moonslav59

This doesn't explain the Pedro always being injured statement. 1998 33 GS 217 IP 1999 31 GS 213 IP 2000 29 GS 217 IP 2001 18 GS 117 IP 2002 30 GS 199 IP 2003 29 GS 187 IP 2004 33 GS 217 IP He may not have led the league in IP, any year, but putting in over 29 starts and 199 in 6 of 7 years with the Sox is hardly being injured a lot. He was 25th in GS'd from 1998-2004. He was 15th in IP'd in those 7 Sox years.

He's the perfect get for CF. Why didn't I think of that!

Beat me to it. He turns 23,soon, and had a high K rate in college (12.8), but also walked a lot (5.5). In just 21 IP in the minors, it was 10.1 /3.4. He was drafted in the 15th round in 2019. He does not need a slot on the 40 man roster.

Burning a season is certainly one factor on the side of giving him at least a couple more months in AAA. Probably, the deciding one for me. Same with Houck, despite Houck being older. He will likely be limited in his IP, anyway, so why not?

It's not like DD didn't spend his last winter here. I could be wrong, but I think he spent more than Bloom the next winter- mostly on re-signing Eovaldi and Pearce and extensions.

I do think there is a some validity to the philosophy that calling someone up, too soon, can slow development of harm a kid's confidence or that much value can be lost by waiting too long. I have always trusted our management to know when the time is right or at least to know more than I do about it. If they think he's ready, I'll trust them. Personally, I think he needs more time due to being relatively new to the OF, and the fact that he has recently made some pretty major adjustments to his hitting approach. We all know Boston is not an easy place to be thrown into the spotlight. The comp to Ellsbury is interesting. Ells did kind of learn on the fly. He had some ups and downs, early on, and it took a while for his D to become a plus, but I do think he turned out to give plus value over his first 2 seasons combined- the first was a late call-up. I'm still leaning no, but I, too, am more open to the idea than I was in December.

MLBTR Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will return to the mound Saturday when he throws two innings in a simulated game, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com relays. That’s welcome news after Rodriguez missed all of last year because of myocarditis and COVID-19. Rodriguez was one of Boston’s top pitchers during the previous couple seasons, and as a pending free agent, the 27-year-old is heading into a pivotal campaign.

We could sign JBJ and both JBJ and Duran help us get somewhere exciting, this fall.

So, keep doing what we've been doing, and a ring is just around the corner.

I'll say Duran hits .290 and several posters gush.

They sure got Moose wrong.

Still, nothing on JBJ or Odorizzi.

Best Shape of his Life (Sucking it in, hard.)

Might be just talk to boost the kid's confidence, but if they meant what they said, I hope they are right. Cordero as the "fall back" is pretty sketchy.

Is that you, jacko?

When Pedro & Nomar played together, Pedro pitched over 185 innings plus in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He also pitched 217 innings in 2005. Only in 2001 did Pedro drop to 117 IP. He was a horse, until he went to the Mets, and even gave them a 217 inning season, year one.

Eovaldi starts Sinday. Richards Monday. Cordero may return in a week. Plawecki to be added back to the 40 man roster in a few days- roster move needed. https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2021/02/boston-red-sox-notebook-nathan-eovaldi-to-start-spring-opener-franchy-cordero-progressing-toward-return-situational-hitting-a-focus-in-camp.html

Hope this is good news. I remember the reports of Pablito slimming down.

True, and Davis had an even better OBP in the minors (.374). It's been .291 since 2016, which does not help much. (28 HRs per 650 since 2016). Career, it is .315. I'm optimistic with Bobby.

LOL! Surely, if he were a Yankee, Jacko would be projecting him over .900. I really like Dalbec and always have. I think he could end up over .850. He may have to make a few adjustments, so it's hard to know. Gotta love the guys OBP, which sets him apart from many big and young HR hitters. .359 MLB (92 PAs) .362 MiLB (1609) He's had 35 HRs in his last 657 PAs from AA to AAA to MLB. He had 32 HRs in 2018 in 543 PAs (A+ to AA).

