JUSTgottaBELIEVE

Carlos Rodon was a big part of last season’s success. The Madrigal trade turned into Pollock ultimately so we’ll see how that turns out. Collins turned into this season’s backup catcher, another former first round pick. Crochet, despite his injury, has had the biggest impact at the MLB level to date than any player from the 2020 draft. Same for AV out of the 2019 draft (which other 2019 draftees even saw MLB action last season)? The biggest recent draft disappointments to me have been Carson Fulmer and Zack Burdi but that happens. No organization hits 100% on their first round picks.

Huh? What core pieces did the cubs add through the draft other than Bryant? And don’t give me Babe Schwarber, the guy they non-tendered a couple years ago..

The importance of having a leader and strong defensive catcher in the postseason. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2021/10/13/poseys-postseason-catching-resume-for-sf-giants-unrivaled-in-last-75-years/amp/ Go sign Roberto Perez next month, Rick.

Did he hit any balls hard against Houston outside of the homer? I saw a lot of lazy fly balls and ground balls from him when he put it in play. Even if he carries a .800 OPS in the playoffs, it’s not good enough to overcome his defensive liabilities when every pitch/run is magnified.

In the playoffs he absolutely should be

Could be better? Lol. That’s putting it lightly. Great, he’s made the postseason a bunch of times but he was also benched by the Dodgers in the postseason. Kinda seems like the bat doesn’t play well enough in the postseason to overcome his defensive flaws.

The two hits allowed by Crochet and Tepera were on fastballs. I don’t have the time or energy to go through the entire series but I’m sure you’ll find a similar pattern through all four games. Why didn’t Grandal or anyone else pick up on it? Meanwhile, Astros pitchers are junk balling Sox hitters to death…

Crochet threw 4 offspeed pitches, 3 for strikes. Tepera threw 14 offspeed pitches, 7 for strikes. So the first three guys were actually getting their offspeed pitches over for strikes more than Tepera despite everyone’s perception. It’s just that Tepera threw a hell of a lot more offspeed and it worked, surprise!

I’m unaware of statistic that tracks it but watching the games you can see he starts calling more fastballs with runners on. Not sure what else to say.

I didn’t go through the entire game but quickly went through the pitching logs for Rodon and Kopech yesterday. Rodon threw 21 offspeed pitches, 11 for strikes. Kopech threw 5 offspeed pitches, 4 for strikes. 5 out of the 6 hits they gave up were on fastballs.

Did you watch this series?

I’m more perturbed by his game calling and the fact that he leans heavily on fastballs with runners on base because he’s afraid of passed balls/wild pitches. You can’t do that. Not at this level, that’s for sure.

It’s apparent that he changes the way he calls the game once runners are on base because of his lack of confidence with pitches in the dirt. It was a night and day difference between him and Maldonado in this series. Maldonado didn’t change the game plan with runners on because he trusted his ability to block balls in the dirt. Can’t say the same for Grandal. No advanced metric will capture this either but it’s a big problem and has been ever since he arrived.

Went “silent” because my cousin was murdered, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and I was dealing with health issues of my own all in the span of a few months. But yea it’s because Grandal had a couple good months and I “hate” him, give me a fucking break man.

Seems like a smart organization like Houston realizes the value of a truly elite defensive catcher come playoff time even if the guy hits like a pitcher. But in reality is Maldonado’s career .544 OPS in the postseason that much different than Grandal’s? Negligible imo when you consider the vast difference between the two in calling a game, blocking/receiving, and run game.

Perfect. Give me either of those two guys then. Collins is AAA depth or traded.

I’d rather have Martin Maldonado or Roberto Perez as my catcher in the playoffs than Grandal. Perez is a free agent. Sox better sign him. Let him catch in the playoffs. He knows how to handle a staff, call a game, and shut down the opponent’s run game. Grandal can DH if the Sox are so enamored by his career .605 OPS in the postseason.

I wasn’t on here for most of the season for personal reasons. Wasn’t a great summer for me. Nothing to do with Grandal. But it’s obvious the Sox need a different catcher starting games in the playoffs next season. There’s a reason LA would bench Grandal in the postseason. He’s not a good defensive catcher, even if his framing metrics somehow make him out to be well above average.

Wait, I thought Grandal was elite defensively or at least that’s what fangraphs tells us

Just sign Marcus and plug him in at 2nd

Throw the ball to the bag. If the fielder doesn’t get there in time that’s on him.

Cost 3 runs. Thanks Yaz. Desperately need a plus defensive catcher for next year’s playoffs.

If Grandal attempts a throw to second base on the Tucker steal, the inning is over and still a 2-1 game.

I’m not saying this guy won’t be good but if Sox fans were disappointed with Madrigal I’ve gotta imagine Mariners fans are very disappointed with the early returns on Kelenic.

For someone that would continually mock Madrigal for his lack of power, Madrigal has a career OPS of .133 higher than Kelenic in the same number of plate appearances. And apparently Kelenic’s defense is horrendous too. Thought this guy was 5-tool?