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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 8, 2024 13:10:59 GMT -5
MLB, MLBPA In Dispute Over Pitch Clock’s Impact On Injuries
By Anthony Franco | April 8, 2024 at 11:10am CDT
One of the unfortunately defining storylines of Spring Training and the first couple weeks of the regular season has been the prevalence of significant injuries to key pitchers. While that is a concern every year — particularly early in the schedule as players build their arms back up — the number of big names suffering arm injuries led the league and Players Association to trade barbs over the weekend.
On Saturday, the players union put out a brief statement (on X) that implied the pitch clock was a key contributing factor:
“Despite unanimous player opposition and significant concerns regarding health and safety, the commissioner’s office reduced the length of the pitch clock last December, just one season removed from imposing the most significant rule change in decades,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. “Since then, our concerns about the health impacts of reduced recovery time have only intensified. The league’s unwillingness thus far to acknowledge or study the effects of these profound changes is an unprecedented threat to our game and its most valuable asset — the players.”
This is the second season in which the pitch clock has been in use at the major league level. In 2023, pitchers had 15 seconds between pitches when no runner was on base and 20 seconds to begin their delivery with runners aboard. Over the winter, the competition committee passed a rule change cutting the latter time from 20 to 18 seconds. That measure was approved by the six league representatives on the rule committee; all four players on the panel voted against it. The MLBPA released a statement at the time calling the changes “unnecessary” and saying the 2024 season “should be used to gather additional data and fully examine the health, safety and injury impacts of reduced recovery time.”
Unsurprisingly, MLB quickly fired back after Clark’s latest protestation. The league argued that there has been no empirical backing pointing to the clock as a contributing factor to pitcher injuries. MLB instead suggested the main issue is the increased stress which pitchers are putting on their arms to improve the quality of their arsenals.
“(The MLBPA’s) statement ignores the empirical evidence and much more significant long-term trend, over multiple decades, of velocity and spin increases that are highly correlated with arm injuries,” the league said in a statement of its own. “Nobody wants to see pitchers get hurt in this game, which is why MLB is currently undergoing a significant comprehensive research study into the causes of this long-term increase, interviewing prominent medical experts across baseball which to date has been consistent with an independent analysis by Johns Hopkins University that found no evidence to support that the introduction of the pitch clock has increased injuries.
In fact, JHU found no evidence that pitchers who worked quickly in 2023 were more likely to sustain an injury than those who worked less quickly on average. JHU also found no evidence that pitchers who sped up their pace were more likely to sustain an injury than those who did not.”
Concerns about pitcher health are an annual event, although there hasn’t been much consensus about which factors are more responsible than others. Last month, noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister told Ken Rosenthal and Eno Sarris of the Athletic that he considered the sweeping breaking ball and power changeup to be problems, pointing to the tighter grip that pitchers use on those offerings. A few players and other injury experts pushed back against Meister’s hypothesis, arguing that increased effort to maximize velocity (on both the fastball and breaking stuff) was the more notable driver.
Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that pitcher injuries have been a major story in recent weeks. Gerrit Cole (elbow inflammation), Lucas Giolito (internal brace surgery), Eduardo Rodriguez (lat strain), Anthony DeSclafani (flexor tendon surgery) and Trevor Stephan (Tommy John surgery) were among the pitchers to suffer notable injuries during Spring Training. Giolito, DeSclafani and Stephan underwent season-ending surgery before Opening Day.
Since the season began, Eury Pérez, Shane Bieber and Jonathan Loáisiga have all been lost for the year due to elbow ligament repairs of their own. Things are still up in the air for Braves ace Spencer Strider, who landed on the injured list over the weekend after imaging revealed UCL damage in his elbow.
It’s not an issue for which there are simple solutions. Justin Verlander, who has been one of the preeminent workhorses of his generation but lost the 2021 season to a Tommy John procedure, discussed the issue over the weekend. Verlander, on a minor league rehab stint to build up after a seemingly minor bout of shoulder soreness, pointed to a confluence of factors (relayed by Ari Alexander of KPRC 2).
While he noted “it would be easiest to … blame the pitch clock,” the three-time Cy Young winner spoke about pitchers’ desire to maximize their swing-and-miss acumen even if it comes with a higher chance of injury. Verlander pointed to the increase in home runs over the past few seasons and teams’ heavier reliance on their bullpens — which he acknowledged is supported by data indicating that relievers tend to be more effective than a starter navigating a lineup for the third or fourth time — as reasons for pitchers to avoid pitching to contact. Those interested in the subject should check out the veteran righty’s thoughtful response in full.
Team decision-makers also need to wrestle with the balance between protecting their most talented pitchers without sapping their effectiveness. That’s an inexact science for medical and coaching staffs. Mariners manager Scott Servais pointed to the early-season spate of injuries as a factor in pulling young righty Bryce Miller at 78 pitches after seven scoreless innings in a win over the Brewers on Saturday (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times).
Servais cited a desire to minimize the amount of potentially high-stress innings that Miller faces early in the season as one of a number of variables in making what seemed to be an atypically quick call to the bullpen. That’s just one example, of course, but it’s illustrative of the kind of concerns which front offices and coaching staffs face as they try to keep their best pitchers healthy.
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Post by Kimmi on Apr 8, 2024 14:47:15 GMT -5
At the moment, I think I like the idea of putting Rafaela at SS. I am not too enamored with either Reyes or Valdez being our everyday 2nd baseman.
IMO, U leave him at CF
we get what we can bat wise from a SS
but the D is more importantIf the rest of the line up can cover him, Hamilton might be an option at SS. He can give us the defense that we need. |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 8, 2024 19:23:47 GMT -5
The Red Sox were one of nine teams to cut payroll from last year to this year
By Ronald Blum Associated Press,Updated April 8, 2024, 2 hours ago
NEW YORK — The Red Sox were one of nine MLB teams that cut spending from last year in a tepid free-agent market that sparked player unrest.
San Diego cut payroll by $96 million, the Mets by $50 million, and the Angels by $49 million. Other teams cutting were the White Sox (by $47 million), Rockies ($33 million), Twins ($32 million), Tigers ($20 million), Red Sox ($15 million), and Brewers ($12 million).
Two teams in the AL East saw their payrolls grow significantly: The Orioles (by $33 million) and the Yankees (by $28 million).
The average salary increased 1.5 percent to $4.98 million on opening day, according to a study by The Associated Press. That was down from an 11.1 percent rise last year to $4.91 million and a 6 percent increase in 2022 following the end of the spring training lockout.
Several top free agents — including two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger — remained unsigned into spring training and took shorter-team deals than they anticipated.
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“It’s a concern,” said Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt, his team’s player representative, adding he took notice “when you have reigning Cy Young, when you have seven or eight guys that are really, really good not signed.”
Last year’s percentage increase was the largest since a 13.9 percent jump in 2001, a promising gain for players following a pair of sluggish free agent markets, the pandemic and a 99-day lockout ahead of a labor deal in March 2022.
During spring training this year, a faction of players attempted to oust union negotiator Bruce Meyer in an effort that appears to have failed.
The biggest increases from the start of last year were by Houston (up $44 million), the Chicago Cubs ($38 million), Baltimore ($33 million) and the Dodgers and Yankees ($28 million each).
The Mets at $306 million topped payrolls for the second straight season and were followed by the Yankees ($303 million), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($250 million), Philadelphia ($243 million) and Houston ($237 million).
Commissioner Rob Manfred has cited a cyclical market and the reticence of some teams to make commitments with uncertain revenue from regional sports networks.
The players’ association said it did not yet have its calculations and was not in a position to comment.
The Mets are paying $70 million this year to other teams to cover portions of salaries of three players they traded: Houston’s Justin Verlander ($31.3 million), Texas’s Max Scherzer ($30.8 million) and Baltimore’s James McCann ($8 million). That total is more than the entire $61 million payroll of Oakland.
If not for deferred money, the Dodgers’ payroll would be roughly $57 million higher. Shohei Ohtani’s record $70 million salary includes $68 million that won’t be paid until 2034; because that money is discounted to present-day value for the payroll, he counts at just over $28.2 million. Discounting lowers Mookie Betts from $30.4 million to $26.2 million, Freddie Freeman from $27 million to $25.1 million, Teoscar Hernández from $23.5 million to $18.2 million and Will Smith from $16.6 million to $12.9 million.
The Mets’ end-of-season payroll projects to rise given their opening day figure doesn’t include a discounted total of $10.4 million earned by designated hitter J.D. Martinez and Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami, who are in the minor leagues.
Arizona pitcher Jordan Montgomery is another late-signing, high-salaried player not on an opening-day roster, so the percentage increase of 40-man payrolls figures to be slightly higher. If Mongtomery and Martinez had been on opening-day rosters, the average would have increased about 2% and set a record at just over $5 million.
Of four players with $40 million salaries, three began the season on the injured list, including Scherzer and Verlander at $43.3 million each. Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, recovering from Tommy John surgery, was tied for third at $40 million with Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
At his discounted value, Ohtani was 19th.
