Just don't let any more pitchers run the bases.Sweet. Another pinch hitter for NL games.
Just don't let any more pitchers run the bases.Sweet. Another pinch hitter for NL games.
Is there a reason you simplified down Margot's offensive contribution as "leading off" there, instead of specifying that less then stellar batting line (.258/.306/.403) that is still being reasonably fluffed up by his fluky fast start out the gate (he's slugging .337 the last 28 days)?Because he gets on base more often?
Seriously, I meant right now, while JBJ is scuffling, hitting .180 and Margot is leading off for SD. And by "most people" I didn't mean Red Sox management, but instead the gloom-and-doomers here who think all is lost because the team is only a game over .500 in early May. Still, even in that context, it's probably not "most people." I'll try to write with more exactitude. Mea culpa.
FWIW, as much as I love him, I'd trade JBJ straight up for Margot tomorrow if only because of age/upside/money/control. I'm not a JBJ basher, just think he's maddeningly streaky.
Absolutely. "Leading off" sounds way better than "fluky fast start" and .258 BA. But that sounds better than "freaky slow start" and .175 BA.Is there a reason you simplified down Margot's offensive contribution as "leading off" there, instead of specifying that less then stellar batting line (.258/.306/.403) that is still being reasonably fluffed up by his fluky fast start out the gate (he's slugging .337 the last 28 days)?
Since we're nitpicking, no one said anything about trading JBJ for Margot last winter. I was musing with hindsight about the Kimbrel trade two years ago and made an offhand comment about how given JBJs miserable start, a lot of people might wish We had Margot in the 9 spot instead.I'm not sure trading Bradley in the name of opening up a spot for Margot's bat this winter, following Ortiz's retirement no less, would of went over all that well for DD either.
Does Cason Smith really exist? Or is this like Waiting for Godot?RE: the bullpen, seems like Tyler Thornburg is progressing toward his rehab assignment (what does Drellich mean by "lengthy rehab assignment" anyway?), but I can't recall if there has been any news since 11th April on Carson Smith?
Google is your friend. From Monday's Herald: "Both Tyler Thornburg and Carson Smith have extended their rehab throwing programs to 150 feet. Smith is scheduled to get on a mound tomorrow, and Thornburg could throw a bullpen soon after."RE: the bullpen, seems like Tyler Thornburg is progressing toward his rehab assignment (what does Drellich mean by "lengthy rehab assignment" anyway?), but I can't recall if there has been any news since 11th April on Carson Smith?
He was, until then he absolutely sucked in ST and didn't inspire much confidence right away in Boston. I think the bottom line is Scott's been better, Abad has no options and they don't want a third lefty in the pen.I must have missed it but why is Robbie Ross with the Pawsox? Is he injured? I totally missed it when he was sent down. Was he the only pitcher with options? Sorry for not paying attention but I thought he was one of our top relievers coming into the season.
He has the strangest fastball I've ever seen. He is basically the master class of "velocity doesn't tell all"Joe Kelly. 100 mph fastball, nasty slider. 18.0 ip, 8 k, 4.0 k/9
Craig Kimbrel. 99 mph fastball, nasty curve. 15.2 ip, 31 k, 17.8 k/9
Kelly makes me think of Kyle Farnsworth. Another guy who had a nice breaking ball and a huge fastball, but just wasn't nearly as good as you'd think he should have been.
And yet Farnsworth was WAY better at striking out batters than Kelly is.
Kelly career: 6.7 k/9
Farnsworth career: 8.8 k/9
How does a guy with 100 mph heat and a pretty nasty slider only strike out 6.7 guys per nine innings?
It may be that you didn't have to put "see" in quotes. I've heard analysts say for a long time that some pitchers hide the ball better than others. A 100 mph fastball that you can pick up from the moment the pitcher winds up is easer to hit than 90 that you dont see until the pitcher is already striding. (something like that). I dont know enough about mechanics or hitting to say if that's Kelly's problem.)He has the strangest fastball I've ever seen. He is basically the master class of "velocity doesn't tell all"
I would love to compare the contact rates of Kelly's high heat compared to Koji's salad. Something about Kelly's delivery/movement make it a pitch you can make contact with. Its truly unreal. They just "see" it. Where as Kimbrel has an invisible fastball that is in the mit before you pick it up.
