge, huge improvement over Sandoval, Bradley might be the best #9 hitter in the history of MLB (an exaggeration) and a big pain for opposing pitchers and managers, Holt is plugging along, and Betts and Bogaerts haven't reached their potential yet but are sure to. Both catchers catch and hit now and then.

Perhaps. But elsewhere Farrell is chastised for playing him at all. I happen to agree he is paid to hit all of them and that Farrell should give him opportunities--not too many--to do so.