Alex Verdugo has worked exclusively as an outfielder to this point in his professional career, but the 25-year-old is hoping for an expanded role at some point in the future. Verdugo told reporters (including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald) he’s hoping to serve as a two-way player by the 2023 season.
The Red Sox outfielder plans to begin a throwing program this offseason to kick off that process. While Verdugo cautioned that he didn’t want to take on a rotation role, he expressed an earnest desire to work out of the bullpen. “I don’t know if I’ll pitch next year, but definitely by 2023 I want to try to just be a two-way player,” Verdugo said “Not a (Shohei Ohtani), where he is starting and all that. I just want to be a reliever. Come in, help the boys out, something like that.”
Two-way players obviously remain quite infrequent, but they’re not without recent precedent. Ohtani is the AL MVP favorite for his stellar contributions on both sides of the ball. A two-way star of Ohtani’s caliber is unlike anything in recent memory, but a limited outfield/relief role seems more plausible. The Reds dabbled in that kind of experiment with Michael Lorenzen, giving him 83 1/3 innings of relief and six starts in center field in 2019. Anthony Gose hasn’t worked as a two-way player concurrently, but he played in the big leagues as an outfielder from 2012-16 before returning as a reliever with the Indians this season.
Verdugo certainly has the arm strength to at least make the notion of him working in relief potentially realistic. The left-handed hitter and thrower was a two-way star in high school, and he flashed intriguing upside on the mound. Baseball America named Verdugo the #55 prospect in the 2014 draft class, writing at the time that he worked his fastball into the 90s with a promising slider and changeup. BA noted that most amateur scouts actually favored Verdugo as a pitcher, with the broad consensus that his “professional future is definitely on the mound.”
The concept of Verdugo as a two-way weapon is certainly intriguing, although it sounds he’ll first have to convince his own manager to give him the opportunity. Alex Cora seemed less enthused about the prospect, telling reporters “(Verdugo) feels he can throw 97, 98 mph. I guess he used to do that. We’re like, ‘No, you’re not doing that. You’re actually going to get better physically and you have to take care of yourself.”
It’s easy to understand Cora’s seeming trepidation, since Verdugo’s plenty valuable working solely as an outfielder. He hit .289/.351/.426 (107 wRC+) over 604 plate appearances while splitting his time between all three spots on the grass this season. It remains to be seen if the Sox would allow Verdugo to take on additional work on the mound — or, of course, whether Verdugo progresses enough as a pitcher to even make that a viable question — but it’ll be an intriguing storyline to follow over the offseason and through next year. For his part, Boston chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom didn’t dismiss the idea out of hand, saying that while the Sox hadn’t discussed the matter too deeply, he wouldn’t past it past Verdugo developing into a useful pitcher based on his high school form (via Mastrodonato).
Narrator: It won’t work
If the Sox are ever down 11-1 in the 9th inning, bring him in – see what he has
And if he hurts his elbow??? Hard to run a long stretch with a DH only on the team the entire year. DH spot is used for resting regulars in 2021 by a majority of teams.
Why would he hurt his elbow? They would put him on a pitcher’s regime long before ever using him in a real game. It’s not a situation where a position player who has never pitched before suddenly gets thrown on the mound like Canseco did.
It’s not like the article was on Jacoby Ellsbury.
FPG – Actually, the arm has muscle memory and any significant change in the throwing motion can cause tears. The strength of specific tendons grow through the throwing action. Change up the action like moving from SP to 2B or 3B and the arm trajectory changes and muscle and tendon tears become more likely.
He’s 25 so he hasn’t built up the strength in this pitching motion so that would need to start right away. Then, they would need to put him on a machine to evaluate his outfield throwing motion to see if it needs to be altered so his pitching won’t be a radically different arm angle or motion.
If all that can be done, the chances for injury will go down. I’ve seen players tear their rotator cuff by simply throwing from 3B or 2B with a side arm or lower angle after being a catcher or pitcher prior to the move. Thousands of throws using a specific arm motion then changing the motion and throwing at full velocity from a new angle to prove to a coach that you can play multiple positions is a very common activity that leads to labrum tears, rotator cuff problems and sometimes even TJ surgery.
I say it’s too late for the two way option. Pick one or the other.
Why would he hurt is elbow you ask? Because throwing a ball repeatedly over 90mph can lead to that.
@fever. Because no pitcher has ever hurt his elbow before…
KD – That’s why I said above they would put him on a pitching regime and build up his arm. It’s not something where he’d immediately step on a ML mound and just start pitching.
Jason Lane, Chris Hatcher, Alexi Ogando, Sergio Santos, Jason Motte, Carlos Marmol, Rafael Soriano, Joe Nathan, Sean Doolittle and Kenley Jansen all successfully went from position player to pitcher.
Jim the probability of an elbow injury is no greater for a former pitcher who converts back to pitching than it is a player who has always pitched at every level. Therefore the potential for an injury doesn’t warrant not allowing him to pitch.
It’s more likely an injury from changing arm angle is due to bad mechanics that puts excessive strain on the arm. Especially if the player is already fatigued.
MLB infielders change arm angles all the time and don’t always have thousands of throws with that arm angle to specifically strengthen ligaments for those throws, but they have enough throws (or natural athleticism) to have good enough mechanics to reduce injury risk.
Overuse and excessive load are the most common reasons for soft tissue injuries.
He wouldn’t intentionally hurt his elbow, but keep in mind that about 22% of all MLB pitchers have had TJS. This would significantly increase chances Verdugo will have an arm injury. Is the mop-up innings he might pitch worth the loss of him as a position player?
I really don’t think Dugie would go through the conversion just to be a mopup guy. Seems like that’s what is being interpreted by some here just because he said he wants to be a reliever, which makes no sense to me. He’s gonna want to pitch in meaningful situations, of course.
lordd99, let me ask you a question. Since Ohtani could become part of the 22% that requires TJS, should he stop pitching so he doesn’t put his status as an elite hitter in jeopardy? He certainly has more to risk (46 HR, .965 OPS) than Dugie.
FPG – I thought the assumption was he would do both so I responded from that perspective. If he wants to simply switch that is a whole lot easier and your examples of players that switched are good one.
KD – You’re correct, but since there’s a very limited list of two-way players I used straight up conversions to pitcher-only as examples of players successfully doing so.
Great points
Apparently the narrator is Ms. Cleo.
Lol
not a good idea, but his desire to do so is cool to see.
This is very stylish, I like it
Betts doesn’t do this
I don’t think he ever pitched in HS or above, but he was won semipro bowling tournaments. To each their own; Betts’ higher ceiling as a hitter would preclude any pitching upshot.
Betts is a bowler which may be the source of his hip and back issues.