Mystery man
Farrell acknowledged that the status of righthanded reliever Tyler Thornburg is “a little bit of a puzzle for all involved here, including Tyler.”
Thornburg has not pitched off a mound since March 24. He was shut down for what was said to be a shoulder impingement. Now it’s a matter of gaining strength in the shoulder via endless sessions of long toss.
Farrell said the inflammation is gone and Thornburg’s MRIs are clear. But he has not been able to throw with the needed intensity.
If Thornburg does return this season, it will not be any time soon.
Whichever poster had that Daniel Bard gif in their signature should probably update it to any of those in that article.Via Joe Posnanski, a pitch by pitch account of why Kimbrel is downright filthy this year.
Looks like Kimbrel needs a promotion. He's mastered this level.Here is one thing that is going pretty well.
I saw it in the Glob.Deadly Splitter:
Do you have a Link or a source for the Thornburg info?
Joe Kelly. 100 mph fastball, nasty slider. 18.0 ip, 8 k, 4.0 k/9
Craig Kimbrel. 99 mph fastball, nasty curve. 15.2 ip, 31 k, 17.8 k/9
Kelly makes me think of Kyle Farnsworth. Another guy who had a nice breaking ball and a huge fastball, but just wasn't nearly as good as you'd think he should have been.
And yet Farnsworth was WAY better at striking out batters than Kelly is.
Kelly career: 6.7 k/9
Farnsworth career: 8.8 k/9
How does a guy with 100 mph heat and a pretty nasty slider only strike out 6.7 guys per nine innings?
Smoke and mirrors seems like the smart play.Kelly has been effective. 2.00 ERA.... smoke and mirrors or weak contact or whatever... it's working and he was dominating at the end of last season also.
I'll take it and keep my fingers crossed
The man is broken for serious. Very disappointing.Thornburg who?
@PeteAbe
Farrell says Tyler Thornburg has felt more discomfort and fatigue after throwing the last few days.
Mauricio Dublin is hitting 294 with a 351 OBP in AAA. Shaw is productive in the big leagues at the position the Red Sox are most desperate to improve.The man is broken for serious. Very disappointing.
Just to inject some accuracy, Dubon's .704 OPS is in AA.Mauricio Dublin is hitting 294 with a 351 OBP in AAA. Shaw is productive in the big leagues at the position the Red Sox are most desperate to improve.
This trade didn't make any sense when Thornburg was supposed to be the primary set up man. Now it's just plain maddening.
He does have 18 sb in 22 attempts. The power he showed last year is most likely a fluke but he can get on base and steal a bag. Of course the trade actually made sense but it would be nice to have Dubon in the system.Just to inject some accuracy, Dubon's .704 OPS is in AA.
Since when does SoSH think trading position players with 5 years and 6 years of control plus multiple option years remaining for a single middle reliever with 3 years of control is a good idea? If the Yankees had made that trade it would have been subjected to universal ridicule here. But, because we want things to work out for "our" team, we all constructed narratives that rationalized something that none of us would have recommended ex ante. Thornburg was a known injury risk with one and half good years behind him. Giving up both Shaw and Dubon was an overpay even. Wrote his arm has seemingly imploded. The curiosity in Dombrowskis reasoning on this trade is compounded by the fact that the trade was from a position of acute weakness in the organization for 2017 and yet they didn't backfill even Shaw's low production/solid defense with a free agent.He does have 18 sb in 22 attempts. The power he showed last year is most likely a fluke but he can get on base and steal a bag. Of course the trade actually made sense but it would be nice to have Dubon in the system.
They took a gamble and traded mediocre talent for a potentially elite one and it hasn't worked out. Plus, they still have Devers in the system and Dalbec. Sandoval, Holt, Marco, Rutledge... How many options do they need? How many of the other potential options panned out? Plouffe has been awful this year.Since when does SoSH think trading position players with 5 years and 6 years of control plus multiple option years remaining for a single middle reliever with 3 years of control is a good idea? If the Yankees had made that trade it would have been subjected to universal ridicule here. But, because we want things to work out for "our" team, we all constructed narratives that rationalized something that none of us would have recommended ex ante. Thornburg was a known injury risk with one and half good years behind him. Giving up both Shaw and Dubon was an overpay even. Wrote his arm has seemingly imploded. The curiosity in Dombrowskis reasoning on this trade is compounded by the fact that the trade was from a position of acute weakness in the organization for 2017 and yet they didn't backfill even Shaw's low production/solid defense with a free agent.
