I understand this is extremely unlikely, but is there any of chance of moving Mookie to 2nd if Pedroia is out for a long time? Have Young in RF, Bradley in CF, and Benny in RF. Would be better than Rutledge at 2nd IMO
Yeah was probably a pipe dream regardless, do you think Rutledge will take over 2nd base?I think Mookie is fine in the leadoff spot. I'm not sure moving him down to 2nd would fix anything with Pedroia out.
Moving Mookie to 2B would be the 2nd most drastic thing suggested in that post.I understand this is extremely unlikely, but is there any of chance of moving Mookie to 2nd if Pedroia is out for a long time? Have Young in RF, Bradley in CF, and Benny in RF. Would be better than Rutledge at 2nd IMO
That would be a pretty intensive shift. I'm not sure abandoning Left Field entirely would be a wise move. Right now, Marrero is providing excellent defence at third but Panda is coming back soon, and his range has notably not improved over the last year. Any ball that got through might end up being extra bases.I understand this is extremely unlikely, but is there any of chance of moving Mookie to 2nd if Pedroia is out for a long time? Have Young in RF, Bradley in CF, and Benny in RF. Would be better than Rutledge at 2nd IMO
In Australia, that's called "taking the piss". SydneySox has elevated it to a fine art...That would be a pretty intensive shift. I'm not sure abandoning Left Field entirely would be a wise move. Right now, Marrero is providing excellent defence at third but Panda is coming back soon, and his range has notably not improved over the last year. Any ball that got through might end up being extra bases.
We could, potentially, adapt your strategy of Mookie to 2nd, and have the pitcher sprint off the mound after every pitch to shortstop, and have Xander run after every pitch into Left. It would provide extreme cover and would confuse the hitters.
In the end though I think the big weakness is on groundballs to first. With Mitchy M pulled off the bag, there would be no one to cover first. Maybe Young or Benny could run in on hits but I feel that is unrealistic.
That would be a pretty intensive shift. I'm not sure abandoning Left Field entirely would be a wise move. Right now, Marrero is providing excellent defence at third but Panda is coming back soon, and his range has notably not improved over the last year. Any ball that got through might end up being extra bases.
We could, potentially, adapt your strategy of Mookie to 2nd, and have the pitcher sprint off the mound after every pitch to shortstop, and have Xander run after every pitch into Left. It would provide extreme cover and would confuse the hitters.
In the end though I think the big weakness is on groundballs to first. With Mitchy M pulled off the bag, there would be no one to cover first. Maybe Young or Benny could run in on hits but I feel that is unrealistic.
Goodell would probably make that shift illegal and dock the Sox a draft pick.I think you're not thinking this through. Put Benny in short RF while Young covers deep right and right-CF and you could have Benny sprinting in to cover 1B each play. The extra sprints would probably keep him looser throughout the game and get his bat going again.
Joe Maddon approves of this strategy.I think you're not thinking this through. Put Benny in short RF while Young covers deep right and right-CF and you could have Benny sprinting in to cover 1B each play. The extra sprints would probably keep him looser throughout the game and get his bat going again.
Has Mookie been making those ridiculous catches over near the right field line all the way from CF? Man, is he fast. Must be as fast as this guy:IF Pedroia was out permanently, we'd be looking at massive holes at 3B and 2B, and the Sox would likely need to fill at least one of them to stay competitive. But moving Mookie from CF gives us an OF of 10-D, Bradley, Young, and. . .Sesky/Castillio? while risking injury and disruption to our best offensive player.
If the Sox had a third starting OF who was blocked (meaning Young was 5th on the depth chart), then maybe. And even then, the Sox might just be able to trade that theoretical OF for a 2B or a 3B.
He played a bit at the end of 2014 when Pedroia was out. Biggest issue I remember was that he was a lot slower at turning double plays. He's better in the outfield where his sprinting ability can be taken full advantage of, and he's reworked his throwing motion so that his arm is a weapon out there now unlike when he first moved to the outfield.One more thing, I've never seen Mookie play second base.