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Everything posted by notin
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Reportedly the story was Cherington inquired and was told Donaldson was not available, so Cherington moved on to Plan B. Then Anthopoulous called and was also told Donaldson was not available and AA refused to go to his Plan B. Apparently he just kept calling Beane over and over to ask about Donaldson. At some point, Beane decided to see what Toronto had that he liked and proposed that package to AA. Why he liked Brett Lawrie will remain a mystery. ..
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Toronto wouldn't do it either. They don't need a centerfielder and Hernandez has no significant trade value. Any package for Donaldson likely starts with Devers and Groome. ..
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It was how I remembered Allen being used. But I did review his game logs from after the day Miller was acquired. After that date, all of his saves started off facing a hitter batting sixth or lower, with one exception where he came in to face the cleanup hitter. But that hitter was Jeffrey Marte, so not really a feared guy. And after him was Jeff Bandy. Conversely Miller had 3 saves and all started off facing the hitters at or near the top of the order. Francona managed differently in the post-season, because his staff was short-handed without Carrasco and Salazar. So he was using Miller a lot earlier and more often...
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Also Allen relies heavily on deception. He really cannot throw his slider for strikes and relies on hitters chasing it. Which is fine and appears to be working for him. But one day, hitters will learn to lay off it. Then what?
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I wouldn't put Allen anywhere near those names. If you look at his past one year sample, as Bellhorn did, he is good, but he's also been as effective as plenty of othet lesser names, like Dan Otero, Addison Reed, Tyler Thornburg, Mychal Givens, Matt Bush, etc. He's a good reliever, but he isn't some special commodity that enables Cleveland to operate their bullpen differently. Francona chooses to do so because he's a brilliant manager. Oakland is basically doing the same thing with Santiago Casilla facing the tougher hitters and, if there is still a save to be had, then it goes to Sean Doolittle or Ryan Madsen (lately it seems to be Doolittle). None of them would be considered elite relievers at this point in their careers, although there may have been a time you might say that about Madsen or Doolittle, but injuries have changed that. ..
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I also don't think Cody Allen is an elite reliever. ...
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I've heard those guys discuss needing to know they were starting, but not that relievers need defined roles to be effective. I would agree that SOME relievers prefer defined roles, and for a wider variety of reasons than simply bring mentally prepared. But sweeping generalizations like that are almost never universal and there are probably as many our more pitchers who simply want the ball as often as possible. ...
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I think Miller makes him look better because if the heart of the order is coming up in the ninth inning Miller pitches and Allen doesn't have to face those guys
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There was a time when using a "closer" as a ninth inning specialist was considered a revolutionary change. Were you similarly skeptical of that idea then? Way back in the 1980's?
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I've actually never heard a ballplayer say he needs to know his role to be mentally prepared. I've heard scores of fans say ballplayers do, but never a ballplayer himself. ..
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Is Cody Allen really an elite reliever? Or do people think he's one because he's a closer? Statistically, he's not much different than Josh Fields or Shawn Kelley, two guys never referred to as elite.
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This stat guy has been saying exactly that going back to BDC..
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Yrs. The role of closer is overrated. Good relief pitching is essential. Dedicating your best reliever to be a ninth inning specialist is a waste. I loved the way Francona used Miller last season - best reliever to get the best hitters.
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I do expect Vazquez to jump Leon on the depth chart at some point in the very near future. ..
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I am ok with holding Hernandez there. Why test Jason Hayward, one of the best arms in MLB, in the eighth inning of a tie game and Betts and Ramirez due up with the bases loaded and no one out? You're only looking for one run at that point and you get that even if Betts (somehow) ground into a double play. There's a time and place fir aggressive baserunning. I am not to sure that was it. ..
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Yes. But you get fewer. Every tesm does. SLG is great. But history hss shown that scoring is more dependant on OBP. Probably because it helps to have guys on base when you rap tjose XBH
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The main reason OBP correlates better to scoring is that the sheer quantity of baserunners greatly outnumbered the number of, say, home runs. Slugging is great, but if you look at the data you will see OBP is king when it comes to scoring.
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It certainly can. If DPs give the team fewer plate appearances, it could have a slight benefit. It won't be as large as the effect on team batting average. .
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No. Chicago. Grew up in Worcester.
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One of the biggest issues with team batting average as a stat is that it is helped by hitting into double plays. After a while those 1 for 3 innings instead of 1 for 4 innings.start adding up...
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Not really true, as several teams. But rather than name examples, one simple question. If the Sox used Kimbrel to get the toughest outs on the other team rather than as a ninth inning specialist, like how the Guardians use Miller or the A's use Casilla, are the Sox a better team, worse team or the same?
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Little undervalued his pen, although he did have a few season long reasons to justify it. Its also possible he was fired for not being Theo's guy. Joe Maddon overused Chapman last year in the post-season and it nearly cost the Cubs the World Series. Think he would have been fired in that case?
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Yes and no. He went all-in on Chapman, but when your team hasn't won a title since Teddy Roosevelt was president, I can understand the urgency factor. As for Davis, did he really give up that much?
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Another possibility is that the Sox have only played 20 games. Those numbers could easily change in one week. But the overall picture should be wins, not runs. Are the Sox winning or not? And throughout the entire month of April, the only team the Sox have played that is more than 1 game below .500 is Toronto, and they might be the biggest underachievers the first month of the season...
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I don't believe in curses but I at least have a definition. ..
