I'm not proud of it. My savior Jesus Christ does not approve. The Red Sox get to me.
All the talk today is about what a genius Francona is and how amazing the Indians bullpen is today, specifically Andrew Miller. Don't believe the hype. Here are the numbers from last night for the Sox and Indians bullpens:
Innings Earned Runs Strikeouts Walks
Red Sox 3.2 0 6 1
Indians 4.1 1 8 1
That one walk by the Red Sox was intentional. How did that work out by Farrell loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning? Pretty savvy move, no runs scored. Meanwhile Francona left his top two relievers in for the most pitches they've thrown in a game this year. I will forever love Francona for throwing Keith Faulk into a meat grinder in the 2004 playoffs to bring home the title (not sure if you heard but it was the first one in 86 years for the Sox), but are you trying to tell me the Sox are screwed because of how amazing the Indians bullpen is? The Sox' held out just fine there last night with reclamation projects Joe Kelly and Drew Pomeranz. Sure Kimbrel can be a wildcard but the revisionist history of how wrong the Sox were to not lavish $40 Million on Andrew Miller two years ago is a straw man argument at best.
The main culprit last night was our Ace, Slick Rick Porcello. The dude gave up 5 earned runs in 4.1 innings. Before last night the shortest outing of the year for him was 5 innings way back on May 17th. The most earned runs he's given up was 5 in 6 innings of work on June 2nd. This was, unequivocally, his worst outing of the entire 2016 season. Yes Benintendi screwed up in the outfield and the Indians bullpen did its job, but this was Porcello putting his team and manager in a terrible position. The Red Sox didn't need an Ace performance from Rick Porcello last night. Even a slightly below average start by him this year and the Sox have a 1-0 series lead. Here's hoping he figures it out.
Until Next Time,
The SAHD
Friday, October 7, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Come On Red Sox Edition
It's official: Travis Shaw will start at third base and Pablo Sandoval will be on the bench. Lou Merloni is unloading on the Sox decision makers this morning for their decisions and all I can say is the Red Sox brought this on themselves. From the sidelines it appears as if the manager is grasping at straws to save his job. This weakness has given more power to Dave Dombrowski, who has put himself front and center on this subject. Now bringing Mr Dombrowski on in the first place is a whole other conversation, and I applaud them for handing the keys to a strong baseball guy, but the day to day lineup has to be the manager's decision. I don't really understand it, but the clubhouse is a sacred place. Ownership and management meddling has been the source of a ton of problems for my Red Sox in recent years and this Shaw/Panda decision feels more like a Dombrowski decision than a Farrell one.
Now the doors are open and the flood is coming. Let's question the rotation decisions, the lineup decisions, the bullpen decisions, question everything! There is a power vacuum and it's throwing things out of whack. Pedroia's upset, and he's just the first to go on the record about it. They know Farrell is weak, they can see he's a dead man walking, they just can't say it, so what are the Red Sox waiting for? The season to go down the drain? How do we think Papi's going to react when there's minimal ink on his farewell season? Rip the band-aid folks, you have a ringer sitting right there. Give Lovullo the keys and get on with the business of playing ball.
Until Next Time,
The SAHD
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
The John Farrell Lament Edition
Oh those crazy Red Sox. LaRoche finally got me off the blogging schneid but John Farrell's been getting my goat with this whole reporter from CSNNE Jess Moran and the rumors that it was going on for years but just not reported on.
So here's my beef. Anyone watching the 2013 team could tell there was the proverbial lightning in a bottle present and accounted for. I can honestly say regular Joe Kerrigan could've managed that team and won the whole thing. He was clueless in National League parks, even failing to pinch hit for a relief pitcher in the World Series for goodness' sake! He had a long long way to go to hold Terry Francona's jock strap and, if the timeline is to be believed, instead of focusing on being the best manager he could be he was out chasing skirts. A married man and father it appears used his new found fame to forsake his family and get his dog on. Ok, I'm not being entirely fair. His marriage could've been on the rocks for years. I have no idea. But that doesn't excuse him getting with a local sports reporter. Take it outside the clubhouse son! It's a total distraction and just gives the players an excuse to misbehave. Anyone remember Panda using Instagram during a game for a little, well, you know. How about chicken and beer? We know how bad things can go when the manager looses the clubhouse. How can the manager have any clout with the players about focusing and proper behavior when he's doing what he's been doing? And they brought in notorious malcontent Hanley Ramirez and 'don't tell me not to be overweight' Pablo Panda Sandoval in the off-season and expected things to go well without a strong manager? The owners' should fire themselves for not knowing and/or not caring about what was going on as they road the scorched earth express to two consecutive last place seasons in 2014 and 2015.
