Lillian

All swinging K's

How nice of you guys, who have welcomed me back to the forum. I do appreciate it. I've been reading posts, the whole time, but just haven't participated in the discussions. Thanks

Yes, it's gratifying to see that the front office recognizes the importance of line up balance and the value of left handed hitters. It's not rocket science. Most hitters hit pitches from the opposite side better than from the same side. As we know, that's because the breaking balls are typically of the "back door" variety, when coming from the opposite side of the plate. That allows a hitter to keep his front shoulder closed, and avoid bailing on breaking balls. Combined with the fact that there are far more RH pitchers, than southpaws, it's obvious why left handed hitters are so coveted. This current Sox roster has a nice mix of both right handed and left handed hitters. Braden will further enhance that balance, if he can be effective when batting right handed. So far, his splits don't suggest that to be the case. That might be the most important reason to keep him in AAA.

Let's hope that those in charge have the best ability to determine when Braden is ready for the promotion. That said, if he's ready, it's fun to think about the following potential line up, after the All Star break: LF Antonacci !B Murakami 3B Vargas SS C. Montgomery C Teel RF B. Montgomery 2B Gonzales DH Pereira / Benintendi CF Peters

Yes, it's very gratifying to see that the front office appears to have made a concerted effort to create better balance in the lineup. At this point, the Sox might need a little more power from the right side. Roch, or Lackey would address that need.

Has anyone mentioned Roch's extraordinary propensity to get hit by pitches? if you subtract the 15 more HBP's for Roch, compared to Lackey's, the disparity in their OBP numbers is even greater. Getting hit so frequently may be acceptable for a guy like Antonacci, but not for a valued top of the Draft SS. Getting hit 24 times in 60 games is not conducive to avoiding injury.

I just thought that, given the ages, prospect rankings and ETA;s of the pitchers the Sox just acquired, that they might be expected to contribute next season. Those factors, coupled with the lack of any other Minor League arms that are ready, and ownership's unwillingness to hand out long term contracts to pitchers, suggested to me that they might go ahead and use these guys to fill out the rotation. However, your responses have dissuaded me of the notion. Thanks.

Assuming Clevinger does not return, do you think that next year's rotation will be Cease, Kopech, Toussant, Eder and Nastrini, with Bush being the 6TH man? Eder and Nastrini are currently ranked as the Sox' # 4 and 5 prospects, respectively and are projected to be in the Majors next year, so it would seem that they will likely join the rotation. No other Sox starters look ready to be promoted. Perhaps Davis Martin, once he fully recovers from his TJS. I wonder where Grant Taylor will be ranked, once the new draft class is included. In any case he will probably not be projected to be in the Majors until 2025, at the earliest.

With Moncada on the IL and Colas back in the Minors, this lineup is once again void of left handed power. Grandal and Sheets are the only options and that is pretty underwhelming. We all knew that this roster was poorly constructed, but it looks even worse than many of us thought.

I'm still waiting for that middle of the order LH bat. If Hahn doesn't acquire one, who is going to fill that role? Once you ponder that question, the urgency should become more apparent. To me, that is a bigger void than the hole at second base. The 3 through 5 hitters are all right handed; Robert, Eloy and Vaughn. The current choices to break up that string of RH hitters consists of Sheets, Grandal (providing he is healthy enough to catch), Moncada and Colas. Does anyone think that any of those guys should be counted upon to bat in the middle of the order?

It's Xavier Fernandez. He was also in the Royals farm system, before coming to the Sox. He resigned, after having split time last season, at Birmingham and Charlotte.

Is the new restriction on shifting likely to help Benintendi? How often have opposing teams shifted on him?

I love that. Exactly. The Sox need a left handed hitter, not a left handed "wiffer".

Last season, the biggest weakness of this team was offense. How does losing their best hitter to free agency and then adding Joey Gallo do anything to strengthen that weakness? That would only leave second base, as a hole to fill, which is not likely to net any significant improvement in scoring runs. The only other pathways to a better offense wold then be better performance from the current core and, or trades.