moonslav59

I think I'm able to separate the comps between JMart and our other three OF'ers. JMart is not the worst I've seen, and the sample size is still small, but he has looked very shaky to me. Ultimately, when you go to make the decision to play JMart in the OF, it does become a comp with the guy you're removing and the other bat you get into the line-up vs the guy you bumped out (most likely it would be Moreland vs JBJ or Beni). JMart's career OF numbers look bad, but his last 2+ seasons have looked horrific. Out of 117 MLB OF'ers with 900 innings in the OF, JMart places... 5th worst in UZR/150 at -15.1 Tied for 5th worst in DRS at -25. If you move the sample size to 77 OF'ers with 1500+ innings, JMart is worst in UZR/150. I don't disagree with wanting to see for yourself before passing judgement, but when I guy scores that lowly for 2 plus seasons, I'm pretty much convinced he's awful. Nothing he has done, so far, despite the no errors charged to him, has convinced me otherwise. Again, I'm okay with playing him in the OF, if it makes him happy and improves the offense by close to an equal amount of the choice hurting our defense, but I still feel that Pedey's return and Nunez then being thrown into the OF mix (and he's a better defender out there than JMart) makes me think the equation will be changed significantly. Maybe that is part of the reason why Cora is going out of his way to get JD OF looks early in the season.

Under this plan, Nunez hardly ever plays.

I've always thought Ks were over rated.

Probably not what you're looking for, and a two game sample size on one side of the equation makes me shiver, but here's something... Runs scored in non JMart games :14 in 2 games (7 per game) 21 Hits and 7 BB (14 H + BB/ game) Runs scored in JMart games: 110 in 19 games (5.8 per game) 186 H + 65 BB (13.2 H + BB/game) (Note: The with JD games incuded extra inning games, so those numbers are actually worse than they look....less runs and hits per inning)

Watching JMart play confirms my suspicions.

Right now, JMart as the 4th OF'er makes the most sense. Once Pedey squeezes Nunez out of a position, we will see. It's really a choice between Moreland/HRam and Nunez. With Moreland at 1B, HRam at DH, and JMart in the OF, Nunez can only play when our SS, 3Bman or 2Bman needs a rest. That's only maybe once a week. I don't see that happening. Assuming Swihart and Holt/Lin get zero PAs after Pedey comes back (doubtful), maybe we can see something like this... Vaz and Leon continue sharing catcher duty. 1B: HRam & Moreland DH: JMart & HRam/Nunez 2B: Pedey & Nunez 3B: Devers & Nunez SS: Bogey & Nunez LF: Beni & Nunez/JMart CF: JBJ & Beni RF: Betts & JBJ 10 players for 8 slots in the order. If we spread it our exactly evenly, whci i doubt we even try to do, it comes out to everyone sitting once every 5 games. Let's assume we rest Betts, Devers, JMart, Beni and Bogey once every 10 games (16 games a year). That leaves the other 5 guys (HRam, Moreland, Pedey, Nunez & JBJ) needing to rest 15 days every 10 games. That's 3 days off every 10 days. It doesn't seem realistic to me. My guess is one or two guys will be cut way back, or we might trade someone. Maybe someone is slumping badly or gets hurt and makes the choice easier. Is Nunez the worst hitter of the 10? Moreland? JBJ? Moreland & JBJ are plus defenders, but does that mean they play more than Nunez? Pedey might need more rest than others but how much? Things could get tricky.

Yes, both would get paid, but I think the question was geared towards who would get more? Who is worth more to the average GM? Most GMs probably don't look too closely at wins or ERA, but my guess is ERA is worth more.

Out of the 60 pitchers with 700+ IP since 2013, a 3.17 ERA would place you 11th behind Strasburg and ahead of Felix & Lester. A 3.58 ERA would place 29th- tied with Quintana and just ahead of Archer and Cashner. Fangraphs has these values listed: $170M Quintana $167M Lester $163M Strasburg $137M Archer $123M Felix (For what it's worth.)