So now Farrell is talking tough and holding at least Panda accountable? Good luck with that. They all know what you did. Can a manager loose the clubhouse and then not loose the clubhouse? The Red Sox are betting their 2016 season on it.
Until next time,
The SAHD
So here's my beef. Anyone watching the 2013 team could tell there was the proverbial lightning in a bottle present and accounted for. I can honestly say regular Joe Kerrigan could've managed that team and won the whole thing. He was clueless in National League parks, even failing to pinch hit for a relief pitcher in the World Series for goodness' sake! He had a long long way to go to hold Terry Francona's jock strap and, if the timeline is to be believed, instead of focusing on being the best manager he could be he was out chasing skirts. A married man and father it appears used his new found fame to forsake his family and get his dog on. Ok, I'm not being entirely fair. His marriage could've been on the rocks for years. I have no idea. But that doesn't excuse him getting with a local sports reporter. Take it outside the clubhouse son! It's a total distraction and just gives the players an excuse to misbehave. Anyone remember Panda using Instagram during a game for a little, well, you know. How about chicken and beer? We know how bad things can go when the manager looses the clubhouse. How can the manager have any clout with the players about focusing and proper behavior when he's doing what he's been doing? And they brought in notorious malcontent Hanley Ramirez and 'don't tell me not to be overweight' Pablo Panda Sandoval in the off-season and expected things to go well without a strong manager? The owners' should fire themselves for not knowing and/or not caring about what was going on as they road the scorched earth express to two consecutive last place seasons in 2014 and 2015.
So now Farrell is talking tough and holding at least Panda accountable? Good luck with that. They all know what you did. Can a manager loose the clubhouse and then not loose the clubhouse? The Red Sox are betting their 2016 season on it.
Until next time,
The SAHD
Friday, March 18, 2016
The LaRoche Lament Edition
Apparently nothing sparks the urge to blog like spoiled brat baseball players acting out. Adam LaRoche recently retired because White Sox boss Kenny Williams asked him to cut his cute and fuzzy 14 year old Drake out of the baseball operation half the time. Yes, the dude is walking away from a guaranteed $13 Million because he can only bring Drakey on half the fields, half the hanging with the greats of the game, half the disgusting baseball habits of tons of chewing gum and crotch grabbing, half the life of Riley. My soon to be 8 year old (I love you Bowie!) stamped his feet because he didn't get to play this morning before eating breakfast. I get that. He's 7. LaRoche just blew up his son's chance at spending half his summer living the dream of a lifetime palling around with Major Leaguers because he couldn't be there all the time? I can tell you one thing, he's no (harsh language warning) Janice in accounting.
And now pale hose Ace and Che Guevara pretender Chris Sale has practically lead a revolt in support of little Drakes everywhere by almost boycotting a game and calling Kenny Williams names and banishing him from the clubhouse. Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it Kenny. You're not aloud in here any more you nincompoop. Deadspin has an interesting take on this whole thing, positing that Kenny's wearing the black hat for others in the White Sox clubhouse who were sick of Drake but want to remain anonymous. Kids in the clubhouse is a time honored tradition, it's as American as loudmouth arrogant and ignorant businessmen running for President for goodness sake! Would we have Ken Griffey Jr or all the Boones (there's got to be more Boone catchers in the pipeline, there's just got to) or big league chew without kids in the clubhouse? No way. And I just love the Red Sox being asked about this whole thing. The more clubhouse etiquette questions for cute reporter paramour John Farrell to tiptoe around the better I say.
