moonslav59

The plan has to be that the major upgrade in OF offense will outweigh the drop in D. Hopefully it works, and then some.

And now, suddenly, it's okay to pencil in Dugo in RF FT and put a corner OF'er in CF and sign a DH to play LF. But hey, at least our 1B defense should be much improved.

That was another "head-scratcher," to me. All year long, I pointed out how we seemed to be stockpiling LF'ers, and at the deadline, we grab a LF'er. Nothing against Pham, but moving Dugo to RF seemed to go all out against their plan, to start the year, in fact, while JBJ struggled, they even put Cordero, Duran and even Arroyo in RF, before moving Dugo there. If Dugo was viewed as "capable," why not Cordero/Duran/Arroyo in LF and Dugo in RF before the Pham addition?

I thought, right from the start, that as much as I hated the deal, it had to be about building the farm, and Bloom must have seen something in Hamilton & Binelas that most others did not see. I suppose one may still shine, but I'm not counting on it.

It just seems strange to me, that the Sox seem to change their priorities, so quickly. It seems like last winter, they felt the need to shed Renfroe's poor D and add JBJ and his plus D. Then, this year, they flip back. One can argue, we got worse at all 3 OF positions, on D, over the winter. (We should get way better on O at all 3.) All defenders listed with 100+ Inning at this position: LF: Dugo/Pham > Yoshida CF: Kike/Duran/JBJ/Ref> Duvall RF: JBJ.Dugo/Ref?Cordero/Arroyo> Dugo

Talking D not O.

Wow. I thought Red was pessimistic. Mondesi has never had under 50 in his 7 years in the bigs: 54 and 60 in 2 of the 7 years, yes, but WOW!

I do know they are extreme creatures of habit and routines. Starters do throw hard on a day between starts, so I do think it might not be such a hard thing, physically to move from SP to RP, but the mental aspect is another thing, altogether.

One site had Mondesi out until May.

Sounds about right. Probably one or two from Bonaci, Pauilino and Lugo will shine, this summer. Does Drohan have hopes?

One last try as a starter - not as a pitcher, and he may very well get more tries to start. I'm just saying I've been against jerking him around, but think starting him off in the rotation makes sense, now.

Feel Good Story.

A pretty common occurrence with many players and GMs, every winter, right? Next year's Rule 5 List: (with SP's ranking, if top 60) Rivaldo Avila Angel Bastardo #42 Brock Bell Bradley Blalock Royman Blanco Brainer Bonaci #16 Zach Bryant Maceo Campbell Allan Castro #44 Brendan Cellucci Felix Cepeda Juan Chacon #52 Casey Cobb Nathanael Cruz Osvaldo De La Rosa Luis De La Rosa Nick Decker Kelvin Diaz Jordan DiValerio Shane Drohan #22 Juan Daniel Encarnacion #43 Alex Erro Albert Feliz Durbin Feltman Ryan Fernandez #27 Ryan Fitzgerald #54 Grant Gambrell Jhon Garcia Jhostynxon Garcia Wikelman Gonzalez #12 Bryan Gonzalez Devlin Granberg Alexis Hernandez Graham Hoffman Gabriel Jackson Joe Jacques Lyonell James Gilberto Jimenez Christian Koss #33 Robert Kwiatkowski Chih-Jung Liu Eduardo Lopez #50 Blake Loubier Bryan Lucas Matthew Lugo #14 Naysbel Marcano Elih Marrero Yorberto Mejicano Jose Mendez Ryan Miller Henry Morales Henry Nunez Yusniel Padron-Artiles Eddinson Paulino #11 Luis Perales #10 Railin Perez Jose Ramirez Oscar Rangel Jorge Rodriguez Ronald Rosario Cesar Ruiz Johnfrank Salazar #37 Stephen Scott #40 Cody Scroggins Reidis Sena Chase Shugart #57 Karson Simas Nick Sogard Cesar Soto Dylan Spacke Joey Stock Luis Talavera Nate Tellier Freddy Valdez Michael Valera Brian Van Belle Eduardo Vaughan Diego Viloria Jeremy Wu-Yelland Alex Zapete Ryan Zeferjahn #58

Only when full.

I was thinking, maybe his sharp drop in effectiveness was due to some minor injury that was never mentioned or even noticed. He could also have just gotten tired.

I do agree, players with lower K rates in the minors have a better chance at sticking around. I like Casas' chances.

I like this trend.

He really dropped off, last year, after a nice start. Maybe he need to be moved to the pen, soon. Maybe he had a minor injury.

Schreiber and others may go 2 IP, from time to time, as well.

Agreed. Casas has a much better chance of sticking around than Bobby Dee ever had. Again, I'm just saying the sample size is too small to know much. His ST'ing is looking real good. I'm pumped on this kid.

I was pretty excited about the BB rate, too, and he showed the power he is known for, too (35 HRs per 650.) I'm just pointing out the sample size it too low. (Bobby Dee had 92 PAs and a .959 OPS in 2020.)

In today's game, that's not all that rare. Also, with 13 man staffs, and assuming we have 2-3 long RP'ers on the 26 (Crawford, Wink & maybe Mata), maybe it will be okay.

