drewski6

Drop him down in batting order vs lefty, occasional day off vs lefty...Little things so his % of at-bats vs lefties is ~20% vs ~28% if they jsut left him hitting third every day. ALso, bringing him to pinch hit vs righties if he starts a game on bench. And sure , someone may emerge as a platoon partner if its like June and hes really struggling against lefties.

Durbin has some speed to help avoid the double play also. I dont hate either in the 2 hole and am fine with "whichever is hotter"

It will depend a lot on the % of his at-bats that re against lefties and what he does with those at-bats.

Hint: my roomate was on the team in 2003.

Well personally I was looking to rib you because ..... guess you cant guess the only greater Boston area college that made the frozen four tournament.....And it wasnt BC, BU, Northeastern, or Harvard.

More good than bad, especially against a lefty starter. Mayer has done everything we've asked him to do since last offseason. Most of our offense is going to come from Roman and Duran, and Im increasingly confident that its going to be a lot of offense from those 2. To summarize my thoughts on yesterdays big debate on Duran and Anthony batting order wise.... I think Anthony is going to have significantly more singles, walks, and homeruns I think Duran is going to have significantly more doubles, triples, and total extra base hits I think Anthony will have a .900ish OPS, Duran will prob be around .850 (but .900 vs righties). I love Anthony at lead-off, and I think Duran will have enough extra base hits to be fine in the 3 hole even if he doesnt hit as many dingers as a prototypical third hitter. I dont hate Story hitting between them because he has some speed to help avoid double plays, plus Im not as scared of a K in the 2 spot as I am a ground ball. When Roman is on first and Duran is on deck, I prefer a K over a grounder there. And Story was jsut under 30-30 last year, so thats "toolsy". Im not married to it, and Im not a "everybody needs a set role" kind of guy, so Im also fine with just putting the hottest righty bat between Anthony and Duran. Im thinking the double plays, and LOB is going to be an ongoing issue. And going against the grain here, I dont believe the issue is solved by looking strictly at OPS ( I think this is a rare situation when OPS isnt among the most telling stats) and I dont think its looking strictly at HRs either. I think its total extra base hits. Doubles avoid double plays. Doubles drive in runners from first (most of the time). Singles and walks, thats how you leave guys on base. So just need to make sure the extra base hitters come up in key spots and thats why Im a big fan of Anthony, hottest righty hitter, Duran at 1-2-3. Plus more at-bats for Anthony, and hes like a pros pro. Kind of weird how our 2 best non pitchers (fight me if you disagree) - we have Anthony who is like the most mature 21 year old IVe seen in a while and Duran who is like the least mature 30 year old Ive seen in a while (and I personally love him for it). But it will take both to win the division and I think they are both going to have great seasons.

TY for your sacrifice

Well sir, I may not agree with you, but I certainly respect you coming in hot after a break.

I dont hate Anthony-Contreras-Duran. But you cant drop Duran out of the top 3 vs righties. Unless you are just ignoring what Duran has done this spring. I think 2024 Duran returns

And this is why I support Duran in the three spot (at least against righties)

And doubles and triples are irrelevant?

Although, probs not the best hitter against lefties.

The Red Sox are also batting their best hitter third tonight, whats the problem?

Did we have all 3? Pre-2025 Anthony was 1 or 2. And was Mayer the other? I hadnt realized that KC had climbed that high.

Yes, thats called "hooking around the baseball" when you pull an outside pitch, and its a lazy fly to center at best.

Yeah, fouling a 2 strike pitch is an important skill, but when I would mess this up , I usually wouldnt hit a dribbler. I would usually pop it up to first base side foul territory. Probably because Im such a better low ball hitter than a high ball hitter. So if I have 2 strikes and its in the upper part of the zone outside, Im initially hoping its a slider or cutter (assuming righty pitcher) but if it looks like its staying in the zone, Im starting my swing late, attacking a ball in my "blue zone" and Im really just trying to flick it foul. If Im too far under it, however, it pops up and Im just kind of hoping that the first baseman and the catcher run into each other. Extremely frustrating end to the at-bat!

So 17 inches + (Diameter of baseball)*2

You know what Story does that makes me cry? Calls Duran every single day to make sure he doesnt blow his brains out

But could they hit a pitch 6 inches outside the plate and an inch off the dirt, reaching for it, off balance, and still hit an opposite field HR like Vlad Sr? Also your list is good but you missed the best ever at smacking outside pitches down the line oppo. Tony Gwynn.

Plenty (agreeing with you), also to bring it back KC was not a top 3 prospect. Hes a top 3 red sox prospect and the bust rate of those is prob close to 50/50. Now im not saying that KC is a bust. Im saying that I dont fear using him in a short side platoon role this year if he proves he can mash lefties and we need the help. I would make a conscious effort to make sure he also gets at least some game at-bats against righties. I also make him take at-bats between games. Ive long believed that its quite hard to ruin a player. Calling him a year early, moving him around positionally, to much time on the bench....In the vast majority of cases it matters not. Talent finds its level.

This just in, a RS fan forum has a rosier outlook on the 2026 season than baseball fans in general. Personally, I find myself significantly more optimistic than what I read or hear from neutral sources, but I do think that some of the stuff Ive read here borders on irrationally optimistic. Im cautious that my own spring optimism may be from me reading too much into spring results...But it does look like Duran, Anthony, Cedanne, Abreu are ready to mash.

I dont think managers have the ability to "fine" for performance related reasons. I hope not.

Because he cant complain about the crochet trade while crochet is our ace.

Fair

Agreed.