Of 947 players in the major leagues on opening day, 532 had salaries of $1 million or more, 56 percent, and down from 546 last year.
Seventeen players earn $30 million or more, an increase of one; 56 earn $20 million, a rise of three; and 166 at least $10 million, a rise of eight. The 50 highest-paid players make 29 percent of total salary and the top 100 earn 47%, both the same as last year.
Forty-one players get the $740,000 minimum, which was increased by $20,000 from last year.
The median salary, the point at which an equal number of players are above and below, remained at $1.5 million, still below the record high of $1.65 million at the start of 2015.
Average and median salaries decline over the course of the season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players making closer to the minimum. The players’ association calculated last season’s final average at $4.53 million.
The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. For some players, parts of deferred money are discounted to reflect current values.
Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 13, 2024 10:31:40 GMT -5
SUNDAY BASEBALL NOTES
Is it the pitch clock, or is it velocity? MLB pitchers ponder why injuries are so prevalent this season.
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated April 13, 2024, 16 minutes ago
The Players Association and Major League Baseball exchanged dueling news releases last weekend.
The union struck first, sending out a statement that blamed the alarming number of injuries sustained by pitchers on the league reducing the pitch timer from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base.
MLB responded later that day by claiming the union ignored the “much more significant long-term trend, over multiple decades, of velocity and spin increases that are highly correlated with arm injuries.”
Red Sox righthander Lucas Giolito has a unique perspective to offer on the matter. He has eight seasons of major league experience, is a member of the union’s executive committee, and is out for the season after having surgery for a torn elbow ligament. It’s the second such surgery he’s had in his career.
Giolito thought the pitch clock was effective last season and didn’t see a reason to shorten it with men on base. But he’s not convinced that’s led to more injuries.
“Maybe it played a part among other things,” Giolito told the Globe. “But I think one of the big things we’re seeing is guys chasing velocity and throwing a lot more of those hard sliders and sweepers. Slider usage is really going up.”
As a pitcher, Giolito feels he’s paid to strike out batters and avoid contact and that stresses the arm.
“That’s the nature of the business,” he said. “Baseball is always evolving and we’re in this stage now of analytics. We value the strikeout and the home runs. The best way to combat home runs is swing and miss and, for that, you have to throw hard and get those good spin numbers.”
That has produced a game of pitchers either throwing as hard as they can or stressing their arms to throw unhittable breaking pitches. That injuries are on the rise can’t be a surprise.
When Giolito attended his first major league spring training in 2016, the object of live batting practice was simply to throw strikes and work on location. Now pitchers show up in early February throwing at game speed six weeks before Opening Day.
“Every single pitch is scrutinized, even when you throw in the bullpen. You get instant feedback,” Giolito said. “For a guy trying to make the team, you have to hit certain numbers. That’s always going to put more stress on the arm.”
Instead of fighting over the reason, the union and the league would be better served to work together at preventing injuries.
“I think that might be necessary if we continue to see guys go down at this rate,” Giolito said. “Fans want to see the best of the best competing, and if everybody’s hurt, then it will hurt the game.”
Astros star Justin Verlander, who is on the injured list recovering from a shoulder strain, sees the quest for velocity as being counterproductive.
“Everybody’s throwing as hard as they can and spinning the ball as hard as they can. It’s hard to deny those results,” he told reporters after a recent minor league start.
“It’s a double-edged sword. How can you tell somebody to go out there and not do that when they’re capable of throwing 100 [miles per hour]? A young guy comes up throwing 95 and gives up the big homer and everybody’s like, ‘What the hell, man?’
“Something needs to change. I don’t have all the answers.”
Even an accomplished pitcher such as Verlander feels he has to get swing and misses as opposed to locating the ball and inducing weak contact and quicker outs.
“That went out the window when everybody started to leave the yard, especially opposite field,” he said.
Verlander feels the game needs to further tweak the rules to force teams to develop starters who can turn a lineup over three times.
“No teams are incentivized to do that,” he said. “It’s nobody’s fault. It’s the nature of the game.”
One way would be mandating teams forfeit the designated hitter once they take their starting pitcher out of the game.
“I just hope that we don’t wait too long. It’s going to take years to work itself out,” Verlander said.
Verlander winces when he sees video on social media of youth players throwing as hard as they can and working on breaking balls.
“I sure as hell didn’t do that,” he said. “I didn’t figure it out until college and matured in my body. If I came up in today’s world, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, a former pitcher, believes organizations would be open to change.
“It’s a really difficult situation to wrap your head around, just giving the competing interests in throwing hard, spinning the ball, and generating swings and misses because of the impact it has on being able to win games.
“If anyone had a perfect solution, we’d be all ears. But to date nobody seems to have one.”
Breslow could even imagine teams working together on solving the issue.
“It’s something that’s getting more attention. Teams are working toward potential answers and solutions,” he said.
“Teams are now investing in motion-capture technologies to try to understand how and when forces are applied to different joints. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these efforts are consolidated. But there’s a competitive advantage in being the team that can understand what’s driving injuries first.”
DH DILEMMA
Red Sox need more pop from Yoshida
It’s far too early to proclaim Masataka Yoshida’s five-year, $90 million contract a disaster. But he batted seventh as the designated hitter behind Romy Gonzalez and Pablo Reyes on Wednesday.
Yoshida was hitting .222 with two extra-base hits and a .567 OPS through 13 games. He went into the weekend not having homered at Fenway Park since last July 25.
It’s still early, but the Sox expected Yoshida would give them a lot more after a well-coordinated offseason plan to improve his strength and conditioning.
Yoshida didn’t play defense this season until Thursday and that took a short bench and the Sox giving up the DH in the 10th inning to happen. They’ve apparently decided Yoshida is a full-time DH given his poor glove.
Other teams were stunned when the Red Sox offered so much for Yoshida when he was posted in December 2022. Turns out they were probably right.
Yoshida will probably be a helpful player over the course of the season. He’s a good contact hitter with a refined approach who could give the Sox 35 doubles, 15-20 home runs, and 75 or so RBIs. That would be fine at a smaller salary. Meanwhile, contending teams have dangerous hitters such as Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani, Marcell Ozuna, Kyle Schwarber, Giancarlo Stanton, and Justin Turner as their DH.
The Sox could have used a hitter such as Teoscar Hernandez to add power.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ By signing Ceddanne Rafaela to an eight-year contract, the Sox are betting on the player he will be over time and there’s a good chance he will be a very impactful one. But it seems remarkable to guarantee $50 million to a player with a .267 on-base percentage through 41 career games.
On the day the contract was finalized, Rafaela hit ninth and was hit for in the ninth inning of a close game. Then he wasn’t in the lineup the next day.
This may be a deal that takes a year or two to make sense.
▪ Good note from NESN’s Tom Caron: Matt Holliday was 1 for 7 with four strikeouts against Kenley Jansen from 2011-16. Now his son Jackson is 0 for 1 with a strikeout.
Matt is 44 and Jackson is 20.
“It means I’m old,” laughed Jansen, who is 36.
▪ The Sox will wear special uniforms Monday. The white jerseys will say “Boston” across the front to commemorate the 2013 Boston Marathon. The uniforms will have No. 42 as part of MLB’s annual celebration of Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers in 1947.
▪ Now that the Sox have knocked off a 10-game West Coast trip, there’s only one more game this season that is scheduled to start later than 8:40 p.m. That’s the July 19 game at Dodger Stadium coming out of the All-Star break scheduled for a 10:10 p.m. start.
▪ Clubhouse politics: Tyler O’Neill took over the locker at Fenway Park that once belonged to Adam Duvall near the door leading to the field. Liam Hendriks, a veteran pitcher, has the corner spot vacated by James Paxton, a veteran pitcher.
Enmanuel Valdez has Alex Verdugo’s old locker, which is closest to the manager’s office. Jarren Duran has Chris Sale’s former spot in a corner.
ETC.
Remembering Larry Lucchino
There aren’t many funerals that would include Bill Bradley, Michael Dukakis, Theo Epstein, Jim Rice, and Jason Varitek in the pews of the church, along with the mayors of Boston and Worcester and other notable figures in entertainment, finance, media, and real estate.
Leave it to Larry Lucchino to be a presence even in death.
The former Red Sox president was remembered Thursday at St. Cecilia Parish in the Back Bay, less than a mile from Fenway Park. The service included a colorful eulogy from Lucchino’s friend and protege, Charles Steinberg, that included several spot-on imitations of Lucchino and plenty of amusing stories. David Lucchino, a nephew, spoke on behalf of his family.
The pallbearers included Red Sox senior executives Ron Bumgarner, Jonathan Gilula, Adam Grossman, and Sam Kennedy. All four joined the team from 2002-03 to work under Lucchino.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and executive vice presidents Raquel Ferreira and Brian O’Halloran were there as well.
Senior vice president Peter Woodfork represented Major League Baseball. He is a former Harvard player who worked for the Sox from 2003-05 in baseball operations.
The program listed 40 maxims from Lucchino including “if you work at something just a little longer, you can often make it a lot better” and “praise in public; criticize in private.”
