What does 2023 look like?
- Thread starter moondog80
- Start date
In fact, it reflects positively on Bloom because he (and his staff) know how to evaluate pitchers beyond a simplistic stat such as pitches over 98 mph.
Part of it is also the Red Sox 2 hardest throwing starters (Paxton 96.2 & Bello 96.0) haven't played much & their hardest throwing relievers (Ort 95.8 & Brasier 95.1) were bad at baseball.
Plus it's cold in Boston.
(all those #s from Baseball Savant/Statcast & are avg speed of their 4-seamers this year, minimum 100 pitches - Martin also at 95.1
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/pitch-arsenals?year=2023&min=100&type=avg_speed&hand=)
But yeah, mostly it just doesn't matter. It's a fun stat, but the conclusion just appears to be to get to a preconceived notion.
Plus it's cold in Boston.
(all those #s from Baseball Savant/Statcast & are avg speed of their 4-seamers this year, minimum 100 pitches - Martin also at 95.1
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/pitch-arsenals?year=2023&min=100&type=avg_speed&hand=)
But yeah, mostly it just doesn't matter. It's a fun stat, but the conclusion just appears to be to get to a preconceived notion.
But the Red Sox currently have the 14th best reliever ERA (MLB wide, and I am also assuming that is where a lot of those 98+ are coming from), and their overall number is trending (slowly but surely) in the right direction. Assuming health for Sale/Paxton/Bello and even a little regression towards the mean for Kluber, the starters could easily end up league average within the next few weeks as well. I won't argue that the pitching has been "good" so far, but it is definitely trending better and I wouldn't even be a little surprised for it to end up being a decent overall staff when all is said and done.
Pivetta may ruin the bullpen numbers, though.
And the team is 25-20.
I just fail to see how this silly stat should even be remotely considered an indictment on Bloom at this point in the season. It's a snippet, which is fun in baseball (it's what we do), but judging a GM off of snippets is more or less useless.
I think its just a reflection of the fact that Chaim inherited a farm system with a track record of terrible pitching development stretching back nearly two decades to Theo Epstein. Its going to take more than 2-3 years to overcome that.
EDIT: Its much easier just to point to team ERA to say the red sox pitching is bad -- though mostly driven by the early season lack of starting pitching, and the bullpen has been OK. If Sale, Paxton, Bello continue to progress, the starting pitching looks entirely different moving forward.
The Sox are currently averaging 7.76 strikeouts per game, good for 5th best in baseball.
They strikeout 0.01 more hitters per 9 innings than the best pitching team in baseball. Clearly they are striking out the correct # of hitters.
But yeah, there are tons of more interesting & predictive stats than # of pitches that have been 98+.
& the Red Sox definitely need to pitch better. We'll see how the season goes.
But yeah, there are tons of more interesting & predictive stats than # of pitches that have been 98+.
& the Red Sox definitely need to pitch better. We'll see how the season goes.
Sure enough. Searched MLB team pitching strikeouts totals and got batting stats.
David Hamilton has a Sox MiLB high of 9 HR w/ 21 steals. He might be lining himself up as a Sept. call-up if he can sustain this production. Very promising.
His career season high was 12 last year. Also where was he in 2019? He played independent ball during the pandemic, which is smart (as long as you didn't get covid), and has moved quickly in two seasons since. He could be useful pretty soon if Story moves to SS. [My Adalberto optimism is fading.] At the moment we have a lot of guys for those middle infield spots, although the "reyes is awesome now" piece probably reverts back to something else?
I'm getting Duran-in-2021-vibes from Hamilton. He's having a really good year without doubt, but so was Duran in 2021. Both experienced their surges after making adjustments in their plate approaches and gaining power. Duran's obviously wasn't sustainable (his current success has been attributed to other adjustments). Maybe Hamilton's will be. I wouldn't expect him to be much of an impact player for the 2023 big club, except maybe in a Dave Roberts/Quinton Berry type role.
With Yoshida/Refsnyder, Duran/Kike and Verdugo in the OF, and Duvall eventually returning, there’s no room for Hamilton. Unless there’s a spate of OF injuries, let him continue to develop.
I remain convinced that the team's internal scouting values him way more highly than any of the publicly available reports we have seen, and the reason he isn't being called up is because they view him as a solid contributor for the future who isn't quite ready yet and they want to keep him in AAA for his development. I think he would be better than, say, Pablo Reyes (who will definitely regress from his current .853 OPS), but I think the team really wants him to focus on being ready for next year.
Hamilton cannot play defense and the overall numbers at the plate don’t really match what scouts see.
The base running is very real, but again the defense really limits his floor and ceiling.
The base running is very real, but again the defense really limits his floor and ceiling.
Aren't the power numbers in Wooster supposed to be looked at with some suspicion?
I hadn't heard that before, but that's interesting to note.
I did find this from a week ago. That looks like a pretty decent stroke to me.
View: https://youtu.be/7WO9OJAojTA
Hamilton, at the very least went from organizational depth to a phone call away. I don't think anyone thought about him contributing in Boston until he started hitting late last season.
I'm not even sure where he would fit on the roster even with all the injuries to middle infield guys.
I'm not even sure where he would fit on the roster even with all the injuries to middle infield guys.
There's another thing to keep in mind with some of these depth guys that Bloom is acquiring. Other teams may be looking to acquire depth guys. Hamilton's play this season may draw interest from other teams or having guys like Hamilton as depth might allow Bloom to consider other moves.
Just a note that alleged Red Sox target, who was the subject of a lot of whingeing this offseason when he signed with Houston -- Jose Abreu -- currently has zero HRs and a 52 OPS+. The Sox did supposedly offer him roughly 3x14, so Chaim can count this as "rather be lucky than good".