I think this boils down to one thing: lack of production. When Mr. Laroche signed a two year $25 million deal with the White Sox on November 25th of 2014 he was coming off three straight years of 20+ home runs and middle of the order batting for the Washington Nationals. Sure, a closer inspection reveals a dip in 2013 followed by the free agent push in 2014, making 2015 and 2016 more of a gamble. But I don't think anyone could foresee his slip to a meager .207 batting average and 12 homers last year. I'm betting if he had managed 20 bombs and even hitting .250 it wouldn't matter. But right now it could be some teammates as well as management are sitting there going 'more worky, less Daddy'. Kind of like what Panda Pablo Sandoval is going through right now. If he had his kid with him 100% of the time even the not a leg to stand on Sox Manager would ask him to dial it back. And you know punky Pedroia would let him hear it every minute of every day (you're my favorite Pedroia, I kid, I kid). No, instead of being a bad ass in the batter's box and redoubling his efforts and showing his kid how to do things the right way, Adam LaRoche hung em up. I think the White Sox will be just fine without him and Drake.
Until next time,
The SAHD
And now pale hose Ace and Che Guevara pretender Chris Sale has practically lead a revolt in support of little Drakes everywhere by almost boycotting a game and calling Kenny Williams names and banishing him from the clubhouse. Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it Kenny. You're not aloud in here any more you nincompoop. Deadspin has an interesting take on this whole thing, positing that Kenny's wearing the black hat for others in the White Sox clubhouse who were sick of Drake but want to remain anonymous. Kids in the clubhouse is a time honored tradition, it's as American as loudmouth arrogant and ignorant businessmen running for President for goodness sake! Would we have Ken Griffey Jr or all the Boones (there's got to be more Boone catchers in the pipeline, there's just got to) or big league chew without kids in the clubhouse? No way. And I just love the Red Sox being asked about this whole thing. The more clubhouse etiquette questions for cute reporter paramour John Farrell to tiptoe around the better I say.
I think this boils down to one thing: lack of production. When Mr. Laroche signed a two year $25 million deal with the White Sox on November 25th of 2014 he was coming off three straight years of 20+ home runs and middle of the order batting for the Washington Nationals. Sure, a closer inspection reveals a dip in 2013 followed by the free agent push in 2014, making 2015 and 2016 more of a gamble. But I don't think anyone could foresee his slip to a meager .207 batting average and 12 homers last year. I'm betting if he had managed 20 bombs and even hitting .250 it wouldn't matter. But right now it could be some teammates as well as management are sitting there going 'more worky, less Daddy'. Kind of like what Panda Pablo Sandoval is going through right now. If he had his kid with him 100% of the time even the not a leg to stand on Sox Manager would ask him to dial it back. And you know punky Pedroia would let him hear it every minute of every day (you're my favorite Pedroia, I kid, I kid). No, instead of being a bad ass in the batter's box and redoubling his efforts and showing his kid how to do things the right way, Adam LaRoche hung em up. I think the White Sox will be just fine without him and Drake.
Until next time,
The SAHD
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Alejandro De Aza Spotlight Edition
The Big Papi to first base debate is raging here in Boston. Should he? How dare he complain! Shouldn't he? He can say whatever he wants! He's a crybaby! On and on it goes. And of course there is the Hanley Ramriz spa day experience in left field. At the base of this is the premise that the best Red Sox lineup has Papi at first, Ramirez at DH, and one Alejandro De Aza in left field. This is because De Aza actually tries while Hanley doesn't want to bend over (you cannot make this stuff up). So is he worth being the third cog in the carnival wheel of the Red Sox clubhouse or just more grist for the waiver wire?
John Farrell's unprompted praise of De Aza says a lot more about the absence of motivation is the regular lineup than his own merit. This year he's walking a touch less and getting a big boost in power (for him). If he was on another team he would get more of a chance to run but he's on the Red Sox so his 18% Stolen Base Opportunity (SBO), while good for the station to station style of the Sox, is likely to keep his steals down. If this was the early 2000's I'd say his impressive jump in slugging is a harbinger of more to come. Unfortunately we're in a different world now and his home runs, even in part time duty, are an outlier. As much as John Farrell tries desperately to use De Aza as a lesson in hard work, get ready for more Hanley in left and De Aza on the bench.