Extra bases
The 36-page criminal complaint filed Thursday charging Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter with bank fraud is fascinating. The IRS alleges that Ippei Mizuhara stole more than $16 million to pay off gambling debts with an alleged bookie accumulated over two-plus years ending in January. The affidavit paints Mizuhara as having abused Ohtani’s trust to withdraw money from his bank account. Ohtani, who cooperated with authorities, comes off as an easy mark, blindly trusting Mizuhara with his financial information and somehow not realizing he had lost $16 million until after Mizuhara was caught up in the investigation of the bookie, Mathew Bowyer. The affidavit said Bowyer at one point threatened to speak to Ohtani if Mizuhara did not return his calls. “I see [Ohtani] walking his dog. I’m just gonna go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in touch with you,” he texted. Investigators said there is no evidence of Ohtani having placed any bets. Teams generally allow Asian players to choose their own translators. That could be something that has to change, or at least more carefully monitored … Meanwhile, through 15 games, Mookie Betts and Ohtani were on a pace to score 334 runs with 86 home runs atop the Dodgers’ lineup … Mike Trout is again doing Mike Trout things. He hit .318 with a 1.195 OPS through 12 games with six homers and two stolen bases. That may not seem like a lot of stolen bases, but it’s as many as he had over 82 games last season … Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe is one of the most improved players in the game, both statistically and in the eyes of scouts. Volpe, who turns 23 later this month, struggled at the plate last season. But he had a 1.041 OPS through 12 games. He’s flattened out his swing to produce more consistent contact as opposed to the big uppercut he had as a rookie. “I think he’ll still hit for power, but he’ll hit for better average,” one evaluator said. “The defense is the same as last season — excellent.” … Josh and Bo Naylor of the Guardians homered Wednesday in the fourth inning on National Siblings Day. They have done that twice in their careers, the first coming July 14, 2023 … Per the Associated Press, the Padres ($96 million) had the biggest payroll cut this season based on their Opening Day roster. The Mets ($50 million), White Sox ($47 million), Rockies ($33 million), Twins ($32 million), Tigers ($20 million), and Red Sox ($15 million) followed … Baseball can break your heart sometimes. The Dodgers played at Minnesota on Monday, a chance for brothers Gus and Louie Varland to play in the same major league game for the first time. Gus is a 27-year-old righthanded reliever for the Dodgers and Louie a 26-year-old righthanded reliever for the Twins. They’re from Minnesota and played at Concordia University in St. Paul. But the Dodgers optioned Gus to Triple A before the game. The brothers took photos together before the game but that was it … Jose Iglesias didn’t play in the majors last season, spending time in Triple A for the Padres. Now the 34-year-old shortstop is trying again, playing for Triple A Syracuse in the Mets organization. If he wants to, Iglesias would be an excellent coach. The Red Sox signed him late in the 2021 season, after the deadline to be on the postseason roster. But he stayed with the team in October and was a good resource for Alex Cora and the coaching staff … Baseball America projects Bryant, Northeastern, and Sacred Heart making the NCAA Tournament field with Boston College as one of the first four out … All the best to University of Southern Maine coach Ed Flaherty, who announced this season would be his last after 39 years on the bench. Flaherty has won two Division 3 national championships with the Huskies and made six World Series appearances. He went into the weekend with 1,123 victories. As a young reporter who covered a lot of college baseball, Flaherty was always a pleasure to talk to about the game. His son, Ryan, played eight years in the majors after playing at Vanderbilt and is now bench coach with the Cubs. He’ll manage in the majors sometime soon … Happy birthday to Joe Lahoud, who is 77. The outfielder played for the Red Sox from 1968-71 after being signed as an amateur free agent out of the University of New Haven in 1965. He had 26 home runs for the Sox over 254 games but hit .205 and was traded to the Brewers after the 1971 season as part of a nine-player deal. Lahoud later played for the Angels, Rangers, and Royals over his 11 seasons in the majors. He left baseball after the 1978 season and went on to a successful career in business.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 14, 2024 5:30:37 GMT -5
Some Things I Think I Think: On defense being far from the Red Sox’ only problem
Published: Apr. 14, 2024, 5:15 a.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
* Before the season began, there was plenty of concern about the starting pitching, which has actually been far better than advertised.
Of late, there’s been great anxiety over the defense, which has somehow managed to be even worse than a season ago.
Nobody, however, was too worried about the Red Sox’ offense. But perhaps they should be.
The lineup will be without Trevor Story for the remainder of the season, and even if you had doubts about how much impact he was going to make, he surely would have contributed far more than David Hamilton or anyone else who’s going to get additional shortstop at-bats.
And on nights when Rafael Devers is also absent, as he’s been of late, the Red Sox’ lineup is barely major league caliber. Yes, Triston Casas and Jarren Duran can do damage, and Tyler O’Neill is off to a fabulous start. But get beyond the first four or so spots in the order, and that next step is a doozy. Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez, Enmanuel Valdez, Connor Wong, Pablo Reyes and Wilyer Abreu don’t scare anyone.
Entering play Saturday, the Red Sox were 21st in OPS at .666 and 17th in runs scored. Through 14 games, the Red Sox have already been shutout twice and limited to a single run in three other games. It’s a small sample size to be sure, but more than a third of the games have resulted in zero or one run being scored.
Yes, it’s early. But it’s hard to envision this lineup scaring anybody this season.
* It seems Tom Brady can’t stop thinking — and talking — about ending his retirement. It’s telling that he was citing Michael Jordan as inspiration in his latest comments. Jordan, too, couldn’t stay retired. Brady made tens of millions during his career, is acknowledged as both the greatest winner and quarterback of all time, has a cushy job waiting for him in the broadcast booth, and still can’t stop thinking about the glory days. It’s hard to say what Brady misses more — the competition or the attention? Either way, it’s sad.
* At the private funeral for Larry Lucchino Thursday, three former governors, the current mayor of Boston, and one-time Princeton teammate Bill Bradley — among many others — were in attendance. Conspicuous by their absence: Red Sox principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, both of whom were in town and on the field for the home opener only 48 hours earlier.
Henry was reportedly feeling ill, while Werner was said to be in England. But given that Lucchino was their partner for 13 years, served as team president and CEO for three world championships and was most responsible for the renovation of Fenway Park, it would have been nice for them to pay their respects. John Harrington was there, but the current owners weren’t. At least Linda Pizzuti Henry had the grace and decency to attend.
* The Bruins would be wise to fix their power play before the playoffs begin. In particular, it’s more than alarming that David Pastrnak has just one goal with the man advantage over the last 33 games. Which happens to be one more than Brad Marchand has in that span.
* It’s been said before and needs to be said again: Rob Manfred should exercise the “best interest of the game,” clause that he has at his disposal and permanently remove Angel Hernandez from the field. Let Hernandez sue, as he has tried unsuccessfully several times before over perceived slights and imagined bias against him. Let the umpires’ union threaten a strike. His performance the other night in a game between Texas and Houston, in which he incorrectly called 12 pitches strikes that were clearly balls, is only the latest example of his incompetence. His presence on the field is an ongoing embarrassment to the sport.
* Sunday’s Wizards-Celtics marks the final regular season broadcast by the legendary Mike Gorman, who has served as the team’s play-by-play man for the last 43 seasons. Gorman is a pro’s pro — prepared, knowledgeable and engaging — and a classier gentleman you will not find. Celtics telecasts will never be the same without him.
* Orioles rookie infielder Jackson Holliday is 20 years old, but could easily pass for 15.
* Celtics fans should be less worried about some meaningless late-season losses and more concerned about the team’s health going into the playoffs. Once the postseason grind begins, there’s little time for recovery between games. With the No. 1 seed locked up, Injured players should get their rest while they can.
* That sigh you heard the other day was Manfred — and everyone else associated with Major League Baseball — exhaling in relief after seeing the complaints from federal investigators assigned to the Shohei Ohtani case. The last thing baseball was needed was to have Ohtani implicated in the gambling scandal.
* Nobody in sports takes themselves more seriously than the people who run the Masters. Spectators — who are of course referred to as “patrons” and never “fans” — cannot wear their hats backward and are forbidden from running anywhere on the course. A little decorum is fine, but Is this a night at the opera or a golf tournament?
* It’s mostly escaped notice that, somehow, Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle are very likely going to wind up with more combined points than last year’s top two centers — Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — accumulated. Few saw that coming.
* The Bruins seem to be setting expectations unrealistically high for Pat Maroon. His heavy game may provide some extra room for teammates in the playoffs, but let’s remember that this is a fourth-line player who has averaged about six goals and 11 minutes of ice time over the last four seasons.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 15, 2024 5:36:03 GMT -5
Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen sounds off on quality of MLB’s game balls: ‘It’s embarrassing’
By Mac Cerullo | mcerullo@bostonherald.com
April 14, 2024 at 6:26 p.m.
