5GoldGlovesOF,75
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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75
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In general, Mills won't go kaboom as long as he eats his Wheaties and keeps some trix up his sleeve. Sox may keep him around just for his green clovers, pink hearts, orange stars and yellow moons. Don't know if you can count chocula, but Chex could've really used him vs Japan.
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Here's some upside: Sox minor leaguers got three earned off Jays' ace Minoah (3rd in '22 Cy and who I can't stand), including a two-run single by 19-year old Miguel Bleis. In ST, even All-Stars give it up to guys who won't be going north.
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I could only hope for something quaffable...
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Sale was a fan favorite for striking out the side and being on the mound when the greatest Red Sox team finished the deal, and especially for bringing the despicable Machado to one knee flailing at the final pitch. Then Boston signed him to an extension...
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Your last two lines represent what I also believe is a big part of what it means to be a sports fan. Sometimes the way a front office operates may overlook these aspects -- not so much because they're run by nerds, but mostly since hearts are superseded by budgets. But personalities remain paramount. Not all free agents signed by Boston are fan favorites; let's not rewrite history and pretend there were ever lots of kids wearing Price or Lackey jerseys. Maybe pitchers aren't great shirt sellers anyway... except for Martinez, for a lot of reasons (though there are somehow shirts circulating that say "Williams" -- which must mean Jimy, since Ted never had his name on his back).
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The cherry tree was loaded in Boston last year with lots of low batting averages and plenty of Ks. But none of them led the league in homers. Old School guys can point to JD's .274 BA compared to Schwarber's .218. New Schoolers can say Schwarb's .827 OPS was better than Martinez' .790. Too Cool for School WAR: Kyle 2.2, JD 1.1... does that mean Schwarber was twice as good or just worth one more win? Raise your hand if you think the Phillies would have won just one less game in '22 if they had JD instead of Schwarber...
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Nothing, except their brittle muscle tissues kept us afraid of fraying. But dgalehouse was referring to championship staffs, and they weren't part of those in Beantown -- nor were any lottery tickets except Koji and Wake... and Okajima... Bronson Arroyo... ERod?
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This is a good question when considering the huge amounts of money Henry spent on pitchers. Price and Lackey arguably only came through in a couple big games and were otherwise underwhelming in their Boston careers. What's not is that the Red Sox couldn't wait to unload them when they could. At least Foulke, Beckett and Sale delivered a few great seasons. Someone good at numbers can probably calculate the total investments in big money pitchers that helped win World Series rings... but how many hundreds of millions makes it worth it for the brand or the value of the franchise? And then it leaves fans wondering in the Bloom Era: how many Garrett Richards' type contracts of $10M apiece will it take before the Sox hit the lottery on a few longshots?
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If Yankee fans think losing Rodon is no big deal, they must mean that New York's budget can alway absorb taking another hit. As for the pinstripe rotation -- it's only missing Montgomery, Taillon, and a hundred percent of Cortes from the greatest first half of last season... they should consider that a big deal, even if Sevy is back. I wanted Rodon over Kluber and a few others, but knew better than to hope the Sox would sign an expensive pitcher. Some posters still insist that Bloom will spend big on a starter when the time is ripe, but there's absolutely no evidence for this, except that Henry used to approve of such transactions -- and then put a halt to them after getting burned too many times.
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A lot of posters love to totally dismiss anything that happens in ST -- as if success at hitting or pitching or fielding have no merit whatsoever, even in confidence-building. But it is worth noting (if not gloating) that the Yanks' starting line-up included names like Judge, Stanton, Rizzo, Donaldson, Trevino, and OMG VOLPE -- the NEXT JETER. Boston's starting offense had one big leaguer, Reese McGuire.
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So far Yoshida has less swing-and-miss in his WBC at bats than the other five lefties in a row on Team Japan -- and that includes the soon-to-be richest ballplayer in the history of the world.
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Then when the WS contending Phils don't protect him on the 40, an also-ran in a rebuild that can afford the audition can grab him in the next Rule V...
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Which one brings better rumors of fitting into the clubhouse camaraderie: Duvall, 3rd club in 3 years or Renfroe, 5th club in 5 years? Just saying, there may be factors we don't know about... As for Tapia, all we know for sure is he killed Red Sox pitching, and maybe Toronto's outfield; the Jays totally remade their OF defense, moving Springer over, trading a former #1 MLB prospect for Varsho and signing Old Man Kiermaier -- who they apparently like better than Tapia's negative dWAR.
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With pros, can it be said that each spring every ballplayer is trying to reclaim past glory of some sort? Maybe a player had a career year or won a ring a few seasons back, before injury set him back -- hey, Sox fans know a lot of those guys lately. But the pursuit could also include stardom in the minors or on the Cape, in college, high school, etc. At one time, all big leaguers were great at baseball. Unfortunately, as guys age, it becomes harder to reclaim glory or even average contributions -- like we witnessed last year with Bradley or in what seems like a decade for several pitchers. All we have now is what we see, and at least for me, it's encouraging when a batter with a poor rep like Alfaro keeps his head down and rips liners to the opposite field.
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I've been watching Duvall in all the ST games. A lot of swings and misses, pulling his head trying to pull everything -- especially the JD low-and-away slider. Is a health issue causing this approach for Duvall? I ask this, because most of the successful Red Sox batters have been spraying the ball with a focus on the opposite-field: Tapia, Casas, Alfaro, Dalbec, Duran, Arroyo, etc. It's like the organization is really stressing the application of team-wide contact (which makes sense, after leading the league in extra-inning losses in '22).
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I mean, ya, while we're at it, throw in pitchers from New England, where baseball weather is non-existent half the year. It's amazing that anyone from states not called California, Texas or Florida has a long productive big league career.
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Perales looks like the best bet right now. A lot of plus potential. Dombro would deal him by August 1, then swipe him in the Rule V draft.
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You know you were setting me up for this reply: Ferguson Jenkins, 4,500.2 IP... ya, that's thousands (162-gm avg: 243 IP in 19 MLB years)... ... and if you read any of Bill Lee's books, Fergie's training was very Seventies.
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A Realistic View of 2023: Part II
5GoldGlovesOF,75 replied to moonslav59's topic in Boston Red Sox Talk
Do you really think it's likely Cora will "take care of" his other veterans, but let Old Man Kluber go deep into the cold fake spring nights? Better get ready for a lot of porcine backside plans. -
Of course, but for the same reasons, batters like Williams and DiMaggio ruled -- especially facing a tired or predictable starter the fourth time every night. Your point about relievers and fresh arms is certainly valid... though I'd say because of that strategy, it's come full circle, as rare modern finishers like Halladay are even more valuable to save bullpens from burning out. We still don't have a definitive answer why so many pitchers seem so brittle nowadays. All these specialized intellects in analytics departments on every club, and no one can prevent injuries. Maybe it's just overtraining; are year-round dumbbells just more detrimental than back when ballplayers spent offseasons hefting boxes on loading docks or taking long walks in the snow?
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Before 1943, Tommy John himself didn't exist. There were only 16 teams in the majors... and dozens of guys threw 200 or more innings every year. Not a lot of big names, but it's hard to gauge the impact because of lost time -- and primes -- to World War II.
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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.
