The Left Field Solution

What course should the Red Sox take in dealing with left field?


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    228
  • Poll closed .

garlan5

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I think they would want to see a couple weeks of play from Reddick to see if the thumb is healed or if it sucked his power at all before spending any chips on him. (Which is to say nothing of the fact that it's a waste of prospects if they don't acquire some pitching as well).
I'm too lazy to look up his stat line the since he's been in Oak. I know he's had the injury bug but those first couple of years in Oakland were really special for Reddick. Seemed like every week he was playing spider man up on the RF wall and crushing homers. I remember thinking wow is he juiced or something. Kinda wish we could have kept him even though he struggled with the curveball at the end of his Boston tenure, ala Jason Bay and Will Middlebrooks. Oh, and speaking of WMB i remember constant twitter posts by him in 2012 of "wake and rake". The curve got the best of those boys
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Yeah I'm not really concerned about his overall injury history since I assume he would be a rental (unless they move Benintendi and then need a COF), I'm worried about a guy mentally and physically coming back from a broken thumb and how that would impact his performance the last couple months of the season. I fully admit those fears might be unfounded as I don't know *where his thumb broke - towards the tip of near the base under the pad - but I just think any team is going to want to see him hit for a couple weeks before pulling the trigger on a deal.
 

garlan5

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Yeah I'm not really concerned about his overall injury history since I assume he would be a rental (unless they move Benintendi and then need a COF), I'm worried about a guy mentally and physically coming back from a broken thumb and how that would impact his performance the last couple months of the season. I fully admit those fears might be unfounded as I don't know *where his thumb broke - towards the tip of near the base under the pad - but I just think any team is going to want to see him hit for a couple weeks before pulling the trigger on a deal.
No doubt- that thumb is a tricky thing in regards to hitting. We know all to well
 

alwyn96

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Andrew Benintendi:

AA, total - 284/337/459
AA, June - 317/375/545
AA, last two weeks - 352/410/593

I hear a rumbling beyond the horizon
 
Last edited:

shaggydog2000

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Andrew Benintendi:

AA, total - 284/337/459
AA, June - 317/375/545
AA, last two weeks - 352/410/593

I hear a rumbling beyond the horizon
Up to now he's spent ~150 AB's at each level before being moved up (except for Greenville where he had 86 and the season ended). He completely dominated those levels for those at-bats. After roughly 50 adjustment AB, he's dominated for the last 100 in the month of June. If the Sox follow their pattern and believe he doesn't have anything specific to work on (and his k%, BB%, ISO, and average all suggest he hasn't over the last month), then he could move up to AAA in Mid July after he finishes 150 dominant AB in Portland. Then if he rakes at AAA, the same number of at-bats would put him in the majors in September for call-up times. This assumes everything goes well, no emergencies happen, and the Sox follow the pattern they've used up to now with him. That seems like a pretty reasonable timeline to me, and one I'd enjoy following.
 

E5 Yaz

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Brent winning the battle with Pedroia Face

Yes, the bright lights of the big leagues have evidently made a difference for Brentz. The reason is simple: He can’t see very well.

“It’s a lot worse in the minor leagues because of the lack of lights,” the 27-year-old said. “I’ve been seeing the ball very well. The only problem with the stigmatism is what I call the Pedroia Face (referencing Dustin Pedroia’s issue with contact lenses while at-bat). You have the round object on the oval surface, so you’re trying to time that blink where you’re locked in. Sometimes it’s aggravating.

“It makes a huge difference. That was the first thing I noticed the first time I got called up. A lot of the problems I was having, especially from the fifth inning on when that twilight sets in, you don’t have those problems because there is better lightning.”


http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/07/07/story-behind-how-lights-have-gone-on-for-bryce-brentz/
 

Mighty Joe Young

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Brent winning the battle with Pedroia Face

Yes, the bright lights of the big leagues have evidently made a difference for Brentz. The reason is simple: He can’t see very well.

“It’s a lot worse in the minor leagues because of the lack of lights,” the 27-year-old said. “I’ve been seeing the ball very well. The only problem with the stigmatism is what I call the Pedroia Face (referencing Dustin Pedroia’s issue with contact lenses while at-bat). You have the round object on the oval surface, so you’re trying to time that blink where you’re locked in. Sometimes it’s aggravating.