Doogie does go off and dance to a different drummer. Which is (to me) kind of refreshing, since his isn’t some game breaking one, nor trying to re fashion everything that made this country the powerhouse that it is.
I like the guy and wish him luck in it, but also.. Hope it’s a fleeting thing with him and hope he just returns to the OF and continues playing in his own colorful way.
Boston will say no way.. His back won’t hold.
While that would be fun to at least see what happens, I can’t imagine the Sox using him in any more capacity than blowout game “we don’t want to waste a bullpen arm today” kind of thing.
That could be quite valuable actually. He could come in to pitch vs a lefty, then stay in the game but move to the OF for the righties, then come back in for more lefties.
The Astros did that with Tony Sipp a few times. However with the three batter rule that would be a little tougher
Does it specify in the rule “3 batters in a row?”
THAT could be interesting.
I seldom get surprised in here, but yeah, this surprised me. I assume it has to be in a row, but I’ve never seen it discussed.
It doesn’t show in the BR stats, but I think the NYY did that with McDowell in reverse. They brought in a pitcher and moved McDowell to 2nd. I’m not 100% sure it was McDowell, but the hitter grounded into a DP started by McDowell. Then he went back to pitching.
Belechickian way with the rules. I like it.
Why it 3 batters or inning ends whatever comes first
McDowell and Orosco did it a few times.
McDowell and Orosco did it in long, extra inning games snd both were conditioned to throw multiple innings. Today’s relievers aren’t even set up to go more than one inning with full prep.
Let him work out with pitchers as long as it doesn’t take away from his other work. If he looks decent, sure let him toss an inning here and there in blow outs. Then maybe when his productive hitting days are nearing an end he can transition. But I highly doubt he takes the minor league route for 2 years, so it is unrealistic for anything other than mop up duties.
Because the rule is solely about speeding up the game. Pulling a pitcher after the 3rd out (even if he only faced one batter) doesn’t result in any delays of having to come out of the bullpen and warm up.
The whole point of the 3 batter rule is to reduce the number of pitching changes. Moving a guy from the mound to the OF or IF constitutes a pitching change, so yeah he would have to face 3 consecutive batters (or end the inning) before switching from pitcher to position player.
It’s only valuable if he’s good at it and physically keeps his arm in “pitcher shape.” Gose is a lefty with an even stronger arm and it’s taken him several years to make it back while pitching in the minors. Verdugo basically wants to toss on the side in 2022 and then pitch to MLB batters. The risk is fine with Gose because he wasn’t a valuable MLB player. Not the case with Verdugo.
One problem with the multiple switches between OF and pitcher, it would require multiple substitute OF’ers on the bench. With Cora utilizing a 14-pitcher staff, that leaves only 3 position players on the bench (not counting the backup catcher).
There’s no way Cora can leave the bench empty by substituting OF’ers for Dugie more than once in a game.
I’d like to see Verdugo work on not striking out or hitting into double plays seemingly every time he comes up in a crucial situation before he works on becoming a bullpen option.
Everytime i hear of position players wanting to pitch i am reminded of Jose Canseco blowing out his elbow on the mound at Fenway while with the Rangers in 1993
Moving forward, Alex Verdugo’s bat is among the least of the Red Sox problems. He’ll contend for batting championships and hit a gazillion doubles. My favorite player on the 2019 Dodgers, but you gotta give to get.
Alex is incredibly “meh”, his offense helped by playing in Fenway; and yes, he does have an incredible ability to fail in just about every important situation. The base running is adequate at best, the defense runs “meh” to awful, never on the positive side of the scale.
I’d much rather see him work on that stuff (it would be better for him too, financially) than play around with pitching, But let’s face it, that’s why LA wasn’t hesitant to give him up; maturity issues, and a tendency to take plays off.
Do your job, Alex, let the next guy do his.
If the Red Sox don’t want him, the Dodgers would be happy to take him back. Are you drinking? That is a laughable take.
Yes he has base running is. He’s not failed though. His hits were key in those instances. He’s a keeper.
Bob – OUTSTANDING!!! If we could trade him back to LAD they wouldn’t be interested. He’s Benny after drinking a couple of gallons of Red Bull. But Benny was a better defender. Verdugo and Devers are bookends. It’s all about what they can achieve for themselves and never about the team. Great enthusiasm and always self focused. Each player lives for the moment in the spotlight not the success of the team. That’s just a mere side benefit of their success.
What a ridiculous troll you are.
OrienGreene – Let me explain since you don’t seem to get it. You troll me and make comments about me and you don’t discuss the content. That is the definition of trolling.
My opinion differing from yours, that’s not trolling that is called “the American Way”. I’m sure you’ve heard of freedom of speech and thought. Right? The fact that I write about two players who publicly behave selfishly and you have an issue with it does not make me the troll. It’s called having an opinion.
Specifically attacking someone who you disagree with….. NOW THAT’S TROLLING. I advise you to stop it because the website frowns on people who simply comment to insult others.
Let him pitch any of these Playoff games that have start times where there are shadows involved. I know these starting pitchers are tough even when you can see the ball, but these twilight start times aren’t fair to either team. It isn’t any wonder that the majority of the runs are scored once the shadows are gone. Come on MLB!!!
Taking quality innings away from Kevin Plawecki? Perish the thought.
Dang, just tuned in RedSox / Rays. Looks like a near full house at the Trop. Rarely see that.
Not sure what angle you saw. They have tarps on the top seats, so they “sold out” yesterday with a pitiful 27k. The ballpark and support from the city are a joke. Move the damn team.
Did not see the top seats I guess. Yeah, 27K not much. It’s a shame they can’t draw any better than that.
That’s why if they do advance, it’s hard for me to root for them because of the non-existent fanbase. Even if they start selling out, where were they during the regular season? Even with big divisional regular season games against the Red Sox, they drew like 14K fans … and most of them were Red Sox fans.
You won’t root for then because nobody else does? What sense does that make?
If you’re a bandwagon fan it makes a ton of sense.
Ted, you think I’m a Rays fan? I know you’re new here, but geeez. LOL
It’s not that he doesn’t have (or had) upside as a high school pitcher. The issue is high school was a long time ago and he’s had no development as a pitcher since then. He wants to jump through multiple levels of minors leagues and immediately face polished MLB hitters. His upside is quite limited. The downside (injury) significantly high.
That’s adorable.
Not a fan of Verdugo but why not let the dude try.
It’s an interesting idea, but in the middle of a playoff run does not strike me as the best time to publicize the idea. At the moment he should have other baseball things in his mind. Now if he wants to talk about this in November, we’ll then I’m game.
Yeah! He should’ve checked with first.
