The Offense

[The Gray Eagle]

Runs scored per game in May:
2, 2, 5, 1, 2, 3, 0
1, 6, 5, 2, 2, 2, 1
4, 0, 4, 1, 1, 5, 8
6, 2, 1, 4, 5, 4, 0, 3
 
82 runs in 29 games, 2.83 runs per game. Median runs per game in May: 2. Mode: 2.
 
Of the 29 games in May, scored 1 or 0 runs in 9 of them.
16 games of 2 runs or fewer-- 55% of the games in May.
18 games of 3 runs or fewer-- 62%.
22 games of 4 runs or fewer-- 76%.
 
23% of the runs scored in the month came in 3 games against Anaheim when we scored 5, 8 and 6 runs. (We lost one of those games.)

 

[alwyn96]

 
Well, if I may play devil's advocate here, it's entirely possible that Pedroia has been pointing out things that Davis has also pointed out to those same people. 

 
Yeah, we really don't have any idea of what's going on behind the scenes. Whatever Pedroia pointed out might turn out to be irrelevent, something Davis mentioned before, or stuff guys would have figured out anyway. 
 
Ultimately all that really matters are results. Davis came highly regarded and I doubt he suddenly forgot everything about hitting or stopped working - I'm sure he knows a ton about hitting and works hard. If a team has disappointing results then you probably want to consider making a change regardless of how great he might be, although you run the risk of having a revolving door coaching position who doesn't have time to build relationships with players. There's always the balance of making adjustments v. trying to do too much.

 

[nattysez]

This may call for its own thread, but I found this statement from Henry pretty shocking:
 

“We have a certain philosophy. We’ve talked a lot about adjusting that philosophy . . . There’s adjustments we need to make as an organization and Ben will make those adjustments and he’ll lead that process. I think he and his people are the right people to do that.”
Specifically, Henry believes the Red Sox are too patient. The Red Sox, long built around players who see a lot of pitches and compile high on-base percentages, are falling victim to the improvement in pitching around the game.
Henry said the strike zone is larger than it used to be and the Red Sox must play accordingly.
“Our approach has been suspect,” he said. “Offense is not what it used to be in baseball. The way you win games in 2003 is different from the way you win games in 2015. We have to make those adjustments as an organization.”
 

 
This would be a pretty major philosophical shift, no?  I believe in the past players were promoted specifically based on their adjustments to the Red Sox's hitting philosophy -- are they now going to try to re-train those kids?  
 
I don't necessarily dispute what Henry is saying -- a bigger strike zone means being patient at the plate may be riskier/more difficult -- but admitting that the whole org needs to shift its hitting philosophy strikes me as fairly radical.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

Nothing to retrain. If they've been raised to be patient at the plate, swing only at early pitches if they're in a specific spot, and still be able to handle the 2-strike pitch...
 
Then I imagine the only adjustment is taking the 2-strike approach into the 0-strike arena, but still have the ability to wait out the count if it's in their favor.
 
edit: We all think Mookie takes too many 1st pitch strikes, right? Who'd he learn that from, Ellsbury? It's a nice idea - leadoff guy showing his teammates as many pitches as possible, but if the pitchers are hep to it guys like Betts are just giving away a hittable pitch. He seems to change his routine after a couple of at bats and I think Henry's reference had a lot to do with Betts (and maybe Bogaerts)

 

[Don Buddin's GS]

Sports on Earth takes a look at Pedey's power numbers:
 
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/128138466/dustin-pedroia-power-bat-coming-back

 

[alwyn96]

Nothing to retrain. If they've been raised to be patient at the plate, swing only at early pitches if they're in a specific spot, and still be able to handle the 2-strike pitch...
 
