Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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joyofsox

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A new low for Nick today.

He explores how the Red Sox have a very good record on Tuesdays. ... That's right. There's something about Tuesdays that makes the Red Sox play baseball really well. Cafardo asked Bogaerts about this and Xander said, "Ah c'mon man! Really?" Cafardo described this as a "funny" reaction.

No, Nick. Bogaerts did not have a "funny" reaction. He had a "normal" reaction. He had a "common sense" reaction. He had an "intelligent person" reaction. Bogaerts's comment should have enough for Cafardo to reconsider his flimsy premise and realize, yeah, that is awfully stupid. But Cafardo, chronically bereft of ideas, latches onto this meaningless bit of nonsense and devotes an entire column to it.
 
BTU

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joyofsox said:
A new low for Nick today.

He explores how the Red Sox have a very good record on Tuesdays. ... That's right. There's something about Tuesdays that makes the Red Sox play baseball really well. Cafardo asked Bogaerts about this and Xander said, "Ah c'mon man! Really?" Cafardo described this as a "funny" reaction.

No, Nick. Bogaerts did not have a "funny" reaction. He had a "normal" reaction. He had a "common sense" reaction. He had an "intelligent person" reaction. Bogaerts's comment should have enough for Cafardo to reconsider his flimsy premise and realize, yeah, that is awfully stupid. But Cafardo, chronically bereft of ideas, latches onto this meaningless bit of nonsense and devotes an entire column to it.
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Maybe it's because Uranus was discovered on a Tuesday.
 
joe dokes

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Another "if they do badly in this series all is lost" from Nick. With this head-scratcher about the stretch last year and not having home field vs Cleveland:

John Farrell thought he was doing the right thing in resting players (including David Ortiz) that final week after they had won 11 straight games, but it wound up being detrimental. The Sox clinched on that horrendous night in New York when Craig Kimbrel blew the save on a walkoff grand slam. You could tell right then that the Red Sox were struggling, and that played out in the playoffs. They ran out of gas, they had nothing left.
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The implication of "thought he was doing the right thing" by resting players is that he didn;t do the right thing. But doesn't the fact that they "ran out of gas" suggest that the idea of rest was correct?
 
ifmanis5

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Nick must be mad that the Yankees lost the series to Boston since he ginned up some lame apples to oranges comps here. It's not even a Hot Take, it's Chicken Little wishcasting. I keep thinking 'Nick is better than this' but nope.
 
MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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At this point, I can't imagine anyone ever thinking, "Nick is better than this," unless "this" is the winner of a media-buffet-consuming contest. He's the grand champion, clearly, and must just not have entered.

The above hindsight on last season is absurd. The Sox didn't "run out of gas." Their starting pitching was shit and Tito weaponized his bullpen and the Sox got outplayed and outmanaged by a team that ended up losing the WS in game 7 of one of the best series we've ever seen.

None of that had fuck-all to do with resting players down the stretch or how they clinched.
 
Humphrey

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Apples to Oranges is Spot On.

He doesn't seem to comprehend that being up 5 games in the division with 6 weeks to play (and 2.5 over Cleveland for home field) is not equivalent to what Farrell and the team did or didn't do once the division was clinched with a week to go a year ago. The Sox could lose 4 straight in Cleveland and it won't be because they let down and don't think the games are important.
 
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jon abbey

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He actually sucks at one of the three defensive components of catching and is very good at the other two:

"Sanchez has gone 17-for-45 (38%) throwing out runners this year, the fourth best rate among the 23 catchers with at least 600 innings behind the plate this year. Only Yan Gomes (46%), Tucker Barnhart (43%), and Martin Maldonado (41%) have been better. As far as pitch-framing goes, Baseball Prospectus ranks Sanchez the 14th best framer — among 92 total catchers — at +3.7 runs saved."

http://riveraveblues.com/2017/08/gary-sanchez-passed-balls-and-all-is-an-absolute-star-159632/
 
lexrageorge

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I'm still trying to figure out what he meant here:

There’s a lot of power the Red Sox aren’t taking advantage of. Rusney Castillo also is on the DL and might have been a good temporary solution.
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So, the Sox are foresaking power by not playing a guy that's currently on the DL in AAA? Huh?
 
