Maddie Landis

That double play last night was insane!

After whiffing on Alex Bregman in free agency, Nico Hoerner was floated as a potential fit for the Boston Red Sox. It turns out they didn’t need Hoerner. Boston has their very own contact-oriented, squared-jawed second baseman with a nice flow. On the surface, Nick Sogard and Nico Hoerner look like very similar hitters. Sogard isn’t a Statcast darling, nor is Hoerner. They don’t hit the ball hard. Their bat speeds grade in the bottom tenth of the league. They won’t turn any heads with their 86.8 and 86 mph exit velocities, nor do they barrel the ball often. Their greatest strengths lie in their plate discipline and contact efficiency. Let’s start with the most obvious difference: Hoerner is a faster player. His 77th percentile sprint speed helps boost his expected batting average to the 99th percentile. He’s also an elite defender and has won two Gold Gloves manning the keystone. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Sogard will win a Gold Glove sometime during his career. Nonetheless, he’s a serviceable defender. In previous seasons, he filled in wherever infield help was needed, but he’s found a semi-permanent home at second this year, posting a -1 DRS, 1 OAA, and 2 FRV across 260 innings. Two years ago, FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens conducted a deep dive on squared-up rate versus launch angle. Following his methodology, I created a chart comparing Nick Sogard and Nico Hoerner’s contact quality across every ball they’ve hit into play over the past two seasons. Hoerner squares up even when he’s hitting the ball into the dirt. He squares up 75% to 78% of balls hit at negative launch angles, which is nearly the same rate as his line drives (10-25 degrees). It’s rare to see a hitter who maintains their quality of contact that far below the line drive band, but Hoerner is a contact artist with elite bat control. Sogard’s squared-up rate falls roughly 16 percentage points, from 82.5% at 12 degrees to 66.7% at -14 degrees. Hoerner drops five points over the same stretch. In the sweet spot range (8 to 32 degrees), they’re squaring up at nearly identical rates. Their gap never exceeds 3.5 points, and the lead oscillates three times across the range. Hoerner peaks in the 18-22 degree bucket, averaging an 80.6% squared-up rate. Sogard's peak sits lower and wider, squaring up between 80% and 83% of the time from -2 to 14 degrees. Hoerner’s squared-up rate collapses above 38 degrees, whereas Sogard's plateaus around 60%. This is the exact opposite of their grounder gap. Sogard and Hoerner’s swing path tilt numbers are nearly identical at 33 degrees and 32 degrees, respectively. Their attack angles have a nine-degree gap, a byproduct of where they’re pitched. Player Swings Bat Speed Attack Angle Swing Length Tilt Ideal AA% EV LA Nick Sogard 304 69.2 14° 7.1 ft 33° 50.0% 87.1 17° Nico Hoerner 946 68.3 5° 7.3 ft 32° 45.6% 87.0 12° A steeper attack means the bat is traveling upward upon contact. It matches low pitches better, since the ball is descending into the bat path. It produces more lift on contact, resulting in higher launch angles and more fly balls and homers. A flatter attack angle covers the top of the zone better and yields more line drives and grounders. Generally speaking, we see contact hitters utilize flatter attack angles. Statcast divides the strike zone into four areas: the Heart, Shadow, Chase, and Waste Zone. Hoerner has played in more games than Sogard this year, so raw pitch counts aren’t an exact apples-to-apples comparison. Normalized via heat-maps, Hoerner’s seen a higher number of pitches in the Heart. Sogard bats left most of the time. As a lefty, pitchers attack him in the bottom shadow zone (Attack Zone 18). As a righty, Sogard sees more pitches in the heart of the plate (Attack Zones 2, 5, and 8). What happens when they connect with the ball? Hoerner hits more grounders, but as previously mentioned, he squares those up, so they’re not weak dribblers. His speed also bails him out of grounders that would be outs for most hitters. Player GB% FB% LD% PU% Pull Air% Nick Sogard 38.9% 21.5% 29.5% 10.1% 24.2% Nico Hoerner 43.5% 20.8% 28.2% 7.6% 13.0% Sogard doesn’t have elite speed to beat out grounders, but that isn’t a huge factor in his batted ball profile. Pulling the ball in the air reaps benefits for hitters. Over a third of them leave the yard. Sogard’s 24.2% pull-air rate is nearly double Hoerner’s. He’s seen that number jump across both sides of the plate. Last year, he recorded a 19.6% pull-air rate batting left, whereas this year it’s up to 23.5%. On the right side, it jumped from 23.1% to 26.7%. Fenway rewards switch hitters. Batting left, a line drive can sneak into the stands for a ground-rule double. Batting right, a pulled ball in the air connects with the Green Monster. Nick Sogard's Statcast Profile on Pulled Balls Season BBE EV LA Barrel% Hard-Hit% ISO BA xBA SLG xSLG wOBA xwOBA 2025 32 90.2 8 9.4% 46.9% .125 .344 .341 .469 .589 .350 .394 2026 66 88.6 9 7.6% 42.4% .288 .394 .363 .682 .557 .459 .394 Playing in a career-high 52 games in the majors this year, Sogard has sharpened his plate discipline. He’s cut his strikeout rate from 23.1% in 2025 to 19.9% in 2026, while bolstering his walk rate to 12.7% from 4.8%. He’s also not feasting on meatballs from mediocre guys. He’s hit home runs off Max Fried and Yennier Cano, two star pitchers. Looking at Hoerner and Sogard’s spray charts, you see the difference in their batted ball profiles. Hoerner’s is a wall of singles piled up in the infield and shallow outfield, which is exactly where you’d expect a guy with a five-degree attack angle to hit the ball. His home runs cluster down the left field line. Sogard’s damage varies based on his handedness. Nico Hoerner is a veteran second baseman. His profile is what a flat swing and elite bat control produce over six seasons. Heading into his age-30 season in 2027, it’s safe to say he’s hit his ceiling. He probably won’t ever hit more than 15 home runs in a season, which is fine, since the Cubs have plenty of other power hitters in their lineup to drive him home. Unlike Hoerner, Sogard’s still trying to figure out who he is as a hitter. Does he try to tap into his power, or does he stick to a contact-oriented approach? The Red Sox already have the latter in Caleb Durbin. Going forward, Sogard’s future looks murky. The team is loaded with solid, but not elite infielders. Boston traded for Curtis Mead, who fractured his left wrist in his debut. Mead has been on the 10-day IL and hasn’t swung yet. We probably won’t see him take the field for Boston again this year. Mead had a breakout first half with a surge in power, though his defense isn’t on par with Sogard’s. It’ll be interesting to watch the battle for second base whenever spring training occurs next year. Sogard has only appeared in 113 games across three seasons in Boston. This year, he’s blossomed into an X-factor for the team, and it’s safe to say he’s earned his spot on the postseason roster. He provides defensive versatility and elite plate discipline on both sides of the plate. His pull-air rate plays well in Fenway Park, and he has a knack for clutch hits. The Red Sox play better when Sogard is in the lineup, and his presence won’t be overlooked in October. View full article