I think the DH should just be an option for all 30 teams. I like the idea of more two way players and that would make it an easier path to do so.
Use it for aging vets who still hit well or let pitchers hit/ fielders pitch if they have the skill set. Either way, it opens a lot of opportunities.
At least got to let him give it a start and see what happens. Ohtani is flesh and blood and manages ok. Surely the individual wanting to do it means something. They can always pull the pin early if he isn’t blowing their mind.
One of the few ex-dodger prospects that actually panned out for another team, but ya gotta give up surefire prospect when trading a MVP. It’s not like AJ Preller was the GM forBOS
Verdugo was different than a regular prospect. He had an excellent year with the Dodgers in 2019, as well as being highly ranked. Guys like Downs, Lux, Gray, etc., were all highly ranked, but with no professional experience.
You know what I worry about with Dugie? If he becomes really good and really famous, his baggage will get brought up by the mainstream media.
what baggage?
Google “Verdugo Baldwin”.
Dalbec could do it as well. Great athlete.
When Dalbec was drafted, I thought he had a better chance of being an RP. Dude throws really hard.
A year ago a similar column was written about Verdugo being a two way player and I’ll make the same comment again.
Verdugo – EARN THE RIGHT TO TRY OTHER THINGS BY BEING AN ALL-STAR and MVP candidate each year, then we can talk about pitching. Otherwise, you simply look selfish.
KD – Great post as usual!!! Unless Verdugo is good enough to be an All-Star pitcher, he should focus on his baserunning and work on his defense and taking more pitches.
FPG – If his offense starts to resemble Tatis then go ahead and think about pitching, until then why be bad at two things when you might be able to be good at one thing?
You mean the oft-injured Tatis? Yeah he’s good but Verdugo stays on the field.
Verdugo doesn’t have to be an All-Star to be solid. He’s gritty and has a good attitude.
pwndroia – I agree with gritty and good attitude and even solid. My point is most players work to improve on their current career and don’t selfishly decide they now want to pitch in addition or instead. If he was as good as Tatis then taking on something new while maintaining his Tatis-like skills would be fine.
Tatis is injury prone as you mentioned. He was just an example of an elite player. I could have picked guys like Acuna, Freeman or even Judge but all would have probably fallen into the too often injured category except Freddie. Even Trout now brings injury to mind not greatness and that’s a very bad trend in baseball.
So do you think it’s smart to split his focus and be average at two things just to be able to brag he does both rather than staying focused on improving as a hitter and an outfielder?
Ohtani is elite at both so he’s ideal. Verdugo is elite at neither so I just want him to become elite at hitting before he expands to pitching for the good of the team.
FPG – Houck keeps moving in the right direction. I’m telling you I think he’s the ACE by 2023 or 2024. Sale needs the off-season to get his stuff back. Right now he’s struggling and his state of mind isn’t good. I’d only use him in high pressure relief appearances and one batter at a time. His inability to spot pitches is killing him. Jose Fernandez and deGrom went through similar struggles after TJ surgery. They both made it all the way back so I hope Sale can too.
Judging by the strikeouts, he has the stuff, just needs to work on mechanics.
Fastball and slider are fine, he didn’t have any feel for the changeup which is why his control was so bad.
Guys – Judging Houck as if he was a seasoned pro with respect to his pitches is really unfair. He’s thrown 86 innings in two years with an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 1.081. That blows away guys like E-Rod and others you guys swoon over. This kid is on his path to elite. If his change=up needs work I’m sure given time that will happen.
Houck is 25 since he went to college. When Clemens was 25 he was in his 5th season and had won two Cy Youngs already BUT during his first 86 innings as a pro, he had an ERA over 4.00 and a WHIP greater than 1.30. Two years later he won his first of two back to back Cy Young awards.
I’m not saying Houck will be another Clemens but he’s the best young pitcher BOS has had since Clemens and in less than 100 IP he has elite numbers. That’s about the most exciting news I’ve had since Bloom came on board two years ago.
Of course, as any astute baseball fan would realize, he’s a first round draft selection by the greatest GM to work for BOS, the great Dave Dombrowski!!! All those years of not developing a quality SP and the great DD solves the decades long problem and then gets fired two years later before he gets to see his excellent selection promoted to the majors. That’s harsh and goes to the ineptitude of the ownership group.
EVERYONE SHOULD BE EXCITED ABOUT HOUCK!!!
Just to clarify, my prior comment was referring to Sale.
FPG – Ahhh makes sense and does reflect Sales struggles so far. I hope you heard Smoltz talk about what Sale is going through and how common it is for TJ surgery pitchers in recovery. He’s convinced that in 2022 he’ll be back to the old Sale.
Also, baseball is often a game of inches. When you watch the replay of Sale’s start in TB you’ll see a hard ball hit past Bogaerts that with a little luck gets caught because it was close enough that luck would have aided him in catching it. Then, with Schwarber playing 1B not Dalbec a grounder is hit barely off the tip of Schwarber’s glove. If Dalbec is playing 1B with his frame, he catches it. Even the home run on a 2 strike count was a decent pitch that was 6 inches above the strike zone and normally is either taken by the batter or blows by the batter but the inexperienced batter chose to go all in on the pitch and guessed fastball so he was actually ahead of the high and outside pitch and pulled it down the left field line. Even a good hitter isn’t that quick to pull that pitch down the left field line, he was guessing and guessed right. Sale throws an off speed pitch and he Ks trying to adjust his bat from his ramped up swing to meet a fastball to an off speed pitch.. It wasn’t like Sale pitched terribly, he just had some bad luck on some good pitches. Things like that tend to even out over time.
I think if his attitude stays positive he will be fine in his next start (if they are still alive by then). Nate needs to come up big on Sunday.because it’s the last pitching advantage that BOS will have in this 5 game series.
Sale’s velocity wasn’t there on the granny, a 94 MPH fastball. The Sale of old would have cranked it up to at least 97 in that situation.
Regardless, the pitch selection – and we know Sale isn’t one to shake off signs – was poor. If you’re gonna climb the ladder, mix the slider in there which has been his most effective pitch of late. Just another example of Vazquez not calling a very good game.
How can you say the Red Sox won’t have a pitching advantage in Game 5 with Houck and Whitlock likely pitching multiple innings, and Eovaldi if necessary.
BTW Smoltz (I think it was him) pointed out how Cora’s managing is conditioning his starting pitchers to not last much more than two trips through the lineup. He’s absolutely right! How are the Red Sox gonna develope a stud starting pitcher (aka Houck) if they aren’t given the opportunity to learn how to pitch into the 7th inning? Cora tells them to show all their pitches and air it out for 5 innings, that’s all he expects from them. So of course they won’t be able to go into the 7th, they are being conditioned by Cora to not save anything in the tank and to not save part of their repertoire for the later innings. It’s sad.