Though Kenley Jansen ultimately got the job done in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Angels, it’s undeniable he hasn’t been as steady as usual early in the season. The veteran has issued eight walks and hit a batter over 5.2 innings, and though his ERA is still a strong 1.54, he’s had to fight out of too many jams for comfort at this stage in the season.
Asked about his command issues following the game, Jansen took accountability for his performance but also unloaded on what he sees as a big part of the problem — the quality of the game ball.
“Zero excuses at this point. I’ve got to get better, but also, if you’re playing in cold weather and it’s windy, and you’re getting balls out there that aren’t rubbed well, I don’t know where the ball is going,” Jansen said. “I don’t hit guys, I don’t walk — I don’t walk people this much. I started getting frustrated and (upset) enough that at a point I didn’t care no more and any balls that came I threw back until I found a good ball. It’s just brutal.
“For me, yes, I have to get better, I’ll always to be accountable to myself, I’m going to get better, but if you have zero help and your bullpen balls are better rubbed than the game balls, it’s embarrassing,” he continued. “I’ve been playing in this league for a while and from the beginning of my career to now it’s getting worse.”
The perceived slickness of the ball has become a point of contention among pitchers over the past few seasons, especially in 2022 when the league introduced a new game ball and cracked down on the use of sticky substances. Jansen said this season’s balls have been an issue all year, both at home on the road, and between the smooth baseball and the pitch clock it’s been difficult to grip the ball and effectively locate his pitches.
Jansen said his solution to the problem has been to keep throwing balls back until he gets one he likes, but he doesn’t want to have to be ‘that guy’ and hopes the league will address the issue.
“I get it, we try to favor hitters now more to create offense, we all get it,” Jansen said. “At least give us some good balls, some quality balls to throw strikes, that’s all I’m asking.”
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Post by Kimmi on Apr 15, 2024 15:51:27 GMT -5
Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen sounds off on quality of MLB’s game balls: ‘It’s embarrassing’
By Mac Cerullo | mcerullo@bostonherald.com April 14, 2024 at 6:26 p.m. Though Kenley Jansen ultimately got the job done in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Angels, it’s undeniable he hasn’t been as steady as usual early in the season. The veteran has issued eight walks and hit a batter over 5.2 innings, and though his ERA is still a strong 1.54, he’s had to fight out of too many jams for comfort at this stage in the season. Kenley has had way too much drama closing out games. I'm not sure what's going on with the quality of the balls, but I'm not sure I've heard other pitchers complaining about it. |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 15, 2024 19:22:27 GMT -5
Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen sounds off on quality of MLB’s game balls: ‘It’s embarrassing’
By Mac Cerullo | mcerullo@bostonherald.com April 14, 2024 at 6:26 p.m. Though Kenley Jansen ultimately got the job done in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Angels, it’s undeniable he hasn’t been as steady as usual early in the season. The veteran has issued eight walks and hit a batter over 5.2 innings, and though his ERA is still a strong 1.54, he’s had to fight out of too many jams for comfort at this stage in the season. Kenley has had way too much drama closing out games. I'm not sure what's going on with the quality of the balls, but I'm not sure I've heard other pitchers complaining about it.
The only thing I hear other pitchers complain about is once in a while, the pitch clock, but that has been pretty tampered down.
I have stated since last year that Jansen should of been dealt. |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 20, 2024 10:38:16 GMT -5
SUNDAY BASEBALL NOTES
Scott Proefrock’s long baseball journey has landed him in Brockton
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated April 20, 2024, 16 minutes ago
Professional baseball took Scott Proefrock on a long journey for 35 seasons. He worked for the Pirates, Braves, Rays, Orioles, and Phillies, helping put together teams that went to the World Series and others that finished in last place.
Either way, he always embraced the experience.
“I had a great run,” Proefrock said. “Wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Now, at 64, baseball has taken him back home.
A Norwood native, Proefrock is president of the New England Knockouts of the independent Frontier League and the Brockton Rox of the Futures League. Both teams will play at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
He also oversees operations of a second Frontier League team, the Windy City Thunderbolts. All three clubs are owned by Brian Kahn.
“I’m trying to reestablish a presence in pro baseball and create some opportunities for others,” Proefrock said. “The idea is to benefit the players and bring good entertainment to families.”
Proefrock was born in Norwood, lived in upstate New York for a time, then returned to Massachusetts and graduated from Dennis-Yarmouth High before playing basketball at Cape Cod Community College.
He then graduated from William & Mary and accepted an accounting job in Richmond, Va.
But a career in sports was the ultimate goal. Proefrock earned a sports management degree at UMass and landed a job as a marketing intern with the Pirates. That led to some work in baseball operations because he was handy with a computer, a rarity at the time.
Positions with the Braves (scouting and player development), Rays (assistant general manager), Orioles (director of baseball administration), and Phillies (assistant general manager) followed.
He was fired by the Phillies in 2021 when president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski reconfigured the staff.
“Experience has become a four-letter word in the game,” Proefrock said. “It’s toxic.”
Proefrock worked as a blackjack dealer at casinos in Baltimore and York, Pa. He was also a bank teller for 10 months. A blackjack devotee, he enjoyed being on the other side of the table but stayed in touch with his contacts in baseball, and that led to the opportunity in Brockton.
Proefrock had many memorable moments in baseball. It was his idea for the Phillies to sign Pedro Martinez in 2009, which helped lead to a World Series berth. He had a big role in assembling the powerhouse Braves teams of the early ‘90s and was there when the Rays got off the ground as an expansion team.
Now he’ll work to help others live out their dreams — and has some old friends helping out.
Proefrock’s staff includes former major league pitching coaches Chuck Hernandez and Larry Rothschild.
Hernandez will work with the Knockouts and Rothschild with the Thunderbolts as consultants.
“They’ll help the coaching staff get better and help the players,” Proefrock said. “I want the players to have good memories of playing for us. These are guys who didn’t get drafted or had a cup of coffee in affiliated ball. They’re not playing for the money. They love the game.”
The Knockouts are managed by Jerod Edmondson, the former coach at Saint Anselm College. They open the season on May 10 at home.
The Knockouts have some interesting players. Righthander James Marinan was a fourth-round pick of the Dodgers who was traded to the Reds and made their 40-man roster before struggling.
Righthander Richard Brito has a triple-digit fastball but didn’t gain any traction with the Mets. The roster also includes Jake Boone, the son of former major leaguer Bret Boone and nephew of Yankees manager Aaron Boone. Jake Boone’s great-grandfather, the late Ray Boone, was a legendary Red Sox scout.
With Major League Baseball cutting back on the number of teams and players in the minor leagues, independent leagues have seen a boost in talent.
“The light comes on at different times for players,” Proefrock said. “Hopefully we can develop these guys and at the same time provide a good experience for the fans. I’m getting quite an education into everything that has to be done.
“But being back around baseball is very satisfying.”
SO GOOD, SO GOOD?
Red Sox lineups
tough to watch
The only thing you are guaranteed when you purchase a ticket for a major league baseball game is an official game. There are no guarantees your favorite player will be in the lineup or that your team will play well.
Things happen over the course of 162 games and sometimes you get a makeshift lineup.
That said, the Red Sox have to do better for their fans.
The lineup for Thursday’s game against the Guardians looked like something for a road game of a split-squad doubleheader in spring training.
Outside of Triston Casas and Jarren Duran, there weren’t many players the average fan could pick out of a lineup.
Related: An improbable path finally led pitcher Cam Booser to the majors
Connor Wong was the DH for his first time in his professional career. David Hamilton, whose career OPS was .507, batted sixth. Enmanuel Valdez was the cleanup hitter. He came into the game 7 of 49 with 17 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela batted ninth. He agreed to a $50 million contract extension and was 3 for 29 in his next nine games with one RBI.
The Sox used Brennan Bernardino as an opener and followed him with Cooper Criswell and Joe Jacques. The Sox fell behind, 5-1, and lost, 5-4.
Sox ownership cut payroll, raised some ticket prices, and have since tried to sell the idea that there’s some plan in place.
It’s not their fault Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Lucas Giolito, and others were injured. But it is their fault that the 40-man roster is loaded with marginal players. They’re selling a poor product as a result.
Meanwhile, the Sox are 7-21 in their last 28 games at Fenway Park and 42-49 over the last two seasons. The “Fenway experience” Tom Werner said the team could offer isn’t worth much these days.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ Josh Winckowski revealed in spring training he has been pitching with a bone chip in his right ankle since last season. The discovery came too late for Winckowski to have surgery and be ready for Opening Day, so he decided to play through it.
The righthander put 25 runners on base over 11⅔ innings in his first seven appearances. His velocity has dropped, too. Winckowski doesn’t believe his ankle is the cause, but something is clearly wrong.
▪ The Sox have had contract extension talks with Casas that so far have not resulted in a deal. If the team is smart, any extension would reflect the fact that the 24-year-old will probably become a designated hitter more sooner than later.
Casas plays first base like somebody who spent a lot of time working on his swing in the minors. He has poor instincts and reacts slowly as plays develop.
He also has a habit of drifting too far to his right on plays in the hole that would be better left for the second baseman. He’s still a liability in the field.
