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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Something that is already pushing up like early tulips on the first warm day: the Defense. Kike already has two Es in four games, and if we're holding our breath every time a high fly is hit to center, imagine how the professional pitchers feel. Inserting a fully-healed Mondesi at shortstop and moving Kike back to CF can't come soon enough (and therein exposes another Bloom flaw: acquiring injured players because the price is right, then waiting helplessly while they mend, to the detriment of the team). I love Duvall's hot streak at the plate, but in order to ride it out and keep his bat in the line-up, he may have to occasionally DH or replace a lefty bat in a corner outfield spot vs. tough southpaws.
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Posting here on the Realistic thread: fans can wish and hope it was 2017 again for Sale, Kluber and Paxton, but realistically, may be have to settle -- and be happy for -- a cumulative .500 won-loss record from the trio... at least that will make the summer competitive. Meanwhile, a rebuilding team "stretching out" its young arms will take its lumps. Don't know if Red Sox Nation will have the patience for it, but that's the reality for the development of most MLB starters. The 1988 Atlanta Braves lost 106 games. Tom Glavine, 22, led the NL in losses with 17. John Smoltz, 21, went 2-7 with a 5.48 ERA in his rookie season. Two years later Steve Avery, 20, debuted and went 3-11 with a 5.64. That team only lost 97... Greg Maddux was still with the Cubs, where his first full season produced 6-14, 5.61. Yikes.
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Yo-OPPO!
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Maybe there's more familiarity with Wong catching them in the minors?
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I know this is the pitching thread, but that statement sums up the musical chairs roster every year that endears zero fans and builds no continuity for future following. This list doesn't include all fan favorites, but guys who at least did more than contribute... and then were gone: Schwarber, Iglesias, Renfroe, Wacha, Strahm... And now somebody will defend poor Bloom for not being able to afford to pay guys he actually acquired.
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    As Bellhorn alluded to, it's not really a question of whether Bloom knows how to acquire good starters, it's that he ultimately chooses not to. We've been hearing every winter that the Sox have interest in this arm or that, but all Bloom has done is replace one serviceable big leaguer with another on short contracts. Eovaldi and Wacha weren't Hall of Famers, but they did fine in Boston. They just wanted more money than the ghosts of Kluber and Paxton. This past winter finally revealed offers made to legit starters who signed elsewhere -- such leaks were either an attempt to show the fanbase he was actually trying to improve the rotation... or that he was incapable of closing the deal for those he covets. For those who think Bloom will someday trade prospects, instead of paying for arms, he's been in charge of four offseasons... and someday never comes.
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Clemente hit .255 in 1955, but the Pirates didn't send him back to the Dodgers. Pitt carried him to the end of the '50s, before he finally made his first All-Star team in 1960. In his first three years, Roberto totaled only 3.3 WAR. He finished his career with 94.8 WAR.
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    When teams get off to a bad start, it's always "still early" -- for months! For teams that have good starts, it's never too early. To them, they're just good.
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Didn't Clemens' ex-trainer claim #2 was the Butts Race? (sorry, didn't mean to use a crap metaphor) It may have involved his wife and Sports Illustrated, but only in reference to site injection.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Yoshida and Casas like to work counts. They like to see what a pitcher's got, and always take the first pitch fastball down the middle. Batters that do that drive me crazy, because the word gets around the league quickly and pitchers know they can always get ahead of them. I used to yell from my living room at Boggs and Betts all the time for taking Strike One. And they laughed at me all the way to Cooperstown.
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    With the next six games vs. Pitt and Detroit, a winning record for Boston is absolutely essential. The final 20 games in the rest of April are all against better clubs with playoff aspirations, starting with a four-game set in Tampa. The Rays are loaded with arms and young impact players: Franco, Arozarena, Paredes, Siri. The Angels and Twins are improved, while Milwaukee and Cleveland have pitching staffs with shutdown stuff. A 6-3 or even 5-4 record after the next week will set the tone for the first month. After that, if the Sox can just break even at 10-10 the rest of April, they can legitimately stay in the hunt.
