moonslav59

Balance.

ST'ing ERA (6+ IP) Starters in Red 0.69 Walden 0.96 Poyner 1.08 Hembree 1.29 Barnes 2.00 Price 2.25 Smith 2.45 Johnson 2.77 Haley 3.21 Sale 3.55 Elias (1 GS) 4.91 Porcello 5.68 Kelly 6.23 Workman 6.75 Velazquez 8.53 Scott 9.00 FRod

ST'ing OPS leaders (20+ ABs): 1.263 Beni 1.038 Devers (If these two have break out seasons, watch out!) .960 Bogey .941 Betts (Did I hear someone worrying about these two?) .925 Vaz (Was this all from one big game?) .920 Holt (Prove me an idiot, Brock! I dare you!) .911 Leon (Did someone say DFA Leon?) .908 Travis (Nice to see the power we all have hoped would come.) .886 Swihart (Looking like a lock for the 25 man roster more and more.) .859 de Jesus .763 Moreland .749 JD M .730 HRam .700 Tavarez (Ho hum) .623 Marrero (Doubled is OPS in the last few games) .610 de la Guerra .569 JBJ (Getting his slump out of the way early.) .399 Lin (Lost his chance for the opening day 25.) .336 Selsky

Yes. I don't see us as being below average at any position, although we might end up there at 1B-maybe catcher by year end WAR numbers that don't count how well a catcher gets the most from the staff he catches. We look to have a nice top 3-4 starting pitchers, which helps for the post season. We have a great closer. I thought our offense would improve even before we signed JD, so I like our O. Our OF defense is great. Only our infield defense looks like a clear negative, but I think we can overcome it. Our pen depth looks good, but it's always somewhat of a roll of the dice.

Awesome. I think I was on my couch.

He did make over $4M in MLB-- not that it guarantees happiness in life.

I'd probably give Wright 2-3 more starts before calling him up.

The men's room?

...and rightfully so!

He's feeling all that heat from Marrero!

Career OPS after going 0-1 (of course, some first pitch takes are balls and some 0-1 counts come after a swinging strike): .730 Betts .713 Pedey .709 HRam .665 JDM .663 Bogey .628 Moreland .605 JBJ

I don't mind as much with Pedey for the reason you stated, but when it rubs off on others...

One could blame it on Bard's own desire to be a starter.

Probably not, but I'd like to keep him at DH not 1B so as to not risk injury. I'd prefer HRam at 1B vs LHPs, for sure, over Moreland and Swihart. Vs. RHPs, it's kind of up in the air, but I'd start with Moreland, until HRam or Swihart show me they deserve it more.

Yes, unless we got some salary relief for losing HRam. I think HRam has a much better shot at being over .800 than any other current 1Bman. (I don't like the idea of moving the fragile JD to 1B.)

"The Pedey Influence!"

Would going into 2018 with HRam, Swihart and Travis as our only 1B options been all that much worse than now? Would having $11M, instead of $4.5M, to spend this summer been worth more than Moreland? If we end up needing a 1Bman, how hard is it to find one mis season? Last year, I think about 10 were traded- most for close to dirt.

Yes, yes, YES!

It's hard to imagine a team spending $39M over the luxury limit having quality roster issues, but if you look at the timing of contract expirations of our best players and the state of our farm right now, a "cliff" is a real and to me, a probable happening. We may debate what "a cliff" means, but it's very probable we will not be high competitive in 2021...maybe even 2020.

If Hanley has 550 PA"s & an .850 OPS year and we lose in the WS are we going to be wishing his option hadn't vested? For me, most likely yes. It depends on whether I think we had similar options along the way. .850 will likely be way better than Moreland, Swihart or Travis, so it might be a clear choice to keep him playing. I get that, but if he's .950 vs LHPs and .800 vs RHPs, that's pretty close to Moreland vs RHPs, and since Moreland is a better fielder, I might still limit HRam's ABs even if he's at .850. Or, wish I did later.

We just need to mix it up and not be so predicatable. It still is an advantage, with most teams, to get to their pen by the 5th inning. I'd like to see us still be patient but just no so predictable, especially on first pitches right down the middle.

That's good news on the medication thing. I know I've sounded like a Holt basher, but I'd love for him to regain his skill level and be part of our team. I still do not like his fielding ability at any one position enough for me to be his biggest fan, but he can be a big value, if he can hit over .700 again. I'm guessing he might get traded, if he shows he can hit again. He's an excellent base-runner, too, I might add.

I said "may" in my original post.

I hear the O's put him through a rigorous physical, not that it prevents future injuries.

This doesn't sound like the same Bogey some here describe as unable to adjust... If you feel like Xander Bogaerts has been something like 10 different hitters since making his debut for the Sox back in 2013, you're not wrong. He's been all over the place in terms of his approach, but I tend to think (with perhaps a bit of a rose-colored view) that it's actually indicative of an ability to adjust to big-league pitching. If the Bogaerts who showed up in Boston five years ago had stuck to his guns, he'd probably be sitting at home trying to find another career right now. Anyway, Bogaerts knows how to adjust, which is good because he'll need to in 2018. He's a good example of the kind of player who's patient but actually doesn't really have much plate discipline. He swings as often at bad pitches as he swings at good ones, and that means that getting deep in the count doesn't do him much good -- he's as likely to roll over on a pitch off the plate as he is to force the pitcher into giving him something he can drive, like (for example) Trea Turner, above, can. Bogaerts is still a really good player, because his basic skills profile is so very strong, but with a few tweaks he could be much better. Isn't it cruel how baseball asks that of you?