Whether it’s this season or next, a better defensive first baseman is needed. Casas also would give the team more power at DH than they get from Masataka Yoshida.
Of course, that raises the issue of what to do with Yoshida, who certainly hasn’t been close to what the Red Sox hoped and is signed for three more seasons at $55.8 million. He’s starting to profile like the next Rusney Castillo.
▪ Tanner Houck’s gem on Wednesday clocked in at 1:49. It was the shortest nine-inning game since June 2, 2010, when Detroit beat Cleveland in Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game.
Houck had not thrown a nine-inning shutout since Feb. 27, 2016, against Hofstra when he was playing for Missouri. That game was at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., the former spring training home of the Sox.
▪ The Sox released infielder Angel Pierre, who was the player to be named later from Kansas City in the still-curious trade for Adalberto Mondesi in 2023. Josh Taylor, who was sent to the Royals, is on the 60-day injured list with a biceps strain.
▪ Remember Bryce Brentz? He was a supplemental first-round pick of the Sox back in 2010. He made his debut in 2014 and ended up playing only 34 major league games.
But his second act in sports has been a big success.
Brentz went back to Middle Tennessee State to become the hitting and infield coach of the softball team. The Blue Raiders needed only 46 games to set a school record of 42 home runs. The old record was set in 2012.
Lexi Medlock hit the record homer. “I used to be a slapper and Coach Brentz made me into a hitter,” she told the school’s website.
Brentz and his wife, MTSU basketball Hall of Famer Anne-Marie Brentz, have two kids.
“Living the dream,” it says on his Instagram bio. Sounds like it.
ETC.
It is high,
it is far . . .
The news this past week that John Sterling had retired from calling Yankees games on the radio after 36 seasons was equal parts good and bad.
Good for Sterling that he was able to decide for himself when to stop, a luxury many broadcasters don’t have at the end of their careers. And bad for baseball because Sterling always remembered that the game was entertainment before it was anything else.
He referred to his over-the-top home run calls as “my act” and leaned into the theatrics of the game. Once you accepted that, he was fun to listen to.
The 85-year-old Sterling was to Yankees fans what Johnny Most was to Celtics fans, an announcer clearly playing to his audience and having great fun while doing it.
Did fans of other teams roll their eyes? Sure they did. But even they had to chuckle.
“He is one of a kind,” said Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione, who appeared with Sterling for yearly preseason events at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. N.Y.
Sterling’s dedication was unmatched. He called every game Derek Jeter played from 1995-2014, never taking a day off. He worked 5,450 regular-season games and 211 more in the playoffs.
Sterling wore a jacket and tie to games, sometimes accompanied by a scarf if there was a chill. He enjoyed bantering with fellow broadcasters, writers, fans, and other folks around the park. He is an old-school raconteur in that way.
Sterling came up with a personalized home run call for every Yankee that played off their name such as, “Bernie goes boom! Bern, baby, Bern!” for Bernie Williams.
But when the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske in 2009, nothing came to mind for him and it became a dilemma.
I had a blog at the time and ran a contest asking readers to come up with a call. The winner was, “Hinske with your best shot.”
Corny, for sure. But Sterling loved it, and when Hinske homered Sterling shouted it on the air, then admitted he had no idea what a blog was.
When I left the Yankees beat later that season to return home and work for the Globe, Sterling wished me well and always made it a point to say hello when the Sox played the Yankees.
Here’s hoping he enjoys his retirement. Baseball should celebrate its characters.
Extra bases
Sandy Koufax, 88, is now the only surviving member of the 1955 World Series champion Dodgers following the death of Carl Erskine at 97. Koufax was 19 that season and went 2-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 12 games, five of them starts. Erskine was the last of the “Boys of Summer” Dodgers who were the core of the team in the ‘40s and ‘50s . . . Rachel Robinson, who is 101, attended the Pirates-Mets game on Monday to mark Jackie Robinson Day. She was on the field before the game and visited the Mets in their clubhouse. Mrs. Robinson has carried her husband’s legacy with grace since his death in 1972 . . . The Diamondbacks took what seemed like a good gamble when they signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year, $80 million deal. Arizona executives Mike Hazen and Amiel Sawdaye know Rodriguez well from their time with the Red Sox, as did manager Torey Lovullo. Rodriguez also had a 3.58 ERA in 43 starts for the Tigers from 2022-23. But the lefthander strained a lat muscle in spring training and this past week was placed on the 60-day injured list. He’s eligible to return on May 24, but that is unlikely considering he’s not throwing. “We’re going to slow-play this,” Lovullo said . . . The home team won only 11 of the first 28 extra-inning games this season. The visitors are 122-107 in extra innings the last two years . . . The Orioles went into the weekend having avoided a sweep in 97 consecutive series. That’s the longest such streak since the Cardinals went 125 series from 1942-44 . . . Andrew McCutchen, 37, partially tore his left Achilles’ tendon last September but decided to come back for at least one more season. His home run against the Phillies last Sunday was the 300th of his career and 216th with the Pirates. Only three Hall of Famers — Willie Stargell (475), Ralph Kiner (301), and Roberto Clemente (240) — have more for the franchise. McCutchen also is one of 13 players in MLB history with at least 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 45 triples, 300 home runs, and 200 stolen bases. He’s the only active player on that list . . . The Rockies don’t get much right, such as deciding to use starting pitcher Kyle Freeland as a pinch runner against the Phillies this past week. The lefthander tried to score from third on a wild pitch and was out after sliding into the tag of Philadelphia pitcher Jeff Hoffman, a former teammate and a good friend. Freeland flopped on the ground like a landed fish and staggered into the dugout before going into the clubhouse favoring his right arm. Turns out he was fine . . . Funny note via Beyond the Box Score: Toronto prospect Hagen Danner merited having a card in the 2024 Topps Heritage set. But the photo was of Bradin Hagens, a pitcher who appeared in two games for the Diamondbacks in 2014 . . . In case you missed it, the NBA issued a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors for betting on games, disclosing information to bettors, and fixing prop bets by faking illness to play fewer minutes. This seems sure to happen eventually in baseball given the league’s embrace of gambling in ballpark advertising, pregame shows, and even on MLB Network. Gambling touts have been credentialed for field access before games, too. It’s just a matter of time before an unscrupulous player decides he wants his piece of the action . . . Happy birthday to Josh Rutledge, who is 35. The infielder played for the Red Sox from 2015-17, appearing in 104 games. He was first obtained from the Angels in 2015 for Shane Victorino. Rutledge signed with the Rockies after the 2016 season and went back to Boston via the Rule 5 Draft two weeks later. He started games at first, second, and third during his time with the Sox. Rutledge retired after the 2018 season. He has since worked for a biotech company, owned a car dealership, and is raising two kids with his wife, ESPN’s Laura Rutledge.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 21, 2024 5:27:27 GMT -5
Some Things I Think I Think: On the trouble posed by Red Sox’ run of injuries
Published: Apr. 21, 2024, 5:15 a.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
* How many more injuries can the Red Sox take?
For the time being, they’re without their four best hitters: Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas.
The plan is for Devers and O’Neill to return in a matter of days. But Story is done for the year, and Casas’ injury Saturday was ominous. Whether it’s a rib cage or an oblique issue, either can be both painful and long-lasting.
And speaking of ominous, three weeks into the season, Devers has now been sidelined by two different maladies: a left knee and left shoulder. One or the other or both could be something he has to manage for much of the season. Combined, the two problems have already forced Devers to miss nine of the first 22 games.
Then there’s O’Neill, battling a concussion, weeks after a calf muscle slowed him in spring training. His injury history is well-documented, with eight trips to the IL over the course of his career.
When the season began, the Red Sox’ offense qualified as slightly above-average. But that was before Story went down for the season, before the litany of injuries that soon followed. Without two of their four best offensive performers, the Red Sox’ lineup is greatly reduced; without all four, it’s not even major league-caliber.
With their frequently slipshod defense and inconsistent offense, the Red Sox have been kept afloat by the performance of their starting rotation, which sports a sparkling 1.71 ERA.
That isn’t sustainable, meaning the Red Sox better figure out how to catch the ball and/or score more when the starters regress to the mean. Ironically, Alex Cora had been reluctant to make the most obvious defensive upgrade — moving Ceddanne Rafaela to shortstop — with O’Neill unavailable.
Other teams are battling injuries, too, so the Red Sox run of bad luck is hardly unique. But it does pose an additional first-month challenge to a team that already had more than its share.
* A special bond exists between local play-by-play broadcasters and the fan bases they serve. They visit living rooms nightly, follow fans in the car, travel with them to the beach and backyard. And become almost like friends who never actually meet.
We were reminded of that earlier in the week with the sudden surprise retirement announcements from Jack Edwards here in Boston and John Sterling in New York.
Both could be polarizing, to be sure — Edwards with his hyper-partisan tone and dramatic soliloquies at the conclusion of big games or series, and Sterling with his patented home run calls and final out pronouncements.