“It makes a huge difference. That was the first thing I noticed the first time I got called up. A lot of the problems I was having, especially from the fifth inning on when that twilight sets in, you don’t have those problems because there is better lightning.”


http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/07/07/story-behind-how-lights-have-gone-on-for-bryce-brentz/
Didn't Travis Shaw cite better lighting in MLB for his better than expected success? And going back into the dim distant past Carlton Fisk also cited this factor.
 

smastroyin

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Can we get some GM with pitching to sell to bite on Brentz being a better player in the majors?

Brentz for Rich Hill 3.0? Brentz will probably hit 30 HR being a former Red Sox in Oakland.
 

alwyn96

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Billy Beane does seem to like former Red Sox OFs - Crisp, Moss, Reddick, Gomes, Hassan. Feels like there were more. Gotta think he'd get a better offer than Brentz, but who knows. He makes some weird trades.
 

E5 Yaz

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Can we get some GM with pitching to sell to bite on Brentz being a better player in the majors?

Brentz for Rich Hill 3.0? Brentz will probably hit 30 HR being a former Red Sox in Oakland.
I was thinking the Astros, although they might not be too keen to give up a pitcher (Fiers or Fister) now that they're back in the race. That short porch in LF could use another outfield bat, provides cover for the defensively challenged, and Brentz is young and cheap enough to make sense there. Brentz plus an arm going the other way
 

Cesar Crespo

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Fwiw, he has hit better during the day by a significant amount during his career. I don't know where to get career minor league splits but he's pretty much hit better during the day every season.
 

PrometheusWakefield

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Brent winning the battle with Pedroia Face

Yes, the bright lights of the big leagues have evidently made a difference for Brentz. The reason is simple: He can’t see very well.

“It’s a lot worse in the minor leagues because of the lack of lights,” the 27-year-old said. “I’ve been seeing the ball very well. The only problem with the stigmatism is what I call the Pedroia Face (referencing Dustin Pedroia’s issue with contact lenses while at-bat). You have the round object on the oval surface, so you’re trying to time that blink where you’re locked in. Sometimes it’s aggravating.

“It makes a huge difference. That was the first thing I noticed the first time I got called up. A lot of the problems I was having, especially from the fifth inning on when that twilight sets in, you don’t have those problems because there is better lightning.”


http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/07/07/story-behind-how-lights-have-gone-on-for-bryce-brentz/
That's because of the contacts?

Why aren't these guys getting LASIK?
 

TeddyBallgame9

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Interesting. I had Lasik surgery done in 1999 and just had my first eye exam since then. The day after surgery to correct distance vision and astigmatism my vision was 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right. Today I am 20/20 and 20/25. I would have expected the success rate to be much higher, especially since my surgery was done 17 years ago.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Mets need a starter and Red Sox need a LF. Buchholz for Cespedes. Who says no?
The Mets do.

They just sent Conforto down due to lack of production so it's not like they're so flush with outfielders that they can spare Cespedes. They've got internal options to address Harvey's absence, including Zack Wheeler who isn't far away from returning from his TJ surgery last year.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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In what world does Clay Buchholz have trade value? Let alone enough to acquire a guy with an OPS+ of 150? That was a joke right? I fully expect Clay to be waived sometime in the next month.
 

shaggydog2000

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Interesting. I had Lasik surgery done in 1999 and just had my first eye exam since then. The day after surgery to correct distance vision and astigmatism my vision was 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right. Today I am 20/20 and 20/25. I would have expected the success rate to be much higher, especially since my surgery was done 17 years ago.
I took an engineering class from an Ophthalmologist once in grad school. It was all about medical imaging systems. One day someone asked him about LASIK in general, and he mentioned that he wore glasses, and every single Ophthalmologist he knew did as well. Even if the success rate is high, a few percent chance your vision could come out damaged is just not worth it when your eyes are your career. Pro athletes are the same way. Ghosting, occasional spots, etc could be annoying for me or you, but it would be game over for a hitter. I wouldn't take the risk either. They should all just wear huge horn rimmed glasses like randos from the 70's.
 

richgedman'sghost

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Mets need a starter and Red Sox need a LF. Buchholz for Cespedes. Who says no?
Are you on crack? In what world other than that of an EEI caller does that trade make sense? The Mets have better options than Clay to address the hole in their rotation caused by Harvey's injury. Cespedes also did not impress the Red Sox brass his first go around on the team.
 

nvalvo

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I just checked some numbers that I thought I'd share: Red Sox LFers have posted an aggregate line of .256/.324/.407, which is almost exactly aggregate line of all AL LF: .255/.325/.405.
Weirdly, all AL hitters regardless of position have hit a bit better than the LF subset, at .260/.324/.427 for the year.