FPG – I believe that the post TJ regimen is to focus on control first and then add velocity. My guess is Sale isn’t comfortable with his control yet so he’s holding back on velocity.
For years the person or people calling the pitches for the Red Sox have done a crap job. That’s why I never expected a good season with lesser pitchers in 2021 and bad pitch calling. Watching the first half of the season I was surprised at the new approach to the hitters. It seemed more like Houston’s which has always been better.
I seriously doubt Vazquez calls the pitches. I’m guessing his constant looks to the dugout between pitches is the first suggestion for the pitch and then the pitcher can override the selection. My issue with Vazquez has always been framing and setting up too far off the plate. This year he has stayed more behind the plate than in years past so I’m not down on his defense as much as his offense. I prefer Plawecki this year.
Cora has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to handling pitchers. He is a deer in the headlights when stress happens. If he likes a guy he stays too long with him and if he doesn’t like him he pulls him too early. He uses the wrong relievers for situations because of his bias and faith in specific pitchers. Basically throwing darts would be more effective in choosing the next pitcher.
Nate is starting Sunday. Assume he throws 7 innings and 100 pitches so he’s pretty much done for the series but knowing Nate he’ll make himself available on Wed out of the pen for an inning if needed.
With Houck used, Eovaldi used and Sale shaky for coming back on Monday it seems like E=Rod will be his choice so Sunday is a must win. E-Rod had an excellent game against WAS a far lesser hitting team and E-Rod after his most recent shutout performances has been bombed in his next outing. He’s known for his inconsistency so a 2-1 lead in the series on Monday is imperative.
TB has Rasmussen throwing with his 2.44 ERA and 0.966 WHIP on Sunday so Nate will have his hands full and it will all come down to Schwarber and where he bats along with JD. If they maximize their OBP at the top of the order, they can win. If Kiki gets to hit at the top of the order, they will lose. Also, if Nate loses then E-Rod versus McHugh is not a good match-up for BOS even with the game in Fenway. That’s why NATE must win. Maybe Sale can bail out E-Rod on Monday but he’s not any more consistent than E-Rod right now. Maybe Pivetta can cover for E-Rod or start rather than E-Rod. It will be fun to see who hits more in BOS. If either team gets hot it’s not going back to TB!!!
I wish the Pirates continued with Steven Brault as a two-way player, but Hurdle went bye bye.
I was not a big Verdugo fan when the Mookie deal went down and I heard Alex had back issues but I like the levity and toughness he brings to the Sox. He is pretty well spoken in post-game interviews. I do wish we could have continued and not passed on Brusdar Graterol. Not too many can touch 100 MPH consistently and have knowledge of what zip code it’s being delivered to.
Mookie’s had a tough season—surely he’ll bounce back.
madmc44 – Completely on the same page with you. A really bad deal got worse when Graterol was pulled for an over-rated Downs and their 5th catcher Wong. Like you said, you can’t teach 100mph. As it stands now, the ONLY benefit from the throwing away of a legend and a Cy Young winner is the league average performance of Verdugo. His attitude is upbeat and he’s competitive but he still lacks the numbers needed to be a full time keeper since they tossed Benny with a higher OPS+.
I do wish we could have continued and not passed on Brusdar Graterol
==========================================
So far, the stats have been weak. Graterol has gone thru two years of control doing nothing but middle inning relief. His ERA+ with the LAD is 107. We have had 8 RPs do that for us this year.
Worse yet is that he has a 6.4/2.5 K/W. For a guy that throws that hard, that screams out that something is physically wrong.
Agreed, and Bloom passed on him because of the medicals so why would anything be different now? Did he get an arm transplant since then that I’m not aware of?
After Verdugo checks this fantasy off his bucket list he can morph into a switch hitter.
I love how Cora basically called him out of shape without directly saying so. That’s why Cora is the right man for this team. Did you notice how much better shape Devers is in this season compared to last? Cora won’t play him if he’s fat.
I’m really beginning to think you’re saying things just for the laughs. LOL
Not sure what’s funnier, the notion that Devers lost weight only to make Cora happy or the notion that Cora would bench Devers if he was fat.
Have you looked at Vazquez recently? And he led MLB in IC.
That’s what Cora does best. It’s what the best managers do. They speak about a player to the press, often without a name, and often enough in a way that makes the point, but without being overly harsh.
Well sure, most managers will call out poor performance and especially poor effort without naming names. No different than during departmental meetings in the corporate world.
But are you saying Cora has talked about weight issues and conditioning to the media? Because I’ve never heard him do so.
I think Jose dabbled with the idea
Taking the show back to Boston. We need a big game from Eovaldi. We have the bats to cover up from stinkers from ERod and Sale, but we shouldn’t have to depend on that.
And I definitely don’t want to go back to TB and try to beat McClanahan.
Tomorrow’s pitching matchup heavily favors the Sox, but I do think it’s going 5. Hope I’m wrong, even with me holding tickets for Wednesday.
Just curious, I agree with you that hitters tend to have an advantage when seeing a pitcher for the 3rd time …. so why wouldn’t that apply in the pitcher’s next game? If they face McClanahan again, I would expect a totally different outcome.
But the dude is plenty good. 97-98 with location. When the press does its post-mortems, sometimes it is as simple as ‘we just couldn’t hit him’.
Jared Walsh was a two-way guy when he came up. I feel like nobody remembers this
Cora is doing everything he can to lose this game!!
Another Schwarber homerun wasted as he was the first batter of the game for the Red Sox.
Another error by Schwarber at 1B because Cora refused to move Hernandez to 2B.
Dumb, dumb, dumb Cora.
FPG – Do you really not comprehend that a home run is NEVER wasted? How many times has Schwarber walked in his first at bat versus hitting a home run? Is the walk a waste too? NO. Why because it’s a base runner. Whether it’s a home run or a walk it’s exactly what BOS should be rooting for. If Schwarber bats second, third, fourth or ninth a home run and walk will always be positive outcomes and never WASTED.
A scoring opportunity is only potentially lost not actually lost on a first at bat home run by the lead off hitter.. The odds of an RBI by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hitter progressively get higher if the first hitter walks. You could put Schwarber in the four hole but then the 5 hitter benefits. By putting him in the 1 hole the 2, 3 and 4 hitters benefit when he walks or gets a hit BUT the entire team benefits from a home run since it’s not likely someone would have been on base for that particular at bat.
