5GoldGlovesOF,75

Some guys are definitely slow starters, but are any notoriously slow enders? Healthy players, that is... No stats referenced here, but isn't just about every position player in baseball a better hitter in warmer weather? Put it this way: can anyone remember a guy at any level who'd rather bat on cold rainy April nights instead of hot sunny July afternoons? (talking about athletes in shape who don't get dawged in the dog days)

The Red Sox were so consistent with their approach of striking out and leaving runners on base for a month, that this sudden teeny tiny extended weekend of Billy Sample size must be an aberration. Don't worry, after Toronto, Boston faces four of the AL's top pitching staffs in a row: Minny, Texas, KC and Detroit in a 12-game ample size. If everyone in the batting order pulls homers and doesn't K through May, I'll cheer for every Little Leaguer who finishes a swing staring into a dugout over their front shoulder. But it's not even next year yet. Rehire Fatse and Lawson!

That's because they swing and miss more when they try to pull.

Red Sox have scored 30 runs in their three game win streak. Boston batters have only struck out 15 times in the trio, with eight home runs the past two games. Is this a new offensive approach or the product of facing sub-par pitching? Only one HR has not been pulled -- an oppo shot by Kristian Campbell. It's all good until it's not, but for fans of more contact and less whiffs, the words of player development director Brian Abraham are unsettling. When discussing Roman Anthony, who has been hitting the ball harder all over the field than just about anyone in the system, Abraham recently mentioned the one thing he wanted baseball's #1 hitting prospect to improve on is pulling the ball in the air. Isn't that approach the biggest cause of the Red Sox' team strikeouts? Isn't a guy who instead crushes pitches gap-to-gap exactly the type of batter Boston needs to balance the line-up?

Not even advance scouts: "Whatever you do, don't throw it over the plate... don't worry, he won't take four pitches -- until next Spring Training!"

When considering if Rafaela could be a future cornerstone worthy of a longterm contract, the Red Sox most likely looked at Ceddanne's improvements in batting at High A, Double A and Triple A in '22 and '23. During those summers we were told he already carried Gold Gloves in CF and SS. He always had extra-base pop, and hit a combined .299 with an .880 OPS in Greenville and Portland at age 21, then a combined .302 and .870 in Portland and Worcester at 22. Rafaela also had a consistent K to BB ratio of about 4 to 1. Who knew it would balloooooon to 10 to 1 in The Show? Be encouraged. According to bb-reference, Ceddanne's Most Similar Batter through age 23 is borderline Ineligible Bachelor Steve Garvey... ya, that was before Garv was good -- but two years later he was NL MVP!

O's went for the salty old dog, but getting Klubered means he's not been worth his salt. His arm doesn't need to soak in epsom salts as much as it needs smelling salts.

Campbell actually deserves more credit as the individual hero who shot out of a cannon. The front office has spent more time giving high fives for packing the explosives and lighting the fuse. He did it.

What has Dobbins done to keep getting sent back down? Besides, of course, not signing an exorbitant contract the org is desperately trying to get some value out of, and not being a big leaguer long enough to not have options? Sorry, for a minute there I was thinking of what's best for the team.

Sell high! Or at least a little buzzed...

If Devers is healthy, this is one fan who won't ever say I'm ok with this batting approach, as long as he's productive. Because he won't be. The first group of games this season he struck out almost every time up trying to yank. Then Raffy starting using the whole field and rocked. Then what happened? Did he get bored or did pitchers start throwing everything high and tight again -- because he started pulling his head again and not hitting what he couldn't see. There's no way Red Sox fans since 2017 can honestly say that Raffy has always tried to pull 99% of the pitches he sees to Timbuktu. When he pulls his head, he swings and misses with the worst of them. When he keeps his head down and uses the gaps, he is a batting star. For his career, on actual hits (via bb-ref), Raffy's batting average pulling the ball is .345. Up the middle is .367. Opposite field: .396. This year, Devers' hit location: pull .353, middle .366, oppo .214. Anyone see a discrepancy? Walker? Walker?

