Bullpen 2017

phenweigh

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Cool. Specifically what Merloni said was that Hembree was too reluctant to throw his fastball to both sides of the plate when facing lefties, which is exactly what iayork's chart shows. What remains to be seen is if coming inside to lefties occasionally will make him less predictable and more effective. He's got to try something to improve on that 0.890 OPS against numbers vs. left-handed hitters.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Kelly's dropped off fast huh? ok then I guess we're rolling with Scott and Hembree

Hembree can blow up sometimes too though. this could be pretty rough for awhile.

In reality I think all of Barnes, Hembree, Kelly are the same pitcher with highly variable results day to day. Barnes is clearly the worst right now - no feel for any of his pitches - and Kimbrel can be wild too but his FB is so elite he gets away with it more often than not.
 

mainernotmonty

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Jun 5, 2007
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Im curious why they had Porcello go out to start the 7th, after 85 pitches in first start in April...and why doesnt someone get up before the start of the 7th to warm-up? This has always puzzled me.
 

lexrageorge

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Im curious why they had Porcello go out to start the 7th, after 85 pitches in first start in April...and why doesnt someone get up before the start of the 7th to warm-up? This has always puzzled me.
85 pitches really isn't that much, and he ended the 6th by striking out the final 2 batters in 8 total pitches.

I don't recall when the relievers started to warm up in the 7th, but I do agree it would have been advisable to have at least Barnes tossing and stretching out before the start of the 7th.
 

Ale Xander

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Barnes has been placed on bereavement list and Noe Ramirez called up to take his place
 

DeadlySplitter

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is using the bereavement list for the flu kosher?

EDIT: Just saw Barnes is legit bereavement, my apologies.
 
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johnnyfromspain

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Acknowledged ? Bloody brilliant! Would have been better if all the stricken were of Spanish extraction.
Do you realise how racist your statement sounds?! Perhaps, you meant they have all suffered Spanish Flu. Yeah, than must be it. I wouldn't want to think otherwise.
 

Byrdbrain

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Why would you think otherwise? It was in response to a 1918 comment in relation to the flu. It is very obvious what he meant.
 

Rasputin

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Do you realise how racist your statement sounds?! Perhaps, you meant they have all suffered Spanish Flu. Yeah, than must be it. I wouldn't want to think otherwise.
Why would you think otherwise? It was in response to a 1918 comment in relation to the flu. It is very obvious what he meant.
Geez .. tough crowd

Yes .. it was a reference to the Spanish Flu
More specifically, this outbreak of Spanish Flu. It's one of the deadliest pandemics ever, killing 3-5% of the world's population. A similar catastrophe today would kill roughly the entire population of the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic
 

Mighty Joe Young

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More specifically, this outbreak of Spanish Flu. It's one of the deadliest pandemics ever, killing 3-5% of the world's population. A similar catastrophe today would kill roughly the entire population of the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

It really is a strange phenomenon that that pandemic - really one of the worst in recorded history - has such a low profile. It's almost like it was such a traumatic event - following on the disaster of WW1 - that people dealt with it by pretending it didn't exist.
 

Rudy's Curve

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Why not have Kimbrel ready to go for four outs once there were two on? I'm fine with letting Hembree face Martinez with the bases empty and then Upton with a man on but after that, you're at a disadvantage with Hembree against Collins or Scott against Mahtook. There's no guarantee Kimbrel gets Collins but it's definitely the best option available.
 

InsideTheParker

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It really is a strange phenomenon that that pandemic - really one of the worst in recorded history - has such a low profile. It's almost like it was such a traumatic event - following on the disaster of WW1 - that people dealt with it by pretending it didn't exist.
Didn't watch Downton Abbey? It played a major role in that series.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Why not have Kimbrel ready to go for four outs once there were two on? I'm fine with letting Hembree face Martinez with the bases empty and then Upton with a man on but after that, you're at a disadvantage with Hembree against Collins or Scott against Mahtook. There's no guarantee Kimbrel gets Collins but it's definitely the best option available.
I think because you HOPE at this time of the season that one of the other guys can just get one more guy out, instead of stretching out your closer (who, if you recall, wasn't exactly "lights out" last year) in the 3rd game of the year.
 

Rudy's Curve

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I think because you HOPE at this time of the season that one of the other guys can just get one more guy out, instead of stretching out your closer (who, if you recall, wasn't exactly "lights out" last year) in the 3rd game of the year.
I can see that, but the problem is neither Hembree (who was obviously laboring) nor Kelly (albeit as a starter) have shown they can get lefties out. The other option was bringing in your lefty specialist against a guy with a 134 wRC+ against LHP. If that was someone with an established level of performance ala Thornburg or Smith, I'd be fine leaving them out there. It is only the third game of the year, but they all count and I think Farrell has to be more aggressive when he doesn't have all his options.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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When a manager is aggressive with limited trustworthy options early in the year, he ends up with burnt-out relievers by August/September.