Good morning! We’re recording the next episode of the Talk Sox Podcast on Sunday. Drop your questions below for @Alex Mayes and me. The cut-off is at 2:00 pm CST on the 13th.

No worries. Best of luck to both children in their sports! I remember the cross-country days. :)

Good morning! Drop your questions below for @Alex Mayes and me. We’ll answer them on the next Talk Sox podcast episode. The cutoff for questions is 2:00 pm CST on the 6th.

Hello! We’re recording the next episode of the Talk Sox Podcast on Sunday. Drop your questions below for both myself and @Alex Mayes. We’ll put the cutoff for questions at 2:00 pm CST on the 30th.

I vaguely remember hearing about the traveling secretary incident, though I was just eight years old at the time. Manny didn't directly apologize until 2014. Six years later! After learning this, I'd flip Damon/Manny

Izzy said he's fine with waiting until September 1st to be taken off the IL. I've whined plenty about him this year, but that comment earned him a lot of respect in my book.

I guess that he lands with the Mets. He doesn't fit the Phillies clubhouse vibe (and their raw-milk-drinking antics).

Alex Cora will manage a baseball team again. As of now, his timeline is uncertain. He mused on Karl Ravech’s “Dirt from the Dugout” podcast, “I think at one point, I’m gonna get back. When? We don’t know.” The Boston Red Sox fired Cora on April 25, after starting the 2026 season with a tepid 10-17 record. In his first season with the Red Sox, he led the team to a World Series title. The team made three postseason appearances under Cora. Overall, the skipper posted a 620-541 record (.534 W-L%) across eight seasons with his former team. Cora said he was “upset they didn’t let me finish the job,” but also “happy for my family… relieved I don’t have to go through scouting reports and the matrix and talk to the media twice a day and live in the bubble of ‘We have to do this.’” With more free time on his hands, Cora has enjoyed his summer. He returned to his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico, with his fiancée and twin sons. He attended some World Cup matches in Boston and traveled to Europe with his family. Cora is expected to be a popular managerial candidate in the offseason. He turned down an offer to manage the Phillies this season. Since Carlos Mendoza was fired, the Mets are also expected to have a managerial vacancy. Given the impending lockout, teams have a much narrower window to hire a new skipper. The regular season concludes at the end of September, so some teams have more time, but there's only one month between the end of the World Series and the Dec. 1 lockout. The bigger question is: Against all odds, could Boston go back to Cora a third time? I'm leaning no. Interim manager Chad Tracy is a frontrunner for the Manager of the Year Award and shepherded the team to an historic 27-3 stretch this summer. The Red Sox currently hold the second AL Wild Card spot after entering July all but out of the playoff race. Tracy has proved he’s more than capable of managing the team. Red Sox fans will always appreciate Cora’s contributions in the 2007 and 2018 World Series runs, but it's best for both sides to move on. Cora is still regarded as one of the best managers in the game, and he’ll succeed wherever he lands. View full article

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Welcome to Talk Sox!