Guilty! Guy looks finished. Score one for Keith Law.
https://theathletic.com/3946274/2022/11/28/law-astros-jose-abreu/?source=user_shared_article
Other players of note (some only by me admittedly). In reverse order of wRC+
OOF!!
JBJ - .149/.213/.214
Mitch Haniger - .211/.228/.329
Andrus - .201/.280/.254
Franchy - .151/.182/.396
Baez - .238/.292/.335
Hernandez would be here
Eric Hosmer - .234/.280/.330
Yuli Gurriel - .224/.288/.368
Vazquez - .229/.305/.257
Stone dead in a moment
Casas would be here
Trea Turner .256/.303/.390
Machado .231/.282/.372
Grisham /.186/.302/.345
Pham - .208/.300/.364
Wong would be here
Think they're getting better
McGuire would be here
Tapia would be here
Benintendi .279/.339/.355
Correa .213/.302/.396
Ha-Seong Kim .236/.319/.368
They feel fine
Contreras .237/.321/.393
Bryant .287/.364/.413
Schwarber - .177/.322/.421
Kepler - 212/.298/.444
Conforto - .213/.321/.418
Think they'll go for a walk
Frazier .250/.335/.407
Justin Turner .272/.362/.414
Renfroe /.261/.313/.473
Devers /.254/.296/.530
Valdez .321/.345/.476
Castellanos .295/.340/.459
X .257/.357/.404
They feel happy
Reynolds .287/.335/.489
Swanson .267/.374/.409
Bellinger .271/.337/.493
Verdugo /.290/.366/.464
Nimmo .291/.374/.418
Moncada - .301/.346/.479
JDM - /.264/.310/.566
Happ .288/.407/.442
Betts .250/.357/.506
They feel happy x 2
Gallo - 205/.321/.563
Yoshida .308/.384/.494
Duran /.321/.376/.518
Murphy .273/.395/.554
Judge .299/.400/.642
OOF!!
JBJ - .149/.213/.214
Mitch Haniger - .211/.228/.329
Andrus - .201/.280/.254
Franchy - .151/.182/.396
Baez - .238/.292/.335
Hernandez would be here
Eric Hosmer - .234/.280/.330
Yuli Gurriel - .224/.288/.368
Vazquez - .229/.305/.257
Stone dead in a moment
Casas would be here
Trea Turner .256/.303/.390
Machado .231/.282/.372
Grisham /.186/.302/.345
Pham - .208/.300/.364
Wong would be here
Think they're getting better
McGuire would be here
Tapia would be here
Benintendi .279/.339/.355
Correa .213/.302/.396
Ha-Seong Kim .236/.319/.368
They feel fine
Contreras .237/.321/.393
Bryant .287/.364/.413
Schwarber - .177/.322/.421
Kepler - 212/.298/.444
Conforto - .213/.321/.418
Think they'll go for a walk
Frazier .250/.335/.407
Justin Turner .272/.362/.414
Renfroe /.261/.313/.473
Devers /.254/.296/.530
Valdez .321/.345/.476
Castellanos .295/.340/.459
X .257/.357/.404
They feel happy
Reynolds .287/.335/.489
Swanson .267/.374/.409
Bellinger .271/.337/.493
Verdugo /.290/.366/.464
Nimmo .291/.374/.418
Moncada - .301/.346/.479
JDM - /.264/.310/.566
Happ .288/.407/.442
Betts .250/.357/.506
They feel happy x 2
Gallo - 205/.321/.563
Yoshida .308/.384/.494
Duran /.321/.376/.518
Murphy .273/.395/.554
Judge .299/.400/.642
Oh! Very nice Keith! I lazily assumed that Abreu would hit in Fenway, (but wasn't stressed because plenty of others could do so too), but maybe he's truly cooked.
Add one of the similar problems that doomed the ‘22 team are still haunting the ‘23 team. Starters that give up too many BB’s and HR’s. Bullpen inconsistency and a maddeningly streaky offense that appears to still be looking to play 3-true outcome station to station baseball. Occasional boneheaded decisions on the basepaths and on defense.
That said…. The Sox are clearly a better team than the ‘22 version across all those aspects but it really has me wondering about Cora. I don’t think he’s a net positive coach but more and more I’m beginning to think he imparts a poor discipline on the team that is at the root of the inconsistency….
That said…. The Sox are clearly a better team than the ‘22 version across all those aspects but it really has me wondering about Cora. I don’t think he’s a net positive coach but more and more I’m beginning to think he imparts a poor discipline on the team that is at the root of the inconsistency….
It drives me nuts every time I see a guy admiring a "home run," then having to sprint to 2B at the last second to get a double.
And now it's his turn to adjust to how the league is pitching to him now. How well he does that will answer the, Is this the new Duran? question.
I really wanted Gallo over this past off-season. Walks a ton, still fairly young and a gold glover.
If they can stay in the wild card hunt until Duvall and Story come back, than get hot going into playoffs. They might do some damage.
May not have to wait much longer for Duvall to return. He's headed to Worcester for a rehab assignment starting Tuesday.
View: https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1662241127183929348
Tapia has to be the corresponding move, right? Wonder if there's a market for him. Don't think they can just send him down, can they?
Arroyo also rehabbing...
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1662140009355579392
& it looks like they envision Story as the SS...
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1662242189437550592
Arroyo also rehabbing...
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1662140009355579392
& it looks like they envision Story as the SS...
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1662242189437550592
I think Reyes would be the corresponding Arroyo move. I don't think they can carry all of Duran/Verdugo/Yoshida/Tapia/Duvall/Refsnyder in the OF.
& then I guess they'll have a Chang v. Valdez decision.