Following Former Red Sox: 2013

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nattysez

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Josh Reddick is now boasting a robust .437 OPS with 22Ks. There have already been murmurings that he could get benched once the team gets healthy.
 
During the A's pre-game show yesterday, it was mentioned that Jed Lowrie is apparently a great leader in the clubhouse.  It was also noted that he's been playing 2b lately, as his defensive shortcomings at SS have become apparent.
 

nattysez

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The rumor is that old friend Guillermo Quiroz is showing enough competence that he's going to be the Giants back-up C for the time being.  Hector Sanchez will be sent to AAA so he can play every day.  The Giants are currently carrying 3 C.
 

InsideTheParker

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cahlton said:
...and then there's this: A-Gon conceding he never did regain the power he had prior to his shoulder surgery and has had to flatten out his stroke as a consequence. He estimates he's lost 5 to 10 homers per season and gained about 20 points of batting average. Good luck with that!
 
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-0506-dodgers-notes-20130506,0,4890907.story
This part was really interesting to me:
 
Gonzalez, 30, said he altered his swing when he injured his shoulder in 2010, his final season in San Diego. He had surgery after that season, then was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

"Last year, I tried to go back to the swing I had before I got hurt," he said. "I tried it for the whole first half, with horrible results."

He hit .283 with six home runs in the first half of last year, .312 with 12 homers in the second half. The Dodgers last August acquired Gonzalez, taking on a contract that guaranteed him $130 million through 2018.

He said he is most effective now with a flatter swing that generates more line drives, rather than an upward swing that produces more power.
 

dbn

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Lose Remerswaal said:
Do you know where the minor league threads are kept?  They've got links to box scores there as well.
 
Thanks for reminding me.  
 
Matsuzaka with 24 SO in 20.2 IP... and 18BB... in AAA.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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Wow. Cannot believe he isn't pitching better than this in the Grand Canyon ballparks of the NL West. That said, he will great traded to the MFY and magically put up a 3.25 ERA.
 

mpx42

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Derek Lowe thinks stats cost him several jobs this offseason:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/05/11/4843118/advanced-baseball-statistical.html
 

Sprowl

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Bob Montgomery's Helmet Hat said:
He is now 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA and 1.50 WHIP
 
I guess switching leagues reverses the Even/Odd-Year Beckett phenomenon.
 

mauidano

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Beckett on the 15 Day Disabled List.  He may be on a very short leash career wise.  His best days are well behind him it seems.  $15.75 million due this and next year.
 

InsideTheParker

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Melancon explains how he figured stuff out, too late to help the Sox: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/sports/baseball/reds-donald-lutz-makes-majors-from-germany.html?ref=baseball
This season, Melancon said, he has subtly altered his delivery, changing the way he sets his hands and lifts his left leg. He also credited his catchers for helping produce a sparkling early pitching line: 21 innings, 1 run, 14 hits, 1 walk and 22 strikeouts through Friday.

“Who wouldn’t like those numbers?” Manager Clint Hurdle said. “They’re about as good as you can get. He throws a lot of first-pitch strikes. The cutter’s been in play, big time. The velocity of his fastball has been firm and established, his command has been really good, and the breaking ball has flat-out challenged people. So with the command of three pitches — and all of them are above average right now — he’s been very effective.”
 

mt8thsw9th

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After his hot start, Lowrie down to .292/.372/.435. He has a reddickulous .220/.309/.271 line in May. In the past these drop offs would portend a DL trip for him.
 

Sprowl

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If only I had an offspeed pitch.
 
-- Michael "Scarecrow" Bowden
 
 

NDame616

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mauidano said:
Beckett on the 15 Day Disabled List.  He may be on a very short leash career wise.  His best days are well behind him it seems.  $15.75 million due this and next year.
 
I'm sorry, but what does this mean? I agree with the next sentence, but being on a short leash, career wise? His contract is an albatross, but if LAD wants to cut bait and get rid of him, he will certainly find a taker quicker. Keep in mind, last year on the Dodgers his ERA was 2.93, his ERA in 2011 was 2.89, and this year he's given up 3 ERs or less in 6 of 8 starts. Yes, he isn't going keep in games, and clearly isn't the pitcher he was, but he will have no problem finding work (outside of his contract)
 
Daniel Bard: on a short leash, career wise
Josh Beckett: not so much
 

Marbleheader

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After a slow start, Tito's guys have gone 15-4 in May and lead the AL Central by 2.5 games.
 

InsideTheParker

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So I was wondering during tonight's game why the Sox chose Carp instead of Overbay and coincidentally came across this in the NYT sports section:
OVERBAY CREDITS COACH Lyle Overbay, who has been something of a revelation for the Yankees this season, credited the hitting coach Kevin Long with his improved production at the plate. Overbay had seven home runs entering Tuesday’s game, and he said he was generating more power because he was doing a better job of rotating his back leg as he swung — a relatively minor fix that has paid off.