Then I imagine the only adjustment is taking the 2-strike approach into the 0-strike arena, but still have the ability to wait out the count if it's in their favor.
 
edit: We all think Mookie takes too many 1st pitch strikes, right? Who'd he learn that from, Ellsbury? It's a nice idea - leadoff guy showing his teammates as many pitches as possible, but if the pitchers are hep to it guys like Betts are just giving away a hittable pitch. He seems to change his routine after a couple of at bats and I think Henry's reference had a lot to do with Betts (and maybe Bogaerts)

 
Consistently taking the 1st pitch worked pretty well for Wade Boggs, but of course he had some of the best bat control and best strikezone judgment in the history of baseball. So maybe not for everyone.

 

[jimbobim]

Idk if this article has been linked yet, but the offense just hasn't been able to hit good heat this year at all. Don't know how they fix this. 
 
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/2015/05/29/red-sox-fastball-struggles-have-fast-become-problem/KiXqD1y4kDemRP2FJwoS6L/story.html
 
“Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster.”—Joe Adcock
Big Papi is only 1/3 of the overall problem facing the heart (3-4-5 batters in the lineup) of the Sox order.
Overall, MLB 3-4-5 batters are hitting .266 this season. The Sox are hitting .239.
Overall, MLB 3-4-5 batters are hitting .280 against fastballs this season. The Sox are hitting .217; only the Astros batters at .196 are lower.
And that tells us so much. If there is any one pitch that has been the cause of the disappointing offensive production from the Sox sluggers this season, it has been the fastball.
And if you are wondering why the Sox are 3-22 when trailing at the start of the 7th inning, the Sox are hitting .258 against starters (.248 against their fastball) and .211 against relievers (.233 against their fastball).
One last stat that shows how the Sox batters are being overpowered by fastballs: On pitches 94-plus mph, the league is hitting is hitting .246, but Boston is hitting just .212.
Do not think the opposition has not exploited this weakness: no team has seen as many fastballs as the Sox who have faced 4,099 fastballs or 55.7 percent of all the pitches they’ve seen.
The Sox’ fastball struggles have fast become a major problem.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Red Sox Right Fielders this year (before today's game):
 
.176/.254/.245 in 210 PA
2 HR, 11 RBI
 
After Castillo's 0-4 today, the batting average dips to .172.
 
That is so wretched, it's astonishing. Pretty much any AAA RF should be expected to hit better than that in the majors.
 
On the bright side, they're making the catchers look good.
 
Catchers: .206/.287/.251 in 202 PA. (And Swihart hit a HR today so the catchers will be even further ahead of the RFs)

 

[threecy]

Does anyone have any analysis of pitches taken this year?  The Red Sox have been known in recent years for seeing a lot of pitches...is it possible that the league has adjusted by getting the hitters on their heels and fighting them off with the heat?

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

Red Sox Right Fielders this year (before today's game):
 
.176/.254/.245 in 210 PA
2 HR, 11 RBI
 
After Castillo's 0-4 today, the batting average dips to .172.
 
That is so wretched, it's astonishing. Pretty much any AAA RF should be expected to hit better than that in the majors.
 
On the bright side, they're making the catchers look good.
 
Catchers: .206/.287/.251 in 202 PA. (And Swihart hit a HR today so the catchers will be even further ahead of the RFs)

 
Well, let's start bracing ourselves now for a Heyward overpay. OPS+ of 86 in St. Louis, he'll fit right in.

 

[grimshaw]

 
Well, let's start bracing ourselves now for a Heyward overpay. OPS+ of 86 in St. Louis, he'll fit right in.

The only team capable of winning a St. Louis trade is the Braves apparently.

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

Among 168 qualified batters, Ortiz ranks 164th for wFB (-7.0), only Melky Cabrera, Kevin Pillar, Chase Utley, and Eric Sogard have been worse. (By comparison, the best in the league are Goldschmidt, Kipnis, Harper, Upton, Duda, Adrian Gonzalez, Rizzo, Todd Frazier, AJ Pollock, and Mike Trout).
 
Hanley Ramirez ranks 143rd, and Mike Napoli 140th. 
 
