Mookie Betts

WenZink

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smastroyin said:
Or, players streak and slump and it has nothing to do with the position they are being asked to play.
 
Players and coaches and most people associated with baseball are superstitious, and perhaps there is even causation there - do the right thing by your superstition, play with more confidence, whatever.  I don't know, the data are fuzzy and I'm not a psychologist.  But I think superstition more than worrying about a new position affecting a player's approach at the plate would be why they waited until the end of the streak to move him.  That he has slumped for three days a week afterward doesn't really tell us much.
 
I think it's more than superstition.  Routine is important for most people, and it's very important to athletes.  The good ones adapt and create new routines, but it takes a little time.
 

smastroyin

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BCsMightyJoeYoung said:
 
The same phenomena is happening with Bogaerts .. NESN last night were speculating that X's offensive resurgence coincided with the Drew signing .. never mind that he had started to get hot the week before that.
 
That one is perfect.  Like X is saying to himself "boy I better get my ass in gear, they might release me or something now that they signed Drew."
 

mwonow

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The Allented Mr Ripley said:
But he's going to change positions! CHANGE POSITIONS!!!
Which apparently, will pose an insurmountable development hurdle for X. Hope Mookie isn't permanently derailed by some games in the outfield!
 
More seriously, I'm sure the Sox FO is interested in seeing how he deals with a bit of adversity. It's unlikely that he'll dominate every aspect of MLB the way he has in AA, so there's some merit in seeing if he can come out of a slump without losing his swing (cough JBJ cough)
 

metaprosthesis

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TheoShmeo said:
Any reports on how Mookie has looked in the OF thus far?
 
And has his average dipped materially while he's been in the OF?  I know I could look but am assuming others already know that and I'm quite lazy. 
 
Got to see him in CF last night in Trenton.  He made two excellent plays pretty early in the game: one deep ball to straightaway center where he made the play with his back to home, at the wall, and another where he was playing back and had to sprint in on a flare.  Later in the game he had a play at the wall where he jumped and gloved the ball, but lost it on contact with the wall.  Not really a great play, but it showed his ability to get to the ball and good timing on the jump.  His arm looked pretty strong out there, too.
 

Rasputin

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metaprosthesis said:
 
Got to see him in CF last night in Trenton.  He made two excellent plays pretty early in the game: one deep ball to straightaway center where he made the play with his back to home, at the wall, and another where he was playing back and had to sprint in on a flare.  Later in the game he had a play at the wall where he jumped and gloved the ball, but lost it on contact with the wall.  Not really a great play, but it showed his ability to get to the ball and good timing on the jump.  His arm looked pretty strong out there, too.
 
Can you envision him playing right field in Fenway every day?
 
Because that would be pretty awesome.
 

Laser Show

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Rasputin said:
 
Can you envision him playing right field in Fenway every day?
 
Because that would be pretty awesome.
My fantasies these days involve a Fenway outfield of Giancarlo, JBJ, and Mookie.
 

OttoC

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Betts played some CF in high school, so it is not a completely new position for him; however, whether Betts or Bradley plays RF may well depend on their respective arm and I believe that Bradly has the better one and would be more suitedfor RF.
 

JakeRae

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Mookie not only has more walks and XBH than strikeouts, he also has more steals than strikeouts. He's stealing bases at an 88% clip. It's really hard to imagine what's keeping him in AA at this point.
 

Rasputin

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JakeRae said:
Mookie not only has more walks and XBH than strikeouts, he also has more steals than strikeouts. He's stealing bases at an 88% clip. It's really hard to imagine what's keeping him in AA at this point.
 
He hasn't learned to fly, cured cancer, or cracked the enigma code.
 

HriniakPosterChild

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BCsMightyJoeYoung said:
 
The same phenomena is happening with Bogaerts .. NESN last night were speculating that X's offensive resurgence coincided with the Drew signing .. never mind that he had started to get hot the week before that.
 
Whoa. Did NESN speculate that? Or did Steve Lyons speculate that?
 
(I don't see the pre- or post-game on MLB-EI, so I don't know about anything more than Lyons's verbal diarrhea. 
 

Mighty Joe Young

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[QUOTE="Hriniak]
Whoa. Did NESN speculate that? Or did Steve Lyons speculate that?
 
(I don't see the pre- or post-game on MLB-EI, so I don't know about anything more than Lyons's verbal diarrhea. 
[/QUOTE]
It was an in game conversation between Lyons and Orsillo .. Just typical announcer talk

Theory:
X is struggling at the plate and in the field and needs help
Sox sign Drew .. Thus taking the pressure off of X and X immediately blossoms

Fact
X's defence has been just fine since well before the Drew signing .. And his hot streak predates it as well

Take away: never let the facts get in the way of Announcer Drivel
 

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PrometheusWakefield said:
Left. Or right. And a little center. And yes, backing up second. I don't buy that it's all that hard to transition to the outfield if you're a good athlete. Junior Lake did it with 6 games of minor league experience and he's been fine defensively. In fact he had zero minor league games in the outfield last year when the Cubs called him up at gave him almost 500 innings. He's the first name that jumps out at me as someone who did that recently but I'm sure there are others.
 
