Jump to content
Talk Sox
  • Create Account

5GoldGlovesOF,75

Old-Timey Member
  • Posts

    14,276
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    21

 Content Type 

Profiles

Boston Red Sox Videos

2026 Boston Red Sox Top Prospects Ranking

Boston Red Sox Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2025 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker

News

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. Rutschman out by a mile, so he kicks Arroyo in the head? He should be a better citizen than Machado.
  2. Centerfielder Duvall, feel free to call off the shortstop on that pop-up, so Kike doesn't have to make a Willie Mays World Series catch.
  3. He may have been the greatest MLB hitter ... born in Johnstown, PA. I don't know what kind of hitter Pete Vukovich was, but don't we all know those ace pitchers are also stud hitters growing up.
  4. We've been through this. The SS plans evolved all winter: Ander Bogaerts, Bstory, Cheeke, and Dhang, with Bobby Ealbec waiting in WorZter.
  5. What is this, a presidential election -- stop with the politics!
  6. Go back and re-read my posts from today. I'm not overhyping anyone from the 2018 team that won 119 games. I also said "positions" when referring to the '20 OD line-up -- you said Turner played the entire season last year. I never mentioned Dalbec once; the OD first baseman in '20 was Chavis, who -- although he played 95 games in '19 compared to Casas 27 in '22 -- was a young #1 draft pick starting at first base. Let's go '23, start the Game Thread!
  7. Turner played 66 games at third base last year. Chavis played 95 games for the '19 Sox; Casas played in 27 at the end of last year. Yoshida played in a league some view as 4A... To me, the point is that better Red Sox teams -- on websites -- than this one have gone south. It's ok to be excited about the '23 season -- I am, too -- and let's hope all things go right that need to go right. I'm not one of those fans that wants the Sox to crash and burn asap, thinking it will lead to Bloom's firing, and expedite a new direction. Unless Henry hires another Dombro and totally changes his mind again to spend-spend-spend, the next rebuild will be just as long as this one. And as Bloom himself says, "a half-decade of rebuilding -- that can't happen in Boston!"
  8. Maybe the difference in attitude toward losing Groome is that he seemed like a minor league version of the past three years of Sale...
  9. I didn't start this discussion, either, but the 2020 Red Sox line-up -- which thankfully tanked enough to net us Mayer -- opened with seven guys who were part of the greatest team ever. The 2023 opens today with exactly two regulars who played full seasons at a position last year: Verdugo and Devers. Hopes are still high that Turner will lead with a full, productive year at DH, Kike-Arroyo-Duvall will have bounce-back, injury-free campaigns, and McGuire can be a big league starter for an entire season. If you're a realist instead of an optimist, and say those are too many Ifs, then at least get excited to enjoy watching Casas and Yoshida evolve as MLBers...
  10. To be fair, entering '20, Vazquez was coming off a 23-homer, .798 season, '19 Pillar hit 21 HRs for the Giants, and the Sox were starting a youngster at first base who hit 18 dingers his rookie year. And it turned out Bradley -- who had 21 longballs in '19 -- actually had a decent 55-game summer: .283, .814... It was all about the pitching -- or what pretended to be.
  11. Unbeaten in April, May and June! It was a warped year -- start-stop-start-flop -- but there should've been more hope for the '20 Sox, whose position players had an average age of 27.1, with only one over 30 (the DH), and a pitching staff avg. age of 28.9. But the whole summer was such a downer from the beginning, with Mookie in LA, Sale in surgery, ERod in isolation, and cardboard fans in the stands. The injuries that fake season seemed like products of pros unprepared for awkward ramping up, down, and up again. This year, most injuries will happen because guys are just old.
  12. I'll take Casas as an over based on his OBP. On the mound, Bello will be an under when he realizes he's better off with swings and misses rather than pitch to contact with the Sox' D behind him. For the same reason, the ERAs of Sale and Kluber will be worse, because they just can't put away hitters like they used to. The swings of Turner and Duvall may benefit playing in Fenway, though Turner has at least shown he knows how to go with the pitch. Based on career OPS, one of them should be over your projections, and one of them under. JT's career: .832. Duvall's career: .755. At this point in their careers, I just don't think either will play a full season injury-free.