He getting close to Bailey, Melancon, Jenks, Gagne status. It just seems the Sox are destined to fail when trading for a reliever. Too bad they have so much trouble developing pitching.The man is broken for serious. Very disappointing.
Yeah because that Kimbrel trade was such a failure...It just seems the Sox are destined to fail when trading for a reliever.
That's one out of 5. Though Jenks was a stupid FA signing, not a trade. Hanrahan was immediately injured when they got him too, although we forgive that one because Holt has exceeded expectations by so much.Yeah because that Kimbrel trade was such a failure...
I'm not disappointed in the trade, per se; I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do. DD needed a strong relief corp if he was choosing pitching and defense over replacing Papi. I'm just disappointed that we don't get to see what that would have looked like. No Thornburg and no Smith have turned the bullpen into a hot mess of relying on Barnes and Hembree (especially, but really, everyone) to be more than they are. Who would have thought resigning Koji would have been a better injury bet than trading for Thornburg?He getting close to Bailey, Melancon, Jenks, Gagne status. It just seems the Sox are destined to fail when trading for a reliever. Too bad they have so much trouble developing pitching.
I've always thought the best way to develop a major league bullpen is to bring up guys from your minor leagues who you either groom to be premier relievers or guys who just couldn't quite make it as starters (92 mph fastball, not enough quality pitches to get through 6 innings), but who, in a relief role, could ramp up to 94-95 with one other excellent secondary pitch (change, slider, etc.), who only needed to be able to get through 1-2 innings. Develop those guys in-house. Just because they can't make it as starters doesn't mean they couldn't be quality bullpen guys.They trade prospect after prospect to fill the bullpen, often with players that have a history of injury (Bailey, Hanrahan) or a short track record of success (Melancon, Thornburg) then let a couple million a year come between them and Andrew Miller two FA signing periods ago. The "strategy" baffles me.
While I totally agree that Bailey was a failed trade (and the Sox eneded up missing Reddick a lot that year) and Jenks was a dumb signing I disagree on the other two.He getting close to Bailey, Melancon, Jenks, Gagne status. It just seems the Sox are destined to fail when trading for a reliever. Too bad they have so much trouble developing pitching.
Agree completely with you on Gagne. When the Gagne trade happened, Schilling was on the DL with a sore shoulder. That left the Sox with a rotation of Beckett, Dice-K, Wake, Julian Tavarez, and Jon Lester; the same Lester that had all of 2 meh starts up to that point of the season. Finding starting pitching to be prohibitively expensive, Theo decided to shore up the pen in an attempt to manage the workload of Hideki Okajima, who was basically an unknown quanitity going into that season. Noone can realistically blame the Sox for rolling the dice on a guy that had a 213 ERA+ at the time of the trade. Gagne also had a BABIP of 0.515 in August and 0.333 in September.While I totally agree that Bailey was a failed trade (and the Sox eneded up missing Reddick a lot that year) and Jenks was a dumb signing I disagree on the other two.
Melancon was the Sox running out of patience too soon. He was killing it in AAA, became a quality closer in Pittsburgh, went to Washington and replaced Papelbon, and is now a big money closer in SF (another place that seems to turn good relievers into junk lately). Now trading him returned Holt, who as was said above exceeded all expectations so at least there is that but I still think that the Sox could have had a very good to excellent setup man and future closer with Melancon.
Gagne turned possibly the worst performance vs expectations of any incoming Sox player. But he did not cost the team much (maybe David Murphy could have played or brought something else) and at the end the Sox did win the WS (I know it was probably despite his efforts but still they did).
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.Agree
Also, I'm not sure why Dombrowski should be blamed for Theo's an Cherington's less successful trades.
Learn what, that it's better to focus on how things "should be" rather then what it is and how best to *actually* go about doing it? Because that basically sums up about 90% of the complaining imo every time the subject comes up on how best to approach bullpen upgrades.Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.