I don’t know how else to explain the math except that the probabilities for scoring runs grow significantly if the 1 hitter is an outstanding OBP guy and the next three hitters are your best hitters with high OBP. The fourth hitter since the batters behind him are lesser hitters should be a home run hitter with a high average but the OBP is less critical. The 3 hitter gets the most RBI chances and the 4 hitter gets the next most RBI chances and the 1 and 2 hitters score the most runs on the team. Considering the types of hitters in the Red Sox line-up Schwarber with the highest OBP should go first. Bogaerts also with a high OBP goes second. JD who is an RBI guy with a high average normally goes 3rd and Devers a high home run guy goes 4th. Guys like Renfroe and Dalbec come behind Devers in case runners are still on base because they are frequent home run hitters. The bottom three are in the line-up to try to get on base for Schwarber but they are typically the weakest hitters and the fastest of the weakest hitters should bat last to provide the 1st hitter (Schwarber) with more fastball because they are a threat to steal second if they get on base.
There are always times when bad hitters like Hernandez get hot and provide runners for the top of the order. JBJ was a classic example. Lots of bad at bats but when he got hot, much like Hernandez the last couple of days, he scored lots of runs thanks to the top of the order.
The defensive alignment is a joke. Devers should be at DH but with JD hurt it makes sense that JD stays at DH and Devers butchers 3B. Schwarber needs to be in LF especially in Fenway, Verdugo and Renfroe need to play CF and RF with Hernandez at 2B. Swapping a good bat (Schwarber, Verdugo, Dalbec or JD) for a crap bat like Arroyo or Iglesias was just bad baseball by Cora.
When JD was hurt, Devers should have gone to DH with Dalbec at 3B and Shaw at 1B. It’s ironic that Cora thinks saving Shaw to have one late at bat that will save the game with Arroyo or Iglesias have 3 or 4 bad at bats is better than starting Shaw and getting him the 3 or 4 at bats. It shows Cora’s ignorance to the fundamentals of being a manager and setting a line-up.
Pitching substitution are clearly another weakness of Cora. Completely agree. At some point his illogical moves will backfire. Nobody is lucky all the time (2019 is a great example!) Cora’s bad choices backfired that year.
Hey Sunday’s game was an instant classic as Bruin1012 stated. Classic mistakes, classic outstanding performances by the players and classic luck when illogical moves were made.
Whitlock reminded me of Eovaldi in the 2018 World Series. Win or lose he did an outstanding job for the team.
Both teams are severely depleted with respect to pitching on Monday. E-Rod needs to not be the guy who gets bombed after a shutout performance like he has been all season. He might win himself a contract or lose any chance at a contract based on how he does and how the series ends. I don’t have much faith in him but his inconsistency always opens the door to great games or terrible games. For BOS’s sake this needs to be a great one.
I also would like to see CWS even their series at 2-2 so all four teams still trying to win the AL have to use lots of pitching and the series end at the same time.
KD – If you have a choice of hitting a homerun with 2 or 3 runners on base, or hitting a homerun with nobody on base, which would you choose? If you choose the solo homerun, is it not a waste?
It’s like playing Skee-Ball, if you are allowed one roll of the ball are you going to aim for the 50-hole or are you gonna waste the one roll on the 10-hole?
Not sure if you’re old enough to have seen Barry Bonds play, he was similar to Schwarber in that he had a high OBP and also high SLG.
Bonds led the league in OBP TEN TIMES.
Bonds also hit at least 40 dingers EIGHT TIMES.
Where do you think he batted in the lineup for the vast majority of his career?
The first four years of his career they foolishly had him bat primarily leadoff, even though he didn’t feel comfortable doing so.
Then they finally realized “Hey this guy has way too much power to be wasting it batting leadoff” and they moved him down in the lineup to 3rd-4th-5th.
Bonds then became one of the greatest hitters in baseball history!!
Here are the numbers to prove it:
In 462 games at leadoff he had a .812 OPS
In 1,017 games batting 3rd he had a 1.127 OPS
In 852 games batting cleanup he had a 1.173 OPS
In 533 games batting 5th he had a .981 OPS
Every other spot in the lineup he batted in fewer than 50 games
I agree with you that ERod will likely perform well today, and then it will be a string of relievers if the Sox have the lead. I expect to see at least one inning of Ottavino, Whitlock, Braiser, Taylor. If it’s a big lead or big deficit, Perez and Barnes.
Pitchers being saved for a possible Game 5: Pivetta, Eovaldi, Sale, Houck
I agree with you on Chicago/Houston, hope their series goes five!!!
Bonds then became one of the greatest hitters in baseball history!!
Here are the numbers to prove it:
In 462 games at leadoff he had a .812 OPS
In 1,017 games batting 3rd he had a 1.127 OPS
In 852 games batting cleanup he had a 1.173 OPS
In 533 games batting 5th he had a .981 OPS
========================================
That’s referred to as selection bias. There are two things to consider:
1-He was the lead-off hitter when he was starting. He didn’t have his ‘man muscles’ yet. With his speed, it made sense to have him lead off.
2-You can’t compare the numbers when he was cheating to the numbers he had when he first started. If Iglesias suddenly starts wearing a size 18 hat, and comes in weighing 230 pounds, with 70-80 HRs, he will be our clean-up hitter as well.
Joe thank you for proving my point even more!
Bonds had great speed all along, right up until 1998. That’s something you want in a leadoff hitter.
However it wasn’t a coincidence that when they finally moved him down in the order in 1990 he became probably the greatest slugger in the game!
That year he had 52 stolen bases, but more than 90% of his PA’s were in the 5-hole. That’s because he was hitting way too much for power to be kept at leadoff or in the #2 spot.
BTW – Bonds didn’t start cheating until 1998, he was arguably the best player in the game for the 8 years preceding that.
KD – it’s not a matter of Hernandez “getting hot”.
The guy has a career .849 Postseason OPS, he’s ALWAYS been a super clutch hitter. Kinda like Panda and of course Ortiz.
That’s just great Cora, you pull other pitchers prematurely all the time but even though YOUR MAN Robles clearly didn’t have it and even after he faced 3 batters you leave him in to pitch to – not walk intentionally, but PITCH TO – Arozarena.
Everybody on the planet thought it was a no-brainer to walk him, but not you …. gotta show you have confidence in YOUR MAN unlike the other pitchers.
And THEN after the Rays tie the game, you bring in Whitlock. Brilliant managing Alex, just brilliant.
What a game an instant classic!
So lucky with the ground rule double, but I’ll take it!
It’s so unfortunate Pivetta’s great performance had to be used up tonight because of Cora’s blunder. He’s definitely not available tomorrow, probably not Houck either. I say start ERod, it’s not like he threw many pitches last Thursday. Will probably have to throw Perez in there at some point, Lord Help Us.