Today is likely to be the first in at least a couple dozen games this year that the team is going to lose where we can play the "Farrell shoulda done this instead" game. As a result, it alone won't be the difference between playoffs or not, or a division title or not. Yes, they all count the same, but that doesn't justify treating every game like it's do or die.
 

DeadlySplitter

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based on today Farrell made the right choice for the 8th inning for now. Hembree nearly made it, Kelly blew up.

how we shut out the Pirates for 5 innings on Wed with this pen I don't know. caught up to us today on the loss
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
One thing that has to be considered here is that today was the first of 17 straight game days--next day off is April 24. Given that, I think Farrell has to take some calculated risks and give the middle guys some rope.
 

Rudy's Curve

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When a manager is aggressive with limited trustworthy options early in the year, he ends up with burnt-out relievers by August/September.

Today is likely to be the first in at least a couple dozen games this year that the team is going to lose where we can play the "Farrell shoulda done this instead" game. As a result, it alone won't be the difference between playoffs or not, or a division title or not. Yes, they all count the same, but that doesn't justify treating every game like it's do or die.
I was asking for Kimbrel to come in for four outs in a high-leverage spot. Not six outs. Not four outs with the bases empty. Four outs with two men on where any other reliever would've been at a disadvantage.

The truly aggressive move would have been to bring Kimbrel in to face Martinez once there were two outs since Hembree can't get lefties out. I was fine leaving him in though with two outs, the bases empty and a righty on deck. I was fine with him pitching to Upton since he's very good against righties. I was all for trying to get through the 8th without using Kimbrel. However, when there are two out and two on in a one-run game and your other options are Hembree/Kelly vs. Collins and Scott vs. Mahtook, Kimbrel should be in there.

Hembree was clearly laboring and gets clobbered by lefties. Scott is a lefty specialist and faced a guy who kills lefties. What do you think he should have done? Bring in Kelly (who's also vulnerable to lefties) for one out?
 
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johnnywayback

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I thought both Martinez and Upton had a couple of really good takes to draw those walks against Hembree, who looked great but was clearly getting winded and wasn't an option to keep going against Collins. If Ross hadn't had the flu, I imagine he'd have come in against Collins and been less of a liability against Mahtook. And then once Mahtook reached, I think you might as well give it a shot with Kelly in Game 3 of a long season. I don't think Farrell is a good in-game manager but I have no problem with anything that happened today. Sometimes the other team beats you.
 

soxhop411

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Farrell says Barnes is going to be the 8th inning guy when he returns.
 

Rovin Romine

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A little love for Barnes today.... I didn't see him pitch, but his box score line looked good
He gave up a double on a curve but came back strong. He threw a curve right away to Romine, before striking him out with 3 fastballs. Then he fed Iglesias mostly fastballs and struck him out with a change up.

It was encouraging to see. Granted, there are situations where it's wise to nibble, but there's a lot of value to relievers who are able to block out what's going on situationally in the game and just go after hitters with their better/best stuff.

The contrast was ready-made with Kimbrel who, in the next inning, walked the 1 and 2 hitters on 10 pitches, setting up a Victor Martinez near-walkoff.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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He gave up a double on a curve but came back strong. He threw a curve right away to Romine, before striking him out with 3 fastballs. Then he fed Iglesias mostly fastballs and struck him out with a change up.

It was encouraging to see. Granted, there are situations where it's wise to nibble, but there's a lot of value to relievers who are able to block out what's going on situationally in the game and just go after hitters with their better/best stuff.

The contrast was ready-made with Kimbrel who, in the next inning, walked the 1 and 2 hitters on 10 pitches, setting up a Victor Martinez near-walkoff.
Another good line from Barnes.
 

Rasputin

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If this is any indication of what to expect from Barnes this year we are in for a treat.
If Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg are as advertised, Kimbrel might be our fourth best reliever come playoff time.
 

Byrdbrain

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I would agree it shouldn't need to be amended after the last three games, it was a silly statement before that.
 

SouthernBoSox

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Craig Kimbrel is historically on of the best relievers ever. Ever. He's mechanics look as locked in as they ever have in his Red Sox career. He went through that weird forearm thing last year. He has no dip in velocity or explosivness and he's getting the curve over. If he gets the curve over you can't hit him, period.

Expecting a huge year from Craig. And it's basically impossible to make an argument he's be the 4th best arm in the pen even with Thorn and Smith, so much so I'm convinced it was said in jest.
 

Rasputin

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Craig Kimbrel is historically on of the best relievers ever. Ever. He's mechanics look as locked in as they ever have in his Red Sox career. He went through that weird forearm thing last year. He has no dip in velocity or explosivness and he's getting the curve over. If he gets the curve over you can't hit him, period.

Expecting a huge year from Craig. And it's basically impossible to make an argument he's be the 4th best arm in the pen even with Thorn and Smith, so much so I'm convinced it was said in jest.
This is at least partly true. It's also true that it was more of a statement about how well Barnes has been doing than Kimbrell, and part that if Thornburg and Smith come back healthy and as effective as advertised, this bullpen isn't just going to be a strength, it's going to be a force, especially if Joe Kelly continues to pitch well.