I see that, yeah. They still need days off, or at least at DH, to keep them from wearing down, and it makes sense for that player to be RHH. So it’s a small role, and maybe it should just be filled in house by Pablo Reyes or Bobby Dalbec. But if Solano were game for a role backing up three infield positions and probably getting a few DH reps himself, I’d be interested.
Generally speaking I think you may be right, but here's the reason I see a use (perhaps not need, but use) for the RHH 1B/3B. When considering days off for Devers and Casas, the handedness of the opposing pitcher could be considered and depending on who the player might be he could serve as a RH DH option if Yoshida needs a day/days off.
I think the bolded is the catch. How many starts is he looking at with the Sox (barring injuries)? Solano started 95 games and played in 134 total games last year for the Twins. Is there even 50 total starts for him at 1B, 3B, and DH with the Sox roster as is? Tack on another 25-30 games where he pinch hits or they sit some guys down in the midst of a blowout. Is there a likelihood that he can do better than 50-80 games played if he hooks on somewhere else?
The amount of playing time he would get is highly dependent on injuries. If Devers, Story, and Casas each play 150+ games, there probably isn’t a ton of playing time for him. With injuries, there presumably will be plenty of at bats. Last years team, after all, gave 600+ PA to Reyes, Valdez, Chang, and Urias.
Sort of thinking out loud here to clarify a bit, but there are only really 13 roster spots, and so, in the broadest sense, 13 roles. You have your starting C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, RF, CF, LF, for 8 spots. 9 is your second catcher (a modern necessity). So that gives you 4 roster spots remaining.
Of course. I'm looking at it more from his perspective. If he's looking for a job where he has a chance to start 100+ games, he's not looking to bank on or hope for players getting hurt (no player wants to court that karma). No one is questioning whether he'd be useful for the Sox, but that isn't the whole equation.
There is no rational world where the plan is for Donovan Solano to get 70 games at DH.
I looked it up, and what I was able to find was that there were just 24 instances last season in which a pitcher warmed up and did not face a batter. I'm not sure the rule will be all that impactful on pinch hitting overall.
Solano should never be DH unless he ends up playing so much that he needs a day off from the field (which would only happen with an injury). If Yoshida needs a day off, Casas or Devers should DH. With the current roster that would probably mean starting Cron at first (who is a much better fielder than Casas). If Solano was brought on board that could mean DHing Casas, Grissom (if he struggles in the field) or Devers, though Solano’s far better at 1b and 2b than 3b.
Yeah, I don’t see him getting many ABs at DH (not when he’s a better fielder than every other player on the roster who plays the same positions), but 20+ starts at 1b, 20+ starts at 3b and 20+ starts at 2b could make sense. Inevitably he has enough positional flexibility that he will get a bunch of extra ABs due to injuries as well..
In 2023, Raffy started 151 games at 3B (and was injured.) That seems to be the target.
Never heard of him, but I've been following the minors for 20 years at this point and nothing in that profile says "potential MLB piece". Took him multiple years just to get a solid line at AA, and his AAA profile is pretty much organizational filler to a T. There's many younger, better players in front of him; he's a guy who gets a dozen PAs in August as a 30 year old and a couple stories about long time minor leaguer makes good get written.
So what you're saying is Westbrook might be the new Fitzy? The guy who turns some heads in spring training but is so far down the depth chart he's unlikely to ever be added to the 40-man, let alone see MLB action? (but we'll see plenty of folks calling for him to be brought up)
There will be more PHs sent up if the opposing manager can’t just immediately counter.
I think the only reason why people were calling for Fitzy is that he was a hot-hand and we had an obvious need for him at a position he could fill.
It’s not accommodating, it’s called fielding the most competitive team. Seriously, why would anyone have a “goal” of playing their worst fielder in the field for as many games as possible?
Because only one of the players is "the worst fielder" which would be Devers. So you're proposing putting Devers in the DH slot and signing Solano to play 3B? While Yoshida plays LF? For how many games? How much better would Solano be than Valdez or Chron at DH?
Simplicio originally suggested that Yoshida will probably play around 50 games in LF. I left that position unchallenged and proposed that if they did go with a different DH for that many games then it should be Devers or Casas who DHs - especially if they signed someone like Solano, who is better than both of them with the glove (though, to be fair, who isn’t?).
I don’t think Casas missing twenty games in the field is going to ruin his development.
I'm not sure why the interlocking consequences keep being left out of this discussion.
I’m confused. This was all based on the premise that Yoshida might play LF around fifty times over the course of the season. I’m not suggesting that Devers (or Casas’s) bat ever be taken out of the lineup or that Devers become the fulltime DH. I wouldn’t mind the latter option but only if the Sox were replacing him with someone like Matt Chapman -not Donovan Solano. The idea was DHing Devers and/or Casas only on days that Yoshida didn’t DH.
So you think the best club the Sox can field over the season is to have: 25 games with Yoshida in LF, Devers at DH, and Solano at 3B; plus, 25 games with Yoshida in LF, Casas at DH, and Solano at 1B.
Ideally you’d have Devers DH more than Casas as I think there is more reason to hope that Casas could still be a good fielder with more experience in the field. That said, Solano has been worse at 3b than 1b over the course of his career. Ideally, that role would be played by someone who is better at both corner IF spots than Solano is, as he is actually best at 2b. While that gives him the added advantage of being a solid backup for Grissom, it makes him less ideal for the role of backup 3b/1b.
Eh, not great news, but not really surprising. There is no sense in rushing, they have options in the infield, including Rafaela if need be, as Cora mentioned yesterday, if Valdez looks awful or they need Reyes elsewhere.
From what we saw of Bloom's tenure, I doubt he would have pulled the trigger on the trade in the first place. Breslow can't predict injuries, he went out and addressed the positional need about as well as one could have. I mean, certainly I think they should have signed another RHH in general but it's not like Breslow sat on his hands and tried to get by with smoke and mirrors at the 2B position.
How do we define "serious", though? It was obviously always something more than a minor tweak, and for these types of injuries time can be the best healer. And given the totality of the circumstances, why take any chances?
Not serious probably meaning not requiring surgery. Hammies can just take a long time to heal.
Just the bad injury luck with all things related to Sale. The young kid injuries are always so strange. Is it indicative of how he will age on his contract or is it a random fluke?
Also, after the west coast start, they next play in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, none of which are known for balmy April weather. Not ideal for a healing/newly healed hammy. I'm not saying it's a determining factor, but I'm pretty sure it's part of the calculus.
I'm pretty sure they're counting on his (right handed) bat to be a huge part of what he brings to the table, so I kind of couldn't disagree more. Especially since it's not like Grissom is seasoned at the position. I think the Sox would expect some growing pains from Grissom there.