Aside from Desmond and Saunders, not a lot of teams have the traditional offensive LF. There are a lot of platoons at the position, and down seasons from Upton, Gordon, and Gardner.
 

DeadlySplitter

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http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/07/09/dave-dombrowski-hints-andrew-benintendi-might-not-be-that-far-away-from-big-leagues/

Just under two weeks ago, Dave Dombrowski sat in the visitors’ dugout in Globe Life Park suggesting Andrew Benintendi’s bat wasn’t quite ready for big league consideration.

Judging by Dombrowski’s tone Saturday afternoon, along with Benintendi’s production of late, that line of thinking by be shifting.

The Red Sox president of baseball operations noted prior to his team’s game against the Rays that he wouldn’t hesitate at all to bring up a player (such as Benintendi) straight from Double-A, which is where the outfielder currently finds himself.

“I’ve never felt that Triple-A is really a necessity with good players. I’ve jumped many guys from Double-A in my career. Usually if you do well at Double-A against that type of competition and show that you can perform. There’s some benefits to going to Triple-A. I don’t mean to downplay it. But I’ve had a lot of success throughout my career with guys going from Double-A to the big leagues.”
 

OptimusPapi

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Sorry if this is not an appropriate question for this thread, but what's the difference between triple A and double A. My understanding has always been that Double A is where the prospects get separated from the non prospects. They get to face competition that is more along the lines of what they face in the majors. So what does AAA do?
 

Hee Sox Choi

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AAA you get a lot of players that have played in the bigs before. A lot of pitchers will have better control and major league breaking balls. You usually have better D behind you too.
 

FanSinceBoggs

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Sorry if this is not an appropriate question for this thread, but what's the difference between triple A and double A. My understanding has always been that Double A is where the prospects get separated from the non prospects. They get to face competition that is more along the lines of what they face in the majors. So what does AAA do?
I think it is fair to say that the jump from Single A to Double A is more difficult than the jump from Double A to Triple A. In other words, the difference in competition between Single and Double A is greater than the difference between Double and Triple A. You can find major league players who excelled at Double A, skipped Triple A, and had excellent major league careers. I think Hanley Ramirez is one such example.
 

the moops

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I think it is fair to say that the jump from Single A to Double A is more difficult than the jump from Double A to Triple A. In other words, the difference in competition between Single and Double A is greater than the difference between Double and Triple A. You can find major league players who excelled at Double A, skipped Triple A, and had excellent major league careers. I think Hanley Ramirez is one such example.
Last year there were some obvious examples. Schwarber, Sano, Buxton, and Conforto all skipped AAA.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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AAA is also your taxi squad. If you bring someone up from AA, it's usually to stay. Whereas AAA is for those shuttle players like LaMarre, Marco, Hembree, etc., who've got options.
 

Brohamer of the Gods

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AAA provides both a finer sifting of talent, and more experienced players to compete against. A lot of the value of AAAA players is to have a cadre of players with several years of experience at the AAA level who can provide a level of talent that approximates the Majors for the real prospects to train against. While such fine tuning may not be necessary for the most talented players, it does help determine who has enough to be a #4 starter, or who is destined to be the next crop of AAAA talent.
 

uncannymanny

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Not much different than Teixiera's path if he comes up this year. Here's hoping for similar results. That's a player we could really use.
 

Rasputin

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Benintendi starting in LF for Portland tonight...
That's interesting. One rather imagines that means there's a plan/hope that he could come up and contribute relatively soon. Whether that means after the deadline passes or after 9/1, I don't know.

Do we know when Chris Young is coming back? Having Benintendi come up and platoon would give him a lot of at bats while giving him some downtime to work with coaches and process things.
 

tims4wins

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That's interesting. One rather imagines that means there's a plan/hope that he could come up and contribute relatively soon. Whether that means after the deadline passes or after 9/1, I don't know.

