World Series 2018--Red Sox vs. Dodgers

InsideTheParker

persists in error
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Jul 15, 2005
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They're also workers, many of whom are fantastically wealthy solely because of trade unionism.
I don't disagree, and I would have preferred that they respect the strike. All I was saying is that at this particular moment I can understand not wanting to get into a big conflict with their own management. It's also possible that a lot of those young guys don't understand the value of unions. They take for granted what has been won for them by those who preceded them.
 

BornToRun

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Innings eater

I would have went Wright.
I imagine this means he’s not healthy enough to go. I think we’d all take Steven but Pom is the guy on the roster and in Cora we trust. Drew getting some redemption would be prettt sweet as well.
 

The Raccoon

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Cora must want a bullpen lefty against the Dodgers' LHH-heavy lineup.
In AC we trust!

Maybe he has found some mph on his fastball in the last 3 weeks and can help as a loogy. The Dodgers may stack a lot of LH against Eovaldi and Porcello, so Cora maybe wanted to add another leftie.
But I also won't feel too good if he gets the mound in meaningful situations...!
 

joe dokes

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Yes, the logic makes sense, if Pom wasn't terrible.
Obviously, Wright must not be healthy.

As between the two of them, I would guess that Cora prefers Hembree's fastball-heavy approach to Workman's not-fastball approach against the Dodgers.

Speier says otherwise, But I hope that Pomeranz's only role is to get outs during a blowout. I'll be nervous if he's brought in to face a leverage LHB, but whaddoIknow.
 

BornToRun

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Obviously, Wright must not be healthy.

As between the two of them, I would guess that Cora prefers Hembree's fastball-heavy approach to Workman's not-fastball approach against the Dodgers.

I'll guess that Pomeranz's only role is to get outs during a blowout. I'd be surprised if he's brought in to face a leverage LHB, but whaddoIknow.
I’d definitely take Hembree over Workman. They both have issues with the long ball but Hembree throws harder and can miss bats.
 

Dewey'sCannon

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geoduck no quahog

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Is Machado even that scary a hitter? The Red Sox have seen more of him than just about any other team and have handled him quite well. He's had a sub .800 OPS for his career, including barely over .800 this season. The Dodgers seem to be the second rate Yankees with more speed. Keep them in the ballpark and they don't have a chance in the series.
It's time to stop underestimating the Dodgers. Their pythagorean record is over 100 games and just 1 or 2 shy of the Red Sox. They're certainly the most talented opponent of the whole NL post-season stable.

I think the Red Sox advantage is an ability to score runs without the HR, depending on the opponent's pitching staff. Fenway's typically a tough HR park this time of year.

As for Home/Away splits, can someone explain to me how that record, built up through an entire season against a myriad of teams, is relevant in a 7 game series?

I'm interested in SoSH's opinions on what it will take to beat this very deep team. Particularly from anyone who's more familiar with them.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
Is Machado even that scary a hitter? The Red Sox have seen more of him than just about any other team and have handled him quite well. He's had a sub .800 OPS for his career, including barely over .800 this season. The Dodgers seem to be the second rate Yankees with more speed. Keep them in the ballpark and they don't have a chance in the series.
He's certainly a scary matchup for our rotation. He has absolutely destroyed Price over his career (1.024 OPS, 5 HR in 44 PA). Sale and Porcello, too (over .900 OPS in both cases). The only Sox starting pitchers who've handled him well are Eovaldi and Edro. Of course these are all small samples and don't provide any reason to assume our starters can't get him out over the next week, but I'm sure not feeling complacent about him.
 

Maximus

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Jul 18, 2005
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I understand Speier's reasoning for Pom over Workman and it makes sense in the NL park. I was hoping Wright would be ready, he potentially could have messed up the timing of the Dodger lineup.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Got it. He's had 39 PA against the Sox this year, so not sure it's a useful sample size - for example, his line in 30 PA at Fenway is .310/.330/.552. Not sure his career line against the Sox is any more useful - his stats against the 2012-2014 Sox do not seem particularly relevant. In any event, I suppose a hitter's scariness is in the eye of the beholder and, for me, he's the scariest hitter in the Dodgers lineup.
Agreed, although maybe park splits have some use if the sample size is big enough. I'd guess some players have a "Fenway advantage" and others the opposite. It'd be hard to prove because players also hit better at home so you'd have to look at road players only and then sample size becomes an issue. Machado has an okay sample size due to being in the same division for about 6 seasons worth of games as the Sox but when you look at his stats in Fenway the sample size is only 219 PA with a slash line of .278/.318/.465. Factor in Machado was rushed to the Majors, has improved the last few years, is in his prime, and had a career year this season offensively at age 25/26, and those 219 PA mean next to nothing.

Career stats for young players ignore actual growth. No one is going to put much weight into 2014 and 2015 stats to predict what Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts will do going forward, yet career stats are heavily skewed towards data that is far less relevant for players who are 25-26 and broke into the bigs when they were 21 or younger. That's especially true when the players are trending upwards, which is the case for Machado, Betts and Bogaerts for the most part. They all had their best year to date in 2016, slumped in 2017, and had career years in 2018 (Not entirely true for Machado, where he went from being a +2 dWAR defender at 3b to a 0 at SS). Kinda what you would expect from a player in or entering his peak.

As a side note: Machado's D at SS has been under much scrutiny but since moving to the Dodgers his dWAR was 1.2 in 61 games. 25% of his playing time was at 3b though.
 

