5GoldGlovesOF,75

I don't know if he did, but the majority of 98 AL managers and coaches who voted thought he did.

I definitely thought Benintendi was a solid leftfielder the last time the Red Sox won a title. So did the professionals who evaluate big league defense, and nominate top candidates at each position on ballots for Gold Glove Awards (which included all three members of the Boston starting outfield in '18). MLB managers and coaches thought Beni was pretty solid in 2021 when they actually awarded him a GG. Rawlings recently made the award less subjective by considering some metrics in determining nominees. https://easton.rawlings.com/gold-glove-criteria.html#:~:text=SABR Defensive Index,No fuss%2C no hassle.

This will be the fifth year that Mayer has been a professional baseball player. He looks like he can handle all facets of the game. And we should be glad he looks ready right now, because -- as much as fans, media, and especially the club don't want to admit -- Trevor Story doesn't. We all want a healthy Story to solidify the defense, help balance the offense, and lead the Sox back to contention. But come on -- those who have watched a lot of Grapefruit games know what we're seeing. The Red Sox are finally calling it a bad back; at least, that's the reason Story didn't go to Mexico... and presumably the reason he's made some glaring throwing errors this Spring. Stay tuned. We should be ok...

Merloni said last night that Mayer will be the first call-up for any infielder injured on the big club. They all have weaknesses or holes in their swings that could use some improvement -- and that includes Story, Casas and Devers. But the way Mayer carries himself on and off the field like a big leaguer right now makes it unlikely that an inevitable batting slump (part of the game for most pros) will crush his future. Or ours.

Most aspects of AAA are below MLB standards: ballparks, travel, accommodations, meals, umpiring? and especially pitching (getting strikes to swing at). Mayer's AAA stats might not signal whether or not, or when, he's ready for promotion. This is where we have to trust the front office... ... like when they promoted Roman Anthony to High A when most of his stats weren't too good. Or the Spring Training that Kristian Campbell started oh-fer at the plate and awkward at 2B, but made enough progress at both to make the majors (plus, he already had one trait they really liked: RHH).

Maddie, thanks for writing the most important baseball article of this season, and future ones, and for calling out Manfred for being the kind of coward that enables such racist agenda from a white supremacist house. Sorry if anyone still thinks politics are off limits in venues like baseball, but it is impossible when haters temporarily in charge of a nation entirely created by and composed of immigrants try to erase memories in U.S. history of a truly great hero like Jackie Robinson.

An active roster used to be when the line-up card bounced off the dugout corkboard from vibrations, after Big Papi smashed the bullpen phone with his Mizuno. Or was that a Rawlings.

moon: "The defensive alignment of Duran in LF, Rafaela in CF and Abreu in RF might be the best left-to-right starting OF defense in Red Sox history. Having Anthony knocking on the door offers more hope." Not a weak claim, based on Gold Glove consideration and dWAR. Anthony should be out there at some point this season, but it remains to be seen if his skills will raise or drop this unit. Other contenders in modern times: From the 2018 title: Benintendi-Bradley-Betts. All three nominated for GGs that year, which turned out to be the only time JBJ actually won, to team with four-timer Mookie (both were joined by Beni in '21). For an entire outfield core, the 1975 unit: Evans (steadiest), Lynn (most spectacular) and Yaz (1B in season, back to LF for the playoffs, where he was clutch). Back-ups with good D: Rick Miller and Juan Beniquez. Lynn was the lone Sox player honored with Gold, but in a two-year span -- '77 and '78 -- five OFs from the '75 AL champs won GGs: Yaz and Beniquez (on Texas) in '77; Lynn, Evans and Miller (Angels) in '78. The '75 Sox also had eventual Gold Glovers at C, Fisk, SS, Burleson, and 1B, Cooper (after he was traded for Boomer Scott, who once had GG metabolism in his first stint in baked Beantown). So actually, I need to change my name: 8GoldGloves,75.

Advance scouts are already sharing Cliff Notes with pitching coaches: Campbell has shown he can go the other way with authority, but on pitches middle-in angles his entire body out of the box trying to pull... Smoke him, high and inside.

Sox fans more than most know the impact of a lights-out closer, because the one big separator between Boston and New York for about 20 years was Mariano Rivera. The Red Sox have had plenty of good relievers this century, and even some All-Stars, but year-after-year consistency is so rare for any closer... and why Rivera is the only unanimous Hall of Famer. New York's YES channel still replays late-inning postseason wins from the 1990s and 2000s. But for all their heroic position players, magic acts are a lot easier at the end of games knowing the other team can't score.