Until next time,
The SAHD
John Farrell's unprompted praise of De Aza says a lot more about the absence of motivation is the regular lineup than his own merit. This year he's walking a touch less and getting a big boost in power (for him). If he was on another team he would get more of a chance to run but he's on the Red Sox so his 18% Stolen Base Opportunity (SBO), while good for the station to station style of the Sox, is likely to keep his steals down. If this was the early 2000's I'd say his impressive jump in slugging is a harbinger of more to come. Unfortunately we're in a different world now and his home runs, even in part time duty, are an outlier. As much as John Farrell tries desperately to use De Aza as a lesson in hard work, get ready for more Hanley in left and De Aza on the bench.
Until next time,
The SAHD
Monday, July 13, 2015
Reverse Math Strasburg Edition
I was lucky enough to catch up with an old friend last Friday who now lives just outside D.C. and is a big Washington Nationals fan. Over burgers in Copley square he kicked off our conversation by deriding the artist formally known as the rocket firing, batter dazzling, bobbleheads for everyone pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg. Sure enough, a quick web search picked up this piece in the Washington Post in which the writer casts off Strasburg as going down with a hangnail in favor of the shiny new toy Max Scherzer and the strength of the Nationals starting staff. With the having lost two of three to the Yanks and Buccholz going down just when I was starting to believe again heading into the All Star break things are looking bleak in Sox Nation. Can the Sox throw their negativity into the mixer of baseball misery with Strasburg's and come out smelling like fresh cut grass? Lets take a closer look at Strasburg to see what all the fuss is about. Thanks to Baseball HQ for the stats as usual.
There's our old friends Strand % and Hit % hitting ERA & WHIP again. Digging a little deeper he's missing less bats (career low SwK), but otherwise his skills are as strong as ever. I mean right up there with current strike out maven Chris Sale whom we just looked at a couple of posts ago. And let's take a peek at Strasburg's injury history: September 2010 Tommy John Surgery-September 2012 the Strasburg rules that launched 1000 sports takes and eventually shut him down before the playoffs-June 2013 15 Day DL for a lat strain-May 2015 15 Day DL for neck stiffness-July 2015 15 Day DL for a strained oblique. That's not a long history of yo-yoing on and off the DL. That's an early career Tommy John and recovery and normal wear and tear. Before this year he's been consistently great and he's just heading into his prime years. Looks to me like Strasburg is a victim of outsized expectations, bad luck, and piling on. There may also be a bit of Scherzer Juan Primo-ing Strasburg's Bobby Rayburn here. In other words, an excellent risk. If the Washington brain trust is as disillusioned as the fan-base, and reading Matt Williams quotes in that Washington Post piece they just might be, the Sox should pounce.
Until next time,
The SAHD
There's our old friends Strand % and Hit % hitting ERA & WHIP again. Digging a little deeper he's missing less bats (career low SwK), but otherwise his skills are as strong as ever. I mean right up there with current strike out maven Chris Sale whom we just looked at a couple of posts ago. And let's take a peek at Strasburg's injury history: September 2010 Tommy John Surgery-September 2012 the Strasburg rules that launched 1000 sports takes and eventually shut him down before the playoffs-June 2013 15 Day DL for a lat strain-May 2015 15 Day DL for neck stiffness-July 2015 15 Day DL for a strained oblique. That's not a long history of yo-yoing on and off the DL. That's an early career Tommy John and recovery and normal wear and tear. Before this year he's been consistently great and he's just heading into his prime years. Looks to me like Strasburg is a victim of outsized expectations, bad luck, and piling on. There may also be a bit of Scherzer Juan Primo-ing Strasburg's Bobby Rayburn here. In other words, an excellent risk. If the Washington brain trust is as disillusioned as the fan-base, and reading Matt Williams quotes in that Washington Post piece they just might be, the Sox should pounce.
Until next time,
The SAHD
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