Lugo excited to be in Beantown

by Randy Booth on Dec 14, 2006 11:55 AM EST in News

After a press conference yesterday, Julio Lugo is officially the new starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox.

Pre-signing of Lugo we really thought about how bad his defense is and how good his hitting is. But one factor that wasn't tossed around much was about his clubhouse affect. David Ortiz loves Lugo:

Ortiz, Lugo's good buddy and fellow Dominican Republic native, just happened to be hanging around Fenway and said after the press conference, "He brings a lot of energy, a lot of quickness. And he's aggressive."

Ortiz had been lobbying Francona for three years in Lugo's behalf -- "every time we were in Tampa," said the manager. It didn't take much persuasion, because Francona was enamored of Lugo, too.

"I'd make it a point to run into him accidentally," said Francona.

Now he'll run him on purpose, and he expects Lugo, who will wear No. 23, to be on base often. The evidence supports him.

"I've done good in this park," said Lugo.

To the tune of a .330 average (38 for 115) in 30 Fenway games, one of the factors that intrigued the Sox.

When Papi's happy, we're happy.

Terry Francona also confirmed another piece to the lineup puzzle:

Lugo, ss
Youkilis, 1b
Ortiz, dh
Ramirez, lf
Drew, rf
Lowell, 3b [?]
Varitek, c [?]
Crisp, cf [?]
Pedroia, 2b [?]

[?] = Not sure on placement of player

He confirmed Drew, meaning our five at the top are locked. The only questions are 6-9, but we can have a pretty safe guess at how that'll work.

Looking at the lineup now, we should definitely be worrying some teams in American League. As long as our defense holds true and our pitching is on, this lineup should be contending in October.

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I like him

Lugo seems like a great fit here. People are talking about the energizing effect he'll have on the team. I never really noticed his behavior in the dugout in Tampa, but apparently he's constantly pumping up the team, and some of his antics remind me of O. Cabrera.

And even if he makes a few too many errors, I think he'll more than make up for them with his bat. And a .330 career avergage in Fenway - sounds good to me.

by tommy.otm on Dec 14, 2006 2:51 PM EST reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

That lineup looks like the best option if the 1-5 spots are definitely locked barring something happening in Spring Training.

I've come around to the idea of using Drew in the 2-hole, but he's probably the best option in the 5-spot as well (flip him and Youk, maybe?)

"They say giving is it's own reward. But what's in it for you?" -Stephen Colbert

by Allen Chace on Dec 14, 2006 3:26 PM EST reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

Looking at his hitting chart both at fenway and back at tropicana field I can see why he'll like hitting in fenway, in Tampa, every single one of his HR have been over left field, meaning when he hits long fly it's usually pulled left. Also, he has had a good number of double off of the monster which else where might have been a fly-ball out. Look like we got two players (him and Lowell) who will be taking a home field advantage and dinging doubles off the monster

by Realistic on Dec 14, 2006 3:33 PM EST reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

Lowell's splits last year went against that conventional wisdom. I think he does better with it next year.

"They say giving is it's own reward. But what's in it for you?" -Stephen Colbert

by Allen Chace on Dec 14, 2006 3:39 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

21 of his 24 doubles in fenway were either off the monster or just short of the monster and all 9 of his HR were over the monster. Yeah, not to say he got more doubles or played better at home then away, just that he definitely benefited from the monster enough to have just as many double home as away even though for whatever reason he played worse at home (the fact that even though his BA was a full .50 lower home, and still had just as many doubles). SO if he does pick that up this year a does better at home you can expect even more doubles off the monster

by Realistic on Dec 14, 2006 4:08 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

yeah, the "home field advantage" was referring to Lugo, I mentioned Lowell simply in regards of dinging doubles off the monster (bad wording I guess)

by Realistic on Dec 14, 2006 4:10 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

That is kind of how I took it, unfortunately. I think it'll correct itself anyway. He's kind of the prototypical "monster-user". Just thought it ended up being strange that he was a stronger hitter on the road after all of it.

"They say giving is it's own reward. But what's in it for you?" -Stephen Colbert

by Allen Chace on Dec 14, 2006 9:17 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Lugo excited to be in Beantown

I also would like to mention Tito (who i hate)
Said with out a doubt that curt schilling is a better pitcher with lugo out there.

BETTER THAN WITH GONZO???

Doubtful

by Alex being Alex on Dec 14, 2006 4:43 PM EST reply actions

Lugo defensively

Look, enough with this line. AGon was a joy to watch---Lugo may be better defensively. I'm actually serious about this. Lugo commits more errors but makes more plays---his range and zone ratings (4.69, .848) are both better than AGon's (4.51, .843), and it's likely that his larger number of errors are a function of him getting to the ball more often where he has a potential play. More chances means more errors, sure, but more outs, too.

(I can't claim credit for this observation; when Lugo was signed I was firmly against the move precisely for what I thought were good defense-minded reasons. Others had to point it out to me.)

Jack Roy f/k/a Tony the Pony

by Tony the pony on Dec 14, 2006 6:49 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Lugo defensively

I may be wrong. But I (along with many others) think that Gonzo is most definately a better fielder than Lugo.
I don't like defensive statistics because there are too many variables.

Just by watching AGon play, I think that he is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.

This is not to say I won't enjoy having Lugo on the team, but I wouldn't put him in the same category as Gonzoles when it comes fielding.

by Schulz on Dec 14, 2006 9:40 PM EST up reply actions

This guy excited Lugo is in Beantown

I have to say i was a little skeptical off this whole lugo thing, leading all the way back to last year, but now learning more about his attitude and relationship with ortiz i think he will be a great part of this clubhouse and i think because of his personality he wont really be picked on by the media as much since 1) not much is expected from him, and 2) he is a happy go lucky kind of guy that you can't not like (in the same mold as O-Cab, Ortiz, pre-Yankee damon) and even if the media does start to jump on him i think he will be able to brush it off and not let it affect him

Get your Yankees Suck - Japanese shirts now: http://www.cafepress.com/yankeessuckjap

by jsnvaritek33 on Dec 14, 2006 7:11 PM EST reply actions