The Ballad of Andrew Bailey: Will the harvest come in?
- Thread starter SouthernBoSox
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View: https://twitter.com/ken_rosenthal/status/1724622227688010084?s=46
Red Sox close to hiring Andrew Bailey as pitching coach, sources tell @TheAthletic.
@SouthernBoSox need to swap out the X for twitter for it to embed
Red Sox close to hiring Andrew Bailey as pitching coach, sources tell @TheAthletic.
@SouthernBoSox need to swap out the X for twitter for it to embed
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1724623033216684044?s=46
Seemed inevitable given how close Breslow and Bailey are, but still, very impressive add to the organization.
Seemed inevitable given how close Breslow and Bailey are, but still, very impressive add to the organization.
Must have offered more than the Yankees bench coach, maybe the Breslow connection helped out a close offer as well.
View: https://twitter.com/jacobyellsbury/status/1724626348218741227?s=46
Screw it. Lets bring back more former Red Sox.
Ellsbury for 3B coach?
This may be in response to Stanton's agent saying how tough it is for FA to play for the NYY.
Bailey also works for Breslow's Strike 3 Foundation Charity.
https://www.strike3foundation.org/about/
https://www.strike3foundation.org/about/
We were only told that he interviewed yesterday for NY bench coach, we don't know how that went or if he was offered the spot. To me from the start that seemed like a hamfisted NY attempt to keep him away from fixing the BOS pitching, obviously unsuccessful. I said in the other thread that it seems exceedingly rare for a former pitcher to be a bench coach but NY didn't have a pitching coach opening (they still love Matt Blake and crew).
If Breslow was really Machiavellian, he could have told his buddy "sure, take the meeting, let's see if we can learn anything we don't know about them already, then you can sign here the next day."
Maybe, just maybe Bailey said something during the interview about Stanton and that's why Cashman blew up. Just wishful thinking 
View: https://twitter.com/egohii/status/1724627212173799425
The Giants were 18th in 2019. The Red Sox were 20th in 2023.
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Prior to joining the Giants in '20, Kevin Gausman's best full season xFIP was 3.77. In the 4 seasons since, Gausman's worst xFIP is 3.28.
Not quite as distinct a jump with Carlos Rodon because his breakout year was '21. But when he joined the Giants his xFIP dropped from 3.17 to 2.91 & his fWAR jumped from 4.9 to 6.2. His 3rd best season was 2016 when he had a 3.89 xFIP & 2.7 fWAR.
The Giants put up that #4 FIP this past year with only 3 pitchers who pitched at least 100 innings (the Red Sox had 5). They had 13 different pitchers start at least 3 games (Red Sox had 9). Anthony DeSclafani was 3rd on the team with 18 starts.
Logan Webb is another success story. The 26 y/o has put up 3 straight 4+ fWAR seasons after being a 4th round pick in 2014.
Not quite as distinct a jump with Carlos Rodon because his breakout year was '21. But when he joined the Giants his xFIP dropped from 3.17 to 2.91 & his fWAR jumped from 4.9 to 6.2. His 3rd best season was 2016 when he had a 3.89 xFIP & 2.7 fWAR.
The Giants put up that #4 FIP this past year with only 3 pitchers who pitched at least 100 innings (the Red Sox had 5). They had 13 different pitchers start at least 3 games (Red Sox had 9). Anthony DeSclafani was 3rd on the team with 18 starts.
Logan Webb is another success story. The 26 y/o has put up 3 straight 4+ fWAR seasons after being a 4th round pick in 2014.
There are a pretty good amount of soft-tossing pitchers that Bailey dramatically improved in SF (Jose Alvarez, Jakob Junis, Zach Littell, and even Logan Webb). I don’t know that bringing him aboard would necessarily mean anything in that way.
Are we still "closing in" or has Bailey been hired?
Some in the media are writing it like it's a done deal.
The Athletic says it's "expected" to be done "this week":
https://theathletic.com/5063963/2023/11/15/red-sox-pitching-coach-andrew-bailey/
Guess it must be agreed to and they are just waiting for the official announcement for some reason?
Interesting that Bailey will be the on-field pitching coach, but not be the director of pitching in the organization, and Breslow is considering bringing in another hire for that role:
Some in the media are writing it like it's a done deal.
The Athletic says it's "expected" to be done "this week":
https://theathletic.com/5063963/2023/11/15/red-sox-pitching-coach-andrew-bailey/
Guess it must be agreed to and they are just waiting for the official announcement for some reason?
Interesting that Bailey will be the on-field pitching coach, but not be the director of pitching in the organization, and Breslow is considering bringing in another hire for that role:
Bailey is supposed to be just one part of the pitching system, and it sounds like more "new voices" will be coming in.
I think "soft-tossing" generally serves as a euphemism for "doesn't miss enough bats." The two are not mutually exclusive, though. I think Breslow said that missing bats is what's important to him.
All I care about is pitching this offseason. Boston is a market that has never struggled to attract good hitters. If hiring Bailey means we are getting an on field guy focused on getting rostered pitchers to execute Breslow's program, then I am all for it.
We also need more guys from outside of the organization, but getting a dude who is focused on helping the Whitlocks and Houcks of the world to the next level is a big part of that too.
