The Sox have a bunch of players in the winter leagues. In the Dominican, among them are two players who are vying for an Opening Day roster spot (since the bench has been a hot topic lately). Here is our article on how they've been doing in the DR.

 

We'll push out reviews for Venezuela and Mexico and in the coming days. Australia and Puerto Rico will be in February.

 

Thanks, it's easy to lose track of these.

 

Quick fix: Rienzo was traded to Miami, not LAA.

Thanks, it's easy to lose track of these.

 

Quick fix: Rienzo was traded to Miami, not LAA.

Oh that's right, Snodgress went to LAA. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

What I don't understand about the article is Nieto's success is pooh poohed by a high babip. Leury's sucess is pooh poohed by his performance as a part time player in over his head, and 27 year old Dan Black who has more professional plate appearances than either has a performance that may mean something. IMO, it should be the opposite. thanks, Dick.

Edited January 6, 201511 yr by Dick Allen

What I don't understand about the article is Nieto's success is pooh poohed by a high babip. Leury's sucess is pooh poohed by his performance as a part time player in over his head, and 27 year old Dan Black who has more professional plate appearances than either has a performance that may mean something. IMO, it should be the opposite. thanks, Dick.

Not sure I understand what you are getting at. Leury's BABIP isn't much higher than his average, so it wasn't particularly relevant to bring up. Nieto's was super-high and worth noting. Black, as noted in the article, is going for a AAA job. All three are shooting for something, just different things. What am I missing here?

Not sure I understand what you are getting at. Leury's BABIP isn't much higher than his average, so it wasn't particularly relevant to bring up. Nieto's was super-high and worth noting. Black, as noted in the article, is going for a AAA job. All three are shooting for something, just different things. What am I missing here?

It seems you are downplaying the younger guys successes and hyping Black's. The numbers probably don't mean anything to anyone, but I don't understand why Black's numbers should carry any more meaning. The Domincan Winter League isn't exactly the major leagues. I would think higher babips should be expected, maybe not what Nieto put up, but without watching the games, to assume he was lucky rather than dominant I think is a rather big assumption.

Edited January 6, 201511 yr by Dick Allen

It seems you are downplaying the younger guys successes and hyping Black's. The numbers probably don't mean anything to anyone, but I don't understand why Black's numbers should carry any more meaning. The Domincan Winter League isn't exactly the major leagues. I would think higher babips should be expected, maybe not what Nieto put up, but without watching the games, to assume he was lucky rather than dominant I think is a rather big assumption.

I guess I don't see that in the article. Nieto and Garcia are discussed more in-depth, as they are more key to the team. Black's stats were better than just about everyone in that league, so stat-wise, of course his numbers are "hyped" in the article. It also points out that while Nieto and Garcia are major leaguers, Black is just trying to get a gig in AAA. I'd say that makes it clear that Nieto and Garcia are more key.

 

The article makes pretty clear, I think, the difference between the numbers, and what they mean for each player.

 

Ah, I see you edited your post - now I think I see what you are getting at.

 

BABIP was used because I am not there in the DR watching them all play. It is the best tool I have at my disposal. And a .500+ BABIP, for over a hundred PA, is an insane number. Like Flowers in April type number. That, combined with the high K rate (which is related of course), suggests a high probability that the core results are not reliable.