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devildavid

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Everything posted by devildavid

  1. devildavid
    Porcello is the one for me. I really didn't think he had this in him. Very happily surprised.
  2. devildavid
    Even though I came from BDC my natural reticence and shyness makes me very cautious about starting a new thread. BDC tended to churn out more threads than could be digested without a bad case of dyspepsia. I do appreciate a well moderated forum and agree with the philosopy here. I do like to express my opinion and very often I find myself in the minority. But I don't feel in any way restrained to do so here.
  3. devildavid
    Thanks for noticing the problem with Mookie. Not worried one bit about Xander's lack of power. He is hitting great and has worked hard to become a good fielder. He is a complete player.
  4. devildavid
    I would argue that you have to look at in game management in the aggregate, and not just pick out single instances of what you perceive as bad decisions. Over the course of a season, in game decisions will always fluctuate. Sometimes good decisions are made in losses and bad decisions in wins. Long term strategy and in game decisions are inextricably linked together. Sometimes you need to rest a starting player and use a bench player for the long term benefit of team performance.
  5. devildavid
    It is if you want a realistic, objective evaluation of Farrell.
  6. devildavid
    Maybe micro-dissected.
  7. devildavid
    And this just demonstrates how difficult it really is to judge in game moves. Sometimes what we judge as wrong does no harm and what we judge as right does not succeed. For me, baseball is not a highly strategic sport. One bad pitch can lose a game, and the manager has as much chance of predicting it as we do. He does not have as much control over the results as some like to believe. His strategic approach has to combine the long term with the short term as far as utilization of his players. Unless he has a lot of input in the makeup of his roster, this can be difficult to do. Farrell is no Earl Weaver, but he is not a complete buffoon.
  8. devildavid
    Are you talking about pinch hitting with Sandoval? In the one loss to Cleveland, Chris Young had a pinch hit double and scored a run. So that decision was a good one.
  9. devildavid
    I have to go with Rick Porcello. He has been shockingly good. I have been critical of him and really had low expectations based on his track record. But he has been outstanding, performing above and beyond what I would have imagined.
  10. devildavid
    Even though I ultimately want to get rid of Buchholz, I think we have to make the best of it for this season. I'm hoping he will get into a groove and pitch some games commensurate with his talent level. He does have great stuff, but he is physically fragile and mentally he doesn't seem to have that edge to put him into the next level. He is a skilled craftsman, but not an artist.
  11. devildavid
    JD Drew was the Sox equivalent of the Yankees Roy White in the 1970' s but without White's durability. A good solid player. I will admit it, I always liked Roy White. Drew's main weakness was his inability to stay on the field.
  12. devildavid
    Maybe I was the lone Farrell supporter. I have never advocated firing him. It is rare to find a manager that I don't question some of his individual in game moves. But I see the job of manager as more of a big picture job, and I don't have any evidence that Farrell is terrible at the broad approach to the job. Bobby Valentine was one I saw as a terrible big picture manager and a terrible fit for the Red Sox.
  13. devildavid
    I'm not overly concerned about Price yet. He has a long track record of starting out slow for the first month. He normally warms up as the weather does.
  14. devildavid
    He can breathe just as well from any spot in the batting order. I'm not concluding anything about Mookie's ability or potential. I'm just questioning his current utilization and how it potentially affects team performance.
  15. devildavid
    Yes, I know. 114 plate appearances, about 1/6 of what he will have in total for the season. Should we wait for 125 more as in 2015? At that point last season his OBP was .304.
  16. devildavid
    That's good. That means it's not too late for Farrell to make changes in time to improve future results.
  17. devildavid
    A .342 career OBP is not a great one for a leadoff hitter. And while 24 games is a small sample, the manager also has to make adjustments for this season's results. Mookie does not have a long track record and it remains to be seen what kind of player he becomes. Right now he doesn't seem adept at drawing walks and he strikes out quite frequently. These are not good attributes for a leadoff hitter. It has been suggested that he may be better utilized at a different spot in the batting order. It is something to consider.
  18. devildavid
    I remain a Hanley skeptic, mainly because of his recent injury history. At this point in his career Hanley is a good, but not great, offensive player. He will probably never again be the hitter he was in his prime. I think he will be a decent first basemen, not a Youk but better than a Millar. I felt the Sox should not have signed him, especially at the price and number of years he got. He would have been a better risk at a short term deal. He still doesn't really fit in on this team, but at least he fits better at 1B than LF.
  19. devildavid
    I think it is part of Farrell's managerial philosophy to be overly aggressive on the bases. I prefer a manger who does not try to make things happen at the risk of making an out.
  20. devildavid
    In general I agree with you, However, even I have been annoyed in the past by the likes of Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan. It's the ones who can't stop saying a whole lot of nothing that bother me. Otherwise, I kind of zone them out and do my own analysis of the game, just as I do when I'm at Fenway.
  21. devildavid
    After last night's game Jerry Remy echoed what I said about Ortiz retiring. Even though we would all love to be baseball stars, there comes a point when even a great star like Ortiz knows it is time to hang 'em up and move on. On Friday I went to a retirement party for a co-worker and she used one simple line to explain her decision to retire: "I'm tired". But she is a very active, athletic, fun-loving person who I'm sure could have worked for many more years. You just get to that point in life when it's time for a new chapter.
  22. devildavid
    My only philosophy regarding batting order is to give the most plate appearances to your best hitters. Your best hitters are those who get on base most frequently. So I have to question why Mookie Betts is the leadoff batter. Yes, I know he has some numbers that "prove" what a productive hitter he is. But why do you give a batter with a .298 OBP the most plate appearances? That is last on the team for all those with 90 or more plate appearances.
  23. devildavid
    My main issue with Farrell is that he encourages over-aggressiveness on the bases.
  24. devildavid
    Clay Buchholz started 3 of the 6 losses when Young started.
  25. devildavid
    I think Papi is not ever coming back under any circumstances. I think he's gotten to the point where the physical and mental grind is greater than the fun he gets from playing. He has had the heel problem for a while and runs gingerly at times. I think he figured it was time to walk away from the game while he can literally do it relatively pain-free.
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