But nobody could ever accuse either Edwards and Sterling of being vanilla. They exuded passion and had a certain unmistakable style. And there was never any question about where their loyalties lied — Edwards and Sterling wanted their respective teams to win and weren’t shy about showing it.
If you weren’t a Bruins fan — and maybe even if you were — some of Edwards’ calls could seem over-the-top. But within the context of the telecast, they somehow fit. Meanwhile, it didn’t matter that Sterling’s “It is high....it is far....it is gone!” wasn’t always the most accurate description. It was all part of what Sterling once candidly labeled his “act.”
The sad thing, of course, is that Edwards and Sterling wanted to continue the jobs they loved, but were curtailed by health issues. It’s too bad they couldn’t go out on their own terms, at full capacity.
But we won’t soon forget either, which, when you think about it, is the ultimate compliment for their profession.
* Whose seat is hotter as the TD Garden turns into Playoff Central — Jim Montgomery or Joe Mazzulla? I’d say Mazzulla. The Bruins, while giant playoff flops last spring, overachieved during the regular season in what was supposed to be something of a transition year. Meanwhile, the Celtics finished with the best record in the NBA and enter the postseason as, at the very least, Eastern Conference favorites. The Celts have lost in the conference finals twice and the Finals once in the last four years and patience is running low.
* For a guy who was born in what was then Czechoslovakia and played for two other franchises before joining the Bruins, Zdeno Chara has become quite the Bostonian in retirement. Chara ran the marathon (again) last week, regularly takes part in local philanthropic endeavors and enjoys dropping into the Garden. It’s like he’s lived here all his life.
* No truth to the rumor that the Patriots are considering changing their team entrance song from Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” to the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers.”
* We should all have the kind of loyalty and devotion from our bosses that the Red Sox inexplicably have for Joely Rodriguez.
* Tough call for Montgomery when it comes to his goalie rotation. Linus Ullmark has the better of the two since the All-Star break and has more postseason experience, but Jeremy Swayman played superbly against Toronto throughout the regular season. No matter which way he goes, Montgomery opens himself up to second-guessing.
* Sugar, on Apple TV, is a noirish series set in L.A. with strong performances from Colin Farrell, James Cromwell and Amy Ryan and well worth your time.
* Is the NFL draft over yet?
* We might wait a long time to find a better human interest story than Cam Booser’s Friday night. Not since 1945 had a Red Sox player make his debut at such an advanced age. His journey is one of perseverance and resilience, having left the game for several years. And the shot of him on NESN, sitting in the dugout postgame, overcome by emotion, was moving beyond words.
* My concern for the Celtics would be this: drawing an first- or second-round opponent with a physical center who could make things rough and tough on Kristaps Porzingis, softening him up for later rounds.
* RIP to Dickey Betts, ex- of the Allman Brothers Band. His fluid guitar playing was the perfect complement to Duane Allman, and he wrote “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” the live version of which on At Fillmore East may well have been the band’s apogee. May they all be only Blue Skies from here on, Dickey.
* Playoff predictions: Bruins over the Maple Leafs in seven. First-round matchups in the NHL are never easy and this won’t be either. Celtics over the Heat in five. First-round matchups in the NBA are always easy and this will be, too.
* Things I did not expect to see: Bill Belchick, almost giddy while appearing on Pat McAfee’s ESPN show. But he sure did seem to have given his background shot some extensive thought.
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Post by Kimmi on Apr 21, 2024 8:11:08 GMT -5
Some Things I Think I Think: On the trouble posed by Red Sox’ run of injuries
Published: Apr. 21, 2024, 5:15 a.m. By Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com * How many more injuries can the Red Sox take? For the time being, they’re without their four best hitters: Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas. Not to mention 3 of our 5 starting pitchers in Gioloto, Pivetta, and Whitlock. The fact that we're doing as good as we are is quite remarkable. On any given day, our lineup likely has 4 out of the 9 hitters batting below .200, albeit a short sample. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Casas is not out for a long time. |
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Apr 21, 2024 19:10:53 GMT -5
Some Things I Think I Think: On the trouble posed by Red Sox’ run of injuries
Published: Apr. 21, 2024, 5:15 a.m. By Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com * How many more injuries can the Red Sox take? For the time being, they’re without their four best hitters: Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas. Not to mention 3 of our 5 starting pitchers in Gioloto, Pivetta, and Whitlock. The fact that we're doing as good as we are is quite remarkable. On any given day, our lineup likely has 4 out of the 9 hitters batting below .200, albeit a short sample. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Casas is not out for a long time. Todays' lineup had 4 guys with an OPS of less than .500, plus Heineman. |
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Post by Kimmi on Apr 22, 2024 17:00:35 GMT -5
Not to mention 3 of our 5 starting pitchers in Gioloto, Pivetta, and Whitlock. The fact that we're doing as good as we are is quite remarkable. On any given day, our lineup likely has 4 out of the 9 hitters batting below .200, albeit a short sample. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Casas is not out for a long time. Todays' lineup had 4 guys with an OPS of less than .500, plus Heineman. Absolutely unreal. And yet, they somehow managed to score 6 runs. |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 26, 2024 5:29:47 GMT -5
MLB Notebook: How this season could represent an opportunity for Alex Cora
Published: Apr. 26, 2024, 6:00 a.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
To say that expectations were modest for the 2024 Red Sox would be an understatement. Few people had reason to believe they would avoid finishing in the AL East basement for the third consecutive season.
Then, the injuries hit. Lucas Giolito and Trevor Story were lost for the year, and Triston Casas seems destined to miss almost half of it. And that doesn’t include the short-term losses of Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello.
Remarkably, through almost one-sixth of the schedule, the Red Sox remain competitive. It’s true that many of their wins have come against teams with winning records, and there’s the troubling level of play at Fenway. But for now, the Red Sox are punching above their weight. Whether that’s sustainable over the next five months is very much open to debate.
But if the Red Sox can continue to overachieve despite the loss of manpower, Alex Cora stands to be a big beneficiary.
Cora, of course, is on the final year of his contract, and for the time being, there’s no indication of an in-season contract extension in the works. Craig Breslow seems quite content to sit back and evaluate Cora’s performance before determining whether to continue their working relationship. For his part, Cora seems almost indifferent about an extension, going so far as to refuse to commit to wanting to return in a spring training press conference.
Cora knows that whether Breslow wishes to retain him or not, they’ll be a market for his services after the season. Craig Counsell took the unorthodox step of marking himself as a free agent manager and landed himself a five-year, $40 million deal from the Chicago Cubs.
Some believe Cora could top that figure next winter, though as one baseball official recently noted: “Depends on who’s hiring.” Translation: if some big-market teams like the Dodgers or Yankees are in the market for a manager, Cora’s value could quickly escalate.
Already, Cora is an attractive candidate to interested teams. He’s widely recognizes as a good communicator, and that’s literally true given that he’s also bilingual. He’s also seen as a good in-game strategist. And, finally, he’s won a World Series. The latter might be especially attractive to teams like, yep, the Dodgers and Yankees, who, while dominant in the regular season, have one title between them over the last 15 years.
What Cora doesn’t have on his resume, however, is the demonstrated ability to make bad teams better. After posting winning records in each of his first three seasons with two post-season appearances, Cora has directed the Red Sox to two last-place finishes. In both 2022 and 2023, his Red Sox clubs were nominally in the playoff race at the trade deadline, only to freefall out of contention both times.
Worse, his teams have exhibited poor fundamentals, marked by sloppy baserunning and poor situational awareness. Such shortcomings don’t reflect well on a manager, and the last two seasons have damaged Cora’s reputation across the game.
Good managers win when presented with sufficient talent. Great managers find a way to get the most of whatever level of talent they’re given.
So far, Cora and new pitching coach Andrew Bailey have coaxed improvement from an uncertain rotation and Cora has somehow patched together winning lineups in the aftermath of a rash of injuries. He’s been honest about his team’s defensive shortcomings while remaining committed to struggling players. He’s been clear in saying that he won’t allow injuries as an excuse for another lousy season.
There’s a long way to go and worth noting that teams beset by injuries often manage to keep it together for a while before ultimately succumbing to a lack of talent.
If, on the other hand, Cora keeps the Red Sox relevant for much of the season, his stock will only soar and he’ll have checked the lone remaining box on his curriculum vitae. He might even do enough in this transitional year to warrant an offer from Breslow.
Then again, whether he wants one is uncertain.
_________________________________________
Meanwhile, former Red Sox manager Terry Francona is adapting to a life of leisure. For the first time in his adult life, he’s not scouting, coaching, managing or broadcasting and is trying to adapt to a more languid pace.
Francona was the baseball version of a gym rat: at the ballpark many hours before he had to be, because he loved being in the clubhouse environment and around people in the game. Now, he has no responsibilities, and nowhere he has to be.
And so far, at least, that’s been fine.