joe dokes

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GlobeSanta to-be's butt-hurtedness over Price's unwillingness to talk to him has caused further deterioration of his coherence:

Because Price doesn’t feel an obligation to speak to the media and to Red Sox fans about his comeback given his salary speaks volumes, but the only thing that anyone really cares about is whether he can pitch in the playoffs.
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https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/08/30/david-price-remains-silent-after-bullpen-session/hcFmJptsFgC4tdgDtfedEK/story.html
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Wait. What he earns means that he has to talk to the media? BTW, I love that he added fans in there too, we're all in this together, right guys? How does that speak "volumes"?
 
snowmanny

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Cafardo wants to trade Benintendi, ERod and Groome for Stanton.

He thinks the Yankees will be able to trade the remnants of Ellsbury if they pick up half of the $68Million left on his contract.
 
Humphrey

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Love how Nick contradicts himself from paragraph to paragraph.
Ellsbury's (one of many) Exhibit A's why you don't sign (or in this case, even worse,, give up talent for) a player, especially one with an injury history, to a big buck big year deal.
 
Humphrey

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...oh, and don't forget Nick's not-so-subtle pimping for Boras clients.

On a positive note about the man, I saw him close up last Sunday, thinner (despite his pudgy face) and taller than he looks on tv. The camera must truly put pounds on a person.
 
Humphrey

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5. Seems to me that Mets network analyst Ron Darling is on the money about his observation that the team’s football-based weightlifting program under strength and conditioning adviser Mike Barwis has led to numerous pitching injuries. The Mets haven’t wanted to hear it, though.

6. Would the Mets trade a starting pitcher to the Blue Jays for Donaldson?

Well, shit, yeah, the Mets will trade an injured starting pitcher for Donaldson if the Blue Jays are dumb enough to do it.
 
Granite Sox

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Ah yes... the guy who whined incessantly about pitch counts and the increasing specialization of relief pitchers...

(P.S. I think a small portion of Farrell's motivation was to shove it up Showalter's a$$)
 
Van Everyman

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Imagine what Nick would write if we learned this was the prelude to them shutting Sale down for the rest of the regular season.
 
The Gray Eagle

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What's worst about this is that now every time Sale gives up a couple runs for the rest of this year and in postseason, Cafardo will bring this up and say "I told you so!"
If Sale pitches really well the rest of the way, he won't mention it at all.
 
joe dokes

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Dick Pole Upside said:
Ah yes... the guy who whined incessantly about pitch counts and the increasing specialization of relief pitchers...

(P.S. I think a small portion of Farrell's motivation was to shove it up Showalter's a$$)
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St.Nick also pinpoints the shutting down of Strasburg a few years ago as MLB's version of Franz Ferdinand's assassination.

While I dont think Farrell was unhappy about the Showalter angle, I think what he said is what we got. Sale was at 99 stressless (relatively, of course, as it's still MLB pitching) pitches. He can get an extra day before his next start. 300Ks is a big deal. Sale seems to be a well-liked and respected teammate. I suppose if one wants to dump on the manager, you call it, "catering to an individual over the team's needs." While that may be technically accurate (depending on what you think about the effect of the extra pitches) I think that aspect was more than swamped by the positive human relations/people managing thing that the whole team, not just Sale, probably appreciated, especially as they were getting a chance to breathe in a blowout, with an offday looming, after 2 tough extra-inning games against a team that's given them trouble, while impressively holding the NYYs at bay during the Twins's surrender..

Bringing that back to Cafardo, Sale showed the toughness, determination and grit that Nick finds lacking in the likes of Price and Ellsbury, for example. ("You have to wonder if Price's decision not to fight hard to stay in the game to reach the personal milestone reflects the same lack of passion that has caused him to fail in the playoffs").
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

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joe dokes said:
determination and grit that Nick finds lacking in the likes of Price and Ellsbury
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No, no, no, no. Nick loves himself some Jacoby Ellsbury. In fact he's petitioned a lot of Massachusetts towns (Salisbury, Amesbury, Shrewsbury) to consider changing their names to Ellsbury. To sweeten the deal, he told said town that he would move there. He's always wanted to live in Ellsbury and now he might be able to.