The heart of the order, and they can't (or just aren't) hitting fastballs.

Or, of course, the three guys you listed have had abysmal luck finding holes on well-struck fastballs.

We all know Ortiz loses tons of hits pulled into the teeth of the shift.

And, connsidering hoe Hanley and Napoli both are far better than average on batted ball velocities, it's likely they too have suffered.

It's not to say this data isn't useful, but the error bars have to be pretty large after 1/3 of the season.

 

[twibnotes]

Teams that constantly change coaching staffs and managers have one thing in common: they all consistently have shitty performances.  There may be a rare exception to the rule, for maybe a year, but that's all it is, an exception.

 
What causes what?  I would expect teams with shitty performances to, in turn, change coaching staffs and managers.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Or, of course, the three guys you listed have had abysmal luck finding holes on well-struck fastballs.

We all know Ortiz loses tons of hits pulled into the teeth of the shift.

And, connsidering hoe Hanley and Napoli both are far better than average on batted ball velocities, it's likely they too have suffered.

It's not to say this data isn't useful, but the error bars have to be pretty large after 1/3 of the season.

Hate to nitpick, but teams are shifting for every hitter that has a definite hit direction (pull, never saw a shift assuming a guy goes the other way). Unless you mean he gets nailed at first by throws by second basemen from near halfway to the right fielder because he's so slow. 

 

[AB in DC]

Among 168 qualified batters, Ortiz ranks 164th for wFB (-7.0), only Melky Cabrera, Kevin Pillar, Chase Utley, and Eric Sogard have been worse. (By comparison, the best in the league are Goldschmidt, Kipnis, Harper, Upton, Duda, Adrian Gonzalez, Rizzo, Todd Frazier, AJ Pollock, and Mike Trout).
 

 
Ortiz vs. RHP: .279/.386/.500
Ortiz vs. LHP: .118/.116/.162
 
The probably isn't Ortiz hitting fastballs.  The problem is Ortiz hitting LHP fastballs.

 

[AB in DC]

As for Hanley -- take away his two games in Toronto post-injury (when he was clearly not himself), and his slash line is something like .281/.322/.495.  That 817 OPS would match his OPS from last year.

 

[AB in DC]

And Sandoval seems to be hitting LHPs again now that he's stopped switch-hitting (4-for-12 from the left side vs 2-for-41 from the right).  He's already adequate against RHPs (.293/.370/,455 for .825 OPS)
 
As for the rest of the team:
 
- 1B Napoli seems to have turned it around after the West Coast trip when he supposedly fixed his swing
- 2B/hitting coach Pedroia is still elite
- SS Bogaerts is almost there as well (see other thread)
- C Swihart is doing as well as can be expected for a third-string catcher.
 
 
That means the only real problems on offense are:
1) RF being an absolute black hole, as The Gray Eagle pointed out
2) CF Betts having a bit of a sophomore slump
3) Ortiz being unable to hit LHPs any more.
 
#3 is easy to fix - just platoon Ortiz at DH with Hanley and put BROCKHOLT in the outfield against LHPs
#2, we probably just have to ride out
#1, dare I say, when is Shane Victorino coming back??

 

[grimshaw]

And Sandoval seems to be hitting LHPs again now that he's stopped switch-hitting (4-for-12 from the left side vs 2-for-41 from the right).  He's already adequate against RHPs (.293/.370/,455 for .825 OPS)
 
As for the rest of the team:
 
- 1B Napoli seems to have turned it around after the West Coast trip when he supposedly fixed his swing
- 2B/hitting coach Pedroia is still elite
- SS Bogaerts is almost there as well (see other thread)
- C Swihart is doing as well as can be expected for a third-string catcher.
 
 
That means the only real problems on offense are:
1) RF being an absolute black hole, as The Gray Eagle pointed out
2) CF Betts having a bit of a sophomore slump
3) Ortiz being unable to hit LHPs any more.
 