We also need more guys from outside of the organization, but getting a dude who is focused on helping the Whitlocks and Houcks of the world to the next level is a big part of that too.
I thought it meant the exact opposite -- that the pitches were missing bats despite a lack of velocity. Think Jamie Moyer.
I agree. And I wasn't clear. I was responding to the post that said "no more soft-tossers."
Same. Everyone wants to miss bats. "Soft tossing" means you don't throw hard. Sometimes those guys miss bats, and sometimes guys can throw straight 96 fastballs middle-middle and get jacked.
He also said that command was important to him, so guys with live stuff who walk too many or leave too much stuff in the middle of the plate aren't high on his list either. Of course guys with great stuff who paint are what everyone wants, so it remains to be seen how Breslow scatters the Wild Things and crafty guys through the system and who he chooses to prune.
Maybe we’re saying the same thing but I think he said missing bats in the zone was the real prize.
For every Wasdin there's also a Keith Foulke or a KOJI!!! both who barely touched 90 on the FB's. For starters though, I do think it's possible but more difficult. Your control and arsenal has to be pretty impressive and with a large gap between your FB and Change with little to no difference in the delivery.
Where does Brad Radke fit into the conversation?
View: https://youtu.be/f2b8R6P7WBU?si=70ekZWZAvLzA02lN
That is hysterical, and an interesting choice by his agent to have him partake in.
I remember fawning over him in the mid-90’s and wanting him on the Red Sox. His career numbers were pretty average. Giving up 72 bombs in the first 2 years of your MLB career and surviving through 12 seasons and winning 148 games is still impressive though.
No smoke from the tower yet but it would be great if they had a fully realized, high-level staff over in Japan making their pitch to YY, when that process kicks off (soon). I have to think this helps.
I’d rather try to rehab a 93+ fastball over an 88-92 soft-tosser that tends to get pummeled. It will be interesting to see what they can do with Houck.
And *that* is the sentiment I was responding to. Velocity (or lack of) and pummelment (or lack of) are not necessarily correlated.
Yeah...bottom line if a pitch is the exact same in terms of shape, vertical movement, horizontal movement & location, if one can throw it faster, that is better because the hitter has less time to react (unless it's a changeup, in which case the 10 mph difference being optimal is still valid I believe). But if you can't maintain the movement & location, more speed isn't necessarily going to be a net positive. Breslow is on the record as saying it's easier to get pitchers to improve their velo than their command, & also that the most important thing a pitcher can do is get swing & misses in the strike zone, so we shall see how those things play into his organizational philosophy & actual results with pitcher acquisitions, retentions & prioritizations at all levels.
I actually had to fact-check that commercial, not on the homeruns, but on the strikeouts. Radke did indeed strikeout 75 batters in 1995... over 181 innings pitched - good for a 3.7 K/9. Not quite the worst in baseball. Mark Gubicza had a 3.4 K/9.
The lowest of qualifying pitchers in 2023 was Jordan Lyles, with a K/9 of 6.1. In 1995, a K/9 of 6.1 would have been good for roughly 40th in MLB.
Haven't found any good HR/9 numbers for 1995 yet... but I will say Radke's 32 in 1995 is dwarfed by the 44 allowed by Lance Lynn, the 41 allowed by Lucas Giolito, or the 39 allowed by Jordan Lyles in 2023.
Radke had the second highest HR/9 among qualified pitchers in 1995: 1.6. Kevin Foster of the Cubs was the only one higher at 1.7. In contrast, Lance Lynn had the highest in 2023 at 2.2, followed by Giolito and Lyles (2.0). Radke would have ranked sixth in 2023, between Patrick Corbin (1.7) and Aaron Nola (1.5).
Was coming here to post this about Radke. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Greg Maddux had the lowest hr/9 innings in 1995 with 0.3, followed by Tom Glavine with 0.4.
The league average was 1 homer per 9 innings. In 2023 it was 1.2 per 9. This year, Sonny Gray led the league at 0.4 with no one else better than 0.7.
Radke somewhat made up for his poor HR/9 and mediocre K/9 by not walking anybody. His career BB/9 of 1.63 is 33rd best all time, and way below the career mark for any active pitcher with 1000+ IP (Kyle Hendricks is 1.99 and everyone else is over 2.00). Maddux is 52nd at 1.80 BB/9.
He was a pretty good pitcher. Gave you 200+ innings every year (in his prime 10-year stretch he did it 9 times) with a career ERA+ of 113. I would love it if the Red Sox developed a pitcher who turned into Brad Radke, even if he made me shout at the TV from time to time.
This sounds a bit like Rick Porcello. Obviously the Red Sox did not draft and develop him, but the guy was steady. I shouted at the TV during his starts more than once, but he was reliable.
Can I interest anyone in a lightly used Jedixson Paez? He allowed 1.3 bb/9 as a 19 y/o in A-Ball. 7.8 k/9, 3.31 ERA.
I always call a start where the starter goes at least 6 IP and allows 4 or fewer runs a Porcello. 4 runs allowed in 6 innings is very bad by ERA, but it keeps you in the game and you'll end up winning a lot of those games, as well as preventing overwork by the bullpen.
We didn't have too many Porcellos last year. If we have a lot of Porcellos next year I would expect us to make the playoffs.