“It hasn’t been, I think, what people expected, you know,” said Francona on the latest episode of MassLive’s podcast, Fenway Rundown. “I mean, I’m still trying to figure out — what parts of the game I’ll miss and that’s OK. After 40 years, you should miss something, but I think I was ready for it. That’s the thing — I don’t know if people understand it, all the things that go into maybe making you a productive manager. It was becoming harder and harder and I didn’t want to overstay my welcome and didn’t want to be the old guy that was kind of bitter, things like that.
“So I thought the timing was actually pretty good and, and as we get into it, if there’s things I really miss, there’s probably ways to stay busy enough without overdoing it.”
Francona was — and is — intensely competitive and I wondered if he feels an emptiness when 7:10 p.m. comes around every night and he no longer has an investment in the outcome of a game.
“I certainly keep an eye on what the guys (in Cleveland) are doing, Francona said. “I might have a text from somebody or something. And what I’ve been catching myself doing is, putting on the baseball package, seeing what game is close and then watching the last couple of innings and I’ve really enjoyed it. But no, I don’t have that itch and, you know, I know I talked to you last year, but I thought (retirement) through pretty thoroughly. I was ready for this and I think it may be a surprise to people, but I just was ready to maybe not be quite as busy.”
Still, some Hall of Fame-level managers have come out of retirement before, including Earl Weaver, Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa, each of whom thought they were through, only to return several years later. Can Francona definitively shut the door on such a move?
“I’m not sure I have a great answer for that,” said Francona. “I mean, I retired with the idea that I was retiring. I don’t know if I’d ever say never, just because I don’t know that that makes a whole lot of sense, but that’s not the plan. The plan is, I retired and try to remind myself of things that were getting hard for me because it’s easy when you’re away and you’re not busy and you feel good.. You go, ‘Oh, man, I could (still) do this.’
“But you gotta be all in and it was becoming harder for me to be all in.”
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Despite Cora’s protestations about the role of Masataka Yoshida, it’s hard not to think that Yoshida’s career with the Red Sox is already at something of a crossroads.
Signed to a (surprising) five-year, $90 million deal by the Red Sox in December of 2022, Yoshida had a rather mediocre first season (.289/.338/.445) with the Sox. He didn’t show much power (15 homers) and didn’t walk as much as anticipated (5.9 percent, well below the MLB average).
Worse, he was a disaster in the outfield, showing little range in left field, to go with a weak throwing arm.
In response, the Red Sox made the decision to place more of an emphasis on outfield defense and made Yoshida the de facto regular DH. Or so it seemed. The hope was that, after a year of adjustments to the culture, the schedule and the travel that comes with playing in the big leagues and freed of defensive responsibilities, Yoshida could become more of an offensive force.
That hasn’t happened in 2024. Not even close.
Instead, Yoshida has fallen into some bad habits at the plate, frequently rolling over on pitches without showing much pop. He has just five extra-base hits (three doubles, two homers) in 72 at-bats while striking out almost twice as much as he’s walked.
Of course, less than a month into the season is far too soon to make a definitive determination about a player’s future. But his usage in 2024 has been noteworthy.
Thursday marked the sixth time in the last eight games that Yoshida was out of the lineup. He’s started only three games since April 15.
Cora can point all he wants to unique circumstances and needing to use the DH spot to ease both Tyler O’Neill (concussion) and Rafael Devers (knee/shoulder) back into the lineup. But what about using Tyler Heineman — a career backup catcher, know far more for his defensive contributions — as the DH over Yoshida last weekend in Pittsburgh?
The expectation was that Yoshida would learn from his first season in North America, in much the way that Seiya Suzuki did with the Chicago Cubs. Suzuki had a mediocre first year with the Cubs in 2022 (.770 OPS), but improved in his his second year (.842 OPS) and got off to a strong start this season (.893 OPS) before heading for the IL recently.
That hasn’t happened with Yoshida. It’s also painfully obvious that the Sox will go to great lengths to avoid using him in the outfield. Through the first 26 games, Yoshida has had his fielding glove on for exactly one (1) inning, on a night when the Sox otherwise ran out of position players.
What’s next? After ths season, the Red Sox owe Yoshida another $54 million through 2027. If the Red Sox were to try to move him, they would have to pay off a good chunk of that remaining money to facilitate a deal being made.
In the past, the Red Sox would occasionally eat the money remaining on a bad contract — Pablo Sandoval is the most obvious example — but such a move feels like a lifetime ago. A half-dozen seasons ago, the team might have swallowed hard and moved on; an $18 million player wasn’t going to constrain them in their pursuit of a more competitive roster. But now? It’s hard to envision the more budget-conscious ownership giving the green light to such a move.
One thing seems clear: using Yoshida as sparingly as he is now is not helpful, either to his team or his own market value. He’s currently little more than a pretty expensive spare part.
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It surely can’t be a coincidence, but many of the free agents who held out the longest, right into the latter stages of spring training, are dealing with injury issues.
Blake Snell is on the IL after suffering from an adductor strain. J.D. Martinez has yet to make his debut for the New York Mets as he deals with chronic back issues. Cody Bellinger is out for an extended period of time because of a fractured rib.
Obviously, injuries are sometimes random occurrences and it’s not as if the injury bug has bitten only late-to-sign players; Triston Casas, who worked hard all last winter and was among the first position players to report to camp, is dealing with a fractured rib, just like Bellinger.
But the list of players who hurried to get ready after signing late now dealing with physical setbacks suggests there’s a price to pay for shortening up spring training. Snell didn’t have a single appearance in the minor leagues before making his debut with the San Francisco Giants. He made three starts, pitched poorly (0-3, 11.97) before hitting the IL.
All three of players cited, by the way, are represented by agent Scott Boras, who was forced to take shorter and smaller contractual terms for his clients, only to then see them sidelined by physical setbacks.
Whether that lesson is learned for next offseason remains to be seen.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 27, 2024 8:56:28 GMT -5
SUNDAY BASEBALL NOTES
As a player, Stephen Vogt already was preparing to become a major league manager
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated April 27, 2024, 4 minutes ago
Stephen Vogt played for, among others, Bruce Bochy, Craig Counsell, Torey Lovullo, Joe Maddon, and Bob Melvin during his 10 seasons in the majors.
His mentors in the minor leagues included two future major league managers in Charlie Montoyo and Matt Quatraro.
“I’m a hybrid of everybody I played for, including my minor league managers,” said Vogt, the 39-year-old rookie manager of the Cleveland Guardians. “I learned stuff from all of those guys and my coaches and my teammates.”
But the person who influenced him the most, even when it came to baseball, was his father. Randy Vogt pitched at Fresno State then coached his son in tee-ball and again in high school.
“My father taught me to love baseball. He taught me how to respect the game,” Vogt said. “Respect the people who played before you; respect the generations before you and just make the game a better place than before you got there.
“That’s what I learned most from my father. He was a great coach and mentor. It didn’t matter if you were the best player on the team or the lowest on the depth chart. Treat everybody the same and that’s what I try to embody.”
Those lessons served him well. Vogt retired after the 2022 season and was the Mariners’ bullpen and quality control coach last season. He then was named manager of the Guardians in early November, replacing Terry Francona.
The last player to become a manager that quickly was Larry Bowa, who retired after the 1985 season and became manager of the Padres in 1987.
Bowa was fired 46 games into the 1988 season. Vogt seems to have a better handle on the job. The Guardians were 18-7 after beating the Red Sox on Thursday, the best record in the American League.
The Guardians have thrived despite losing ace Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery after only two starts. Ben Lively stepped into the rotation and beat the Sox twice.
“[Vogt] just told us to keep going,” Lively said. “We have a great group.”
Good health has played a role, too. The Guardians have had the same 13 position players since Opening Day. All but one (backup catcher Austin Hedges) has appeared in at least 12 games.
The Guardians also have enjoyed a favorable schedule, winning eight games against the Athletics and White Sox. It’s a team that plays well as a unit, has a star player in José Ramirez, and a deep bullpen anchored by Emmanuel Clase.
The Guardians have made the postseasons five times in the last eight seasons. They’re used to winning.
“I’m enjoying it,” said Vogt during a chat in his office before a recent game. “It’s been busy but I prepared for this job for a long time.”
A self-described “pen and paper guy,” Vogt started keeping notes early in his playing career, filling several notebooks with observations about the game and managerial strategy.
Now he has 14 coaches and a group of analysts who provide support.
“The game has changed,” Vogt said. “There are so many numbers, so many different things. But they’re just tools at the end of the day. It’s still baseball. The players have to go out and play.”
Communicating with the players, from Ramirez to the last man on the bench, comes easily given his background.
Vogt was a two-time All-Star who appeared in six postseason games. But he also played for six teams and was traded, released, designated for assignment, and selected off waivers along the way.
“Baseball is the most personal sport there is out there,” he said. “It’s all about you as an individual. You don’t do your individual job, then the team is not going to win.
“So I think because I’ve been through the struggles, because I’ve been up and down, I can relate to all these guys. I just want to help the next generation of baseball players get better.”
The idea is to make the people around him feel appreciated, something Francona was so adept at as a manager.
Francona is a special adviser to the Guardians but stayed away from the team during spring training so Vogt would have his space. But they have spoken multiple times.
