2 minutes ago, tray said:

In  the past few games Robert looked like he could not recognize spin and location early enough to make contact.

Pitchers are getting him out too easy on sinkers away and high fastballs....almost all thrown out of the strike zone.

They're sliders mostly just off the plate and low.

The book on him was bust him in the hands (Keith Law theory) and he won't be able to take advantage of massive power/leverage and get extended and out over the plate, driving the ball to CF and RCF.

It turns out that the slider and fastball just above the top of the zone, at least so far, have been the two biggest weaknesses.

All that said, he's got a mid 800's OPS still, it's not as if he's scuffling along like Brian Anderson in 2006 in the 500's and low 600's, or Adam Engel for most of his career.

 

He's shown the ability to take more walks than everyone projected, and he's certainly going to have to make adjustments.   One major positive is that he has been (sometimes) cutting down on his swing with two strikes, working back into the count if behind, and fouling off some pitches in those situations.   So I'm going to choose to read that development positively.

When we start facing "inferior" pitching, he'll catch up again and pretty quickly, IMO.

 

2 minutes ago, tray said:

It was cool to see Dick Allen Tweet Stone during the game !

The poster or the 1972 slugger with the cigarette in his mouth?

The Tweet.

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

They're sliders mostly just off the plate and low.

The book on him was bust him in the hands (Keith Law theory) and he won't be able to take advantage of massive power/leverage and get extended and out over the plate, driving the ball to CF and RCF.

It turns out that the slider and fastball just above the top of the zone, at least so far, have been the two biggest weaknesses.

All that said, he's got a mid 800's OPS still, it's not as if he's scuffling along like Brian Anderson in 2006 in the 500's and low 600's, or Adam Engel for most of his career.

 

He's shown the ability to take more walks than everyone projected, and he's certainly going to have to make adjustments.   One major positive is that he has been (sometimes) cutting down on his swing with two strikes, working back into the count if behind, and fouling off some pitches in those situations.   So I'm going to choose to read that development positively.

When we start facing "inferior" pitching, he'll catch up again and pretty quickly, IMO.

 

It's a perfect year for Robert to get used to MLB. This season, quite frankly, is a joke. It is what it is. Some baseball to enjoy. In Sox case some youngsters can get some MLB at bats. Robert will adjust. His BA is great. 22 Ks in 59 at bats. Whatever. All big league standouts will have a zillion strikeout during their careers considering the new norma (K or HR). Love me some Robert.

At least the Twins lost too. They really aren’t as good as people thought they would be.

Just now, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

At least the Twins lost too. They really aren’t as good as people thought they would be.

Well, missing Hill and Odorrizi doesn't help very much.

Sox lineup appears easy for pitchers to navigate through. We get behind in the count and chase low and away. On the bright side, good stuff by Foster, Hamilton and Burdi...three guys who are easy to pull for. They all threw gas, especially Burdi.

7 minutes ago, Flash said:

Sox lineup appears easy for pitchers to navigate through. We get behind in the count and chase low and away. On the bright side, good stuff by Foster, Hamilton and Burdi...three guys who are easy to pull for. They all threw gas, especially Burdi.

That was the kind of the whole point of adding hitters like Grandal and Madrigal, even Encarnacion, to a lesser extent (although he's more of a classic, fastball-hunting high strikeout feast or famine hitter except when he's completely locked in on one of his 7-10 day patented tears that can carry a team.)

And, conversely, the biggest strike against adding a similar type of "all or nothing" guy in Mazara, who puts together lots of empty at-bats.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by caulfield12

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Well, missing Hill and Odorrizi doesn't help very much.

Regression has also hit Garver and Sano like a freight train. That’s what happens when the balls aren’t juiced to the high heavens anymore.

1 hour ago, greg775 said:

 This season, quite frankly, is a joke.

It might just end up that way but....if somehow  MLB navigates through the pandemic without major delays, most of us will feel pretty  good about watching competitive baseball during the final  week of the season and the playoffs....especially if the good guys are still in it.

17 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Regression has also hit Garver and Sano like a freight train. That’s what happens when the balls aren’t juiced to the high heavens anymore.

Garver, sure.  Sano has always had the potential to be the next David Ortiz.

4 hours ago, tray said:

It might just end up that way but....if somehow  MLB navigates through the pandemic without major delays, most of us will feel pretty  good about watching competitive baseball during the final  week of the season and the playoffs....especially if the good guys are still in it.

I like watching our guys play, but cmon, it's a joke. St. Louis has played five games. Guys are getting hurt at an alarming rate, which is serious. This season is a disaster, but good experience for our kids.

14 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

What do people think about replay overturning plays like that? 

For the entirety of baseball history pre-replay Santana has been safe on that play. 

Jack, this has been a pet peeve of mine since the replay started, and this very issue has been heavily discussed in baseball circles since.  There was never any intention for replay to change the very nature of the game, and as you so accurately point out, the game has changed because of replay in this instance. 

We no longer see cool snap tags because of the need to hold the glove on the runner in case he microscopically detaches from the base.  But most importantly, runners dare not run aggressively anymore or use pop up slides because for one infinitesimal fraction of a second--while still in possession of the bag!--they come off of it.  

I have no problem with these replay calls; they are just following the rule book.  But I propose, if you are safe when you first touch the bag and your body remains over the bag, you remain safe.  If you overslide the base (and this can easily be defined) you can be tagged out.  

That way the spirit of the game as it has always been played can be maintained. 

10 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

They're sliders mostly just off the plate and low.

The book on him was bust him in the hands (Keith Law theory) and he won't be able to take advantage of massive power/leverage and get extended and out over the plate, driving the ball to CF and RCF.

It turns out that the slider and fastball just above the top of the zone, at least so far, have been the two biggest weaknesses.

All that said, he's got a mid 800's OPS still, it's not as if he's scuffling along like Brian Anderson in 2006 in the 500's and low 600's, or Adam Engel for most of his career.

 

He's shown the ability to take more walks than everyone projected, and he's certainly going to have to make adjustments.   One major positive is that he has been (sometimes) cutting down on his swing with two strikes, working back into the count if behind, and fouling off some pitches in those situations.   So I'm going to choose to read that development positively.

When we start facing "inferior" pitching, he'll catch up again and pretty quickly, IMO.

 

His heat map shows he handles most of the zone very well, he struggles mostly out of the zone and very down and away

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/luis-robert/20043/heat-maps?position=OF&ss=2020-07-24&se=2020-08-08&type=5&hand=all&count=all&blur=2&grid=10&view=bat&pitch=&season=all&data=

His walk rate his been good but probably mostly because he sees very few pitches in the zone (35%), his chase rate has been extremely high (47%). This means his walks will probably regress but that also mean he is seeing more strikes which would be a good thing that might lower his walk rate but cause more damage too.

8 hours ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

At least the Twins lost too. They really aren’t as good as people thought they would be.

They have lost 3 games but they are still on a 108 win pace for 162 games (.667). They likely won't hold that pace and their SP is questionable but that offense is just pure terror.

I think the twins will win the division but the sox also have a good chance to make a playoff spot but only if that injury thing doesn't continue, pitching depth is thinned out a lot.