Boston is one of the premier healthcare cities in the United States. It’s home to three medical schools. Massachusetts General is regarded as one of the best hospitals in the world. Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center aren’t far behind. Both are elite healthcare institutions in their own right. (Grey's Anatomy taught me all I need to know about medical programs.) Fenway Park sits 2.2 miles from Mass General's main campus. The Boston Red Sox have access to some of the best doctors in the world, and somehow fans can’t get a clear answer on what’s wrong with the team’s players. Why has the team’s medical staff dropped the ball multiple times in 2026? Consider the communication surrounding Garrett Crochet, Roman Anthony, and Curtis Mead’s injuries. Garrett Crochet On April 29, Garrett Crochet was placed on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Earlier that month, the Minnesota Twins (yes, the Twins) annihilated Crochet, scoring 11 runs off of him (10 earned) across 1 ⅔ innings. Former manager Alex Cora claimed Crochet was healthy. On June 2, Crochet revealed he underwent an MRI and said he was “feeling much better than I was a couple days ago, which is positive, but ultimately just waiting to see what the imaging reveals”. Later that day, interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters that the MRI showed “a very low-grade lat strain” and said, “Crochet will be able to resume throwing as soon as he is asymptomatic.” The southpaw subsequently shut down his throwing program for two weeks. Ten days later, Crochet said he thought he was “getting close to throwing”. He continued, “I think we all, you guys included, from the information that I was receiving and relaying to you, wouldn't have expected the shoulder to keep me out as long as it has.” Roughly one week ago, Crochet said it’s up in the air whether he’ll pitch again in 2026, “It’s tough to say, I’m not going to make a claim like that… I understand why you ask the question… it’s just completely different from the original diagnosis”. He also spoke to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe and said he’s not cleared to throw and that he would need six weeks to build up before throwing again. He lamented, “What the [expletive] is the point of building up the strength now?” Roman Anthony On May 4, Roman Anthony tore the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint in his right ring finger. The injury was initially labeled as a right wrist sprain. Post-game, Tracy told reporters, “Imaging tonight was negative, but we are gonna send him back to Boston to see our hand specialist just to let him look at it and make sure… I think the whole point is to get him back with our specialist to see him and see how he is. If everything’s good, we’ll get him back here. But we’ve got to get him back there first.” Later that month, Anthony shut down his hitting program, citing discomfort in his wrist. In mid-June, he reportedly felt pain after he swung a fungo bat. Anthony was transferred to the 60-day injured list on June 28. In early July, news broke that he moved his rehab program to Fort Myers, Florida. Curtis Mead Mead abruptly left Monday’s game after being hit on the hand in his second at-bat with the Red Sox. Post-game, Tracy told reporters, “He’s sore… We’re just going to take it day to day and see how he feels coming in (Tuesday). A little sore but at least right now it looks like we dodged a bullet maybe.” Come Tuesday evening, Tommy Cassell reported that Nick Sogard was being called up from Triple-A Worcester to join the team in Sacramento. The injury is a fractured left wrist, with a recovery time between six and eight weeks depending on the severity of the injury. Alex Speier reported he flew back on Tuesday night to meet with the team’s hand specialist. The medical equipment in a ballpark isn't up to par with what you'd find at a hospital. Bone injuries, especially small ones, can be tough to spot on an X-ray and take multiple reviews by practitioners. (When I found out that I broke the growth plate in my right shoulder, the doctors had already sent me home from the hospital.) Mead might be the exception here, but that doesn't excuse Crochet's shoulder injury evolving into a lat strain or Roman Anthony's wrist injury becoming a torn CMC joint overnight. Teams get unlucky with injuries. The funny thing is that the Red Sox aren’t the unluckiest team in baseball. (Check out our sister site, North Side Baseball, if you want to see a team utterly plagued by injuries this season.) Boston ranks sixth on Baseball Prospectus’s Hurt Scale with 12 players. They went on a 15-game win streak sans Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet, the two superstars expected to lead the team to the postseason. What separates the Red Sox is a lack of transparency from the exam room to what players themselves and the public are being told. The Red Sox need to do better. Three shifting narratives demonstrate a pattern and a lack of transparency. I can’t diagnose whether it starts with the front office or the medical staff, but this is unacceptable from an organization with their resources. Something has to change if they want to maintain credibility with the media and their fans. View full article