moonslav59

I agree, and think of it this way: if we hadn't extended him, I think many would be saying his offense still has upside promise and that his defense looks A1. I'm not sure how long a leash he gets on his offense, but he doesn't start making more than $2.3M until 2027. For all we know, he may not be around, then (gone or traded,) but he has a lot of time to bring up his offense to match his pay.

Our current wRC+ leaders: 167 Refsnyder- still want Abreu playing vs LHPs? 165 Bregman- the notorious "slow starter" 154 Campbell- living up to the hype 148 Abreu- has yet to start vs a lefty 116 Romy- looks like a full blown 1B platoon 111 Devers- creeping up the rankings 108 Duran- didn't take long to get plus side 107 Story- trending downwards, but streaky 80 Rafela- we got nobody between 81-106 77 Narvaez- his defense has been worth the blackhole on O 60 Casas- needs to show he belongs -12 Sabol, -19 Wong and -27 DHam ___________________ Does Campbell's .412 OBP warrant a look at the 2 slot? ___________________ How about the two platoon guys? .967 Refsnyder and .902 Abreu ____________________ Whodathunk our two lowest ERA- guys would be: 184 Houck 104 Buehler ______________ Whodathunk our deep depth would be doing better: 60 Dobbins, 77 Fitts and Newcomb at 103.

There is no real urgent need to dump Yoshida, until we reach a 40 man roster crunch, since he has options remaining and can be parked in AAA playing DH & LF. We may also be able to put Crawford on the retro 60 day IL, if we really need a roster slot. We also have a couple pretty easy DFA guys before needing to find a taker for Yoshida, if there is one. Trust me, I'm all for the idea of finding a taker for Yoshida and am willing to pay a big chunk of his deal to do so, with little or nothing expected in return. I can't see us ever really needing Yoshida, even if Devers gets hurt. I don't see a big drop off from Yoshida to a Grissom-Refsnyder platoon or by promoting Anthony and or Mayer and having some sort of timeshare at DH. To me, Casas should be a DH, too, but who plays 1B? (I've suggested Devers, but I don't see us moving some current IF'er or OF'er to 1B.)

LOL. Want stats, well I'll choose one of MVP's faves: fWAR: 1.3 Crochet (6 GS) 0.7 Newcomb (5 GS & 1 RP) 0.3 Buehler (6 GS) & Dobbins (2 GS) 0.2 Fitts (3 GS) -0.1 Houck (6GS) & Bello (2 GS) Another stat he likes is FIP: 2.24 Crochet, 2.58 Newcomb, 3.05 Dobbins, 3.93 Fitts, 4.24 Buehler, 5.48 Houck, 6.21 Bello. Gio isn't the only SP'er that may find it hard to match or improve on our #9 slot to #11 slot SP'ers.

Agreed. I was thinking more about the combined efforts of our fill-in starters.

I can't say I'm not concerned about the past 80 or so games played by Devers, but of all the Sox batters, he is not even close to the top of my concern list. The guy was hurt, last year and tried to play through it. I admire the effort, but his stats suffered, as did the team around him. I have my doubts that the slow start to 2025 is part of the same issue(s.) Maybe the injury is lingering, even if just in his head. Maybe the move to DH affected his attitude or approach, but that is not connected to his end of 2025 reasons for struggling. Maybe it's just a little extended slow start, which we've seen in many of his recent 5-6 years. Maybe some combination of reasons is the answer, or maybe it's none of these things and there is no discernable reason to be found. He's still leading the team in hard hit balls and is walking way more than ever. Maybe it's just bad luck and pitchers pitching around him. Sox leaders in hard hit% 48% Devers 38 Abreu 35 Story 34 Bregman It's not really close. His highest hard hit% in his career is 41% in '23. It's 48%, now, and some seem to be insisting there is a problem and wanting to demote him in the line-up, which implies they think his, so called struggle are and will be continuing.

Great news! So, with Arias going to GRE, it looks like Zanetello will be finding a new position. Clarke will easily take Mullins rotation slot at GRE, but who gets bumped from the AA rotation to make room for Mullins? With the pending Gio promotion, maybe someone gets a bump up to Woo. Early, Uberstine or Sandlin might be considered.

Yes. Why would that matter? We don't know if the two struggling time frames are based on the same cause(s.) They may- they may not. You seem to think they are- fine. It still doesn't mean this is going to be who he is going forward.