11. Eddison Paulino Physical Description: Undersized and skinny at present. Solid athlete with good hand-eye coordination. Frame has room to support added strength, but will never be overly physical. Hit: Swing mechanics work. Contact-oriented swing with a level bat path. Average bat speed at present and good bat control. Covers the plate well and has a decent approach for his age. Does not miss much in zone, but will expand, especially against secondary pitches. Advanced bat control leads him to make a lot of weak contact on pitches that he struggles to drive. Shows substantial platoon splits already. Potential average hit tool against right-handed pitchers and below-average against left-handers. Power: Average raw power. Has sneaky power for his size and could add more as he matures. Needs to drive the ball in the air more and improve quality of contact. Future power potential is dependent on how he physically develops. Run: Average speed. Will steal a few bases, but not a major part of his game. Field: Footwork and hands are average. Looks most comfortable at second base right now, but has also played shortstop and third base. Not a standout defender, but will not hurt you either. Potential average defender at second base or third base. Could play shortstop in a pinch, but unlikely to stick there long-term. Began to play some outfield in 2022 to add versatility as well as to create more playing opportunities in crowded Salem infield. Arm: Average arm strength. Career Notes: Signed on his 16th birthday at the open of the 2018 international signing period. Received a mid-sized bonus. Participated in the 2021 Fall Performance Program. Summary: Potential up-and-down platoon bat. Ceiling of a solid utility player who adds value at the plate and with his position versatility. Hit tool projects best, but all his tools could end up in the 45-55 range. Well-rounded player with solid makeup and work ethic. Has shown the ability to make consistent, hard contact at a young age. 10. Luis Perales Physical Description: Medium, athletic frame. Has a good amount of projection left and should add strength as he matures. Mechanics: Throws from a high three-quarters arm slot from the middle of the rubber. Steps backwards toward first base before a medium-to-high leg kick prior to delivery. Finishes off-balance towards first base, with a pronounced post-delivery right leg kick up. Quick arm with short arm action. Moderate arm effort. Solid control for his age. Fastball: 95-98 mph. Tops out at 99 mph. Pitch shows good carry. Command and control need work. Potential plus-to-better offering. Curveball: 84-86 mph. Advanced for his age. Good feel for spin. Gets over the pitch and can snap it off. Can locate in the zone or out of the zone looking for swinging strikes. Potential plus offering. Changeup: 87-90. Inconsistent, but will flash bat-missing ability with the ability to pull the string on it with late fading action. Potential above-average offering. Career Notes: Was not a highly-touted amateur prospect out of Venezuela. Began to show much higher promise after signing, particularly in the Tricky League in the summer of 2019. Emerged quickly as a prospect to follow. Was limited to one game due to injuries in 2021. Organization then heavily monitored his workload in 2022, limiting him to three innings per start. Still broke out and rose quickly into the SoxProspects top 20 by the end of the season. Earned a promotion to Salem following the end of the 2022 FCL season. Was set to participate in the 2022 Fall Performance Program that was cancelled due to Hurricane Ian. Summary: Potential major league starter. Ceiling of a number two starter. Wide variance arm with a high-ceiling and low-floor. Has shown among the best raw stuff of any arm in the system and was identified by scouts as the top pitching prospect in the Florida Complex League in 2022. Will flash two plus pitches and three at least above-average pitches. All have shown bat-missing ability. Next step in his development is finding consistency with his delivery and showing he can handle a full season workload.

Single Season IP Leaders since 1973 (last 50 years): 359 Wood '73 344 G Perry '73 343 P Niekro '79 334 P Niekro '78 333 N Ryan '74 330 P Niekro '77 328 F Jenkins '74 328 C Hunter '75 326 N Ryan '73 325 Blyleven '73 323 Palmer '75 322 G Perry '74 322 Messersmith '75 320 Wood '74 The only Sox player on the over 300 list since 1973: Luis Tiant 311.1 in 1974. The only pitcher with 300+ after 1979: Steve Carlton in 1980 with 304. Pitchers pitched 300 or more 29 times since 1973- all from 1973-1980. 290+ IP (55 times)- the latest? Blylebven with 294 in 1985. 280+ IP (81 times)- latest: Clemes with 282 in 1987 & Charlie Hough with 285 in the same year. 270+ IP (124 times)- latest: 1999 Randy Johnson 272 IP 260+ IP (206 times)- 2003 Halladay w 266 IP and Schilling 259 in 2002 250+ IP (319 times)- latest: Verlander w 251 IP in 2011 & Halladay in 2010 with 250.2. 240+ (462 times)- latest: Price w 248 in 2014, Cueto w 244 in '14

Tanner Houck strikes out four in campaign for Red Sox 2023 rotation WWW.MLB.COM NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Tanner Houck has been a lot of things since he came to the Red Sox as a first-round Draft pick in 2017. A starter. A reliever. A starter. A bulk reliever. A closer. He’s proved his worth in versatility and willingness to do whatever the club I've always felt Houck's skill set is better suited for the pen, but maybe giving him one last try for winning and keeping a rotation slot is not a bad idea. It might make him shy away from pushing for a rotation slot, in the future, if he does not do well, this spring. It might work, and having a solid SP is usually more important than having a solid RP'er. I hate the constant jerking around of guys like Houck and Whitlock, so I know this sounds contradictory to my previous posts, but maybe this will work out well. I do hope that if they send him back to the pen, he stays in a very defined pen role, the rest of the season- no matter what.