#3 is easy to fix - just platoon Ortiz at DH with Hanley and put BROCKHOLT in the outfield against LHPs
#2, we probably just have to ride out
#1, dare I say, when is Shane Victorino coming back??

I'm glad Napoli has turned the corner and all, but he's still 32nd in wRC+ among 1B.  Plus he was 18th last year, so not exactly elite.  We know he is an extremely streaky hitter too, so if/when he cools off again, he's still a pretty mediocre option on a team that has trouble scoring runs.  
 
And catcher is still a black hole.  That hasn't changed.
 
I like what I've seen the past few days, but they aren't facing a very good team right now.

 

[Toe Nash]

They've also only scored 8 runs in two games, so they're not exactly busting out here.
 
I don't think you can say Panda isn't a problem anymore when he's been benched and is 1 for his last 20...

 

[Super Nomario]

- C Swihart is doing as well as can be expected for a third-string catcher.

Maybe, but just because the problem is explainable doesn't mean it's not a problem. The Red Sox are 26th in MLB in catcher OPS at .203/.280/.267. That's obviously bad, and they will need to compensate elsewhere to have an effective offense.

 

[AB in DC]

True, I should have defined "problem" as "situation that could theoretically be solved".  When you're down to your #3 catcher, there's really nothing you can do there.  That's all I meant.
 
.

 

[grimshaw]

Let's check in with Steamer again shall we?
w/RC+ projections for the year/through May 12th/through June 11th
 
Napoli - 123/67/92.  He has bounced back from a complete slug to below average but still a liability given his projection.
 
Pedey - 113/126/131.  Pedey poops on Steamer and is creeping into legit all-star territory again.
 
Xander - 106/80/105.  It took him a while to get going, but Steamer has been right on so far.
 
Sandoval- 124/124/86.  He has been the inverse of Xander, and shitting up critical errors to boot.
 
Hanley - 134/126/119.  Not a huge fluctuation.  Fine, but not enough given the rest of the lineup.
 
Betts - 120/102/81.  A lot was expected of him really.  He has been bitten like no other by BABIP.  Gotta think he creeps back up without having to make many adjustements.
 
Castillo - 40.  No projection was made.
 
Victorino - 105/40/111.  SSS
 
Papi - 127/93/81.  Not a good trend.  Beaten to death in the other thread.
 
Leon went from 29 to 34.  So there's that.
Swihart went from -9/43.  He is showing some improvement.
 
Holt 95/130/132.  That's right . . 1st on the team.  One long hot streak, one long cold streak, and back on a hot streak.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

After yesterday's game, the Sox are slashing .285/.333/.439 for June, and averaging 4.2 RPG. Not exactly 2003 (or even 2013), but it's a step in the right direction. It's mostly driven by BABIP (.328); they're not walking enough (6.8%) or hitting for as much power as we'd like (13 HR in 556 PA), but hopefully those things will come. At least balls are starting to drop in, most notably for Betts (.314 June BABIP), Sandoval (.333), Bogaerts (.404) and Holt (.432). 

 

[GaryPeters71]

Over last 28 days, Mookie Betts has slash line of .306/.352/.447
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=bettsmo01&year=&t=b
 
Not bad. Not bad at all.

 

[ivanvamp]

Over last 28 days, Mookie Betts has slash line of .306/.352/.447
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=bettsmo01&year=&t=b
 
Not bad. Not bad at all.

 
Bogaerts over his last 36 games:  .317/.341/.429/.769
 
Nice to see the kids stepping up.

 

[Gash Prex]

In all my years of watching baseball I've never seen a player hit the ball as hard and consistently as Betts and have such terrible luck.  I think I would have broken about 15 bats at this point. its no surprise that his BABIP has been over .300 in the last 28 days.  

