notin

The Yankees .201 team batting average is eye-opening, too. Last year, this team was one Volpe HR away from having a lineup where all nine starters hit 20hrs…

Anthony LF Yoshida DH Abreu RF Contreras 1b Story 2b Mayer 3b Rafaela CF Cheng SS Narvaez C There you go…

F for May/Tibbs. Everything else I’m fine with to varying degrees. Is there an “F-“ grade I can switch May/Tibbs to?

Thats because if you squint, his name looks like “Lefty”…

The Sox .646 OPS is a frightening .002 behind the Yankees (.648)…

Did Leahy get replaced as the starter?

New SP? Kyle Leahy throws right-handed. Is he not starting now?

And then returned to the top 3 spots in the lineup? WTF?

Some people will tell you the reason he didn’t ask Devers to play first is Cora think Devers could handle it. And will insist this was the case even after Devers played first base without incident multiple times in San Fran. I agree with you. Cora is a weak Player Pleaser who doesn’t really ever try to get his best defensive lineup on the field…

What does Abreu have to do to get moved up in the lineup? And what does Duran have to do to get benched? Or at least moved down?

You’re upset with Connor Wong for not making significant deadline trades?

If you go by StatCast, Duran should move to the bench and Yoshida should start and bat very high in the lineup…

But how many felt is moot. The Sox brought in an experienced albeit possibly worn out MLB relief pitcher. And it paid off. This year? Ryan Watson was a Rule 5 pick. Hardly the same level of attention…

You did say it would be a “disaster” to send him down, as he was replacing Bregman. Disaster was your exact word. Now, I did make some assumptions. For example, I assumed “disaster” was meant to be negative. I also assumed you didn’t mean it would be a disaster to lose his .314 OPS from an underproducing lineup, and instead that you meant it would be a PR disaster. Why? He HAS A .314 OPS! The real PR disaster is leaving him in the lineup as the Sox struggle offensively and do have other internal options that actually are producing. I think many fans might not mind if he get demoted for a while. Oh, another PR disaster would be doing nothing and hoping things change. It’s actually a pretty likely course at this stage of the season. But it’s not a popular one…

He brought in Chapman last season. That’s not neglect. This year it was Ryan Watson and a couple guys as the clock was striking midnight…

Duran is 4 for his last 32 and hasn’t had a multi-hit game since opening day. He’s clearing up the OF logjam in the worst possible way…

Hardly. First, they’re not DFAing/releasing/trading Durbin. He will still be with the organization. Second, name any underperforming player the Sox replaced and it was viewed negatively. Cheng was brought in to be depth. Well, taking over as makeshift replacements for struggling players is one of the purposes of depth…

If that was Breslow’s plan, he forgot about the bullpen…

Absolutely true. But changes that can be undone are not really panic moves. Durbin has options. Cheng is on the 40 man. No DFA required. It’s really not very different than a benching…

We need a Polar-to-Fenway conversion formula….

Tsing-Che Cheng has a 1.346 OPS in Worcester after posting a 1.238 OPS in the WBC. Not sure what that translates to in MLB, but if it’s a number greater than .314, he’s an option over Durbin. Cheng might also be the best defensive infielder in both Boston and Worcester, which one might think should help his case. Demote Durbin and promote Cheng?

The one exception has to be 2018, where the Sox started out 16-3…

We don’t know what either team considered. It seems like Boston was paying him to be a player and not a leader, otherwise they could have played him at 2b, kept Devers at 3b, and avoided a lot of discord. But Breslow clearly valued certain baseball skills, and normally Bregman shows them. I do think it’s difficult for Bregman to establish himself as a leader when he is still being booed as a cheater in many stadiums. There is a reason I NEVER bring up leadership aspects of a player - I have no idea what they are, or even if they exist outside of Alex Speier articles. To say it can’t be quantified is an understatement. And if it can’t even be quantified, how can it possibly be prioritized? As for Refsnyder, he’s a role player making role player money. He got $6mill, roughly the same as Boston paid IKF. That’s actually becoming fairly common Experienced Bench Player money these days. Is leadership just another made up reason to create a clueless false persona on Sox management? Seattle paid career minor leaguer/bench bat Rob Refsnyder, who has 15 more at bats than me and the same number of hits, $6mill, which is being justified by his leadership. Boston paid the same money to a light-hitting Gold Glover capable of playing 7 positions and been a starter in 3 different teams, but as no one has praised his leadership, he is left to be judged and disparaged for an offensive skillset he was never signed for…

Luster has worn off early? 13 games into the season? Wow. Somewhere Kristian Campbell is thinking “damn they gave up on him fast.” Not every player hits the ground running. Jordan Walker, who started the winning rally last night, is finally hitting in his FOURTH MLB SEASON. He also doesn’t turn 24 until next month. But St. Louis stood by him through the growing pains, and it looks like it might start paying off…

Can you quantify clubhouse leadership? How important is it and how did Bregman exemplify it? And isn’t it Alex Cora’s job to lead the clubhouse? ”But he was a clubhouse leader…”. What’s that mean? Next will we discuss how he altered “team chemistry”?