It has a lot to do with their skill level, yes, but I truly believe a good catcher can maximize a pitcher's performance to a noticeable degree.

soxprospects.com Steven Wright left his first rehab assignment with the PawSox early due to stiffness in his back on April 20. Bill Koch of The Providence Journal noted that Wright was making his first start for the PawSox since July 12, 2015 but may find himself making more appearances with the Triple-A club due to the current logjam in the Red Sox starting rotation.

MLBTR suggest this guy as a possible replacement for Elias on the 40 man roster... Left-hander Daniel McGrath, 23, could be another eventual option who’s gotten off to a strong start in Double-A, though he’s not yet on the 40-man roster.

I was wondering when someone would suggest we start Swihart as catcher with our whopping .440 catcher OPS, but I'm fine with continuing as is. Opponents have a .600 OPS against us this year, and I think Vaz & Leon have a lot to do with that.

I always stood by with the fire extinguisher-- terrified the house would burn down.

Assuming everything else is equal (age, health, home park, quality of opponents, I think the 3.17/1.09 guy gets more.

You know how when your gas tank is empty, you still have like 20-30 miles to drive without running out of gas, but you can't see into the tank to know exactly how much is left? Well, that was Cora, yesterday. It's not like Smith has been lights out this year, even with a full tank.

I wonder who replaces Elias on the 40 man roster.

I didn't have anybody specific in mind, but it seems like some just like to be critical about any move that "does not work".

I'm going to get caught up with "The Walking Dead."

What are we to do with no game tonight?

Had Smith come in and let up an HR, we'd have seen an equal amount of posters wondering why he took Price out, or why he didn't bring in Kimbrel. (Maybe even some of the same people...

My family used to put up our Chrsitmas tree on the 24th of December, but it stayed up until late January, when all the needles were falling off. (We also put real candles on the tree- a German tradition.)

I have no issues with people questioning a managers in game moves. I often have differing opinions during a game, but I usually don't voice them, because, personally, I think there is just too much we don't know day-to-day. I like talking general strategy and philosophy more as well as transactions and roster construction, but that's just me.

So, with 5 or 6 "extra" days off, it seems a manager might look at just keeping rest days off at the normal rate and you'd be gaining 5-6 rest days. That seems like enough, to me, but maybe Cora's major driving force is to use his bench and keep his bench ready and feeling like they are an important part of the team. I hope he is not making a mistake based on the wild success of the Astros bench last year. The Astros had Marwin Gonzalez give them 551 PAs off the bench with a .907 OPS, 2 catchers over a .760 OPS and a few other nice subs. Again, I'm not complaining. I hope his plan pays off when we need it most. Last year, I suggested we try and rest sale more, so he won't have his usual late season decline, and maybe everyone can benefit from more time off.

I read somewhere that this year's MLB schedule has more days off than before. I've never felt like young and healthy players need any more than 4-5 extra days off during a season. If a players is struggling or banged uo, then sure, give him more rest. Having a strong bench like the Astros had last year makes a difference as well, and with Nunez tied up at 2B until Pedey comes back, our bench is not really good enough to play so often, in my opinion. Moreland has looked great, so I have no beef with playing him for a while, and that forced HRam to DH or the bench, so I can see why our OF'ers have been given rest, so JD and HRam can stay in the line-up, but I guess is I wanted to give my infielders a rest, I'd try to wait until Pedey comes back, and Nunez is squeezed for playing time. I'm kind of surprised they have not played Swihart behind the plate or PH for our catchers very often, because we have a 3rd catcher on the roster, but again, I don't want to sound like I know more than Cora. I like this team's direction, focus, change in hitting approach and much more. I'm much more hopeful that this is the year than I was in March. It's not just about our record either. It goes way beyond that. I know we will hit some rough patches, and some here will bail (for a while), but I'm psyched about our chances.

I felt the same way, but I try to avoid criticizing managers over pen moves. There's just so much going on and so many factors to consider, including the fact that K Davis was just 2 for 8 career against Price before that HR. What do I know? I still have no issue with Grady Little keeping Pedro in that game.