moonslav59

Maybe cut Richards a little slack?

Did you look at who started the vast majority of our games in 2020? Pro-rated to 162 games (2.7 x GS'd): 19 Godley 16 Mazza 14 Weber 11 Brewer 8 Hart 5 Kickham 5 Triggs 14 these 5 combined: Lever, Hall, Osich, Brice & Brasier That's 92 TOTAL! Give those to ERod, Richards, Sale and more from Houck & Pivetta. Maybe Perez & Eovaldi stay about the same as their pro-rated 2020: Perez 32> 32 Eovaldi 23>23 All you see is 7-12 more wins due to ERod?

I've been saying EHern is our best defensive CF'er almost from the day we signed him, but our second base options aren't all that great. I like Renfroe and Cordero better than Arroyo. Even with EHern in CF, our overall defense is a minus. Catcher: Vaz has some good metrics. I don't like the way he handles the staff, but I'm not sure that's called "defense." Call this position a push or a slight plus. 1B: I have faith that Dalbec can be a plus, but until he shows he is, I'm leaving this one as a slight minus. 2B: Arroyo/Chavis? Minus. EHern? Maybe a push. Overall? Lucky to be a push. 3B: Devers has the potential to be a plus, this year. He has plus range and a strong arm. It's the arm accuracy that makes this position a minus, for now. SS: People will argue with me, but he has some of the worst metrics over his career. At best, one could argue he's 18th or 20th out of 30, but I'd disagree. Okay, okay, he makes the plays he gets to. I want a SS that gets to make plays others dream about. Minus. LF: Maybe Renfroe & Cordero as a platoon can end up better than Beni. Push. CF: Cordero? Lost of promise, but a minus. EHern in CF? A plus. Overall? Maybe a puch to a minus. RF: Verdugo is a plus.

You really must have thought last year's team way over performed, if you think this team is just 5 wins better.

Our 2020 winning % projected to less than 65 wins. You really don't see us winning significantly more than that? Even 81 wins is 25% improvement, which I would think seems pretty meaningful to a lot of fans. I can't say I like your pessimism. Offense: we lost JBJ- you know the guys that drove 90% of this site nuts with his repeated and prolonged mega slumps. We gained Renfroe, EHern & Cordero. We have several young players (Devers, Bogey, Verdugo, Dalbec, Vaz, Renfroe and others nearing or in the meat of their primes. One can project a decline from JD due to his age, but I have to think he'll do better than 2020. Defense: Lost JBJ, which hurts. We gained EHern, Renfroe, Cordero and will see more from Dalbec and nothing from Moreland. Net loss. Pitching: Beating a dead horse. I won't spell it out, but between returning pitchers like ERod & Sale, more innings from Houck, Pivetta & Hern and additions like Richards, Ottavino and others versus the loss of the clowns we put out there last year, this isn't even close. If we can't gain 14-20 wins, I'll be shocked. My guess is, we win 16-24 more games.

Prioritized the need to work on it was more like it. Our D sucks, this year. We can work hard to make it suck less, but it sucks- badly.

My first preferred line-up had Kiki at lead off, and I got shot down. The low career OBP does seem like a deal breaker. I haven't put him there since.

I was super high on Ward, a while back. I've lost a bit of the optimism, but yes, he has some serious "stuff," but needs to build on his control. He may make it to AAA, this year, solet's see what's he's got at the higher levels.

He's nice AAAA depth. He put up decent numbers over 2 seasons, so we know he can get it done.

From what I've heard, it may be great defense. Let's hope the offense is not a drag.

Many of the examples in that song are not really irony.

Big surprise! (Sarcasm alert)

I had been giving poster one a lot of grief about being such a debbie downer, so I felt my sarcasm would be obvious.

I was being sarcastic when I said "boring."

2020 Starting Pitchers By IP'd: Red= Will have zero IP for the Sox in 2021 Blue= Will likely have less IP in 2021(pro-rated) IP Starter GS 62 Perez 12 48 Eovaldi 9 25 Godley 7 23 Mazza 6 19 Weber 5 17 Houck 3 14 Brewer 4 10 Pivetta 2 9 Hart 3 7 Kickham 2 4 Triggs 2 3 Hall 1 2 Osich 1 1 Brice 1 1 Brasier 1 1 Lever 1 Pen By IP'd 30 Valdez 24 Weber 24 Brasier 23 Barnes 20 Springs 19 Brice 14 Covey 13 Stock 13 Walden 11 Brewer 10 Hembree 8 DHern 7 Kickham 7 Taylor 7 Workman 7 Mazza 6 Hall 4 Tapia 4 Godley 4 Triggs 4 Lever 2 Hart 1 Lin, Plawecki, Peraza Pitchers who should see significantly more IP in 2021 than 2020 (prorated): SP ERod Richards Sale Pivetta Houck (Andriese, Whitlock, Seabold, Mata) RP: Ottavino Andriese Sawamura DHern Taylor Whitlock (Bazardo, Houck)

Those games were so boring.

On paper, we're light years better than 2020.

I've already seen many signs. Our roster is way better than last year. I realize better than worst can still be bad, but we are not bad. Signs from the season? Many more wins. Improvement from many of our pre-prime and prime players, which is a huge percentage of our roster. Watching some kids get a look-see, at some point, this year. Excitement from Devers, Bogey, JD, Verdugo and others, including a few pitchers many have all but written off.

I can't help it if I'm feeling optimistic. Not for a great season but for a a clear sign we are getting much better.

I'm not seeing that, especially at this point in his career.

Zach Bryant

Really looking forward to a dull season with nothing to cheer for. Thanks, Dave.

Close call for me. If it weren't for his 17 IP, last season, Houck's name would not even be part of this discussion. Pivetta has some nasty stuff, and yes, his history is long enough to not be too hopeful. It's hard to get very hopeful over either of these guys, but it's spring, so I'm optimistic on both- pretty close to evenly. I can certainly understand someone liking Houck's chances better, but 17 innings is smaller than a small sample size. What about these sample sizes? 517 IP 3.53 ERA MiLB (98 in AAA at 2.40)- Pivetta vs 249 IP 4.08 ERA MiLB (25 in AAA at 3.96)- Houck (Note: Pivetta was younger at every level in the minors as Houck had 3 years of college before pro ball.)

Very exciting! In 2002, we had Manny, Damon and Nixon, and missed the playoffs.

So, in a sense, they project Pivetta doing better, but Perez getting more IP.