When they hit the ball at you, you catch it and throw to the cutoff man. It ain't rocket science and all these guys have played some of everything at some level of this sport.
 
Yes, Tampa constructs their roster differently. They do it better than we do. We should emulate their success. Sure, Betts won't get as many reps at second given Pedroia, just as Zobrist doesn't get many at third because of Longoria. Our Zobrist will look a little different but it's still a viable role.
Everything you wrote here sounded a lot better before I saw Sean Rodriguez try to play LF today.
 

TomRicardo

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JakeRae said:
Mookie not only has more walks and XBH than strikeouts, he also has more steals than strikeouts. He's stealing bases at an 88% clip. It's really hard to imagine what's keeping him in AA at this point.
 
Possibly learning a new position he hasn't played since high school?  Just a thought.
 

Puffy

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Sox Prospects' Chris Hatfield is reporting that Mookie Betts is being promoted to AAA "imminently".
 
https://twitter.com/SPChrisHatfield/status/473854564501037056
 

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I don't think anyone can reasonably now contend that they have him on a pure development path. They are hoping that he contributes this year -- it will be up to him to show that he can and does belong, but if he transitions in Pawtucket after 150-200 ABs, and if the Sox are still in this thing near the trade deadline but having issues (outfield, team speed, athleticism), he's getting the call. You promote him now not merely because he's too good for the level, but because you want to see what you have before July 31. 
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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someoneanywhere said:
I don't think anyone can reasonably now contend that they have him on a pure development path. They are hoping that he contributes this year -- it will be up to him to show that he can and does belong, but if he transitions in Pawtucket after 150-200 ABs, and if the Sox are still in this thing near the trade deadline but having issues (outfield, team speed, athleticism), he's getting the call. You promote him now not merely because he's too good for the level, but because you want to see what you have before July 31.
That's my interpretation as well. By all available accounts, he's looked very good in the outfield so far and our major league outfield has been incredibly, astoundingly, horrific this year. A lot has to go right (or wrong) for a late July or early August promotion to make sense - Mookie has to transition well to Pawtucket, our major league options have to continue to suck, the team needs to stay in contention - but I think the intent here is clearly to create that option if the stars align.
 

trekfan55

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What I don't understand is why if they are "fast tracking" him to the majors he is still playing 2B.  Pedroia is signed until 2023, so unless they are looking to trade him, at this point he should either be a full time OF or even SS or 3B (not saying he can play those positions, just that he is 100% sure not playing 2B for the Red Sox).
 

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trekfan55 said:
What I don't understand is why if they are "fast tracking" him to the majors he is still playing 2B.  Pedroia is signed until 2023, so unless they are looking to trade him, at this point he should either be a full time OF or even SS or 3B (not saying he can play those positions, just that he is 100% sure not playing 2B for the Red Sox).
 
He can be the emergency 2B, allowing them to jettison Herrera.
 
Now you could give Drew a day off, playing Xander at SS, or Xander a day off, playing Holt at 3B, or Pedroia a day off with Betts, if he sticks.
 

Sprowl

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Also, keeping him well practiced at his optimum position is a good way to keep his trade value high, and it's still likely enough that he'd be the centerpiece of a trade package for a fabled power-hitting corner outfielder.
 

SaveBooFerriss

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trekfan55 said:
What I don't understand is why if they are "fast tracking" him to the majors he is still playing 2B. 
 
I am not sure that they are "fast tracking" him to the majors.  I think the more obvious conclusion is that they believe his development is better served in AAA than in AA.  
 

Rasputin

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Sprowl said:
Also, keeping him well practiced at his optimum position is a good way to keep his trade value high, and it's still likely enough that he'd be the centerpiece of a trade package for a fabled power-hitting corner outfielder.
 
Or, you know, he could be called up to be the corner outfielder.
 

mwonow

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Rasputin said:
 
Or, you know, he could be called up to be the corner outfielder.
God knows he's not blocked at corner OF (or CF, for that matter) by this year's 'offensive' (in a couple of senses of the word) ML OF pu-pu platter.
 

PrometheusWakefield

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Has there been discussion of the possibility that the long O sound in the name Mookie has set Betts up to be the next in the Dewey/Youk treatment at Fenway? 
 
Is there a way to intentionally make this happen? We need a new one of those.
 