Fangraphs projects: IP Pitcher ERA 160 Perez 5.09 (seems about right- was at 4.50 in 2020) 151 ERod 4.31 (hasn't been over 4.20 since 2016) 150 Eovaldi 4.47 (hasn't had 150 IP since 2015- ERA looks about right) 132 Richards 4.50 (hasn't had 77 IP since 2015- 3.53 ERA since 2015) 112 Houck 5.28(hard to project, but this seems a bit harsh) 94 Pivetta 5.20 (seems bout right, but I am optimistic, here) 86 Sale 3.40 (hard to project) 37 Seabold 4.99 (unknown) OPS Batter PAs .865 Devers 658 (I think Devers busts out, this season.) .854 JD M 644 (Would be nice- could be even better.) .853 Bogey 651 (I'm expecting neat .900.) .799 Verdugo 595 (I'm expecting over .850.) .776 Renfroe 476 (About right.) .750 EHern 427 (About right.) .747 Cordero 434 (Who knows?) .745 Arroyo 259 (Kinda high.) .742 Vazquez 464 (Has been at .798 from '19-'20.) .738 Gonzalez 336 (About right.) .731 Chavis 238 (About right.) .727 Plawecki 179 (Kinda high.) .693 Duran 196 (Who knows?)

.700>.850 (I'd bet on .790-.840ish)

Here might be a reasonable low to high projection for the 2021 Sox players: SP IP/ERA Low to High ERod 100/4.50> 180/3.70 Eoval 80/5.80> 180/4.00 Rich 80/4.50> 180/3.90 Sale 60/4.50> 120/3.50 Pivet 80/5.80> 160/4.50 Perez 100/5.00> 180/4.20 Houch 80/5.50> 150/3.90 OPS Bogey .880>1.080 Devers .790>.990 JD Mar .750>.950 Verdugo .770>.970 Dalbec .700>.850 Vaz .690>.840 Ren .700>.850 Hern .680>.830 Cord .550>.850 Gonzalez, Chavis, Arroyo & Plawecki: .550-.750

I realize the major factor in our rotation improving more than anyone else's is the fact that we were rock bottom, last year, but the fact remains, our rotation improved immensely, and these numbers support my claim. Even if you pro-rate our 2020 fWar or 0.5 to 1.2 over a full season, the improvement is by 11! That is astounding! It also had our pen at -0.5 fWAR, last year, which would project to -1.2 over 162 games. They have us projected at + 2.7, so here is another rather astounding projected gain of 3.9 fWAR. Our everyday players has a +7.1 fWAR, last year, which translates to +17.8 over 162 games. They have us at +20.1, this year- a modest 2.3 fWAR gain. Put it all together, and we should see a major improvement.

Paxton, at 20.1 IP in 2020, still placed 6th in starter IP in 2020, so don't pretend he didn't pitch. He was also a big part of the 2019 rotation, and I was comparing 2021 to 2020 and 2019. Here's the real deal: "far more upside" only counts for Yankee pitchers, to you. James Paxton already has had a 140 ERA+ season. How much "upside did and does he have?" Happ had a 125 ERA+ from 2016-2018 and had over 160 IP in 2018 and 2019. How much "Upside?" Tanaka was a huge part of your rotation. Yes, he was replaced by some big upside players, but none have done squat for 1-2 years. Why are ERod, Sale, Richards and Eovaldi all written off? I never hear you say the word "upside" with any of those 4 Sox pitchers. The fact is, on paper, the Yanks did not improve from 2020 or 2019. The Jays did. Every year, the Yanks face a lot of injuries, but you don't seem to chalk it up to being injury prone, like you do to Eovaldi & Richards. That being said, I do see the Yanks getting better due to players returning from injury and expecting you get something good from Kluber, Taillon and Severino, but in no way have you clearly gotten way better than the Jays, who added Springer and Semien and pen help. "Upside potential" is not something only Yankees have. How much upside is there for these Jays? Vlad turns 22, this year. The sky seems like the limit for this kid. (24 HRs and 102 RBI in his first 685 ABs) Bichette turns 23, this year. He already has an .896 OPS and a projected 35 HR per 162 game number. Gurriel turns 25, this year. He's hit .874 the last 2 years (31 Hrs in 600 ABs). Teoscar Hernandez turns 24, soon. He hiy .919 last year and has 42 HRs in his last 671 ABs. Rowdy Tellez turns 26, soon. He has a career .797 OPs (33 Hrs in 553 ABs) Cavan Biggio turns 26, soon. He has a .798 career OPS (24 Hrs in 574 ABs) Others: Grichuk (29): .770 since 2018 (34 HRs per 162 games) © Jansen (26): .668 career OPS (22 HRs in 548 ABs) Nobody is over 27. NOBODY HAS EVEN REACHED PEAK PRIME! Most are on the upside of their age-prime curve. Not many injury issues, either. MASSIVE Upside potential for 6-7 players above. Some may slump, but others could move off the charts to the good. Their rotation is the big question mark, and even if Kluber, Severino & Taillon give the Yanks very little, the Yankee ratation might still do better than a 100% healthy Jays rotation.