“Asking him advice on things around this organization. Just thanking him for leaving this place the way he did. I feel like I inherited a gem,” Vogt said.
“[Francona] said, I’m never gonna look over your shoulder. But I’m here if you need me and so I’ve called him a number of times.”
Liam Hendriks played with Vogt from 2016-17, when both were with Oakland. He knew then that Vogt would manage.
“It was one of the most obvious things to see in baseball,” Hendriks said. “Where he was in his career and how he was going about doing it, you knew. His career path has not exactly been a linear line. He got a chance to play [in the majors] and really made the most of it. It’s been fantastic to see.”
The Guardians have several players who are only a few years younger than Vogt. But it hasn’t been awkward.
“I like to use the term, ‘Treat everybody fairly, not equally,’ ” he said. “I talk to these guys the way I talked to my teammates. It might be coming from a different seat in the room but I’m going to ask them different questions than maybe I ask a younger guy.”
In time, that will be less of an issue.
“The further away I get from being a current player, the less street cred I get,” Vogt said. “I’m very, very aware of that and that’ll be OK.”
HIS TURN
Abreu looks to roots as he shines for Sox
Like many Venezuelan players of his generation, Wilyer Abreu has vast respect for Miguel Cabrera.
But when asked about other players from his country he looks up to, it was a pleasant surprise when the 24-year-old Red Sox outfielder mentioned Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio.
Aparicio, who turns 90 on Monday, is from Maracaibo. That’s the same city Abreu calls home. Aparicio retired in 1973 after ending his career with three seasons in Boston. Abreu has heard the stories and knows what he accomplished.
“A great player people still talk about where I’m from. He’s the face of the city,” Abreu said through a translator. “Playing in Boston, and in Fenway Park where he played, means a lot to me.”
Abreu was 8 for 63 in spring training and struck out 26 times. He struggled in the first three series of the regular season but went into the weekend having hit .386 with a 1.143 OPS in his previous 13 games.
“It was my timing,” Abreu said. “I wasn’t worried about it. It was part of the process. I had to be disciplined.”
Abreu was well-coached in the Astros organization. In addition to how he hits, he’s an above-average outfielder with a strong arm who can steal a base when needed.
Now that Cabrera has retired, Abreu identified Ronald Acuña Jr. as the best of Venezuela.
“I want to be a player people know, too,” Abreu said. “I’m working as hard as I can.”
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ Alex Cora has embraced the idea of becoming a free agent and this will likely be his final season with the Red Sox. That has been obvious since spring training.
Whether it’s managing another team or taking on a media role, Cora is ready for a change. He entered the weekend having managed 836 with the Sox. Outside of Terry Francona, that’s the most for any Sox manager since Pinky Higgins, who ran the team from 1955-62.
Cora was hired by Dave Dombrowski in 2017, when the Red Sox were in the business of winning the World Series. Now they’re a team somewhere in the middle that would do well to finish above .500.
But Cora is locked in on the present. He has refused to let the players use all of the injuries as an excuse and has manipulated the roster to squeeze out victories.
Cora wants players such as Jarren Duran to come to the park expecting to play every day. Teams such as the Mariners, Rangers, and Braves push their best players to stay on the field. Why can’t the Sox?
“We have the pitching to compete,” Cora said this past week. “That’s the biggest thing. We have to keep going. Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Boston Red Sox.”
▪ The Red Sox could use a righthanded-hitting utility player who can give them more offense than Pablo Reyes. Romy Gonzalez, who has 88 games of major league experience, fits the mold but is out with a sprained left wrist that has been slow to heal.
How about Jamie Westbrook? The 28-year-old has yet to play in the majors but was a tough at-bat in spring training and has professional experience at every position except catcher, pitcher, and center field.
Westbrook had an .800 OPS through 21 games for Worcester and last season had an .897 OPS for the Yankees in Triple A and hit 21 home runs.
▪ Masataka Yoshida can’t catch a break lately. He was credited with a double against the Pirates on April 20 on a ball down the left field line at PNC Park. But the official scorer’s decision was changed to an error on left fielder Jack Suwinski, who lost the ball in the sun and had the ball tumble out of his glove.
ETC.
Miller comes out of nowhere
Mason Miller is proof that good pitchers are out there. You just have to find them.
Miller, 25, played at Division 3 Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania from 2017-20, going 10-11 with a 4.31 ERA as a starter. He started slow, then learned after his sophomore year that he had Type 1 diabetes.
Regulating his blood sugar allowed Miller to gain weight and his velocity soared. His gaudy strikeout numbers caught the attention of Gardner-Webb, a small Division 1 school. Miller took his extra year of pandemic eligibility there and was 8-1 with a 3.30 ERA.
The Athletics selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft and Miller made his debut last season. A nice story turned into a sensation this season. Miller struck out 23 over his first nine games and 11⅓ innings with six saves.
He has averaged 100.7 miles per hour with his four-seam fastball he combines with an 87.5-m.p.h. slider. He hits 101 routinely. At 6 feet 5 inches, Miller also is an intimidating presence on the mound.
The Guardians scored two runs off Miller on March 30. He then reeled off eight scoreless outings in a row, striking out 22 over 10⅓ innings.
Pitching at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, Miller struck out Juan Soto swinging at a 101.9-m.p.h. fastball, then ended the game getting Aaron Judge on a fly ball with his slider.
Miller hit 103.3 against the Yankees on Monday, striking out Anthony Volpe, Soto, and Judge to end the game. Judge looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Special fastball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Miller faced the Red Sox in Oakland on April 2. He went two innings and struck out Wilyer Abreu, Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill, and Connor Wong along the way.
Asked about Miller’s fastball, Devers’ eyes went wide.
“Woooo,” he said.
Woooo, indeed. Here’s hoping Miller stays healthy. Athletics fans don’t have much to cheer about, but they may have the best closer in the game.
Extra bases
Paul Skenes has started five games for Triple A Indianapolis and allowed one earned run on 10 hits over 17 innings with five walks and 34 strikeouts. Yes, that’s correct. The 21-year-old righthander has recorded 51 outs, 34 of them strikeouts. Skenes would not seem to have much to prove in the minors, but the Pirates are being careful with the first pick of the 2023 draft. They want to control his innings in such a way that he’s still available in September and not shut down. Skenes pitched 129⅓ innings last season counting his season at LSU and three brief minor league appearances, so it would seem the Pirates have room to work with. According to general manager Ben Cherington, there’s no innings number Skenes has to hit to take the next step. It’s more about how he’s refining himself as a pitcher. “He’s still working on pitches and trying to get better,” Cherington said. “We appreciate and respect how good he wants to be. He’ll challenge himself and he’ll challenge us on that, too.” . . . Blake Snell allowed 15 runs on 18 hits over 11⅔ innings in his first three starts with the Giants after waiting until March 19 to sign and is now on the injured list with an adductor strain (in the groin and thigh area) on his left side . . . For a player on a new team who was quickly caught up in a scandal involving his translator, Shohei Ohtani is the same player on the field. He had a 1.089 OPS in his first 27 games with the Dodgers and this past week sent a homer into the second deck at Nationals Park with an exit velocity of 118.7 m.p.h. It was the hardest-hit ball of his career and a Dodgers record in the Statcast era. If there is a flaw, it’s that Ohtani opened the season 5 of 28 with runners in scoring position . . . MLB is bringing back Players Weekend for the first time since 2019. But the league has tweaked the format to turn the focus to charitable endeavors, off-field interests, and other personality traits. The event runs Aug. 16-18. The players will wear caps with their number on the side in a “youthful design.” They also can wear personalized cleats and use custom-designed bats. Nicknames on the back of jerseys won’t be back . . . Mike Trout hit 10 home runs and stole five bases through the first 25 games for the Angels, the first time he’s done that since 2018. Since 1900, only Trout and Reggie Jackson (1969 and ‘74 for Oakland) have accomplished that. Trout went into the weekend with 378 homers, 76th all time . . . Ronald Acuña Jr. had 191 stolen bases through Friday, a record for the Atlanta Braves. The modern-day franchise record of 240 belongs to Hank Aaron, with Fred Tenney (196) and Rabbit Maranville (194) also ahead of Acuña. The franchise was in Boston (1876-1952) and Milwaukee (1953-65) before moving to Atlanta . . . Happy birthday to Rick Burleson, who turns 73 on Monday. “Rooster” played for the Red Sox from 1974-80 before he was traded to the Angels. Burleson was the fifth overall pick of the 1970 secondary draft out of Earl Warren High in Downey, Calif. He was in the majors at 23 and started 108 games at shortstop and second base for manager Darrell Johnson. Burleson received MVP votes for the 1975 Sox and was an All-Star from 1977-79. A shoulder injury limited Burleson to 206 games from 1982-87. From 1989-2006, Burleson was a major league coach and minor league manager with the Athletics, Red Sox, Angels, and Dodgers. One of his pupils was 21-year-old Justin Turner with the Rookie League Billings Mustangs in 2006.
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