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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2023 20:54:19 GMT -5
Prince Hal Looks like both Bobby Dalbec and Jarren Duran, both of whom had decent spring training numbers (though Duran's sample size is small due to time missed in the WBC), are going to start the year at AAA. This more than anything, might be an indicator that their roster is a bit stronger than it was last season where both were needed to play key roles (and came up short). However, that's not certain until we see how the roster's depth is tested by injuries during the year and whether they have to turn to either for a key role during the season. I was actually kind of hoping (for both Dalbec's sake and the Sox) that the Phillies might come calling to see if Bobby D was available to fill in for Rhys Hopkins once he went down for the year. Hoping they might have gotten a bullpen arm to upgrade what they have at the bottom of their bullpen right now, but doesn't look like Phillies are looking to make a move to fill that void right now. -M I was thinking that as well.. allowing the Sox to sell high... Dalbec definitely seems like the kind of player that could benefit from a change of scenery. And really, that spot might be rather temporary if Mondesi can come back as they hope. Duran I'm done with.... The Sox are way better off with Tapia. I think Mondesi is going to go on the 60 day DL to make room on the 40 man for Tapia, so it will be a while before we see him on the ML level. -M
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 28, 2023 21:26:37 GMT -5
@mrp and wildfire2099 , Duran botched two plays in left today and another in center. As much as I got tired of his act instantly last year, I feel sorry for him because it’s clear that he has no instincts for playing the outfield. And he has no idea of the strike zone. Sox yanked him from second, perhaps hoping he could do what Mookie did, but it hasn’t happened. He’s no kid, either. The only hope is that he can develop to become at least an average outfielder playing every day in Worcester. I’m not optimistic. He looks like the same player they tried out last season. Bobby D was hitting well up until the minor league pitchers started to make way for the major leaguers and he looked just as lost at the plate as he did last year. I think the Sox were indeed hoping Dombrowski, who drafted him, might be tempted to get him to Philly, but I would think DD would be looking for an established replacement if he’s going to get a first baseman. Sox have said that they’re going to play Dalbec at all four IF positions, which is probably not the best thing for him. Agreed he needs a change, especially because it’s recently been bandied about that, contrary to what we all thought, Bobby had and has a bit of an attitude. Seems he’s ticked that he wasn’t in the lineup every day last season and wasn’t enjoying playing everywhere but first this spring. Tapia looks like an ideal fourth outfielder. No way was Duran going to grab that spot after his excellent showing. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him spelling Duvall in center. Also wouldn’t be surprised if Refsnyder plays against a few lefties as a wake-up call to Verdugo. Catching is a real question mark. Not sold on the pen. Starters have a lot to prove. Yoshida may be the key to a great season for Devers. Very concerned that Hernandez and Arroyo will not be able to stay on the field. But, hey, you never know, 😄 .
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 29, 2023 19:45:09 GMT -5
@mrp and wildfire2099Forgot to remind you of a classic bit of ironic baseball trivia. It was Tapia, who has now replaced Duran, who was the guy who hit the ball last year that Duran couldn't locate and then stepped aside to let Verdugo field. Tapia got an inside-the-park grand slam for the Jays out of it.
