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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The best move is to invest in starting pitching. Fortunes flow from the mound. Good starters keep both bullpens and fielders fresh; neither gets overworked, relievers stay strong and defenders stay on their toes. Look at the Brewers: their top three players in WAR are starting pitchers, and their bullpen is as good as their rotation. Meanwhile, the team OPS is below average, and the offense is three percentage points from having the worst batting average in the NL. And yet, Milwaukee is in first place by 8 1/2 games. The NL Central may not be the AL East, but seriously: does anyone think the Red Sox would hit against the Brew Crew? JD is going nowhere, but I'm all for signing Schwarber over just about any free agent hitter. The Sox may have their share of sluggers, but he just seems to command the strike zone better than most. Making contact or taking a walk to get on base and ignite a rally is rare and underrated for a home run hitter these days.
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    On that day, Boston will snap NY's 44-game winning streak.
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    What the stats don't show, but that the industry won't stop lauding, is that the deadline addition of Rizzo on the field, in the dugout and the clubhouse had some profound rejuvenation on the Yankees that inspired them to never lose again. Yes, Schwarber is also a world champ and a better hitter, but Rizzo's glove would have filled a more immediate need and made more of an impact the entire month of August in Boston. It's doubtful the Sox would win 13 in a row, but maybe they'd have another W or two with Rizzo making plays, saving a few errant throws and conserving pitch counts. And maybe both NY and Boston will still make the postseason, so it won't really matter, after all...
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Holding our breath hoping Ottavino's slider will catch the corner is no way to go through 9ths, son. Closer candidates' BB/9 for the year: Whitlock 2.2, Perez 2.9, Barnes 3.1, Richards 3.8, Taylor 4.6, Sawamura 5.3, Ottavino 5.3, Darwinzon 6.9, Robles 7.0. Then there's Houck: 1.8. They're determined to limit Whitlock, so he's out, and the Sox don't want to turn Houck into Calvin Schiraldi, either (though Tanner could be a valuable two-inning guy in a playoff series). Barnes will get other chances, but he knows we know he can never be trusted. The numbers for Perez and Richards came mostly from a different pace as starters. Robles is ticking... ticking... Right now I'm thinking the least worst choice, as far as veteran strike-throwing for one inning may be, gulp... Garrett Richards.
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Ah... but not more innings pitched in relief. Most IP With Zero Career Starts: Franco 1,245.2; Hoffman 1,089.1; Sutter? 1,042... bb-ref has Street 21st with 680 IP, but somehow leaves Sutter off its list.
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Yup, Rod Carew signed with the Angels, and Joe Mauer broke down from too much catching. What even is a good offense any more? The Red Sox don't face Houston or Toronto the rest of the regular season. Behind those two powerhouses in both runs per game and batting average stands Boston, a lineup that can't drive in a runner from third with less than two outs. Nelson Cruz is hitting .220 as a Ray, so he fits right in with Tampa, a team that scores lots of runs while hitting a collective .239... just ahead of the Yankees, who are worse than all but four AL clubs.
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Well, ok. But only because in a few years Miguel Bleis will still be younger than Marcelo Mayer.
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    re. JD opting out: I just don't see a new market developing that will pay him more money for more years. Does anyone think he'll be another Nelson Cruz for the next half decade or so? His fate may really hinge on the next CBA, with terms like the NL accepting the DH... but what are the chances the MLB and the Union agree on anything before Martinez has to declare?
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I've always thought Schwarber as a lefty DH was made for Yankee Stadium (he's got a Ruthian look to his HR trot). Depending on what happens the rest of this season -- and especially if Schwarber hurts the Yanks -- it wouldn't surprise if New York becomes a rival bidder for his services.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I'm not. Do you have any quotes from Bloom or ownership that the Red Sox intend to spend more money this winter on signing new or extending current players than they did the last two? The only thing I've heard or read from Bloom -- and I'm paraphrasing -- are lines like, "We're always looking to make good baseball decisions that will make us a better team now and in the future." The reality just may be that the Sox are prudently waiting to see how the new CBA all shakes out before they make market adjustments accordingly.
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Yankees vs. A's. Who are you rooting for?