Yeah, oh no, what will the Red Sox ever do.
It was hardly ‘instant’. That was on long game. Amazing how many times both sides could’ve won it.
Could have been an easy win if Randy was intentionally walked, as he should have been. Inexcusable decision to pitch to him.
I just hope Devers’ forearm gets better, what an awful time for the injury. Reminds me of Jim Ed in 1975.
Congrats all around. I think Cora pulled every string he could. Kike in CF and Arroyo in CF/2B provided 4 singles, a double, a HR, and good defense. Schwarber at 1st over Dalbec provided 2 singles and a HR, albeit with some shaky defense. Bringing Davis didn’t thrill me, but we don’t have unlimited choices.
For any TB fans in here, sometimes there is nothing you can do. I thought Cash pulled every string he could. He managed brilliantly, but sometimes the key hits don’t drop.
Joe, it’s an overall better team defense with Schwarber in LF, Verdugo in CF, Hernandez at 2B and Schwarber at 1B.
I love Schwarber but the guy has no business playing 1B, he has been brutal in his limited time there.
Hernandez is better defensively at 2B than Arroyo, who has barely played at all since July.
How do you know Dalbec wouldn’t have had a better game than Arroyo?
And I didn’t even mention yet, having Dalbec pinch-run for Schwarber was insane. It’s not like Dalbec has the speed of Dave Roberts or Rajai Davis. We lost Schwarber’s bat and gained very little in the way of speed.
Woops … prior post my first sentence should have said Dalbec at 1B, my bad!!
I just cut-pasted the first sentence. I knew it had to be wrong. Your correction is still wrong, but not nearly as wrong as your first.
Verdugo-Kike-Renfroe, plus Arroyo at 2nd and Dalbec, is our best alignment, by a fair margin.
FPG – What an incredibly bizarre ruling!!
1 – If a fly ball hits the fence and goes over it’s a home run.
2 – If a fly ball goes over the fence and a player reaches over and it touches his glove or his body and goes over it’s a home run.
3 – If the ball hits the wall and a players glove and goes over it’s a ground rule double?
I always thought as long as the ball
DOES NOT TOUCH THE GROUND
any contact with the player causing the ball to go over the fence constitutes a home run.
Obviously Canseco touched the ball with his head not his glove and it was a home run. Many have reached over the fence caught the ball then dropped it for a home run. Many, many home runs hit the fence and then go over for a home run.
Hit the fence and the player and the same logic no longer applies? It makes no sense!!
I think TB got robbed but the Vazquez TWO RUN homer made it less unfair except that if it was a home run then there is no way to know the impact on the game. You could use averages and assumptions about the likelihood of BOS winning but guessing what might have happened is like calculating WAR and the odds of the answer being right are not high enough for me to accept. I leave it at “we’ll never know who wins if they credit it as a home run”.
Straight from the 2021 MLB Rule Book published on-line!!!
Rule 5.05(a)(9)
(9) Any fair fly ball is deflected by the fielder into the stands,
or over the fence into foul territory, in which case the batter
shall be entitled to advance to second base; but if deflected
into the stands or over the fence in fair territory, the batter
shall be entitled to a home run. However, should such a
fair fly be deflected at a point less than 250 feet from home
plate, the batter shall be entitled to two bases only.
Was the ball hit less than 250 feet? Otherwise, the rule says it’s a home run!!
This rule resides on page 35 of 191
Has anyone heard a valid explanation of why they interpreted this rule differently? Clearly it says it’s a home run.
KD – That rule doesn’t apply. It wasn’t a fly ball, it hit the ground …hence the reason why it’s a Ground Rule Double. LOL
Check out Rule 5.06(b)(4)(H)
Ball hit the ground
Mike the ball hit the wall prior to hitting the ground.
KD – No chance of it ever being a homerun. Ironically the exact same thing happened just two years ago in Toronto, with the Rays being the beneficiary. That’s one reason why they didn’t complain too much, they all know the rule.
Even if Diaz was allowed to score, Sox still likely win as I don’t think Tampa would have done anything differently in the bottom of the inning with regard to the pitcher and pitch selections.
KD- the ball ricocheted of the wall then hit the ground then bounced off of Renfroes chest and went over the wall. There is now way it can be considered a home run. I do believe that Tampa got screwed on this one there is no way Renfroe throws Diaz out and that run IMO should of scored. No way it had any chance of being considered a home run however.
They didn’t get screwed. The rule is the rule. Maybe I’d refer to it as unfortunately, but we all abide by the same rules.
Less than 6 hours till game time. Too bad we don’t have a reliable righty opener. I’d love to have seen a righty for 2 innings to force TB to go with their lefty lineup, then bring in ERod or Sale for the split advantage.
It’s a rule that needs to be looked at Joe. Let me rephrase I think Boston got very fortunate that the ball accidentally richocheted over the fence. The one thing I will say it was obvious that it wasn’t intentional so I understand the ground rule double. I still think there should be umpires discretion but it is what it is. If that had happened to the Red Sox we would of been screaming bloody murder. Lol.
I’m not crazy about too much umpire discretion. It’s unavoidable sometimes, but they make enough mistakes to make me think they could make another crucial error.
Joe the play was very similar to Devers throwing the ball into the Red Sox dugout, once it leaves the field it’s a dead ball and automatic two bases for all baserunners.
The umps didn’t have to decide anything last night, it’s all in the rules and they followed the rules correctly.
Bruin if that had happened to the Red Sox I would have screamed “Good call”. We should save our complaints for when umpires really do screw up, like the Jeffrey Maier call.
Joe they didn’t get screwed, it was the right call.
I see that TB took my advice and started a righty, then brought in a lefty to take advantage of the L/R splits. We won’t discuss the results, though I am glad to be wrong (so far).
More seriously, McClanahan has only thrown 90 pitches in 4 of his 15 starts this season. And has only averaged 72 pitches in his past 7 regular season starts. He threw 82 in his last outing and is pitching with only 3 days rest. Cash is going to be questioned about that decision.
Bruin1012 – Wow the replay I saw when I flipped back from the football game did not show it hitting the ground and the umpire explanation never mentioned it hitting the ground.
I just saw the replay from the right field corner that shows it hitting the ground!! My bad there was absolutely no controversy on this play when you see it from that angle. Clearly the second the ball hit the ground it could not be a home run and the timing of awarding bases is the same rule as when a ground ball is hit and a player throws it out of play.
Runners advance 1 base from the time the ball leaves the players hand or in this case when the ball ricochets off Renfroe. All solid and frequently used baseball rules. I spent several minutes using the home plate angle of the hit trying to see it hit the ground but couldn’t see it hit the ground. The other angle told the whole story!!