  13. The Houston Rockets? The Colt-45s? The Oilers? The NASA Mission Control Center?
  14. Politi discussions are discouraged on the forum.
  15. Injecting some -isms -- "If everyone was healthy" then Bello would open in the rotation. He's no longer MLB-close, but MLB All-Star-close (and could be the Red Sox lone player representing the American League this summer). Bello has had the best stuff, control and potential on the staff since September. Unfortunately, the minor league depth listed promises very few impact players to improve the parent club. Rafaela's glove and Valdez' bat would make a good amalgam...
  16. Good post. I gotta say, as far as #9 -- I have more faith in Sale bouncing back to decency this season than Story. The latter had a shortcut version of TJ, and even if it totally heals, stardom isn't guaranteed in half a year for swinging a bat at 100 mph fastballs, or gunning throws across the infield. At least Sale had the actual Tommy John surgery and is finally healed after several years.
  17. It's not too much to ask, it just makes too much sense. Speaking of, I sense this Opening Day line-up won't last very long -- especially with spectators -- and there will be several combos, since our roster is filled with so much flexibility (not to be confused with flex ability)...
  18. It makes up for a weak wing by flapping it wicked fast.
  19. Sure, he'd get to keep all the dough, but would lose the prospect. Now he's getting paid to replant his farm...
  20. Ya, bullpen burnout has been an issue in the past with rotation starts that rarely go five... unless you're Tampa, and build a staff that way by design. The weak -- or unstable -- D looks most glaring in the one area where contenders or any good team is traditionally strong: up the middle. Arroyo is a bonafide second baseman when healthy, but add his durability to all the other "ifs"... ... and counting on guys at all the key defensive positions -- C, SS, 2B and CF -- that have never played full MLB seasons there may be too much to ask. At least the Sox have two prospects in the minors that are arguably better defensively than anyone on the parent club at SS and CF, right now. The sooner they get promoted, the better.
  21. Two hesitant routes in the outfield were on display on NESN in the first five frames -- Duran (in LF, where WMB noted his bad route), who dove for a ball that almost bounced off his face... and Duvall, lumbering after a ball over his head in CF. These aren't guys on the mound trying out a new pitch; what you see is what you get. "Hopes are high," said Dave OB on the telecast. He didn't say which hopes specifically, but personally, I hope to see some stars of the future in Fenway by mid-summer.
  22. As Devers ages into his mid-30s, modifying his approach may actually optimize his production -- which is what all of Red Sox Nation wants for the next decade. Swinging from the heels in every at bat is hazardous to a batter's health as he grows old. He was able to overcome a sore arm at the end of '21, but definitely not as much with a sore leg at the end of '22. Hitters mature, and Raffy has the hand-eye and balance to actually improve from what we've seen so far in the batter's box. As Remy said, "Devahs is always betta gap-to-gap and not tryin to pull everything..."
  23. Making contact and moving runners will be essential if this batting order is to succeed. The key is obviously Devers, but the season may hinge on whether he matures into a more disciplined batter. If he feels a megacontract responsibility to be Big Puppy and tries to crush every pitch in the ballpark, he'll be an easy out for opposing teams (who won't be worried early about new guys like Yoshida and Casas, transitioning as full-time MLBers). Rafael Devers is so gifted, he can hit just about any pitch. The problem is that if he swings from the heels every AB, he can't hit every pitch well. Does anyone doubt in the second half of last year that if he just tried to go with the pitch and hit liners on one leg that he could've batted at least .317 and won the batting crown?
  24. won't you smile awhile for me, CERA... Or is that a hard C, as in... don't Cara
×
×
  • Create New...