5GoldGlovesOF,75
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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75
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Ironically, by "babying" or "taking care of" modern pitchers, we seem to see more injuries -- and not just with arms, but all over their bodies -- that invariably limit their innings. But I say that assuming your quote about old-timers being "in much worse shape" didn't mean because of overuse, but refers more to their overall physiques... because anyone who actually saw guys like Mickey Lolich or Wilbur Wood (ignore the vitals reported on reference sites) knows that they were legit workhorses or other reputable mammals. For example, after Lolich led the league with 376 IP in '71, he threw over 300 IP in each of the next three years. Wood led the AL with 376.2 IP in '72, then led again the next year with 359.1, and followed with seasons of 320 and 291 IP after that. The returning members of the Red Sox projected for the '23 starting rotation -- Pivetta, Bello, Whitlock, Houck, Sale -- threw 381 innings combined in '22 (including relief frames).
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Nerf balls! If your fastball can no longer beat batters and they rip it up the middle, it won't break your fingers.
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Agree with your first sentence. But we all know the second, while hopeful, is unreasonable. One of the counterculture mottos of the Sixties was Don't Trust Anyone Over 30. In '69, John Henry was 20 years old, and we know he lived by those words until he blew it with Lester... then along came Price. And then Bloom. If the Dodgers, as predicted, are saving to go hard after Ohtani next winter, my advice for the Red Sox is pull a Yoshida and overwhelm Urias the first day he's a free agent.
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Martin and Cora were opposites. AC always talks about "taking care of" his starters. But in the playoffs, he'll use anyone at any time -- in 2018, the entire five-man rotation both started and relieved in the postseason. They also pitched to the brink of November -- in the highest of high leverage situations with a world title on the line. Posters here blasted Cora for not "working" these same pitchers at the beginning of 2019, but none of the fans so sure the bad beginning was on the manager never seem to acknowledge the possibility that his starters weren't totally recovered yet from winning rings. Martin took care of nobody (including himself). Yes, he burnt out those young Oakland arms, but it wasn't the first time. Remember, he brought his Cy Young "closer" -- Al Lyle -- into the '77 ALCS finale in the fourth inning and had him finish the ballgame. Sparky was never the same.
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There were also lots of pitchers who threw a ton of innings every single year and didn't go on the IL. In 1969, 59 pitchers threw over 200 innings, 12 over 290 IP. By my count, 11 were Hall of Famers, and a lot of others had long careers. Maybe they weren't throwing 90 mph, but you better believe they were all throwing as hard as they could. Why were men more durable then (I still let them play catch on my lawn)?
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I bet those peanut vendors are only boiled in open-air outdoor stadiums. There's no place like dome...
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Sale: two scoreless, 32 pitches, 24 strikes, retired his final batter on a comebacker and walked to the dugout with an immediate smile.
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Matsuzaka was a legend since high school when he reportedly threw hundreds of pitches in two days to win the national title. But it was also documented by him that his arm strength in the pros was built by throwing a ton of long toss every day between starts... who knows, maybe the different size baseballs made a difference.
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Conversely, I always thought the Red Sox made a mistake of insisting on changing his training/throwing regimen that made him so successful in Japan and the tournaments. Dice-K's whole style was to nibble around the strike zone, but the Sox couldn't handle the high pitch-counts, and always yanked him before he could wriggle out of trouble. They thought they were protecting their longterm investment, but may have instead expedited his regression.
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Whaaa -- ? What about when our front office was scouting the greatest WBC pitcher of all-time: DICE-K? His gyro-ball was so invisible, not even our TVs could detect it!
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Wasn't he was the star of the last World Cup, the one where Casas said Yoshida was the most-feared batter?
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A Realistic View of 2023: Part II
5GoldGlovesOF,75 replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
I do for a bullpen role, especially with the difference in their strike-throwing reps... -
A Realistic View of 2023: Part II
5GoldGlovesOF,75 replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
There's still plenty of time for one of your first three to pull a body part and wind up on Cripple Creek. No rotation has more downside. Strategically, I see Mata with his frame/delivery as more of a starter, even if it's one time through (with the hope he evolves into a 5-inning guy), and Walter -- with his as-yet-unhurt Sale-type stuff, as a lethal reliever. -
I have a Grade 1 strain of my hamhocks overtyping about it.
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Big day for Red Sox and fans marching towards '23: Chris Sale pitching in a baseball game! Instead of a bullpen cart, the plan is to drive him to the mound in an armored car.
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I'm biased, but in any ranking of Yankee/Red Sox players right now after Judge, I think I'd take Raffy Devers next.
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Well, it is for guys like Oddanier Skeeter Mosqueda.
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Turn-of-the-century Sox fans may recall the dashed promise of a pitcher called Paxton Crawford. Now we know he was just a construct, a preview of a future transition, from a passed-his-primetime pitcher (whose time is passed) to a hopeful with a last name that signifies a World Series winner (Game 2, 1986; beat Doc Gooden... more famously, Steve bailed Bob Stanley to win the key Game 5 of the LCS that kept Boston alive).
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Or healthy...
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You're all pessimists. Why can't you see the Red Sox pitching staff as half-full?
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They're lights out every October. By the end of the AL playoffs, the Yanks' bullpen turns the lights out on their season.
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And for the 14th year in a row, the Yankees have the greatest bullpen in the history of this century not to play in the World Series.
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A Realistic View of 2023: Part II
5GoldGlovesOF,75 replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
I didn't mention Bello because I already expect him to evolve into the next ace. Nobody will call him that, in deference to the grizzled veterans who starred back in the twenty-teens, but he's been the best pitcher on every team at every level in his climb to the bigs. Other players from those leagues will eventually make the Show, but there's no reason Bello won't continue to dominate them. -
A Realistic View of 2023: Part II
5GoldGlovesOF,75 replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
After watching Murphy, Mata and Walter pitch on TV in ST games, I'm leaning towards this promising trio -- and not the old veteran starter threesome -- as the real key to the '23 season... ... because when one or two or three of Sale/Paxton/Kluber breaks down, these youngsters will take their place in some role on the staff. Hoping and wishing and praying that Bloom makes moves to acquire outside pitching is by now a waste of time (and resources); who is coming to Boston from another team this season that looks any better than Murphy, Mata or Walter? -
Luckily, when Song finally took his first solo flight -- after all those years of never flying (but dreaming) -- the Navy didn't limit him to just a take-off... and vow to stretch him out to a landing for his next outing.