KD – As usual great post, I completely agree!!!
So far ERod looking good.
Alex Speier
@alexspeier
Kittredge is in for the fourth inning. Cash is using all of his best relievers to try to buy time for the Rays to mount something.
==========================================
That’s what he did last night. Good strategy. Keep it close and hope for a couple of breaks.
I love Speier, but that tweet is kinda pointless.
It’s an elimination game for the Rays, OF COURSE they want to prevent the deficit from growing. Using their best relievers is the best way to achieve that goal.
Looked like the heel of Dugie’s oven mitt remained on the bag, but with no ground-level camera angle there was no way to tell if there was space between the mitt and the bag.
Ironically, if Dugie was wearing a regular glove it probably would have shown him safe.
Yes it looked like he was safe but not enough to turn it over FPG thankfully it didn’t matter.
Fantastic series, what a beautiful thing. This would beat 2013 in terms of shocking the world if they go all the way.
So happy for all the guys!
With a complete tip of the cap to TB.
I was just thinking yesterday and today about the ROY voting.
For TB, they have Arozarena, Franco, and McClanahan.
For the RS, we have Whitlock, Houck and Dalbec.
Their guys are better, and maybe 3-3 better. But our two teams might have 6 of the top-10 ROY votes. Pretty impressive.
I think it’s between Randy and Mounty.
Franco and Houck didn’t play enough.
I think Aro is automatic, but having three guys in the top-10 would be huge for anyone, especially us. We haven’t had a single player in three years that had even one vote.
ROY: 1. Aro. TB, 2. Momnty Bal, 3. Garcia Tx
In a normal yr any of the others mentioned could win but this has been an exceptional yr.
By far the best Rookie this year I believe when we look back is Franco. That guy is going to be a special player.
Absolutely, Franco will live up to the hype. He’s a generational talent.
The AL East will be even more difficult next year.
Tampa and Toronto have lots of young talent approaching their prime.
The Yankees will spend as usual.
And all those top draft picks will start floating up to the Orioles, they can only get better (can’t get worse).
I agree that long term Franco will be the man, but for ROY he is hurt by not playing enough games. Garcia SP Hou also could win in a yr without so many hitters.
FPG – Franco for me is the future face of the game. I think he’s better than Tatis, Acuna and all the young guys that have been stealing the limelight lately. I also think Vlad Jr will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. So many great young talents right now, it’s ridiculous!!!
Franco was the most outstanding rookie but that may not get him the award. His post season play should push him past the other players but won’t. In the month of September Franco was the best player on the team with the best record in the AL. And the best part about the guy is he plays defense like he plays offense!!! My prediction is Devers will have more errors at 3B in the next 3 years than Franco will have while playing shortstop and having far more total chances over the next six years!!
Or better yet, I predict Devers has more errors at 3B by the age of 30 than Franco will have during his entire career and he’ll play at least 20 years!!
Biggest need of the off season is still fixing the defense starting with 3B!!!
Yeah, ok champ, I am sure Bloom will get right on that.
Ignore the troll..
What a signing Kike has been and he has the intangibles he’s a winner.
He had a well-known reputation as a clutch player, and has played in the postseason for 7 consecutive years, so most people already viewed him as a big-time postseason player like Panda, Ortiz, Lester, Schilling, etc. The guys doing the television coverage continue to point to him as another example of why analytics doesn’t tell the whole story and shouldn’t be relied upon. Some things you just can’t measure with numbers and formulas. Always look behind the numbers.
Kike’s analytics were very good. In his last three seasons with LAD, his bWAR/650 was 4.0. He’s kind of a unique case, a bit like Taylor is this year. You need to be able to convert part-time stats into full-time stats, and that’s not always linear.
IMHO, I think the decision was made because we weren’t sure of Arroyo, and didn’t like the defensive alignment of Cordero-Verdugo-Renfroe. In this case, Kike fit that dual-role perfectly.
But the more important part is your last sentence. The best mathematician in the world will make a horrible analyst if they only rely on one set of numbers.
I think Hernandez is a classic case of a player performing better when they get regular playing time, which is why I didn’t like how both Dalbec and Schwarber were benched when they were red-hot.
Arroyo was never meant to be the regular starting 2B. Keep in mind Marwin was manning the position early on, along with Chavis. Maybe Cora was just testing to see who should play where, but there was a whole lot of positional shuffling going on. Thankfully the higher-ups forced Cora to stop playing Marwin by releasing him.
I completely agree with your last sentence. Situational hitting and postseason performance hold a lot of weight with me. I never bought into the “no such thing as clutch” narrative that Sabermetrics pushes. It’s not just a coincidence that some players excel in the postseason while others melt. Hernandez is a perfect example of that, and when asked about it last night he acknowledged the different feeling he gets in the postseason. Ortiz said something similar about himself.
Aroyo was the primary 2B even in April. Marwin had 7 GS at 2nd in April, while Arroyo had 15 GS at 2B. I assume they were still in ‘earn it’, since neither was a sure thing, but no one forced Cora to stop playing Marwin, except Marwin. Marwin got released on 8/16, but only had 23 ABs in August, and only had those ABs because Arroyo was on the IL.
I think Arroyo just sorta evolved into more 2B duty because Franchy didn’t pan out and they needed a solid OF’er. Every preseason article I’ve read indicated Hernandez would play more 2B than any other position with Chavis getting a long look too. Here’s Tomase saying that as well:
nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/2021-mlb-predictions-…
Marwin was a black hole in the lineup for far too long, yet Cora kept playing him. From May 15 thru August 12 he had a .485 OPS in 44 games which is absolutely unacceptable. But of course because he’s Cora’s good friend and can play multiple positions, Cora didn’t want to part ways with him. He should have been gone by the end of June if not sooner, as he was totally overmatched at the plate and not exactly a defensive wizard in the field.
Cora has known Kike and his family since Kike was 10 yrs old. He wanted Bloom to sign him.
Speaking of Cora — When Tony LaRussa was asked about managing the new breed of players he stated that he learned everything he needed to know from watching Cora relating to and managing the BoSox players in 2018.
Bruin1012 – Short memory makes for over estimates when a player is hot!!
He has been league average his entire career. To expect anything other than that is the definition of insanity.
Career OPS+ is 100!!
2021 OPS+ is 107
He’s pulling a Steve Pearce thanks to Cora once again so lets learn from past mistakes and not include him as a player for the future. Cora put Pearce in the 3 hole and it over-inflated his numbers since he was a .270 hitter prior to the insertion. Kiki is a 9 hitter who bats .250 batting in the 2 hole between Schwarber and Devers. His numbers again, will be skewed like Pearce’s were. DD was criticized for paying Pearce because of what Cora did. I wonder if Bloom will be too when Kiki is a bust in 2022.