Do we know when Chris Young is coming back? Having Benintendi come up and platoon would give him a lot of at bats while giving him some downtime to work with coaches and process things.
Xander made his Sox debut on August 20, 2013... will be interesting to see what happens over the next 4-5 weeks.
 

OptimusPapi

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That's interesting. One rather imagines that means there's a plan/hope that he could come up and contribute relatively soon. Whether that means after the deadline passes or after 9/1, I don't know.

Do we know when Chris Young is coming back? Having Benintendi come up and platoon would give him a lot of at bats while giving him some downtime to work with coaches and process things.
It was just reported that Swihart's ankle is flaring up still and we have not heard a peep about Chris Young. I am guess they are not coming back anytime soon. With the brutal stretch of games coming up (not in terms of quality of opponents but in terms of off days) I can imagine that the Sox would like to get Holt back in the super utility role. Just about everybody could use a few days off down the stretch and Holt could be instrumental in delivering that if they can remove him from left field. That being said as much as I would love to see this kid this season, I hope they don't rush him just to push Holt back into the Super Sub role.
 

Bowlerman9

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Perhaps a stupid question, but is there any way for someone not on the 25-man roster or DL Sept. 1 to be on the playoff roster?
Yes, its quite easy. As long as they are in the organization prior to 9/1, there is a loophole that allows pretty much everyone to be eligible for the post season roster.
 

Rasputin

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Xander made his Sox debut on August 20, 2013... will be interesting to see what happens over the next 4-5 weeks.
That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Get him up after the trading deadline and before the post season roster deadline so we can get a look at him for a couple weeks before the roster deadline just in case he doesn't work out.

It was just reported that Swihart's ankle is flaring up still and we have not heard a peep about Chris Young. I am guess they are not coming back anytime soon. With the brutal stretch of games coming up (not in terms of quality of opponents but in terms of off days) I can imagine that the Sox would like to get Holt back in the super utility role. Just about everybody could use a few days off down the stretch and Holt could be instrumental in delivering that if they can remove him from left field. That being said as much as I would love to see this kid this season, I hope they don't rush him just to push Holt back into the Super Sub role.
I just saw that about Swihart. I don't know about them, but I sure as hell would like to see Holt back as supersub. If they think either Holt or Moncada can do the job, let's do it, eh?

Thanks.

I was trying to imagine a scenario where they are able to squeeze both Benintendi and Moncada onto the 25-man roster prior to 9/1 to make them playoff eligible.
The one thing about Moncada is the question of where he plays. He's not going to be playing second every day and he's not had the experience to be either a utility infielder or an outfielder of any sort. What he does have is an ability to steal bases. I don't know if his 92-12 success rate is amplified by being in the minors, but if we were looking for a Dave Roberts, Moncada might just be it. I know I would like to see enough of him in the majors to make something resembling an intelligent decision on the matter.
 

fieldslikebuckner

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This may be devolving into a playoff roster thread (too soon to start thinking about it?) but there should be a spot for a specialist like Roberts,'or Moncada, on a playoff roster.

Since you need at most four starters, a bullpen with seven guys is more than enough for a series with off-days built in. That leaves an extra bench spot for a guy who does one thing very well, like steal bases or hit loogys.
 

pantsparty

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I hadn't considered that, but Moncada as a pinch runner off the bench on a playoff roster actually makes sense. His speed in the Future's game looked other-worldly.
 

FanSinceBoggs

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It was just reported that Swihart's ankle is flaring up still and we have not heard a peep about Chris Young. I am guess they are not coming back anytime soon. With the brutal stretch of games coming up (not in terms of quality of opponents but in terms of off days) I can imagine that the Sox would like to get Holt back in the super utility role. Just about everybody could use a few days off down the stretch and Holt could be instrumental in delivering that if they can remove him from left field. That being said as much as I would love to see this kid this season, I hope they don't rush him just to push Holt back into the Super Sub role.
I agree with the idea of returning Holt to his super utility role. They need to trade for a LF, a better offensive player than Holt. The Red Sox have the best offense in baseball, but LF is a position where they can increase their offensive production. I don't like the idea of promoting Benintendi this year, he probably isn't ready and will struggle too much. I like the idea of acquiring Josh Reddick or Carlos Gonzalez. Alternatively, they could aim lower and still get a better offensive player than Holt.