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Grifol told Eloy to get some work in RF


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4 hours ago, Sleepy Harold said:

Service time should have no impact on Colas breaking camp with the club (or not) out of ST, that should depend on his performance. Leury starting for a month anywhere, especially RF, would be an abomination. 

I agree that service time should have no impact, but let's face reality.  Colas may not be ready for MLB pitching and a month in the minors could have a positive effect on his performance and buy a year of service time.  Of course that's meaningless if the Sox continue to offer players contracts without playing a MLB game (Robert) or shortly thereafter (Eloy, Moncada, Bummer). The only one that's worked out so far is TA's.  Another reality is Leury's not going anywhere, so I'd prefer Leury in RF opposed  to Eloy, Vaughn, or Sheets.  That's sad, but thats the roster we currently have.  

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1 hour ago, Tnetennba said:

It feels inevitable. 

Sadly you are correct since we currently have 5 OF's listed on our 40-man roster in Benintendi, Eloy, Robert, Sheet's and Vaughn.  Leury makes 6, however only Benintendi and Robert when he's healthy and not distracted are actual outfielders, the rest are IB, DH,  and our utility player who according to Tony is a regular player who plays all around.   WTF kinda statement is that besides the definition of a utility player.

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50 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Eloy, there's not 1 MLB team that thinks you can play the OF. Get used to DHing. 

 

The problem is though the Sox brass will cater to him rather than lay down the law, he'll play in the outfield, do something stupid like run into a wall or the netting, have a serious injury and miss two months.

All because of his ego.  

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It sure seems like Grifol and Eloy are both serious about having him get some time in RF. I know that sounds insane to most of us, but just for fun, I'm gonna play devil's advocate and consider what that would look like.

First off, in terms of the quality of his defense, I think Eloy would unquestionably be better than either Sheets or Vaughn. So if that's the standard, I suppose we can all say "we've seen worse." There are two big negatives for Eloy as a RF though. One is his arm, which is not good, but I'd still say the overall defensive package is better than Sheets/Vaughn. The other is the potential that he gets hurt playing an unfamiliar position. That's for sure a risk. But my hot take is that his risk of injury isn't that much higher if he's playing RF part-time than it would be as a full-time DH. I think he's just as likely to pull something while running the bases as he is of injuring something in RF, and if his time in RF is limited to 20 or so games, it doesn't increase the overall likelihood of missing time due to injury by that much. If he was out there for 100 games that would be a different story, but I don't think anyone expects that.

Really, he's only had one MAJOR injury from playing OF (the torn pec), and that happened as a result of such a bone-headed play that I'd like to think it is not likely to be repeatable. Any other fielding-induced injuries have been pretty standard.

So let's consider how this would look. Assuming Colas wins the RF job out of Spring Training, Eloy could get some starts against LHP in RF. That means most likely Grandal would DH. If Grandal is healthy and going well that's a good way to get his bat into the lineup while giving him a day off from behind the plate. If Grandal is looking like he did in 2022, then that's a complete waste of the DH slot, and the Sox would be better off with Eloy as DH and Leury or Marisnick in RF. So part of the "Eloy in RF" idea is contingent on Grandal looking like his old self, because otherwise there isn't a player on the roster for that DH spot against LHP that wouldn't be an upgrade in RF over Eloy.

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I would urge not to over-interpret the statement from this person who doesn't speak English as a first language. I suspect he merely means he hasn't given up on the idea that he can catch the ball out there and I say good for him, I hope he can prove the doubters wrong. I'll be shocked if he causes the team any clubhouse problems when he sees most of his reps coming at DH.

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It's interesting that Eloy has a surprise for us by coming to camp in shape and supports my theory that once the team handed out the rookie contracts to Eloy, Robert, and Moncada that they came unprepared to play since in their mind they had already made it.  He say's he been working hard this offseason, why wasn't he working hard the previous season is all I ask?   Maybe because he actually has to earn playing time this year instead of it being handed to him simply because he doesn't want to be a DH.  This team need's more player's that are hungry to prove themselves instead of handing out long term contracts before the player proves they are worthy of one.

 

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1 hour ago, southsideirish71 said:

The Indians and the Twins would love to see Eloy in RF.  It would make 1st to 3rd almost an automatic with his noodle arm.  

I don't even want to imagine it, but then my memory clicks in and I remember seeing, Leury, Eaton, Mazara, Goodwin, Vaughn, and Sheets out there the last 4 years.   And that's just the ones I remember.

 

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2 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I think people are over-reacting a bit to an off-season fluff piece. Of course he is still going to work on being an OF. He's not going to DH 162 games.

With the universal DH, there's no reason to him ever to play anywhere else. 

If he's playing the field it should be when Benintendi has a day off. 

Edited by Jack Parkman
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