His history is too consistent to think he’ll jumped to a permanently higher level equal to this past week’s performance.
He’s a long time league average player comparable to Benny who Bloom sent to KC to play in 2021 along with $2.8M of his $6.6M contract. Hernandez is paid $6.0M so $0.6 less than Benny was to be paid!! When you try to reconcile the events that led to Benny leaving and Hernandez being signed you have to conclude bias in the front office. A guy with nearly identical numbers gets a $6.0M contract and the other guy sent to KC like Price was with $2.8M of his salary being paid by Bloom so he can help KC win games.
How messed up is that? BIAS BIAS BIAS that is the front office motto.
FYI…. Kiki’s post season batting average is .248 roughly the same as his regular season average likewise for his OBP. Apparently the “Winner” part seems to be uniquely happening this year not throughout his career.
Can a guy who has ONE lucky Post Season series be concluded to be a winner by that small sample size despite having played in many post seasons and never putting up winner numbers before?
The most positive thing you can say about Kiki’s play in the post season prior to 2021 is that he did a good job getting walks so his terrible batting average was off=set with a good walk rate that allowed for a normal OBP.
I believe you like Hernandez so you lack objectivity based on the long historical numbers that don’t support your conclusion. I think the opinion is biased by his great performance this last week. If you are thinking that projecting forward based on a week is a good plan, I disagree. I expect him to hit .250 in 2022 with an OPS+ around 100. That’s a guy who shouldn’t be paid more than $5M since we sent Benny packing with better numbers than that and he cost $6.6M which was apparently too much for a 111 OPS+ or even a 107 OPS+. (the same numbers that Kiki produced in 2021 and must be considered a good year based on his career.)
Yes., a 1.266 OPS over 5 games is “lucky”
His OPS is .838 over his postseason career…but you’re posting his batting average.
What a ridiculous troll.
The issue is that Bloom signed Hernandez. That’s his only objection. Dude has been great. Good offense, great defense, defensive flexibility. All for a cheap salary. And the epitome of professionalism.
Joe I totally agree! At the time he was signed, it seemed like an overpay. But clearly he performed beyond expectations in his first regular season as a full-time player. And in the postseason he’s come as advertised.
KD – Since 2017 Hernandez has a .889 OPS in the postseason.
During that same 5-year time period he has a .756 OPS in the regular season.
The dude really cranks it up in the postseason, he’s a winner just like Ortiz.
FPG- I have also pointed out that Kike has been outstanding since about mid June with the exception of the 10 or so games after he came back from the nasty case of Covid he has been one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. Those are just facts. He really started slowly but when it finally clicked in his offense has been outstanding. I think he will continue to get better he just seems like a guy that never really got solid, consistent at bats with the Dodgers and now that he is getting that with Boston is shining. He is someone that Bloom should look at extending. At the very least you have as KD points out a league average hitter with outstanding defense especially in center there is NO arguing that he has been one if not the best defenders in center this year. Extend the man.
Bruin – I’d certainly like to extend him, but what about Duran? Do you give up on him already? Assuming Dugie and Hunter are your corners.
And I’d really like to keep Schwarber, especially if JD walks. I think the postseason JD is having has made him a lot more attractive to potential suitors.
Ignore the troll.
KD I do agree with you that Franco is special. I think he will be the best all-around player in baseball if I had to start a team I think I would start with him. He is special.
KD you are wrong about Kike. He has never gotten consistent at bats until Boston not really. He took some time to adjust but the fact is he was one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball since mid June and that’s a fact.
Comparing Benny to Kike is laughable. Benny is a left fielder with passable defense terrible in center and Kike is gold glove caliber defender in center and can play a very high level at 2nd and even play shortstop. His offense since mid June was elite. I fully expect him to be a very food player for at least the next 4 or 5 years. Comparing him to Pearce is also laughable because at minimum you have an elite defender compared to a first baseman that was Ok. Please don’t compare him to Pearce because it makes you look unintelligent and I know you aren’t. The bottom line is Kike is the kind of guy you want to extend very little risk due to elite defensive capabilities and high upside if his offense continues like it did the last three and half months especially if we ignore the 10 games or so his timing was off after a particularly nasty case of Covid. Enjoy the rest of the season but you are flat wrong about Kike and the genie is out of the bottle on this guy Boston needs to extend him for the reasons I stated above.
“We had flames comin’ from out of the side.
Feel the tension. Man! What a ride!
I said, “Look out, boys, I’ve got a license to fly!”
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by.”
All that matters is the miracle run continues!!
I’m rooting for Chicago because I still haven’t forgiven Houston for their cheating. They have great talent but it’s hard to root for cheaters so if I can’t get behind Cora I can’t get behind Houston either.
KD – I think the Red Sox match up better with the Pale Hose, so I’m with you!!!
Me too the Astros have owned the Red Sox.
Not in 2018.
Let’s give a shout out to Arroyo. He is the unsung hero what a bunt on a pitch that is not easy to bunt and he made it look easy. Great job Arroyo.
Agreed!
It always amazes me how many players don’t know the proper way to bunt.
It’s really simple actually … either don’t move the bat at all, or move it in a downward motion.
All too often the hitter will move the bat upward because the pitch is higher than the bat. That is the WORST thing to do, because upward movement will always cause a popup.
You ever think about becoming a coach?
Really good insight there.
Thanks man, I appreciate the compliment!
I’m actually a little league coach, so when I see poor fundamentals such as a ML player botching a bunt attempt, I make sure to point out the error to my team.
This stuff drives me nuts. I don’t generally care for sacrifice bunts, but we have an entire generation of lefty hitters that teams shift on. If you can lay down any type of bunt to 3rd base, it cuts out half the shift. Even for righties, with less shifting, if you can push a bunt down the 1st base line, then you anchor the 1B to the bag, and this prevents the 2B from playing on top of the 2nd base bag.
I’m not asking for Manny Mota or Felipe Alou. Just an average bunter can screw up the shift. Teach it in minors. 5 minutes a day.
Joe I just commented about this in another thread. Even Ortiz dropped a bunt now and then, it’s really not hard to do as long as the pitch is manageable.
I was always disappointed that he didn’t bunt more often in the lead-off spot. The last time Tango did a run expectancy study was 2015. Your total runs expected to start an inning was .481. With a runner on 1st and no one out, it is .859. Bunting for a hit is worth .378 runs. And with Manny behind him, it is probably worth more than that.
It’s like playing Hold ‘Em and being in a cold streak. You can go 6 rotations without playing a hand, but if you can steal an ante, just 3 times, you’re down almost nothing in a cold streak. Always take the free money.