Just pray the Red Sox can still control him in 2031! (I'll be happy if I can still control the TV remote by then)

Crochet will want a Yamamoto contract, so the Red Sox will pre-empt and offer $200 million in late summer of 2026, knowing his agent will laugh. That way, when he counters with $300M, they can trade him to LA for a teenage catching prospect named Posada Ups. The Dodgers will then immediately extend Crochet for $301 million. They already have a special account where they're stashing profits from worldwide merchandising, just waiting to fund the Croquet of Pigs.

A lot of grounders off Houck had eyes yesterday. And since it's still ST, there's the possibility he was trying to hone a new pitch or grip... but if there are any health reasons for giving up 10 earned, may want to temper expectations for a 90-win Sox season. If Houck had to join Bello and Crawford on the IL, that would mean Boston will be effectively missing its entire top 4 starting rotation (along with the departed Pivetta) from last year's .500 club. For the Red Sox to make the playoffs, Crochet and Buehler don't both have to be 20-game winners... but at least 30-game starters.

Brez showing Bloom how it's done.

But I definitely want my catcher strong enough to put a headlock on any batter charging the mound. As for the pitcher -- on any grounder hit to the right side, I need him get over to cover first base in time for a put-out (even if Mookie is running, Cole). Who cares if he can beat the batter in an arm-wrestle if the guy reaches safely.

Fans like a player who swears as much as they do when things go wrong, as long as he's not swearing at teammates or franchise Hall of Famers-turned-broadcasters.

Some fans couldn't believe the Sox thought he was worth $17 million a year! Looking at those postseason numbers, it is unbelievable that's all he got paid.

The underrated game was Game 3 of the '18 ALDS. Series was tied, 1-1, after the Yankees croaked Price. Judge was blasting "NY, NY" in Fenway, and Yankee fans were salivating as both teams headed to the hostile Bronx. Eovaldi waltzed in and shut them all up with 7 IP and one run, while Brock and the boys were putting up a 16-spot. Three years later Nate beat the Yanks in the Wild Card game, this time pitching into the 6th and only giving up a solo shot by Rizzo, on an 8 K, 0 BB day. It was a little better than Cole, who only lasted 2 innings while serving up HRs to Bogey and Schwarber (Sox could be in trouble this year without Cole tossing BP to Raffy).

No stat comparing arm strength compensates for making consistently accurate throws, from all points of a position. Shortstops that stood out in this regard on Red Sox champions: Orlando Cabrera and Stephen Drew. Both were money. Guys I can't remember being decisive either way (maybe they didn't have as many chances?): Julio Lugo and Xander Bogaerts.

I just never bought into Bloom's claim that Story's range would make up for his damaged wing. What good is a guy with speed to get to more grounders deep in the hole, if his throws barely reach first base from normal depth? Keeping a ball in the infield can save the occasional run if there are baserunners in scoring position, but so can a relay man with a cannon (who can also dissuade base coaches from even sending runners, like when Evans used to wind up from RF). Quick infielders can rob hits by snagging liners before they get to the outfield, but pre-pitch positioning is probably more consistently important. Mayer, not known as a speed demon, seems to be good at this. Mayer may be more Ripken, while Story is more Ozzie.

I'm not a Doctor Frankenstein (though I watched one on TV), but it would seem that Tommy John Surgery, bracing an elbow with a good tendon taken from another place in the same body, would have a better chance of melding, mending and even strengthening the area... rather than an artificial piece that's not made from human tissue, much less the same human. People function with fake parts (like hips and knees) all the time, but can elite athletes -- especially pitchers who throw as hard as they can -- ever be as good as new again? Isn't this the reason Bo Jackson couldn't play hockey?

In one inning yesterday he consistently broke triple digits on the jugs gun. Good thing everyone says stats in Spring Training are worthless.

For anyone who's been watching the ST games, the Red Sox have no big league-ready shortstops who are expendable as trade bait. Not only has Mayer looked solid, but Story threw two more balls away yesterday: one he heaved into the Twins dugout, another he bounced 20 feet away from Casas, which he couldn't have reached if he was Mr. Fantastic (or even Mr. Mediocre). For some reason they only gave Story one E, but there were two WTFs...

And without Dalbec, O'Neill, Smith, Cooper, Westbrook, Reyes, Abreu, Romy, and Zac Short -- all who had higher K-rates last year than Ceddanne! So did Casas, Story and Sogard, but they played last night...

Hamilton is on the team no matter what, just so he can steal 89 bases off Vazquez when they play the Twins.