moonslav59

It does seem like it is as simple as that.

So, I asked this question before the season started, with the intention of pointing out how our homegrown pitchers may not be as bad as the best of those who came up in the previous decade. Bello, Houck, Crawford (I guess we could count Whitlock, Wink & Slaten, as they were prospects when acquired.) The best from who came up from 2014 to 2023, not counting who is here, now: ERod (if we count Whitlock, Slaten & Wink, he counts, too.) Barnes Workman Kopech Who am I missing? Have we greatly improved? Has your opinion changed much since Mid March 2024?

Sox are now 1 GB in the loss column to the"mighty" Yanks. 2.5 up on TOR and 3.5 up on the Rays. We are tied with DET at 17-13 for the 6th best AL record (-0.5 from KCR) We are on a pace of 92 wins over 162 games as we near the 1/5th mark of the season. Some games are still in progress, but we lead MLB in team ERA: 2.59 BOS 3.00 SEA 3.06 NYY 3.19 DET 3.21 KCR We are 3rd in K/BB at 3.52 and WHIP at 1.11. We are 8th in team OPS at .739 but just .001 from 2 teams at .740 (PHI & NYY) We are 4th in HRs at 36. We are 11th in Runs (7 behind 6th place and 8th behind 5th)

Woo beat the snot out of the Iron Pigs. They had 13 hits and 5 walks. Simas homered. Meidroth 1-3 w 2BB Kavadas 2-4 w two 2Bs Fitts 6IP 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2BB & 7 Ks. Gutierrez did not do too well (3H and 5 BB in 3 IP) POR won 9-3 Penrod went 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2BB, 7 K Mayer 1-5 w 2B Anthony 0-4 w BB Teel 1-4 w 2 RBI Paulino 2-4 w 3 RBI Jordan 1-3 w 2BB GRE won 12-7 The 1-2-3 slot Cs all homered: 1-3 Coffey 2-5 Campbell w BB 2-4 Castro w 2B Rosario & Ugueto each had 3 hits

Pivetta was kinda established (as a bad SP'er.)

For some reason, I thought you said Criswell, jokingly. My bad. My eyes are failing me. I doubt we end up being impressed by Cooper as the season goes on, but he should be better than Dalbec.

Got caught up late, tonight. Loved this game. Group effort. We've now been through the 5 man rotation 6 times. 30 GS or opened and really just 2 bad starts. That is astounding.

LOL. I wonder what his FIP was for this stinker.

It's early, but I do think these guys know what their doing. (I'm sure they use a lot of metrics and their own data to determine what to do.) I will say, I love watching baseball for the fun of it. I'm not thinking of numbers and metrics while enjoying the games on TV and occasionally live, here in Houston. I do enjoy stats and metrics, and probably way more than "traditional fans," but I loved playing the game and realize much of what the game is about has nothing to do with numbers. Winning is certainly a big part of the level of enjoyment, but also just playing the game the right way and giving it your all is enough to help me through losing periods. Watching a losing team that is fundamentally unsound can be very difficult, but I try to focus on the few good players to get the enjoyment I need. I have enjoyed this season, despite the lack of noticeable improvement on D. Some base-running blunders were painful to watch, too, but there are a lot of subplots going on with these players to bring enough interest and excitement for my viewing needs. I hope that doesn't change, but Cora, Brez and Bailey seem to be very good at holding this together..

We've also signed many Japanese pitchers to hefty deals and fees, but that is not really prospects. We have spent way more on everyday players, but to me, they are often the "best player available," like you said, and that strategy is not a bad one.

I'm pretty sure mental notes are taken every time a DP that should have been was not. Team's probably have data entries on that as well. They also must note plays not made that should have been, even if it's not called an error.

Ref starting vs a RHPs is interesting. Batting 5th is surprising, but when you look at 6 through 9, maybe not so much.

I don't bet anymore, but I'd bet we draft a position player, first. Maybe we draft someone who will take less money, round one, so we can draft and sign pitchers in later rounds, but that would be viewed as skimpy on pitching, again, by some. How good are our international scouts and draft decision makers on pitching? I'm not so sure just signing more will translate to better system pitching. Over 100K bonuses 2024: Chansol Lee, Adam Bates, Jesus Garcia 2023: Willian Colmenares 2022: J. Paez (shows some promise & ranked 48th), Alvaro Mejias, JC Reyes, Angel Lopez, Y Burnet 2019: CJ Liu, N Cruz, C Ruiz, F Hernandez (Wikelman was one from 2018)

Whatever happened to the "Zone" metric on fangraphs? I really liked UZR/150, at first, but it does seem to have gone off the path, a bit. Maybe a combination of DRA ranking and OAA ranking might be the best we can come up with.

I was going by fangraphs hard hit% and Line Drive %, which both are better in 2024.

LOL. You brought up the SSS point, first. BTW, I did say, "it's hard to know, if this has all been luck. (I think some has been, if not most.)" I know it's a small sample size for 2024, but my point was it may not be all about luck, since batters are not hitting the ball as hard as they did prior to this year. Do you think that matters, or not? SSS or not.

We are talking about getting good glove subs over questionable good bat subs. We are not saying the 2024 team should be compared to 2004's team. The 2004 team made a huge midseason trade to improve SS and 1B defense. It worked. I don't think we win with Nomar at SS.

They have an extensive tunnel system under downtown, so workers can walk to restaurants or whatever, without going outside.

You mean the 37 IP career sample size before 2024? His whole MLB career is a SSS. His ERA is way better than pre-2024, his FIP is slightly better and his line drive and hard hit rates are significantly lower, all in SSSs. I'm not sure why the FIP numbers have more meaning.

Here in Sugar Land, TX, it's already too hot for horseshoes- most days.

Casas isn't here- Cooper is. He has somewhat noticeable splits and could possibly be platooned or partially platooned at 1B with Kavadas. Career: .757 v RHPs (.666 in '23) .813 v LHPs (.904 in '23) I'm not saying I'm convinced he'd be an upgrade over Dalbec at 1B, and he can't back up Devers at 3B, so maybe it's not a good idea, but Kavadas would bring some selected value to the 26, if he can hit RHP'er better.

I would think there would be, so players get paid at MLB rates, even if just for a short time, and not MiLB rates.

Yes. Agreed. I hope doesn't rush himself too much and have a setback.

soxprospects.com says this... (They rank him 14th) Hit: Starts slightly open with his hands high. Very brief leg lift and short stride. Simple swing mechanics. Short swing that is fluid and direct to the ball. Keeps the barrel in the zone a long time. Makes a lot of contact and has an advanced approach with solid pitch recognition. Works counts, does not miss a lot of pitches in the zone, and does not swing at bad pitches. Has had some struggles against advanced breaking balls and against velocity up in the zone. Potential average hit tool. Power: Below-average power potential. Not a major part of his game. Swing is designed for line drives in the gap. Produces fringy exit velocities that do not lend to considerable over-the-fence power. Run: Below-average speed. Solid instincts, but not the most fluid runner. Has the type of body that could cause him to get slower as he matures. Field: Soft hands, fluid actions. Average range, comfortable charging the ball. Profiles best at second base at higher levels, but has seen some time at third base and shortstop. Arm: Fringe-average arm strength. Profiles best at second base long-term, but could pass at third base in a pinch.

That would be something interesting. No way should we rush him back. We need to salvage some value in 2025.