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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. Brez showing Bloom how it's done.
  2. But I definitely want my catcher strong enough to put a headlock on any batter charging the mound. As for the pitcher -- on any grounder hit to the right side, I need him get over to cover first base in time for a put-out (even if Mookie is running, Cole). Who cares if he can beat the batter in an arm-wrestle if the guy reaches safely.
  3. Fans like a player who swears as much as they do when things go wrong, as long as he's not swearing at teammates or franchise Hall of Famers-turned-broadcasters.
  4. Some fans couldn't believe the Sox thought he was worth $17 million a year! Looking at those postseason numbers, it is unbelievable that's all he got paid.
  5. The underrated game was Game 3 of the '18 ALDS. Series was tied, 1-1, after the Yankees croaked Price. Judge was blasting "NY, NY" in Fenway, and Yankee fans were salivating as both teams headed to the hostile Bronx. Eovaldi waltzed in and shut them all up with 7 IP and one run, while Brock and the boys were putting up a 16-spot. Three years later Nate beat the Yanks in the Wild Card game, this time pitching into the 6th and only giving up a solo shot by Rizzo, on an 8 K, 0 BB day. It was a little better than Cole, who only lasted 2 innings while serving up HRs to Bogey and Schwarber (Sox could be in trouble this year without Cole tossing BP to Raffy).
  6. No stat comparing arm strength compensates for making consistently accurate throws, from all points of a position. Shortstops that stood out in this regard on Red Sox champions: Orlando Cabrera and Stephen Drew. Both were money. Guys I can't remember being decisive either way (maybe they didn't have as many chances?): Julio Lugo and Xander Bogaerts.
  7. I just never bought into Bloom's claim that Story's range would make up for his damaged wing. What good is a guy with speed to get to more grounders deep in the hole, if his throws barely reach first base from normal depth? Keeping a ball in the infield can save the occasional run if there are baserunners in scoring position, but so can a relay man with a cannon (who can also dissuade base coaches from even sending runners, like when Evans used to wind up from RF). Quick infielders can rob hits by snagging liners before they get to the outfield, but pre-pitch positioning is probably more consistently important. Mayer, not known as a speed demon, seems to be good at this. Mayer may be more Ripken, while Story is more Ozzie.
  8. I'm not a Doctor Frankenstein (though I watched one on TV), but it would seem that Tommy John Surgery, bracing an elbow with a good tendon taken from another place in the same body, would have a better chance of melding, mending and even strengthening the area... rather than an artificial piece that's not made from human tissue, much less the same human. People function with fake parts (like hips and knees) all the time, but can elite athletes -- especially pitchers who throw as hard as they can -- ever be as good as new again? Isn't this the reason Bo Jackson couldn't play hockey?
  9. In one inning yesterday he consistently broke triple digits on the jugs gun. Good thing everyone says stats in Spring Training are worthless.
  10. For anyone who's been watching the ST games, the Red Sox have no big league-ready shortstops who are expendable as trade bait. Not only has Mayer looked solid, but Story threw two more balls away yesterday: one he heaved into the Twins dugout, another he bounced 20 feet away from Casas, which he couldn't have reached if he was Mr. Fantastic (or even Mr. Mediocre). For some reason they only gave Story one E, but there were two WTFs...
  11. And without Dalbec, O'Neill, Smith, Cooper, Westbrook, Reyes, Abreu, Romy, and Zac Short -- all who had higher K-rates last year than Ceddanne! So did Casas, Story and Sogard, but they played last night...
  12. Hamilton is on the team no matter what, just so he can steal 89 bases off Vazquez when they play the Twins.
  13. Campbell, living up to his Barry Bonds nickname, just gunned out speed demon Byron Buxton from the LF corner. .
  14. No-no-no -- I was saying Story and Mayer are our two best infielders right now. But that just means one of the Big Three should still start in Texas Opening Day.
