For what its worth, I suspect that the Baseball Ops folks at Fenway are talking about Betts's future position every day, likely they have finished their coffee.
The Red Sox will not rush Betts despite his historic performance. He will spend time in Pawtucket, but the fact that he is soon going to move around, work at short and play the outfield is an indication that there is a legitimate chance he will be a contributor in the final month of the season, Tony Phillips revisited.
Not sure that this is a coincidence coming a day after the streak ended.Eddie Jurak said:Mookie going to start in CF today.
Makes sense to try him at SS in Pawtucket. Mike McCoy isn't really a natural SS either, and unlike McCoy, Betts has big league talent.TOleary25 said:Little tidbit from Gammons in his notes column today hints that the Sox will soon try him out at short and the outfield:
http://www.gammonsdaily.com/gammons-notes-contract-extensions-for-pitchers-brad-ausmus-mookie-betts-and-more/
Rovin Romine said:Since it wasn't specifically commemorated in the thread, I'd like to point out that Betts hit in 71 consecutive games (including playoffs), which ties the MiL record, depending on how you look at it (multiple season streaks/counting or not counting playoff games, etc.)
It's a pretty amazing achievement.
Chuck Z said:I love Mookie as much as the next guy, but did this guy not see Mike Trout put up .326/.414/.544 while stealing 33 bases as a 19-year-old in AA? Clearly Mookie is just the second-best prospect of the last 5 years.
WenZink said:
A couple of points that you probably already know:
1) It's rare that a Scout covers all regions or all of the minor leagues. So, this scout may have not seen Trout play his AA season for the Arkansas Travelers.
2) We're not sure of the entire context of the Scout's statement. Mookie might be the best prospect he's seen in terms of plate discipline or solid contact, or whatever.
Also when you see a Scout quoted as saying, "Mookie is one of the ten best prospects," understand that he may have 20 "ten best prospects," without having to put it in writing. No different than if we see a great movie we tout it as one of the ten best we've ever seen, but really have twice that many if we sat down and thought about it.
someoneanywhere said:
You're focusing on the wrong part of the quote. Who gives a shit about arbitrary statements like best prospects or category skills like plate discipline? All of that is meaningless. The carry-away is that a scout thinks Betts can play today in the big leagues: and that is saying something beyond "prospect" talk. And the scout knows that's the carry-away. That's all he's trying to convey, and he's trying to give it force with all the stuff about best prospect, etc.
Of course the guy could be full of crap, a moron. But I think not. Mookie is playing the OF now -- note they are going to move him around out there, and let him play the corners -- not merely for some future need, but to determine if he can help this year. They want to see where he is out there before they make a move.
Mookie already has more time in the OF than Manny Machado had at 3B when he became the Orioles starting 3B in the middle of a pennant race. If they are ready to call him up tomorrow in the event of a serious injury to Pedroia, then realistically they aren't far from ready to call him up to fill a hole in the OF, unless he's a disaster out there.WenZink said:
I think you're missing something.... Mookie is ready to play 2nd base in the majors, "right now." If Pedroia were to break his foot with a foul ball, like he did in mid-2010, Mookie would be starting at 2nd as soon as the Sox could make room on the 40-man roster. But ask that same scout if Mookie were ready to "play now" at any position other than second, he'd probably qualify his declaration with "let's see how he handles moving around the outfield." Let's see hjow he handles getting moved out of his comfort zone.
Not even close. Nava would be brought up first, and if the injury was to a CF, then they'd make a small deal to fill the hole. The Sox aren't about to break in a 21 year old kid to MLB pitching and to playing the outfield.Eddie Jurak said:Mookie already has more time in the OF than Manny Machado had at 3B when he became the Orioles starting 3B in the middle of a pennant race. If they are ready to call him up tomorrow in the event of a serious injury to Pedroia, then realistically they aren't far from ready to call him up to fill a hole in the OF, unless he's a disaster out there.
Don't know about Betts, but, about Williams:LondonSox said:I have no idea how Williams hit 400. The season Mookie is having and he's steadily drifting away from 400.
Anyway to recap the level of ridiculousness.
More SB (22) more xbh (25) more bb (31) than K (16). I mean that's beyond silly.
Overall line 366/452/575/1028 with 22sb vs 3cs with plus defence at one position and counting.
Edit Nearly 2:1 bb to K is not something you see very often.
That's just sick, all of itJakeRae said:Williams did it by a combination of virtually never striking out, having 30+ HR power, and having great BABIP skill. He was a career .328 BABIP guy, but in his .406 season that was .378. His K% was 4.5% that year. And, while not related to hitting .400, if you think Mookie's 2:1 BB/K ratio is impressive, Williams was at 5.44 that year. For comparison, Mookie, who is really hard to strike out, is still striking out at a 7.2% clip this year.
mwonow said:That's just sick, all of it
If you're referring to my comments, I was speculating on when he'd be promoted to Pawtucket not Boston.E5 Yaz said:He's played 7 games in the outfield. Seven. With Drew on the way, where do those calling for a call-up relatively soon expect him to play? They're not putting him in CF in the major leagues after a couple dozen games of outfield experience.
And please, don't go the Zobrist route. Tampa Bay constructs its lineup in a far different fashion than the Red Sox. A Zobrist has more chances to move around the field. Bets isn't taking time away from Pedroia or X.
He won't be up until they think he can play the outfield in a professional manner
RedOctober3829 said:If you're referring to my comments, I was speculating on when he'd be promoted to Pawtucket not Boston.
Left. Or right. And a little center. And yes, backing up second. I don't buy that it's all that hard to transition to the outfield if you're a good athlete. Junior Lake did it with 6 games of minor league experience and he's been fine defensively. In fact he had zero minor league games in the outfield last year when the Cubs called him up at gave him almost 500 innings. He's the first name that jumps out at me as someone who did that recently but I'm sure there are others.E5 Yaz said:He's played 7 games in the outfield. Seven. With Drew on the way, where do those calling for a call-up relatively soon expect him to play? They're not putting him in CF in the major leagues after a couple dozen games of outfield experience.
And please, don't go the Zobrist route. Tampa Bay constructs its lineup in a far different fashion than the Red Sox. A Zobrist has more chances to move around the field. Bets isn't taking time away from Pedroia or X.
He won't be up until they think he can play the outfield in a professional manner
TheoShmeo said:Any reports on how Mookie has looked in the OF thus far?
And has his average dipped materially while he's been in the OF? I know I could look but am assuming others already know that and I'm quite lazy.
foulkehampshire said:He wasn't gonna hit .400 all season.
foulkehampshire said:
He's batting .273 over his last 10 games.
...however his OPS is .929 over the same span. 5 2B, 1 3B, 10/3 BB/K ratio. Seems to be a product of BABIP normalizing. He wasn't gonna hit .400 all season.
smastroyin said:Or, players streak and slump and it has nothing to do with the position they are being asked to play.
Players and coaches and most people associated with baseball are superstitious, and perhaps there is even causation there - do the right thing by your superstition, play with more confidence, whatever. I don't know, the data are fuzzy and I'm not a psychologist. But I think superstition more than worrying about a new position affecting a player's approach at the plate would be why they waited until the end of the streak to move him. That he has slumped for three days a week afterward doesn't really tell us much.