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Some June numbers for your viewing pleasure:
 
Holt: .356/.457/.542
Sandoval: .346/.358/.558
Betts: .345/.379/.509
Bogaerts: .310/.329/.408
Swihart: .227/.292/.364 (hey, it's progress)
Ramirez: .293/.333/.414 (ditto)
 
Team OPS+: 118
 
We're hot.

 

[jscola85]

March/April stats: .245/.332/.379, .272 BABIP, 10% BB%, 17% K%, 98 wRC+, .134 ISO
May stats: .237/.301/.361, .266 BABIP, 8% BB%, 16% K%, 81 wRC+, .124 ISO
June stats: .280/.329/.428, .324 BABIP, 7% BB%, 18% K%, 107 wRC+, .148 ISO
 
Unfortunately, it looks like the improvement in June is probably a mirage, as the BB/K rates are the worst all year but BABIP is just reverting in their favor.
 
EDIT - spelling

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

March/April stats: .245/.332/.379, .272 BABIP, 10% BB%, 17% K%, 98 wRC+, .134 ISO
May stats: .237/.301/.361, .266 BABIP, 8% BB%, 16% K%, 81 wRC+, .124 ISO
June stats: .280/.329/.428, .324 BABIP, 7% BB%, 18% K%, 107 wRC+, .148 ISO
 
Unfortunately, it looks like the improvement in June is probably a mirage, as the BB/K rates are the worst all year but BABIP is just reverting in their favor.
 
EDIT - spelling

 
We're certainly hacking more as the season goes along, but it's not hurting our contact rates:
 
O-Swing%/O-Contact%/Contact%:
April: 25.2, 65.1, 81.6
May: 28.8, 67.4, 82.7
June: 32.0, 72.7, 82.7
 
We're getting our Panda on.
 
I think the O-Swing climb may be a gradual adaptation to the expanded strike zone. The additional pitches we're swinging at may be out of the zone as far as PitchFX is concerned, but that doesn't mean they would have been called balls if Sox hitters had taken them.
 
Some of the individual PD numbers are eye-opening. Mookie Betts in June has a 24.4% O-Swing -- on the high side for him -- and an 88.8% O-Contact. League average Z-Contact for the month is 87.0%. That means that this month, Mookie has made more consistent contact on pitches out of the zone than the league as a whole has on pitches in the zone.

 

[soxhop411]

“@matthewpouliot: The Red Sox have 12 extra-base hits with just one single versus KC. First team with more than 10 extra-base hits in a game this year.”
“@matthewpouliot: Since 2010, the most extra-base hits in a game is 13. Red Sox did that two years ago, matched by Diamondbacks last year.”

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

Some June numbers for your viewing pleasure:
 
Holt: .356/.457/.542
Sandoval: .346/.358/.558
Betts: .345/.379/.509
Bogaerts: .310/.329/.408
Swihart: .227/.292/.364 (hey, it's progress)
Ramirez: .293/.333/.414 (ditto)
 
Team OPS+: 118
 
We're hot.

Stats will look even better after today, but we're still 9-11 for the month.

 

[nattysez]

I hope Mookie will be prepared when the league starts throwing him first-pitch balls in response to his new aggressiveness.

 

[AB in DC]

Per Fangraphs, Red Sox are now 7th in the AL in wOBA, 10th in RC+.

 

[joyofsox]

“@matthewpouliot: The Red Sox have 12 extra-base hits with just one single versus KC. First team with more than 10 extra-base hits in a game this year.”
“@matthewpouliot: Since 2010, the most extra-base hits in a game is 13. Red Sox did that two years ago, matched by Diamondbacks last year.”

 
According to Elias, yesterday's win over the Royals was only the fifth Red Sox game since 1914 in which Boston had 13 or more extra-base hits.
 