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 30, 2023 12:36:58 GMT -5
Predictions:
AL EAST Yanks Jays Red Sox Rays Orioles
AL CENTRAL Cleveland Minnesota Chicago Detroit KC
AL WEST Houston Seattle Angels Texas Oakland
NL EAST Braves Mets Phillies Marlins Washington
NL CENTRAL St. Louis Milwaukee Chicago Cincinnati Pittsburgh
NL WEST San Diego LA Giants Rockies D'Backs
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2023 13:18:12 GMT -5
I haven't paid enough attention to make a full prediction like Prince Hal but I will make a few prognostications. Sam Kennedy says he thinks the Sox feel like an 88 win team. I don't think that is all that far off, but I think 88 wins only gets you 4th in the current AL East. Sox need everything to go right and to avoid any more injuries to even have a hope of doing better than that. They did in in '21, not sure they can do it this year. Biggest surprise of the year: Texas Rangers. I think they'll win more than people expect and be in the playoff chase. Biggest disappointment: San Diego Padres. The way people's expectations are, they will be a disappointment if they don't win the next 5 WS, but I think they are primed to be a team that is decimated by injuries and underperformances. They spent a lot, but are top heavy and lack depth, so if they even have 1 0r 2 injuries, they will be trotting out below replacement level players to fill the void. I think this is especially true of their pitching staff. They'll probably make the playoffs, but will be an early exit. Aaron Judge-he was healthy last year and played a full complement of games for the Yanks in a contract year. If we set the over/under on games played at 150, I am taking the under by a lot this year. The Yanks already have injury issues in their rotation, their center fielder can't play center field until May or June (meaning Judge has to fill in increasing his injury risk) and they are another team that needs to stay healthy to succeed, especially as good as the AL East is. One stumble, and they will be looking up at the Jays and/or Rays in October. Teams you will not see in the playoff chase: Reds, Pirates, Marlins, Nats, D'Backs, A's and Royals. These teams don't have the juice to even be surprise teams. Any of the other teams I think could stick around until late August/early September if they stay healthy/play well, though a handful of these aren't very likely to be in the chase come the end of September even if all goes well (Cubs, Tigers, etc.). And my way too early World Series prediction: Braves over the Mariners in 5. -M (channeling my inner Karnak)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2023 15:44:14 GMT -5
Pete Abraham tweeting his impression of opening day...
-M
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 30, 2023 16:46:02 GMT -5
Pete Abraham tweeting his impression of opening day... -M Classic Sox. Good on Pete Abes. That's perfect. Though "Armageddon" might work, too.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2023 16:58:06 GMT -5
Pete Abraham tweeting his impression of opening day... -M Classic Sox. Good on Pete Abes. That's perfect. Though "Armageddon" might work, too. I'm not in panic mode yet, they have never won on opening day with Alex Cora as the manager, so yeah, it is what it is. But rotation and bullpen not holding up is the thing that was feared the most, so I think Pete nailed it. Haven't looked at the final box yet (checked on it in progress just after Winchowski entered) but Brasier and Ort did exactly what I expected them to, and why both should have been DFA's before the Rule V draft. And Kluber looked like what he is at this point in his career, a back end rotation guy who, if he throws strikes and is efficient, can eat up some innings and keep a team in it, and if he can't throw strikes, like today, won't last until the 5th inning. The line up didn't look terrible from what I saw, but wasn't lighting the world on fire either. We'll see what game 2 and Sale has to offer. -M
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 30, 2023 18:15:30 GMT -5
We’ve been on the same page re Ort and Brasier since way back and they did exactly what we’d have expected and worse. Brasier was just awful and was left in so far beyond when you figure he’d be lifted that I thought Cora was leaving him in either because he was pissed at his effort and/ or to stick it to Bloom for keeping him.
And the former wouldn’t be like Cora.
And yeah, one game ain’t ever a season, but there were so many walks and a couple of particularly stupid plays by Verdugo and Devers, in addition to Brasier, that you’d have thought it was the first day of spring training.