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Thanks for the crime report. On the one hand, people will say the O's have some speedsters. On the other foot, every club has a few -- except only one team got to run against Boston... so far.
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    McGuire had no chance to throw out anyone on the 10 stolen bases, but if pitchers aren't going to keep runners close, I'd like to at least see him throw behind the runners once in awhile. You know Vazquez would've thrown to first every time Mateo or Mullins was on base. Question about the new rules: if a catcher throws down to first, does that delay the reset of the clock for the next pitch?
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Correct. That's nothing against Adam personally, but as usual the fault of the front office for contriving flexibility that doesn't always highlight a player's best ability. Duvall's is pull power, and being a streak hitter. His success at the end of ST wasn't supposed to matter to those who think preseason results meaningless... but ask any player if they'd rather suck the week before going North. We'd all like to see consistent contact hitters up and down the line-up, but not that many exist in baseball. Not even Raffy, who can hit a line-drive whenever he wants, but feels he has to overswing at every pitch with the game on the line. Most look better with opposite-field approaches, like we know Turner, Verdugo, Yoshida, and Casas can deploy. Meanwhile, enjoy the streaks of Duvall's final ABs in the first two games, the classic of all (walk-off HR) or nothing (walk-back-to-dugout K). And hope for a lot more streak-hitters to get hot, like Kike and Arroyo, while waiting for promising young arms to stabilize the rotation...
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Yes -- and let's be glad a Red Sox manager brought in his closer down a run. Instant Karma for Duvall -- don't forget the game would've been tied when his oppo double bounced into the stands (Turner was sent back to third and stranded).
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    With the wind blowing out in Fenway, this one is long from over. Dean Wormer is done after four. Otter seduced his wife, Bluto and D-Day left horse heini in his office.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Nope -- Kluber and Sale are cooked placeholders. The only way to contention is if both Bello and Whitlock emerge as above-average starters.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    But... Bloom's Red Sox have been interested in a lot of free agents.
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    What about "If we didn't trade Mookie, we couldn't have signed Garrett Richards!"
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Losing on Opening Day is never the end of the world, but how it is lost can often make it seem that way. For example, longtime Red Sox fans can remember the downer of brand new closers blowing Opening Days in the last inning. This winter the front office rebuilt the bullpen. The relievers used on Thursday didn't look any different than last year. But let's not ignore the depressing fact that Boston's choice for Opening Day starter averaged around 87 mph. Fans aren't idiots, but neither are the Orioles. They both quickly realized that those weren't change-ups. But all it will take to change the outlook is one great game by Chris Sale. Or more likely, just a good six-inning start by anyone in the rotation, followed by three lights-out relief frames. And a W.
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Somebody's gotta say it: Braiser and Ort did notice the clock counting down, but saw it as symbolism... Ironically, waiting until the last second every time may result in the opposite effect of prolonging the inevitable.
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The thing is, slow Sox pitchers continually got down to around eight seconds on the clock to begin deliveries. When it became so predictable, all the O's had to do was count down or look at the clock -- and then take off. Even El Guapo can steal without a throw if he has an eight-second head start.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The O's baserunners immediately figured out a way to manipulate the new pitch clock rules against the Slow Sox, who let's face it, were totally out-coached. Not only didn't they adjust -- the entire game -- but they didn't catch on enough to even try the same exact strategy when they reached base... McGuire's ultimate solution doesn't instill much confidence: "It all starts with just trying to keep them off base. It starts with, get the guy out in the box and then you don't have to worry about it."
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Fans aren't giving up -- even when the front office supplies the pitching staff with usual suspects that the manager feels he has to use, while trying to save better arms for relieving other brittle starters in games that might look more winnable. But it isn't hard to see how hard those concepts are to be encouraged about after Day 1.
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