Imagine this juggernaut of a batting order if they had just one Wade Boggs, a guy with a 5% K-rate who gets on base 300 times a year, with 100 walks and 200 hits. Just one batter who works pitchers and stresses them out a little more can tire out arms enough to make more mistakes vs. the rest of the hitters. And as we know, 99.9% of major league batters are mistake hitters. The '25 Red Sox may be even .1 percent closer to the number...

Crabby cakers.

I'd opt for that. For perspective, see the only stat in moon's post (hint: 911).

Mayer now leads professional baseball with 34 Runs Batted In. That same pace over 500 ABs will give Marcelo 170 ribbies. Russell Stover, the authority on sweet swings, equates MM's start to a 36-ounce, 72-piece assorted Whitman's Giant Sampler.

Whitlock! Need more quality pitching depth -- starters to go longer and/or more trustworthy relievers -- to ensure reasonable health for Whitlock and Slaten (Chapman is a beast).

No joke. Clubhouse workers got rings for washing uniforms, because we're all just rooting for the laundry.

Dichtomy of a forum during baseball season: posters continually discuss ways to improve their favorite team based on observed concerns while at the same time reminding themselves it's always still early. If it's not Only Spring Training, it's only April, and not yet Memorial Day, but not yet Fourth of July, and not even the trade deadline, and not yet Labor Day, and have a happy Halloween.

Wally just asked who stole his head.

Advance scouts are drooling at drawing Boston in the first round of the playoffs. They can just use openers to beat the Sox, and rest their entire starting rotation for the second round.

Worthy topic for an article. Some might dismiss RBIs as a lucky stat, because a batter is fortunate to get up with men on base... he still has to drive them in -- something Boston has struggled with all year. Coming through in the clutch may be a myth to some observers, but ballplayers always know there are certain guys more reliable than other stars (just like a reliever who can get the last three outs in the 9th). The focus on offense is fair, though Mayer's potential impact on the parent club should be more on stabilizing an inconsistent defense. Marcelo isn't going to bump Bregman, Story or Campbell, unless the latter moves to the outfield, which is also where Anthony is headed (we all like Campbell's bat, and we all know Mayer has a superior glove). Some major roster shuffling will have to happen before The Big Three of Campbell, Anthony and Mayer are starting in The Show together.

Giolito is right on target... to opt in: 13 walks, 18 hits in 17 minor league innings so far. Hope most is just residue from working on a new pitch.

There may be 2 giveaways: one is the B disguised as pinetar on the helmet; the other is his #...

Thanks, Hitch, for digging up these quotes. They're enough to make at least one Red Sox fan dizzy. "The club would lose a year on his arbitration if the 20-year-old won 2025 American League Rookie of the Year," Stiefel wrote. "It’s not exactly crazy to think Anthony would be in contention if promoted, so the smartest thing to do in their current state is to wait things out..." Right -- better not bring up Anthony too soon because he might be too good. Is that really the smartest thing? As for the guy on Red Sox Stats who boils it down to: "is Anthony in Boston for the next 60 games worth potentially losing his age-27 season?" -- he should pose this question to owners John Henry and Tom Werner (who are a combined 150 years old). Do the senior owners feel the Sox should do everything possible to win this season or worry more about six years from now, when 99% of their current players will either be playing for another city, fired, or retired? They certainly care about payroll, but what's the value to the franchise of winning another championship?

Maybe sportswriters are getting confused now that the Rookie of the Year gets credited with a year of service time. But there are no specifics for Rookie of the Year eligibility except having rookie eligibility. From MLB.com: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless he has exceeded any of the following thresholds in a previous season (or seasons): • 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues. • 45 total days on an active Major League roster during the Championship Season (excluding time on the Injured List). A player must have rookie eligibility to be considered for any MLB rookie awards -- such as the American League or National League Rookie of the Year Award -- or appear on any MLB Pipeline prospect lists." This kind of reminds me of when Manny was traded to LA in '08, went off for two months, and finished 4th in NL MVP. He only played 53 games for the Dodgers. That same summer CC Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee. He started 17 games for the Brewers and finished 5th in NL Cy Young and 6th in MVP.