September 24, 1940 (G1): 23 hits, including 14 extra-base hits (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs) - Beat A's 16-8
 
June 8, 1950: 29 hits, including 17 extra-base hits (9 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs (and 11 walks!)) - Beat Browns 29-4
 
July 29, 1990: 18 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (12 doubles, 1 home run) - Beat Tigers 13-3
 
June 4, 2013: 19 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs) - Beat Rangers 17-5
 
June 21, 2015: 16 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs) - Beat Royals 13-2

 

[DanoooME]

 
 
According to Elias, yesterday's win over the Royals was only the fifth Red Sox game since 1914 in which Boston had 13 or more extra-base hits.
 
September 24, 1940 (G1): 23 hits, including 14 extra-base hits (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs) - Beat A's 16-8
 
June 8, 1950: 29 hits, including 17 extra-base hits (9 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs (and 11 walks!)) - Beat Browns 29-4
 
July 29, 1990: 18 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (12 doubles, 1 home run) - Beat Tigers 13-3
 
June 4, 2013: 19 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs) - Beat Rangers 17-5
 
June 21, 2015: 16 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs) - Beat Royals 13-2
 

 
Elias probably just ran a query on BBRef.

 

[ivanvamp]

Mookie now up to .277/.329/.453/.782, 115 ops+, and 2.8 WAR.  He's at 2.8 WAR and we aren't yet halfway through the season.
 
Not that long ago, the offense had only like one guy with an ops+ over 100 (Holt).  Now here's their "regular" lineup (in order by ops+):
 
Holt:  134
Pedroia:  127
Hanley:  119
Betts:  115
Ortiz:  104
Bogaerts:  103
Sandoval: 102
Napoli:  89
Swihart:  69
 
In April, the Sox were 3rd in MLB with 113 runs scored.
In May, the Sox were 30th in MLB with 82 runs scored.
In June, the Sox are 7th in MLB with 94 runs scored.
 
Hanley is heating up again.  Last 22 games:  .317/.360/.524/.884, 5 hr, 14 rbi.
Betts has been on fire.  Last 25 games:  .363/.408/.593/1.002, 13 r, 3 hr, 9 rbi.
Bogaerts has been rolling.  Last 20 games:  .350/.366/.475/.841, 7 2b, 1 hr, 14 rbi.
Pedroia has been hot.  Last 25 games:  .352/.389/.514/.904, 4 hr, 14 rbi.
Holt is doing his thing.  Last 27 games:  .352/.449/.560/1.009, 20 r, 1 hr, 9 rbi.
 
Even Pablo, over his last 12 games, is hitting better:  .391/.391/.630/1.022, 1 hr, 6 rbi.
 
So when these guys are raking like this, yeah, the offense is going to look a lot better.  There was a time there where basically nobody but Holt was hitting.
 
I like this better.

 

[The Tax Man]

Today on .com in the first part of a two part series, stupendousman looks at the sample size needed for batting average to stabilize. This is an excellent, simple explanation of statistics that even a math-moron like me can understand.  

 

[Al Zarilla]

Clicking on that, getting an

ERROR 502 - Bad Gateway!
 

 

[The Tax Man]

Ya unfortunately .com is down right now. It's being worked on. 
 
We are back!

 

[The Tax Man]

Stupendousman has followed up his .300 hitter piece with a closer look at Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Joe Mauer, JBJ, and Mike Napoli. 

 

[Doooweeeey!]

Terrific work, Stupendousman.  Thank you!

 

[mwonow]

Terrific work, Stupendousman.  Thank you!

Ditto - that's a very comprehensible treatment of a complicated issue!

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

That's a great 2-part article, stupendousman!

 

[StupendousMan]

Thanks for the kind words. I was motivated to write the articles, in part, by comments in this thread. There are a lot of good ideas and interesting questions that come up in discussions like this, and the question of "just how big a sample DO you need?" really bugged me. I figured that the best way to figure it out would be to try to explain it. As a teacher, I long ago learned that I don't understand something fully until I've tried to explain it to my students ... several times.