DJnVa

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MLBN said last night that they could even replace Wright on the roster during the series if he all of a sudden aggravated the knee. Guessing that he simply wasn't ready enough to even be put on the roster.
Yeah--why find out if you need him to go 3 innings and he's lame after 1 out?
 

BornToRun

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It's time to stop underestimating the Dodgers. Their pythagorean record is over 100 games and just 1 or 2 shy of the Red Sox. They're certainly the most talented opponent of the whole NL post-season stable.

I think the Red Sox advantage is an ability to score runs without the HR, depending on the opponent's pitching staff. Fenway's typically a tough HR park this time of year.

As for Home/Away splits, can someone explain to me how that record, built up through an entire season against a myriad of teams, is relevant in a 7 game series?

I'm interested in SoSH's opinions on what it will take to beat this very deep team. Particularly from anyone who's more familiar with them.
I mean it’s not like the Sox haven’t cleaned house on the road so far this postseason as far as that’s concerned. The Dodgers can definitely win this series, they are certainly good enough to do so, but I think we beat two better teams to get to this point and I’d have to say I like our chances. That’s not a guarantee or writing off L.A
 

Cesar Crespo

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Cora must want a bullpen lefty against the Dodgers' LHH-heavy lineup.
So why not Poyner? He may or may not have a HR problem but that would be less of an issue in LA.

Not a big deal either way. Brandon Workman sucks and Poyner is unproven, can't go multiple innings, or face anyone right handed. Pom shouldn't really be facing RHB either but he's had success against them in the past. This year he's been a gasoline can. Hopefully we won't see much of Pom anyway.

I'm also under the assumption Wright isn't available. If he is, he should be on the roster and not Pom.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Wright can still be an injury replacement if someone gets hurt and pitcher injuries are often hard to see or verify. So if he is still 3/4/5 days away maybe he joins the team later on.

Anyone seen Shane Stant?
 

bakahump

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Pom does have a a .645OPS against the Dodgers (in 8 games) :rolleyes:

3 from 2012
1 from 2013
2 from 2015
2 from 2016 (14 inn 5 hits 1 run 11ks)

Crazy like a fox!
 

geoduck no quahog

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At least Pomeranz forces Robert's hand in the right (actually "left") situation. May cause him to burn a RHH off the bench and get a lefty out of the game. Otherwise...there's only Eduardo - who may be needed later for the same reason.
 

Ale Xander

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I have a feeling that Swihart will be key sometime this series. Maybe a double switch in LA in game 3 or 4.
 

Bowlerman9

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Wright can still be an injury replacement if someone gets hurt and pitcher injuries are often hard to see or verify. So if he is still 3/4/5 days away maybe he joins the team later on.

Anyone seen Shane Stant?
That's not a problem during the regular season, but its a bigger problem in the playoffs. The league has to approve removing someone from the roster after a review by an independent doctor. So if Pom pitches 4 innings in gamed 4 and then the Sox try to take him off the roster with "shoulder fatigue", its not likely to get approved.

Unless, of course, Shane Stant gets involved.
 

joe dokes

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That's not a problem during the regular season, but its a bigger problem in the playoffs. The league has to approve removing someone from the roster after a review by an independent doctor. So if Pom pitches 4 innings in gamed 4 and then the Sox try to take him off the roster with "shoulder fatigue", its not likely to get approved.
Shades of Charlie Finley trying to remove Mike Andrews from the roster after he made two errors in a '73 WS game.

In a transaction requested by his old manager Dick Williams despite the objections of team owner Charlie Finley, Andrews signed with the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 1973. A part of the ballclub's postseason roster, he appeared in two games of the American League Championship Series, entering both as a pinch hitter.
In the second game of the 1973 World Series between the Oakland A's and the New York Mets, Andrews committed two errors in a four-run twelfth inning, leading to a Mets' 10-7 victory. With two out in that inning and the Mets leading 7-6, John Milner's ground ball went through Andrews' legs for the first error, allowing Tug McGraw and Willie Mays to score. One batter later, Jerry Grote hit a ground ball to Andrews, whose throw to first pulled Gene Tenace off the bag for the second error, which allowed Cleon Jones to score. Oakland owner Charlie Finley forced him to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured, thus making him ineligible to play for the rest of the series. Andrews' teammates and manager Dick Williams rallied to Andrews's defense. Finally, commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Finley to reinstate Andrews. He entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. Andrews promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series. Andrews never played another major league game, playing baseball in Japan in 1975 before retiring.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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That's not a problem during the regular season, but its a bigger problem in the playoffs. The league has to approve removing someone from the roster after a review by an independent doctor. So if Pom pitches 4 innings in gamed 4 and then the Sox try to take him off the roster with "shoulder fatigue", its not likely to get approved.
After a 4 inning outing I agree. But after a bad 2 batter outing with bad velocity it might not be so hard to convince a doctor there is an issue.

But I am hoping for the D Lowe story, part 2 instead
 

Sam Ray Not

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Jul 19, 2005
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This can't be good. Rain? 2018 ending?
He was born at Mass General, attended Milton Academy, and got his start playing Martha's Vineyard coffeehouses, so I guess he qualifies for Red Sox nation, treacly music notwithstanding.

Hopefully we see more fire (From Sale, Mookie, JDM, e.g.) than rain tonight.