David Price is an overpaid asshole. Jacoby Ellsbury was just using the market to his advantage in obtaining a kingly sum despite the fact that his one money-making skill (his legs) were eroding like crazy. He's going to turn it around though, you mark Cafardo's words. Jacoby Ellsbury will hit taters, swipe bags and have many towns in Massachusetts named after him. AND NICK WILL OWN HOMES IN ALL OF THEM AND HE WILL RULE OVER HIS FIEFDOM WITH JACOBY ELLSBURY AS HIS KING!
 
joe dokes

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The Gray Eagle

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The Gray Eagle said:
What's worst about this is that now every time Sale gives up a couple runs for the rest of this year and in postseason, Cafardo will bring this up and say "I told you so!"
If Sale pitches really well the rest of the way, he won't mention it at all.
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And of course, here's Cafardo yesterday with his inevitable I told you so!!

"He talked Farrell into pitching eight innings on Sept. 20 with a 9-0 lead against Baltimore to reach the 300-strikeout plateau. Some questioned whether it was prudent of Farrell to allow Sale to go out there for 111 pitches at a time when the Sox were trying to limit his workload.

Did that extended outing contribute to Tuesday’s poor outing? Of course all parties will deny it, but Sale wasn’t fooling anyone, particularly Josh Donaldson, who hit two homers."
 
joe dokes

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The Gray Eagle said:
And of course, here's Cafardo yesterday with his inevitable I told you so!!

"He talked Farrell into pitching eight innings on Sept. 20 with a 9-0 lead against Baltimore to reach the 300-strikeout plateau. Some questioned whether it was prudent of Farrell to allow Sale to go out there for 111 pitches at a time when the Sox were trying to limit his workload.

Did that extended outing contribute to Tuesday’s poor outing? Of course all parties will deny it, but Sale wasn’t fooling anyone, particularly Josh Donaldson, who hit two homers."
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I wonder of St.Nick knows that there's some other guy named "Josh Donaldson," who has been among the best hitters in the American League since the all-star break, with 24 home runs in 65 games and an OPS around 1.000. Obviously St.Nick isn't talking about *that* Josh Donaldson, because that could undermine St.Nick's point. St. Nick must be talking about a "Josh Donaldson" who could only hit home runs against tired pitchers.
 
joe dokes

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gryoung said:
Moving aside all the Cafardo hate, isn't there legitimate concern over Sale's recent performance slide? This was/is the book on him, right? Tends to wear down on last part of the season.
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Yes it is reasonable to be concerned. But it has little to do with one or two innings last week.
Ultimately, I dont think there's a whole lot a team can do about it. I doubt (but , of course am just guessing) that an inning or 2 here or there is going to make a difference on wearing down. If you pull him often and early enough to make a significant dent in the innings, then they are probably sacrificing wins along the way. Healthy, important position players get about 10 games off a year. Widely-accepted Good Coach Popovich has guys skip games. A healthy important starter will get 32-34 starts. Is it worth it to skip 2 starts? Would it even work?
 
SydneySox

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... and it doesn't even matter in the context of this thread; Carfado throws out unbacked assertions all the time and never talks about the 90% of them that go unproven, but if something happens to the sox that happens to correlate to something he said, watch the fuck out, Nicky's going to claim every level credit.
 
joe dokes

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It took until Game 161 for the ,Red Sox to settle the division, with their 93rd win when it should have happened a few days earlier
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Should have? Dear globe santa, when you come down my chimney, there will be a blazing fire.

In any other year, a September like the Yankees had would have pulverized the team in front of them. So one would think the team deserves credit. St. Nick thinks A team deserves credit.

Give the Yankees credit for applying the pressure.
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Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Sox went 17-10 in September. Nick is hopped up on goofballs.

EDIT: I don't know what it says in your editions of the Globe, but in mine Nick says that the Sox clinched the division last year after the game where Kimbrel gave up a grand slam to Teixeira. One problem: that was Joe Kelly. Nick's apparently never heard of Baseball Reference.
 
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