 

[ivanvamp]

At the game last night. Perfect night for baseball. I want to say that the ball Hanley hit in his first at bat was an absolute laser. It never got more than about 8-10 feet off the ground, and it made it to the center fielder in like a half second.

One of the hardest hit balls I've ever seen. I know we commented on this early in the year, just how hard he crushes pitches. It really is impressive.

And by the way it shows how random baseball can be. Hanley absolutely destroys that pitch for an out. Then Ichiro gets an rbi on the softest bloop ever. (Well Bogaerts got one too on a slow IF chopper)

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

At the game last night. Perfect night for baseball. I want to say that the ball Hanley hit in his first at bat was an absolute laser. It never got more than about 8-10 feet off the ground, and it made it to the center fielder in like a half second.

One of the hardest hit balls I've ever seen. I know we commented on this early in the year, just how hard he crushes pitches. It really is impressive.

And by the way it shows how random baseball can be. Hanley absolutely destroys that pitch for an out. Then Ichiro gets an rbi on the softest bloop ever. (Well Bogaerts got one too on a slow IF chopper)

Funny... I'm reading "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace, in an essay on Andre Agassi he was talkiing about how much power he generated even though he was smaller and not as strong as other players by his perfect timing and movement across his back leg to his front leg and how he seemed to hit more like a "great baseball player".
 
Sorry- side comment.

 

[Al Zarilla]

At the game last night. Perfect night for baseball. I want to say that the ball Hanley hit in his first at bat was an absolute laser. It never got more than about 8-10 feet off the ground, and it made it to the center fielder in like a half second.

One of the hardest hit balls I've ever seen. I know we commented on this early in the year, just how hard he crushes pitches. It really is impressive.

And by the way it shows how random baseball can be. Hanley absolutely destroys that pitch for an out. Then Ichiro gets an rbi on the softest bloop ever. (Well Bogaerts got one too on a slow IF chopper)

Shhh. Don't jinx the X man.

 

[grimshaw]

 

Here are updates at the break.  2015 is the steamer projection vs what the wRC+ are at the unofficial halfway point
 
1B - Napoli (2014 - 124) (2015 - 123) (ASB 79) 
 
2B Pedey (2014 - 99) (2015 - 113) (ASB 127)
 
SS Xander (2014 - 82) (2015 - 106) (ASB 106)
 
3B Sandoval (2014 - 111) (2015 - 124) (ASB 89)
 
LF Hanley (2014 - 135) (2015 - 134) (ASB 121)
 
CF Betts (2014 - 130) (2014 - 120) (ASB 115)
 
DH Papi (2014 - 135) (2015 - 134) (ASB 104)
 
Holt (2014 - 98) (2015 - 95) (ASB 120)
 
De Aza (2014 - 94) (2015 (101) ASB 110, (153 with the Sox)
 
Hanigan (2014 - 92) (2015 87) ( ASB 97)
 
Biggest drops in production vs expectations are Napoli, Sandoval and Ortiz.  Finding a 1B should be #1 on the offensive shopping list.  Ideally Ortiz acquiesces and plays a few days a week and they mix and match.within the roster.  If they add external help, that means more playing time in LF for Hanley, and less overall time for Holt and de Aza (assuming Pedey is back and healthy).
 
Sandoval they are stuck with, though he is an internal 1B solution as well.
 
Ortiz is probably still going to get ridden as the everyday DH.  There isn't really an internal solution for a right handed platoon.  Maybe that is something they can look for (Van Slyke?)
 
The catching situation has righted itself, and getting Swihart back should erase Leon from the roster and help the offense by subtraction.  Reducing Hanigan's workload can only help as well.

 

[lexrageorge]

There's no way Ortiz "acquiesces" and plays a few days a week at 1B.  That's simply asking for a season ending (or worse) injury by end of July.  
 
His .923 OPS against RHP still screams DH platoon candidate.  It's not that difficult to have Hanley be the DH against LHP's.