2019 Red Sox lineup construction

curly2

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Jul 8, 2003
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I was thinking mid-April. For example, the Celtics won the championship on April 13, 1957, while the Red Sox began their season on April 16th of that year.
That was when (barring rainouts) the postseason would last 10 days max. With the expanded playoffs, you have to start earlier.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
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Mar 14, 2006
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I was thinking mid-April. For example, the Celtics won the championship on April 13, 1957, while the Red Sox began their season on April 16th of that year.
The NBA was an 8 team league with 6 teams making the playoffs at that point. It isn’t feasible for them to finish up in April at this point.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Excellent response. Do we know how CV does in the 8 vs 9 slots?
I don't think it matters much whether someone bats 8th or 9th and I don't think these numbers mean anything at all but, but he's been better 8th over the course of his career.

8th 466 PA, .264/.313/.368, .310 BAbip
9th 385 PA, .246/.301/.331, .290 BAbip

Swihart
8th 238 PA, .284/.342/.385, .411 BAbip
9th 160 PA, .228/.289/.352, .291 BAbip

JBJ
8th 397 PA, .218/.295/.347, .296 BAbip
9th 1093 PA, .256/.330/.440, .327 BAbip


If you buy into such things, Vaz/Swihart should be hitting 8th and JBJ 9th. JBJ is also pretty good on the base paths so he wouldn't be clogging up the bases for the top of the order like Vaz would.
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
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Jul 10, 2007
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The wrong side of the bridge....
If you buy into such things, Vaz/Swihart should be hitting 8th and JBJ 9th. JBJ is also pretty good on the base paths so he wouldn't be clogging up the bases for the top of the order like Vaz would.
FWIW, Vaz is not Swihart fast but he's not all that slow as catchers go. His career FG Spd mark is 4.2, just barely below the 2018 MLB average for non-pitchers of 4.4. Last year he was at 3.9. (For comparison, Leon's career mark is 2.5 and Swihart's is 5.5.)

Also, in order to clog the bases he has to get on them first, and if he does that on a regular enough basis for his potential base-clogging to be a factor, the Sox will be way ahead of the game.
 

charlieoscar

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Sep 28, 2014
1,339
That was when (barring rainouts) the postseason would last 10 days max. With the expanded playoffs, you have to start earlier.
Assuming all series go the max, it would take 105 games to determine the NBA champion but MLB only needs 43 games. And if MLB were to add two teams, they could expand to four leagues, which would cut regular season to 154 games.

The 1955 NBA season started around Oct 31, 1954 and the finals ended on Apr 10, 1955. The regular season was 72 games instead of 82 we now see. The 1955 NHL season began around Oct 7, 1954 and the finals ended on Mar 30, 1955. That regular season was 70 games instead of the 82 they now have. Restructuring the divisions could allow later starts and earlier endings and possibly shorten the number of games needed for play-offs without (I think) seriously damaging income. And I don't even watch basketball anymore but tonight I have the Bruins overlapping the Sox season opener.
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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Assuming all series go the max, it would take 105 games to determine the NBA champion but MLB only needs 43 games. And if MLB were to add two teams, they could expand to four leagues, which would cut regular season to 154 games.

The 1955 NBA season started around Oct 31, 1954 and the finals ended on Apr 10, 1955. The regular season was 72 games instead of 82 we now see. The 1955 NHL season began around Oct 7, 1954 and the finals ended on Mar 30, 1955. That regular season was 70 games instead of the 82 they now have. Restructuring the divisions could allow later starts and earlier endings and possibly shorten the number of games needed for play-offs without (I think) seriously damaging income. And I don't even watch basketball anymore but tonight I have the Bruins overlapping the Sox season opener.
The Bruins don’t play tonight.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Mar 11, 2007
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I'm guessing this is the best place to complain about the offense also. Still way too early to make any major changes.... and I haven't watched even one inning yet.... but ugh.... other than JDM and Xander, (and Swihart!) ugly numbers across the board. And yeah... I realize that one HR and one double in one night from any of JBJ, Mookie, Devers, 10D will significantly change those.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I'm guessing this is the best place to complain about the offense also. Still way too early to make any major changes.... and I haven't watched even one inning yet.... but ugh.... other than JDM and Xander, (and Swihart!) ugly numbers across the board. And yeah... I realize that one HR and one double in one night from any of JBJ, Mookie, Devers, 10D will significantly change those.
They averaged 6 runs per game in Seattle (unfortunately the pitchers gave up 8.5 per game). Really the only blip was the back to back goose eggs on Monday and Tuesday, but perhaps the credit for that should go to the pitchers they faced...Oakland's starters have a collective 2.25 ERA in 55 innings so far and it was much lower before Wednesday's game (sub 1.00). Then there's the factor that both parks they've played in can suppress offense a bit.

I'm not sure the offense is the problem to be worrying about right now.
 

geoduck no quahog

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It's still too early to go all Shaugnessy on the team. They've had an unusual schedule so far: finish Florida Spring Training (and send the family packing), fly to Arizona, fly to Seattle, move on to the horror that is Oakland Coliseum...all culminating in a 13-game road trip to start the long season. Finally a day off to fly back cross country. They haven't slept in their own bed in months.

The Red Sox knew all these games would be played because of the locations. Meanwhile, other teams get rainouts and snowouts and scheduled off days. Oakland and Seattle actually benefited from their short series in Tokyo because they played starting lineups for 2 consequential games before coming back home to relax their staff and recover.

The start to this season has been different than most other seasons. The Mariners are super hot at 7-1. Take away Oakland's 2 Japan losses and they just finished a 6-2 homestand. Tampa started 5-2 at home. The Angles have only won 1 game, the Astors 2, the Yankees 3. The Cubs have a single victory.

Mistakes should not be forgiven, but it wouldn't be so obvious if they hadn't all occurred in the 2nd series of the year. The starters are on a program that the brain trust believes in and we should be willing to let that play out a bit.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, has no excuses and should probably be pilloried. I wouldn't be surprised if something more consequential isn't going on in his personal life because there's no explanation for why he can't get his tools to function. It's inexplicable. I'll Shaugnessy that one.