Hugh2

Exactly this

There are pros and cons to going to a 6 man, taxing the bullpen is one of them. You might have more flexibility though, with guys coming back and depth, that is debateable. Fatigue doesn't go away, you don't push through it. If you've been up for 24 hours and our tired, you don't get less tired by just sticking it out and staying up even longer, you just get more tired. At the end of the day......it's going to get worse if they don't get some rest. I'm not sure if it's them not being more than 120 inning guys or just having a higher work load, I think most pitchers would experience some kind of fatigue once they start pushing past their limits. Tanner has barely ever pitched above 100 innings. Must guys aren't going to go past 100 to 180 innings AND then go deep in the playoffs. With the playoffs you're doubling their load. I'll be more concerned if he's gassing out around 130-150 innings next year, rather than this year. But getting more rest should reverse the symptoms

Both Kutter and Tanner are obviously gassed. I don't know why they're not either going to a 6 man, or giving each one a skip in the rotation at this point. If they have serious playoff ambitions this is essential. It's only going to get worse, as the season has two months left. I think 6 man goes a long way

This was our top ten at the deadline in 2022. Tristan Casas Marcelo Mayer Bryan Bello Nick Yorke Brandon Walter Bryan Mata Miguel Bleis Ceddanne Rafaela Josh Winckoswski Chris Murphy If they really wanted to, they could had any starting pitcher on the market if they went to a team and said "take any 3 (or4) from that group you want" Weak farm system doesn't mean no farm system. And even weakened farm systems can still have a few blue chip prospects at the top.

You know, I get why people always say "the Red Sox won't spend the money on big time free agent starters" Well...... Isn't there just as much evidence in recent years that they won't spend the prospect capital on trading for them either? I think most of us would be happy with either avenue if they could just bring in top tier talent.

Give me Burnes or give me death

I agree, he never should of been compared to those players. I think comparisons are unfair to begin with all around. Right now he's a .704 OPS player, yes he's hot, but he's going to have cold streaks too. I'm not sure he can even be a .750 guy, I'd take .700 all day with his defense though.

I'd also argue the difference between 3-5% is great. Even at 5% you can't find many players with plus offense. But even the guys who had decent numbers on your list did so on down years. Andre Dawsons 3.2% came at his age 39 season and is below his career 5.5% which isn't great either. Beltre career bb% was about 7%, more than twice Ceddanne's and he did so with a 14.3% K rate, while Rafaela does so striking out 25% of the time. If Rafaela could even get his number up to 5% and develop plus power he could be the exception. I just don't see 40 homeruns in him. He's fine, theres' nothing wrong with who he is, he's just not going to be that elite player. Unless his approach drastically changes. And changing your approach at the plate is one of the hardest things to do in all of baseball. people improve their defense, they change their swing and grow into more power, they add pitches, they learn to hit a breaking ball.....but learning to not chase and be patient at the plate is a rarity. Changing an approach might be one of the hardest things to do in baseball.

I don't disagree with this statement, but I'd add that HOW you add to the starting pitching is about timing. You can buy it, trade for it, and develop it. I certainly have no problem doing all three, but for example, if we were the Chicago White Sox right now the last thing I'd ever want to do is trade for front line starting pitching.....at that point I'd want to invest in developing it. Sox seem to be on the up, my hope is they do a little bit of the other two, trade for a guy and sign a guy. Fried or Burnes would look awfully good in Red next year.

When I got divorced, I hit the gym. About 6 months in and 30 lbs down I suffered a back injury and herniated a disc in my back. It caused me to re-evaulate and completely overhaul how I train my core. 1 year later not only was a fully healed but I was back in the gym, stronger than ever, and literally deadlfting DOUBLE the weight I threw my back out on with no problem. Casas strikes me as the type of guy to learn from his mistakes, and to tweak his routines accordingly. He strikes me as the type of guy to do the research, and listen to the athletic trainers on what to do to strengthen up the area where things went wrong. It's also sort of a "freakish" injury as well. You can't prevent all injuries, I'd wager that he never suffers this injury again from swinging a bat.

A good player? At the plate, at least he makes contact, and despite his deficiencies, he seems to have the ability to make a clutch hit here and there. He will add most of his value on defense, and that’s great. He’s a fine player, but he certainly ain’t no Duran or Devers. Those guys never even came close to a 2% walk rate in the majors.

23rd in BB/K which is pretty much last 20th in OBP 15th in wRC+ Ceddanne is a nice player, could win a GG in center, and easily can be stashed in the 9 hole on a team that is hitting overall. But he will never be more than he is now if he can't learn an approach at the plate.

Ceddanne has a much higher OBP in the second half, but with lower walk rate. Barely 2%. It's because hes dropping hits and getting hit.

Not sure how much of a chance he really has, but his lagging Fwar is lacking (or at least partially) due to his early struggles at SS. Which, he was there for necessity and probably better than other options they had at the time. Kind of unfair to him but it is what it is.

Best two Soxprospects podcast. Baseball isn't boring.

Fair

No, those were the injuries that occurred in 2023 that started this all, when Mookie Betts played right field but also started over 70 games in the infield (mostly 2nd at the time). This is when he started to move back to the infield, NOT this year. It Lux being injured and not having an arm that moved him to SS for 2024.

The injuries were Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor, and Gavin Lux. All guys LA was trying to plug in up the middle. Kind of the same situation here, not because of injury, but because of need. Still, if the Sox are plugging Duran in the infield in 2025 then it's because EVERYTHING went right in the outfield with Rafaela/Anthony/Abreu/REF ++++ and EVERYTHING went wrong in the infield with Mayer/Story/Campbell. Again, I don't think this is very realistic at all, certainly not likely, call it a slow day point of contention. But yet I still have this feeling like someone is about to come in here and tell us about how the facts are indisputable any second.

Yes, I listen to all the soxprospects stuff as well, there's a reason why those guys STILL have him ranked ahead of his brother. If all he was, was a bat that would not be the case. yes, there's a risk he can move off the position, and his athleticism will have to be kept in check, but you act like it is a certainty or very likely. Or at least, that's the impression I'm getting, maybe that is not your stance, in which case I apologise. And if that is the case.....I REALLY hope he can hit.

I don't think he looks like someone who can't catch, looks about as athletic as most MLB catchers. Doesn't mean he can't grow out of that body, we just don't know, but I think Garcia has tremendous upside. And he was starting to get serious hellium right before he got hurt.

I pretty much agree, people probably would have called us crazy around here if we suggested Mookie move back to the infield.

I feel like it might be a crime against humanity for suggesting this but......Duran was a second baseman by trade. That certainly wouldn't be my 1st, or even second choice. But if EVERYTHING broke right and you wanted to get all these guys in the lineup, then one has to assume there is a great than zero percent chance of that happening. And yes..... .01 is still greater than 0

It's going to be someone on the 40 man. Chris Martin should be back any day now, The Toronto series is still almost 3 weeks away and theres' a very good chance that Slaten will be back by then too. Aside from that you have: Keller Weissert Horn Down in AAA before Priester. Priester strikes me as the type of guy they want to work on down there, and aren't counting on but at the same time if it clicks he could find himself back in the bigs quickly. But he certainly ain't that guy right now.

https://sittingstill.smugmug.com/keyword/johanfran%20garcia/i-VJ264Sx

If Anthony is going to platoon and not play full time then he has more value right now as a trade chip for some pitching. Something gives, They're not sitting Anthony unless something horrible goes wrong. These things work themselves out, someone will regress, get hurt, move position, or just get traded.