Hugh2

Silly thread? Well now my feelings are just hurt.

Precisely

I kind of answer his question above. The STATS ARE THE SAME!!!! haha. 2X2=4 2+2=4

Performing on par when someone else folds equals the same exact results. For example. Lets say player A is not clutch, but not not clutch either (we are going by believers in clutch in it's non-reverse clutch permutation here, I hope I haven't lost you). Player A is batting while Pitcher X throws a meatball to him. Pitcher X is anxious and folds under pressure. He serves up a meatball to Player A, player A hits it out of the park. Was player A clutch? or did pitcher X fold? It's like 2X2 = 4, but 2+2 = 4 as well. You get the same results, but it's two completely different formulas. We see this play out in real-time. There's no factor that allows a guy to reach into his physiology more than other people. A pitcher reaching back and adding 2-3 MPH to his fastball is not an uncommon trait, but we see some guys lose their control while they do it and others are able to keep it. IT'S MENTAL. It's all about mental acuity. Clutch players are able to maintain their composure while others are not. If you're able to do that, and lets say 25% of pitchers can not, without ANY uptick in skill level ALL of your stats are going to be beefed up. That's pretty straightforward, just like 2X2=4, or 1 2 3 as some would say. When I competed as a pro athlete, I found this to be very real. Some guys let the adrenaline get to them and it's actually overusing your strength and trying to do more that leads to less. It's the guys who are able to control their emotions that outperform. And while I do believe some human beings have a pre-disposition to control their emotions it's also a teachable skill. The more experience you have, the better you can become at controlling those emotions. Clutch, is emotions, it's the ability to control them and not let your anxiety lead you to underperform in a tight situation. It's all about Mental acuity. So yes, I do believe in clutch. Clutch is very real. I just see it as 2X2 = 4 where others are saying 2+2 = 4.

Reverse clutch is the only real clutch. Facts of life my friends.

Should Yoshida be benched? If Casas starts performing how he is advertised to be should he be benched? What if DUvall comes back healthy? Maybe DUvall is the guy who is benched because he offers more postional flexibility than those guys so you can more creative to get him at bats.

If I have to choose, it's Duval in LF, Duran in CF, Verdugo RF, Casas 1B, Yoshida DH, Story SS, Kike at 2nd. If everyone is healthy I don't want Kike touching SS. Are guys going to be rotated and platooned? yes. But those are my "all things being equal" everyone is healthy, and assuming Casas figures it out lineup. Switch out Turner for Casas if Casas never figures it out.

Sox are still in 4th place, but now have the 9th best record in baseball. They would be 1st in the AL central 2nd in the AL West 1 game out of 1st. 2nd in the NL East 3rd in the NL Central 1 game out from 2nd 2nd in the NL West 1 game out of 1st As of today we are in the playoffs.

Well it looks like he tweaked his knee so.......more like I stayed at a Motel 6 last night.

Exactly. As someone who has competed as a professional athlete (many moons ago and not baseball) I find this to be true. People who let their adrenaline get to them make mistakes, tire out quickly, and often get sloppy. Id' say anyone who says differently has never competed competitively on a pro level of anything before. Having the ability to muster up some extra "strength" or "adrenaline" alone is not an uncommon skill and alone does NOT make you a better player, as a matter of fact, it can make you a worse player. Example. We've all seen a pitcher who can reach back and add an extra 2-4 MPH on his fastball and completely lose his mechanics and control. The ability to physically add something more is not special, but we have ALSO all seen the guy who can do the same exact thing in a tight situation and keep his command. What's the difference???? It's all in the head. It's mental acuity, it's the ability to "maintain ones composure"

All things considered? Story at SS, Casas at 1B, Duran in CF, and the rest make up an elite bench.

According to advance stats McGuire is a better pitch framer than Wong. But Wong is not a bad pitch framer and his pop times are a LOT better than McGuire. Which I find intriguing because before this year McGuire had elite poptimes, and they have dipped this year. Get that boy in a weight room over the offseason and work on it!!! The only thing I find a little concerning about Wong is he does have below average whiff rates, chase rates, and walk rates. But they're not horrible, especially for a catcher and he has elite exit velocities.....which is both surprising and intriguing to me. I think there is room for his bat to grow and if it does the kid will be a stud.

Clutch is real....in the form of reverse clutch. People fold under pressure. Those who have the mental acuity to maintain their composure reap the benefits. Maybe this seems like a semantics battle. I believe in "clutch" I just now it manifests itself a little differently than people think.

What you’re describing sounds like a physiological response in the human body. This is very measurable. I’d be interesting to see if there’s any empirical evidence backing this up. I have not seen any. I remain convinced clutch exist due to reverse clutch. Players fold, clutch players maintain their composure.

I’m not a doctor, and if I was I’m certain I would tell you I can’t diagnose someone thru my tv, but it just looked so much like a back tweak. I’m betting he just pulled a muscle and he will be fine in a few days.

This is my take as well. In the spirit of the discussion, if the playoffs started today and everyone was healthy, Turner plays first and pushes Yoshida to DH. I’m hopeful Casas turns it around, I think he will.

Yes but if you’re looking at those clutch stats they usually have a much larger sample size than a game. Also, that’s not a lot of starters you’re facing. Most guys coming into a game in the 8th 9th on a lot of teams are premium arms.

It’s kind of nice to see them both competing well showing they belong behind the plate. Hopefully McGuire comes back strong, but Wong is showing he’s more than capable

I don't think it's a zero-sum game here. The playoffs are NOT starting today, but if they did we would be a playoff team. One can speculate that we are or will be or SHOULD be in the hunt for the playoffs in October. We do know however that players will come off the IL. So that's fair.

Problem is who is playing SS if Story is at 2nd? maybe Mondesi, but what if he can't stay healthy? I don't want Kike touching the position.

That's a fantasy lineup.

For starting maybe, but I think they will still pinch hit McGuire and Wong on their days off and could always slide one into the position. One thing this team has a lot of options with in the lineup is it's ability to interchange guys and play match ups. So far it's looking great for the offense.

To me clutch is real, and it's a skill. But the skill is "maintaining composure" while others fold. This isn't like some kind of anime where they can swallow a pill and magically become much better.

Also wouldn't an .800 OPS late and close be better than a .800 OPS overall? Because "Late and close" often means you're facing elite relievers.

I love how they move guys around and get guys into the lineup who didn't start that day. Your best players will perform better when they are rested and healthy. I think Wong has won the starter's job, I'd still like McGuire to get a lot of games. Wong's emergence + McGuires past + an unreasonable amount of faith put into CERA have built this ideal around here that Reese isn't a good catcher. It's quite the opposite. Also, Wong is so good in other ways you don't see with a catcher with his speed on the bases, that I think he can actually be a better player when he gets a reasonable amount of rest. I think he's earned that role to start but I'm very comfortable with McGuire being his running mate. Obviously managing the roster it Makes sense to start McGuire vs. RHP and Wong vs. LHP as best you can, but there's no way Wong should sit vs. all RHP, he's your starter. Maybe Reese gets 40-50 starts this year and those should mostly be against RHP, in a perfect world, it would be. But this is not a perfect world and there are other considerations such as who a pitcher likes throwing too. I think Wong is earning that role.