13 minutes ago, Lillian said:

At some point, it would be interesting to see how Moncada could hit lefties, while batting left handed. He has looked completely hapless. 

Could it be worse?  He's striking out a ton without any power.  

Yeah Yolmer needs some more rest XD

Volstad was dealing, so why  take him out?

Yes, Fathom, it is not that great of an advantage to hit from the other side of the pitcher's arm. Plenty of guys do just fine, without switch hitting. There are however, advantages to hitting left handed, especially for a guy with his speed. He could probably beat out a lot of infield ground balls, from the left side. I don't see the need to insist upon him trying to be a switch hitter. 

3 minutes ago, Lillian said:

Yes, Fathom, it is not that great of an advantage to hit from the other side of the pitcher's arm. Plenty of guys do just fine, without switch hitting. There are however, advantages to hitting left handed, especially for a guy with his speed. He could probably beat out a lot of infield ground balls, from the left side. I don't see the need to insist upon him trying to be a switch hitter. 

Oh, you mean with the same speed that couldn’t even beat out a slow developing GIDP earlier?

Jfc, the amount of armchair quarterbacking in here is unreal. Relax.

Kimbrel touches that blemished spot on the lid of his hat and never wipes it off. How does no one notice?

3 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

Oh, you mean with the same speed that couldn’t even beat out a slow developing GIDP earlier?

Cause he was batting righty and didn't get out of the box quickly 

Moncada robbed there

and this ball game is ova

Nice homer call there ump...

Well, we certainly threw that game away.

6 minutes ago, BlackSox13 said:

Jfc, the amount of armchair quarterbacking in here is unreal. Relax.

Welcome to Soxtalk!

5 minutes ago, fathom said:

Cause he was batting righty and didn't get out of the box quickly 

The vast majority of “fast” players beat out a slow roller that was flipped to the second baseman even softer whether they’re batting lefty or righty.

15 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

Oh, you mean with the same speed that couldn’t even beat out a slow developing GIDP earlier?

I think that he is still nursing the hamstring, which could explain why he isn't going all out. There is no question about his speed, when healthy. However, the point is that he is simply not a good hitter, from the right side, for average, or for power. 

54 minutes ago, fathom said:

I see I missed Jose struggling on defense and Yoan having a great game for Boston

No, you missed Rodon drop a ball and Abreu somehow get charged with the error

Switch hitting is difficult trying to maintain two different swings. Most cannot do it well. I would be interested to see Moncada go all lefty for a while. 

36 minutes ago, Lillian said:

I think that he is still nursing the hamstring, which could explain why he isn't going all out. There is no question about his speed, when healthy. However, the point is that he is simply not a good hitter, from the right side, for average, or for power. 

Lillian, you spoke volumes in one simple post.

1 hour ago, Lillian said:

Yes, Fathom, it is not that great of an advantage to hit from the other side of the pitcher's arm. 

 This simply doesn't hold true, man. 

1 hour ago, Richie said:

 This simply doesn't hold true, man. 

You probably never read my post, in which I described, what I term "the angle of contact". It explains why breaking pitches, which break from inside, toward the strike zone, provide a better angle of contact, for a pull hitter's swing. The ball is literally breaking right into the swing path, of the pull hitter. By contrast, balls which break from outside toward the plate, provide a poor angle of contact, for a pull hitter. That is one of the reasons why it is often suggested that the best approach for a hitter, with such pitches, is to take the ball the opposite way, by using a "hands before the barrel of the bat" swing.  It's difficult to explain, in a short verbal description, without illustrations, but the logic is compelling. Of course, a hitter must learn to not bail on breaking pitches, which appear to be heading toward him, before they break toward the plate. Good hitters learn to stay closed, and to recognize breaking pitches.

About 20 years ago, I wrote an article on this subject, in which I demonstrated my hypothesis. Some years later, I presented it to Craig Walker, when he was the Sox hitting coach and afterwards, had an opportunity to discuss it with him. He agreed with the hypothesis and asserted that is was quite valid. His reservation was the same as the one, which I just articulated, i.e. a hitter must be able to not bail on breaking pitches, which start inside, and then break toward the strike zone. He also concurred that good hitters are able to do that, with reasonable consistency. That is part of what makes them good hitters.

I understand that this principle is antithetical to the entire approach of platooning, which was popularized back in the late 50's, by Casey Stengel. He used it extensively with a platoon of Elston Howard and Yogi Berra. It then became conventional baseball "wisdom" and practice. That doesn't mean that it is entirely valid. Again, it does provide the advantage of eliminating the temptation of a hitter to open up, or "bail" with his front foot, and it affords a hitter a little better look at the pitch, as it comes from the other side, but that advantage is off set by the poorer angle of contact.

Now, you may be wondering why I am so vehement about the need for the Sox to have a middle of the order, left handed bat. After all, since most pitchers are right handed, why wouldn't it be better to have almost all right handed hitters, based upon my hypothesis. The fact is that most hitters are right handed. My point is that you need to have the balance in the line up. It is not advantageous to have an opposing pitcher get comfortable facing all of the good hitters from one side of the plate. Moreover, since managers use their bullpens, by matching left handers with left handed hitters and right handers, with right handed hitters, by having a good mix of both, in the lineup, the opposing team is forced to "burn" through the pen, in the late innings. In addition, there are some inherent advantages to hitting left handed, chief among them are that a left handed hitter is closer to first base, and the momentum of his swing, carries him in that direction, thus allowing him to get down the first base line, faster.

Edited June 10, 20187 yr by Lillian