In the past, Overbay said, he had a tendency to be stiff with his back leg. It was a problem area that Long identified earlier this season, and he worked with Overbay to correct it. By moving his back leg as he drives his hands through the ball, Overbay is able to create more torque.

“You want both halves of your body working together,” Overbay said. “It just clicked for me.”

There have been other adjustments as well. Early in Monday’s game, Long noticed that Overbay was waiting too long to plant his front foot against the Orioles’ Freddy Garcia. Overbay said he was trying to time Garcia’s off-speed pitches. In the dugout, Long advised him to knock it off.

“He was like, ‘Just get your front foot down,’ ” Overbay recalled.

Facing the reliever Troy Patton in the seventh inning, Overbay made sure to plant his front foot early. He drove a home run to right field.
I find this somewhat depressing, as I often wonder what our batting coach is doing with Ellsbury and others who seem to persist in bad patterns.
 

kieckeredinthehead

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InsideTheParker said:
So I was wondering during tonight's game why the Sox chose Carp instead of Overbay and coincidentally came across this in the NYT sports section:
I find this somewhat depressing, as I often wonder what our batting coach is doing with Ellsbury and others who seem to persist in bad patterns.
 
It is not steroids, but Long that is the consistent difference maker in the offensive turnaround of so many Yankees over the past few years.
 

vadertime

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Adrian Gonzalez posting his lowest SLG, OPS, and WAR (ESPN's verision) since 2005. 
 
2006 was his first full season in the majors.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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InsideTheParker said:
So I was wondering during tonight's game why the Sox chose Carp instead of Overbay and coincidentally came across this in the NYT sports section:
I find this somewhat depressing, as I often wonder what our batting coach is doing with Ellsbury and others who seem to persist in bad patterns.
I'm sure playing in that little league park with a jet stream hasn't exactly hurt.
 

Al Zarilla

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SoxScout said:
Scutaro has 36 hits in his last 18 games
I've seen him hit for the Giants far more than I saw him hit for the Sox. He has one of the most incredibly compact, simple swings I've ever seen. Not surprisingly, he's among the best for swing and miss (not). Did the Sox try to re-sign him after 2011? By all accounts, he's very happy where he is. 
 

Bosoxen

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Soxfan in Fla said:
I'm sure playing in that little league park with a jet stream hasn't exactly hurt.
 
That was my initial thought as well but four of his seven home runs have come on the road. It's more likely we're looking at a SSS fluke.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Al Zarilla said:
I've seen him hit for the Giants far more than I saw him hit for the Sox. He has one of the most incredibly compact, simple swings I've ever seen. Not surprisingly, he's among the best for swing and miss (not). Did the Sox try to re-sign him after 2011? By all accounts, he's very happy where he is. 
 
They didn't have to re-sign him after 2011, he was still under contract.  They traded him to the Rockies for Mortensen.  It was both a salary dump and an acknowledgement that he was no longer a big league SS.  They didn't really have a need for a 2B...still don't.
 
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InsideTheParker said:
So I was wondering during tonight's game why the Sox chose Carp instead of Overbay and coincidentally came across this in the NYT sports section:
I find this somewhat depressing, as I often wonder what our batting coach is doing with Ellsbury and others who seem to persist in bad patterns.
 
Other than some early SSS flukey increase in HR's, has Lyle Overbay really improved any under Long's assistance?
 
Here are Overbay's stats from 2011 and 2012:
 
.234/.310/.360; OPS+ of 98
.259/.331/.397; OPS+ of 94.
 
Here are his 2013 stats:
 
.250/.286/.467; OPS+ of 99
 
He's making outs 71.5% of the time he gets up to the plate.  Ick.  And if he doesn't keep up that HR pace, it's going to be even worse.
 
Also, he might not be getting any significant HR boost from Yankee Stadium as of yet, but it has affected his average:
 
.284/.308/.486
 
Lastly, his K% has gone down (17.4%), but so has his BB% (5.0%).  That BB% would easily be the worst of his career.
 

Al Zarilla

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
They didn't have to re-sign him after 2011, he was still under contract.  They traded him to the Rockies for Mortensen.  It was both a salary dump and an acknowledgement that he was no longer a big league SS.  They didn't really have a need for a 2B...still don't.
OK. He can play third though. No, he's happy being an every day 2B-man.
 

InsideTheParker

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Bosoxen said:
That was my initial thought as well but four of his seven home runs have come on the road. It's more likely we're looking at a SSS fluke.
Now 5 on the road. (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_05_25_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=nyy) That got the Yankees just their fifth win in the last 18 games at the Trop. But who's counting? Anyway, my point wasn't that Carp stinks. Rather, I was asking the mind of Sosh to remind me why Overbay was released. Probably it was just because Carp gives them more flexibility b/c of his supposed ability to play LF.
 
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