Kluber and the new reliever Martin throw strikes, but therefore are around the plate and when your fastball doesn’t move much ch and s not a blazer, you give up big long hits. Which they did.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2023 18:33:12 GMT -5
We’ve been on the same page re Ort and Brasier since way back and they did exactly what we’d have expected and worse. Brasier was just awful and was left in so far beyond when you figure he’d be lifted that I thought Cora was leaving him in either because he was pissed at his effort and/ or to stick it to Bloom for keeping him. And the former wouldn’t be like Cora. And yeah, one game ain’t ever a season, but there were so many walks and a couple of particularly stupid plays by Verdugo and Devers, in addition to Brasier, that you’d have thought it was the first day of spring training. Kluber and the new reliever Martin throw strikes, but therefore are around the plate and when your fastball doesn’t move much ch and s not a blazer, you give up big long hits. Which they did. Kluber walked 4 in 3 1/3, so I don't think he was really throwing strikes today. He's a finesse guy who lives on the black now because he's lost velocity (he tops out in the high 80s now), so either he was missing off the plate (walks) or over the plate hits) but he was missing his location all day, and thus the high pitch count and lack of innings completed. He also had 4 Ks, so when he did hit his location and his cutter moved the way it was supposed to, he got swings and misses, but that added to his pitch count which was already high due to his inefficiency. He needs to pitch to weak contact, but when the connected, it wasn't weak (2 HR allowed in 3.1 innings). I am not sure McGuire is the kind of catcher who's good enough to frame pitches to help a pitcher like Kluber. Maybe they need to try Wong as his personal catcher? He's a much better defensive catcher and a better receiver. But Brasier and Ort, they need to be gone as soon as Joely Rodriguez, Bello and Whitlock come off the DL. They also need to look at dealing Duran and Dalbec for bullpen arms. Houck will move to the bullpen when Bello and Whitlock are healthy, but he's struggled all spring too. Martin, Jannsen and Rodriguez were all solid additions that improved the pen, but it still needs more. -M
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 30, 2023 21:40:15 GMT -5
We’ve been on the same page re Ort and Brasier since way back and they did exactly what we’d have expected and worse. Brasier was just awful and was left in so far beyond when you figure he’d be lifted that I thought Cora was leaving him in either because he was pissed at his effort and/ or to stick it to Bloom for keeping him. And the former wouldn’t be like Cora. And yeah, one game ain’t ever a season, but there were so many walks and a couple of particularly stupid plays by Verdugo and Devers, in addition to Brasier, that you’d have thought it was the first day of spring training. Kluber and the new reliever Martin throw strikes, but therefore are around the plate and when your fastball doesn’t move much ch and s not a blazer, you give up big long hits. Which they did. Kluber walked 4 in 3 1/3, so I don't think he was really throwing strikes today. He's a finesse guy who lives on the black now because he's lost velocity (he tops out in the high 80s now), so either he was missing off the plate (walks) or over the plate hits) but he was missing his location all day, and thus the high pitch count and lack of innings completed. He also had 4 Ks, so when he did hit his location and his cutter moved the way it was supposed to, he got swings and misses, but that added to his pitch count which was already high due to his inefficiency. He needs to pitch to weak contact, but when the connected, it wasn't weak (2 HR allowed in 3.1 innings). I am not sure McGuire is the kind of catcher who's good enough to frame pitches to help a pitcher like Kluber. Maybe they need to try Wong as his personal catcher? He's a much better defensive catcher and a better receiver. But Brasier and Ort, they need to be gone as soon as Joely Rodriguez, Bello and Whitlock come off the DL. They also need to look at dealing Duran and Dalbec for bullpen arms. Houck will move to the bullpen when Bello and Whitlock are healthy, but he's struggled all spring too. Martin, Jannsen and Rodriguez were all solid additions that improved the pen, but it still needs more. -M Kluber definitely wasn’t hitting the spots he wanted to, like down and in to lefties. That’s when he started laying it in. He was well over 20 pitches in the first. It was cold, but, hey, t was cold for Gibson, too, and he was doing quite the opposite. A decidedly cool reception from the crowd during introductions. Brasier was booed roundly, for looking like he had no clue where he was or what he was doing. Arroyo was kicked in the head on a horrible slide by Gunnar What’s his name and snuffed two rallies. Rutschman (O’s superstar-to-be catcher) was on base six times. Looked like the kind of stud we ain’t got. Sox look very weak up the middle, very weak.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2023 11:58:29 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2023 13:34:59 GMT -5
so he murdered the competition on the race track...? -M I'll let myself out
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2023 14:03:46 GMT -5
so he murdered the competition on the race track...? -M I'll let myself out Works for me. 😀
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 1, 2023 18:21:15 GMT -5
@mrp and wildfire2099 , Now that second game is in the books, can I redo my predicted standings? Sox will win the East, beat Yanks in Divisional, smack Houston for the pennant and sweep the Mets in the Series.
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