It's still arbitrary and of no more significance than a 60, 100, 160 sample size. It just happens to show his worst possible numbers, and that is why you chose it. If his struggles began 60 games ago, you'd be using that. Again, maybe last year,s post ASB woes are related to this year's slow start- maybe not. Maybe he has already began to come out of it- maybe not.

Isn't arbitrarily picking post ASB spinning, too?

They are also eerily similar to other recent April struggles.

...and WAR penalizes DHs.

We've gone over this, several times. I'm not sure his normal slow start is an extension of the issues to end 2024, ot not. You seem sure it is and seem to think this is who he is, now. Would you still demote him in the line-up?

" ...Raffy playing 3B as bad as he did wasn’t the Reason the Red Sox have been a 500, or below club the past 3 years, nor was it why the club didn’t make the postseason. " Am I missing an alternative meaning?

I point out weaknesses of our team, much like you and others do. I suggest possibole changes to minimize those weak areas. Shoot me.

Pointing out how small sample sizes can change o a dime is not "giddiness." Once again, you misread the room. I'm glad we did not demote him, when you wanted to. Your claim that your idea was justified further highlights you inability to admit you were MAYBE wrong. I say "maybe," because Devers could go 1 for 30 and one could claim you were right. I'm not claiming I was right or you were wrong. I was just pointing out how small sample sizes should not be used to make major changes, and how just a few good games or one huge game can turn the numbers into or near respectability. Read into this anything else you wish. I'm not giddy or saying you and others were wrong, but man, you are sure quick to point out when others are wrong. I guess that's why you assume that is what others are doing.

So, because his horrific defense, alone, was not the reason we were under .500, there was no need to try to improve a significant weakness on the team. Great philosophy.... NOT!

Walks are part of OBP and OPS, and it always has been. His OPS is on the rise, and hopefully he keeps it going. Many players with decent or good numbers have them pumped up based on just a few big games. Nobody is proclaiming Devers is back to being Devers or that his struggles are over. I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand how small sample sizes work. I'm not claiming he's back due to a big game or two. If I was, I'd be guilty of what you and others were doing when you were hyper critical of Devers. Some wanted him benched. Some demoted in the line-up. I merely pointed out how quickly things can change, and I'm glad, for now, we didn't bench him.

Again, you are arguing about a point I never made. You are good at that. My point was that posters were making rash suggestions, like demoting in the line-up or even benching Devers, based on a tiny sample size that can change on a dime. I never came close to saying "Devers is back" or that he won't go right back into a funk. Who knows? Do you still want him demoted in the line-up?

The "foreseeable future," if that was the term used, ended when the guy who said it was replaced. He signed the deal in January 2023, so he got too play too more years at 3B that he should have.

Dobbins, Fitts (before going on the IL himself) and Newcomb have done a decent job, so it's hard ti imagine Gio doing much better. It may also be hard to imagine our 9-11 slotted SP'ers continuing as they have been, too.

Like last season, we are allowing way too many unearned runs: 20 COL 19 BOS & OAK The Astros have allowed 3 Unearned runs all year.

The much criticized offense is now 4th in runs scored, although we've played more games than several teams. We are 3rd in Total Bases and 1st in 2Bs. We are 6th in team OPS (3rd in the AL to NYY & SEA.) 9th in HRs and 6th in SBs. We are second in Ks.

Lots of runs scored against Woo, today. They lost game one 6-5. Wong played and went 2-4. Mayer went 1-4 w 2 rbi. Grissom 1-3 w BB. They are losing game two 20-11 in the last inning. Kelly was the opener and allowed 8 runs while getting just one out. Mayer homered, doubled & walked and had 4 rbi. Grissom 2-4 w BB but had 3 errors (5 on the season.) Eaton is 4-5 w two 2Bs. Hickey had 3 hits and Toro had 2 hits. GRE won 6-1 as Tolle looked great: 4 IP 1 H 1BB 9Ks our of 12 outs. Rogers went 5 allowing 3H, 1ER, 2BB and 7 Ks. (16Ks in 9 IP total!) Bleis hit two dingers to bring his OPS up to .775. The team had 7 hits and 11 BBs! SAL won 19-1 on 13 hits and 9 BBs! Anderson went 3-5 w HR & BB. Asencio 2-5 w HR & BB, Nunez 2-5 w BB. Some stats got padded, today!

I'm not sure they made up for losing Santander on the offensive side, either.