  15. Chapman will make all of us a lot older this summer.
  16. And unless someone really expects, finally, some Story glory (circa 2020, his last season with MVP votes), then Red Sox management has to ask itself: is there a better all-around middle infielder in the entire system right now than Marcelo Mayer? Let's compare, anyway: both have the gloves, Story has wheels, Mayer has the arm, and at bat, both have some pop. As for those worried about Mayer's K-rate, we already know Story can whiff with the worst of them. We also know the dumb rules about keeping a man down to retain an extra year of "control" -- translation: so you don't have to pay him what he's worth if he's good (and still with the same org, a rarity after a half decade of MLB service)... ... so how unreasonable of fans who'd demand their favorite teams to start the two best players at two vital positions in the center of the diamond.
  17. Verdugo -- "the centerpiece in the Mookie Betts trade" -- could be finished as a big leaguer before age 30... ... and yes, I insisted he be included in that deal (along with PITCHERS).
  18. Mayer already looks like an old pro at any infield position. He's more sure-handed and composed than Campbell, Grissom and Hamilton (who I keep reading on forums as a dependable defensive infielder, when every game I watch he makes a shaky play). With Griz already demoted, it would make sense if both Mayer and Campbell made the roster, for added left-right bats, with Hamilton the utility guy now that Romy looks like he won't be ready. If Campbell gets cut, they'll him at both IF and OF in Worcester -- so he'll bat every day. Griz will play 2B when KC's in LF...
  19. I'm just grateful a franchise like the Red Sox, who once refused to sign Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, gave a guy like Yoshida a chance... ... and Wong, Narvaez, Casas, Campbell, Hamilton, Mayer, Gonzalez, Devers, Duran, Refsnyder, Rafaela and Abreu. And Bregman, who made it a point to learn to speak Spanish, even though his great-grandfather immigrated from Russia. And those are just some of the position players for Alex Cora.
  20. Watching the Sox Grapefruit action today. I don't know what I'm more happier about for the board: Mayer's RBI-triple or Rafaela's 9-pitch walk... ... also wondering if any other baseball forum exists where another team's posters would consider such news with equal positivity.
  21. Makes sense. Then again, there's no doubt in my mind that Boston's best infield prospect -- the guy who looks like a big leaguer right now, anywhere on the dirt -- is Marcelo Mayer.
  22. Not acquiring a premium closer this offseason is why I can't take this team seriously in the goal of going-for-it... and why I'm still stuck in the 80s for wins, even 89. Maybe a Schiraldi or Koji will emerge, because that's happened, what - twice in 40 years? No one wants to trade a star closer in his prime, and if they do, it's because they're about to get too expensive (or TJS). If you can swap for a legit closer, the cost is going to be steep (or in Brezspeak, "painful"). Kimbrel cost four prospects a decade ago, Edwin Diaz was just 24 when he went to the Mets (with Cano's bloated contract) for five prospects, including Kelenic, rated 4th overall on the MLB list. It's hard to believe Diaz just turned 30... Even Chapman, who always wears out his welcome, cost young stars lie Gleybar Torres or Cole Ragans. So if the Sox really want a good closer, be prepared to lose one of the Big Three.
  23. In a few years, your three-man outfield could be the starting unit for the next great Red Sox team (while the other two may not even be playing in Boston). Can you at least envision that possibility?
  24. It's a draft strategy to pick the best player available, and a draft joke here when the Red Sox always draft shortstops, because that means those guys can play anywhere. Most fans probably remember the Little League cliche that all the best kids play shortstop when they don't pitch. But nowadays -- in the world of multi-team sports in the same seasons and year-round -- those same players are also all catchers. Why? Because catcher is the hardest position, and only the best ballplayers can handle it.
  25. Agreed. But anyone who watched his methodical bat flip on the follow-through of another home run vs. the Yankees yesterday knows Yoshida can help the line-up. And for the dislikers, if he still can't throw, he has a lot less trade value this spring, at least.
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