LondonSox

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Been a while as I have been traveling a lot but a quick AAA update
 
13 Games in
292/404/479/883
9 BB/ 7K / 4 XBH
2SB/ 2 CS
 
That's not bad for the readjusting to a higher level period! Keeping the BB/K ratio> 1 and we shall see if once he gets settled if the numbers inch up again, but overall you got to be pretty happy.
 
I also note that 3 of his 4 XBH and both his SB have come in the last three games, boosting the overall numbers. Another Mookie hot streak and he'll be right back to the hype machine.
 
EDIT: and it looks like 9 games have been in CF 4 at 2B so far. So on top of the AAA adjustment he's doing a new position too. I haven't read too much on his outfield play yet though
He's also reached base in all 13 games...
I will also note his last game on monday was facing Trevor May who is a good prospect and the Pawsox as a team had 3 hits and 2 BB in the game. Mookie had 2 of those hits both for extra bases (2B and 3B) and a BB the rest of the team went a combined 1/27 with 1 walk and 10ks.
 

BosRedSox5

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I'm really interested in how Betts' throwing arm is.If he has the range for CF and the arm for RF he might be a perfect RF for Fenway Park. I've still got a lot of hope for JBJ as a starter in CF so I'm trying to see how Mookie fits long term.  
 

Drek717

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BosRedSox5 said:
I'm really interested in how Betts' throwing arm is.If he has the range for CF and the arm for RF he might be a perfect RF for Fenway Park. I've still got a lot of hope for JBJ as a starter in CF so I'm trying to see how Mookie fits long term.  
Why JBJ in CF in particular when it is abundantly clear he has the arm for RF?
 
Maybe Mookie does too, but we know Bradley does.  I'd personally like to see a 2015 CF battle between the two and if they both produce then JBJ takes Vic's place in RF with Betts in CF.
 
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ivanvamp said:
Is it totally irrational of me to be just ridiculously excited about this kid?
 
No.  We all are.  You aren't the only one.
 
I mean, a 21 year old who is putting up at minimum 300/400/500 slash lines (with speed and strike zone control) - at every stop from low A, hi A, AA, AAA - in a span of a little over a year?  Sign me up!
 

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Drek717 said:
Why JBJ in CF in particular when it is abundantly clear he has the arm for RF?
 
Because we already know JBJ is an elite major league defensive CF. Unless we think Betts is actually as good a CF as JBJ and he lacks the arm to play RF, there's no reason to move JBJ out of his natural position.
 

Drek717

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Savin Hillbilly said:
 
Because we already know JBJ is an elite major league defensive CF. Unless we think Betts is actually as good a CF as JBJ and he lacks the arm to play RF, there's no reason to move JBJ out of his natural position.
Isn't the real equation here the delta between Bradley/Betts in CF v. the delta between them in RF?
 
If Bradley is a +10 defensive CF and Betts is a +8 defensive CF while Bradley is  a +8 defensive RF and Betts a +5 RF then we would be best served with Bradley in RF and Betts in CF.
 
Given that most comments I've seen by outfielders state that it is actually harder to get a good read on the ball from the corners than CF this seems like a real possibility.  Betts has the raw athleticism/speed to track down a ton of balls in the larger area required to cover CF even if his reads aren't great.  Bradley meanwhile gets great reads and takes good routes, plus we know the arm for RF is there.
 
Not saying this is the future of the Red Sox outfield, but I wouldn't be surprised by it myself.  Bradley has all the tools the FO has valued at ~$13-$15M a year in RF for the last decade.  If they think he's the only way to fill RF in-house without giving another $13-$15M contract once Vic is done and that Betts is an acceptable CF option I can't see how they don't go with that as opposed to standing pat on Bradley and hoping Betts can handle RF just because Bradley came up first and plays a good CF.
 

OttoC

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As I've said before, if things pan out for both players you will probably see the better arm go to RF (and I think that is Bradley).
 

Nite Vizhun UV

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BosRedSox5 said:
I'm really interested in how Betts' throwing arm is.If he has the range for CF and the arm for RF he might be a perfect RF for Fenway Park. I've still got a lot of hope for JBJ as a starter in CF so I'm trying to see how Mookie fits long term.  
 
As much as I'd love to see Mookie playing in any one of several positions for the Red Sox, I think his long term fit is playing one of those positions for the Marlins after he's a central piece in a trade for Stanton.
 

BosRedSox5

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Nite Vizhun UV said:
 
As much as I'd love to see Mookie playing in any one of several positions for the Red Sox, I think his long term fit is playing one of those positions for the Marlins after he's a central piece in a trade for Stanton.
 
I... I would love that. Maybe it'll be unpopular but with a dearth of power hitting prospects, landing a young star offensive player would be great... that being said I doubt that Stanton is traded.