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    It may be better than using up someone's arm on back-to-back nights -- which we've seen backfire many times this season (except for Whitlock, who is already banned from mounds two days in a row). Using four different guys should give them all plenty of rest; with the way the Sox are currently playing, it should take at least a week or more to enter the 9th with leads in four different games...
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Hitting any pitching is hard, otherwise there'd be marathon whiffleball or slow-pitch softball games that never end. Getting a "hit" -- even before the berth of big league shifts -- has always been the hardest skill to master in sports.
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    That's fair, and Cora surely considers the psyche of his players and whether he has confidence in them to do the job. But do any other fans watch JD methodically flail at and miss low and away breaking stuff every single night and wonder why a coach never runs into the batter's box and grabs his arms to hold him back? At least in BP?
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    But what's more high leverage: the "set-up" man retiring the 4-5-6 batters with the bases loaded in the 8th or the "closer" then facing 7-8-9 in a clean inning in the 9th? If it's the latter, isn't that more mental than physical?
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This has been my point all day. No take signs, no two-strike adjustments, not even no "swing away at the first one you like, but if you miss, then we're putting on the safety squeeze to win this thing". Big leaguers may be the best batters on the planet -- and guys like JD, Dalbec or Verdugo (with his bat speed) can launch a pitch 400+ feet sometimes, but if your job title is "manager" or "coach", it's ok to ask them and have them be ready to modify at bats in certain situations.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Francona remembered when he was coming up, before Automatic Eck in the 9th started a trend and then Rivera set a longevity standard that no one else could ever match -- but every team always had to try and contrive. Before the 1980s, the best relievers always threw multiple innings and came in a lot sooner rather later. Sparky Lyle, AL saves leader in '76, entered an elimination game the next year in the 4th inning and pitched the final 5.1 for the win. Also, recall Cora tried this the first half of '19 - calling on Barnes in only high leverage match-ups, usually before the 9th. It worked for awhile, then Barnes got burnt out, possibly from overstressing his arm and his brain.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Uh.... they Sox are not specifically using the dreaded C-word, but it sure sounds like it (from Speier's column today): “I don’t know there needs to be a structure to it. We don’t have to name anybody to certain roles,” said Bush. Speier notes that not one world champ from the past 11 seasons had the final ring-clinching out recorded via a pitch by its opening day closer... and over half of those title teams changed closers by the end of the season. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/08/25/sports/red-sox-have-late-inning-bullpen-problem-how-do-they-fix-it/
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Ted Williams said the most important thing is to "get a good pitch to hit."
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This is one of the reasons the manager of the Olympic team says Casas will be a star for a long time. Hopefully, the Red Sox don't try to turn him into a typical all-or-nothing big leaguer.
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I heard the plan is to trade Devers and Bogaerts to New York for Odor and Velasquez. With that new left side, it's obvious the Red Sox will never lose again.
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Failing to make contact is unfortunately acceptable by most standards in modern MLB. What's unacceptable is batters not adjusting swings with two strikes in late and close game situations and men on base. That's on the organization, including the scouting staff for not recognizing it, the front office for not mandating fundamental philosophies, and the coaching staff for not instructing and enforcing it. Call time out, remind the batter to choke up and cut down his swing, start the at-bat with a take sign or heaven help us, a safety squeeze -- whatever it takes to push across the winning run. And show a little respect to the fans who invest money and time to watch and root for this club by benching or fining players who keep making mental mistakes (like not running hard on contact with two outs) that lose games in a playoff race. Stop insulting us with: "We have to be better"... anyone still watching already knows that.
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    "Chased that slider out of the zone"; Burks sounds surprised. He obviously hasn't watched as many Sox games this season as we have...
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Ramiro Mendoza was a double secret agent in 2003.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    One big change since then, besides technical strategies like launch-angle swings, has been the actual playing surfaces. That era, circa 1980, was the peak of the artificial turf stadiums, where extremely fast outfielders were required to run down gappers that bounced like superballs all over the field. Such running speed was also weaponized on the bases, where rain or grounds crews with pregame hoses couldn't muddy the paths to slow down teams like the Go-Go White Sox or Dodgers back in the days of Luis Aparicio and Maury Wills.
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