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I have speculated since examining his stats after acquiring him against lefties he seems more suited to facing lefties who are fly ball pitchers. Sox might see how he does and selectively choose which LHP's he will face.

Over on everything.

The 2019 numbers were pretty good. I don't what what you mean by toast because he knows how to hit especially when it comes to driving in runs. He;s a professional hitter through and through. I'll just go over on everything mostly because he's now hitting in a lineup that doesn't actually suck.

Well I'm 62 and already have COPD from smoking and a bad immune system so If I disappear the Corona Virus got me. PS. I have to live my life. The only way, so far, it's affecting me is the yo-yoing of the stock market.

I wouldn't exactly say his for the season barring injury or trade . Bad performance will certainly be a factor and a team that wants to contend cannot let bad performances drag the team down for too long. Winning does not just happen . and the bullpen needs to be strong and show a lot more depth this year when injuries and bad performances crop up and they surely will. I do like the young arms I have seen this off season from our system .

You seem like a polite intelligent baseball fan who writes with a calm demeanor and style of a bygone era. , That's all I really need to give you respect. The same people that complain about italics are like crazy little old ladies. Who cares ? Its a stylized fond easy enough on the eyes and readable. If it's annoying time to check your blood pressure if things of minor consequence are truly bothersome. Why do such things even need to be attacked ? Why is different bad ?

Another hard one. As is the case with Moncada a great year is hard to improve upon. Once you put back to back great years together it's time to expect it every year.Higher on the IP less fWAR and a higher ERA. 3.20 is really good for an AL starting pitcher.

Moncada is a hard one. He made the necessary adjustments last year but now it's the pitchers turns. If he is truly an elite type player like we saw last year then you could be right and he beats everything. He might see more junk and maybe he hits best when he is hitting earlier in the count and hitting the 1st good pitches he sees. I expect him to see a lot less good pitches. But that will be the case with a lot of our hitters so they need to take their walks . I'll still go higher on OPS and fWAR but 26 HR's seems about right. I think his batting average is lower so he'll have to walk more but how will that affect his K 's and the aggressiveness he showed that led to a great year in 2019 ?

I look at Mazara and see so much talent. Nice swing , goes with pitches, tremendous power but he still hits too many ground balls. I was hoping he could change that . This is why he was available cheap. It was a good gamble because the talent is through the roof . Well it is spring so why not be optimistic and say over on all Zips.

You are doing great so far. Keep up the good work. The responses might be minimal but it's an interesting thread. Hard to say how Robert will do once he faces everyone's good starting pitching and relievers. I think he'll definitely beat the fWAR and his Slg. should be good with his speed getting some hustle doubles and could lead the league in triples. His bat speed is very good and makes hard loud contact. It's just a matter of how he adjusts to pitchers not throwing him strikes and his ability to lay off all the breaking balls and change ups he will be seeing. I'll say over on all the ZIPS.

Or the bullpen. If Colome fails they have to move to Bummer or Cishek fairly quickly to closer and guys like Marshall and Cordero don't inspire a high degree of confidence. I like what I see out of some of the youngsters. A Burdi comeback would be huge.

"All Time High" is also Rita Coolidge's most commercially successful song although she hasn't had many but always considered a very strong presence in music . ALso the theme song from the Bond film Octopussy !

You better bring back the Yermin thread. It fell to the 2nd page. Come on show me you are really Yearnin' !

All time highs can always go higher too but that would be a future all time high not a present all time high. Drug users know this.

Had 2 televised games to choose from today. Both Sox wins. I watched the Sox /Padres game . Reylo looked pretty good.

People just like to get the early lead on declaring someones career over. Players who suck in spring might actually suck in season just as players who suck in spring might actually do great in season. For me its players who suck in spring will be great and players who do great in spring will be great. That way everybody will be great. That's what Spring is for. After all the Tigers are leading MLB in spring HR's.

Cuthbert and Mercedes tied for the spring lead with 3 HR each. Collins and Engel with 2 each. Collins leads with 8 walks and a .542 OBP and a 1.292 OPS Engel leads with 11RBI. Batting average Luis Gonzalez .438 followed by Engel and Robert .370 , Mazara .368 . Cuthbert .360 , Mercedes and Vaughn .350 . Mercedes leads with an .850 SLG. followed by Cuthbert .760, Collins .750 , Engel .667 , Robert .630, Vaughn .600 and Mazara .570 . All of the above have an OPS over 1.000 . As you can see there is not a regular besides Mazara in the bunch so if you take spring training stats seriously then our regulars are bad but our bench and prospects are really good, Right now I only take the good stuff seriously ! Our regulars are great and so is our bench and hitting prospects !

Trade him if they must for a low level prospect and international money, After all Sox might have the inside track on a few more guys but not have the IFA funds to get them.

Wouldn't it extra fun if Engel was the one to break out instead of Mazara in RF . Then we'd have defense and speed and hitting next to Robert, Who needs Betts ?

It's also why everyone shouldn't care who bats where in spring training. Get ready, have fun, stay healthy and relax. I don't care if Renteria pulls the lineup out of a hat. Maybe the whiners are also in spring training and just getting in practice for the regular season.

Did you notice the 3 , 4 and 5 hitters were Abreu, Grandal and Encarnacion ? Take the 1st letter of their last names in order of spot in the batting order and what does it spell ? A- G -E

We have seen Mercedes catch and most don't like it. But people remember the negative more. Mercedes has a lot of passed balls but then again people forget that so does Grandal. We don't yet know about his framing and I doubt we will know soon although I don't expect it to be good. In Grandals case it's always possible that passed ball total can come from trying to be too precise with framing, trying to gain an extra inch or 2 leading to a few extra balls deflecting off the glove rather than just reaching to get it. Mercedes has a strong arm and I saw him take a Madrigal relay throw that was a bit off target and dive across the plate to get the out. I do think if McCann is traded they still go with Collins as the backup.

Asking for proof is a bit far-fetched don't you think ? Short of " I love Jose and that the Sox gave him an extension and I love the Sox treating my Cuban brother with respect and dignity which has influenced me beyond most people's comprehension into signing to play more years for this wonderful organization " by Jimenez, (not Cuban) Robert and Moncada , how would one get any proof ? For the last year all we have heard is that there's no reason for guys with big signing bonuses ( Robert and Moncada) to sign extensions and in Moncada's case it's a great deal for the Sox. You can continue to ignore Jose's influence and chalk it up to Hahn or the extra money but Jose and the clubhouse culture created by Abreu and to some extend Renteria have played roles, perhaps even major roles. To deny it's existence or minimize it or expect it to be the "ultimate reason" just seems like a very hard line stance . I don't see this happening with any other club, 3 potential great players signing extensions while constantly praising a veteran player's influence as much as possible.

You should remember that last year could be a career year. Hopefully not . We're all thinking on the bright side that Yoan will continue to be a stud just like when a player is bad we expect them to keep being bad such as McCann. Or Mediocre like Mazara Why do you think everyone was clamoring for just about any RF besides Mazara ? It always hard to imagine players being anything but what we have seen in the past.