Red Sox Show Home Run King Jays How Its Done
by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2010 10:10 PM EDT
in Game Stories
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PrintThe Blue Jays had 29 more home runs than the second place Red Sox coming into Wednesday's game. The Sox did their best to close that gap some, launching four long balls as part of a 13-hit, 10-run attack against the Blue Jays.
Leading the charge was Bill Hall, who hit the Sox' first home run leading off the second inning to give them a 2-1 lead after the sides had exchanged odd runs in the first (the Red Sox scoring on three walks and a hit batsman, and the Jays scoring thanks to an error and a passed ball). He followed it up in his second at bat of the night by working six pitches out of Shaun Marcum before launching the seventh pitch into the seats for his second shot, putting the Sox on top 4-1.
J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre added one and three run bombs respectively, while Mike Lowell reached base four times on the night. It was an absolute beatdown against one of the better pitchers in the American League.
But the Sox wouldn't really need all that much, because Clay Buchholz was, simply, on. He didn't strike out too many guys (four), and did scatter a pair of walks, but he threw some filthy pitches, keeping the Jays to weak contact and allowing only one unearned run over another eight dominant innings against the Jays.
Dustin Richardson closed out the ninth to give the Red Sox the series win over the Blue Jays. Toronto has been a nice place to play for Boston this year--hopefully it will continue to be tomorrow, as John Lackey takes on rookie pitcher Brad Mills (no, not that Brad Mills).
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Playoffs? Duh
I hated the fact Tampa Bay was set to play Baltimore when The Nation is getting rolling…..UNTIL! I noticed they’ve been killing it lately. Also New York is on track to lose their 3rd straight. keep handling biz Sox, its not fucking over!
Amen!
Thats what you have to love about the A.L east, its always a scramble. Unfortunately, the Sox have been at the bottom of the top (well, not officially the bottom, but bottom out of the contenders) this whole year. Now its time to streak together like 20 straight wins ha. It would be nice to see the sox go something like 15-5 or better the next 20 games, and the yanks and rays to have sub .500. Lets keep it going sox!
Very Possible
And Pedroia is coming back soon (hopefully), not that there’s any rush because Bill Hall is hitting pretty well. Hoping N Feliz, closes out the Yankees right now
Full credit to Rutkim
predicting the Billy Hall big night
That place was for diehard sports fans. I only follow my team when they're in the playoffs" - Homer Simpson
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by bestbostonsports on Aug 12, 2010 12:04 AM EDT reply actions
'Gotta give Hall some kudos.
Not only did he murder that same changeup pitch twice (WTF was Marcum thinking, throwing him the same pitch again?) for a couple of dingers, but he played really good defense tonight.
He turned the assist on two big double plays, including a tag & throw. He also made another nice play by NOT trying for the double and just swallowing the ball.
I’ve been harsh on him, but he done good tonight. Damn good.
Oh
and do any of you guys know good sabrmetric sites? I plan on writing a piece and need those stats
That place was for diehard sports fans. I only follow my team when they're in the playoffs" - Homer Simpson
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by bestbostonsports on Aug 12, 2010 12:06 AM EDT reply actions
I dont know any personally.
But around this time last year I googled something along the lines of “Boston red sox sabremetric stats” and I got some valuable information.
by arodlikes men on Aug 12, 2010 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions
cool, thanks
That place was for diehard sports fans. I only follow my team when they're in the playoffs" - Homer Simpson
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by bestbostonsports on Aug 12, 2010 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions
What stats do you need?
I almost always use fangraphs when I need stats.
I dont know any SabrMetrics
Thats the problem.
That place was for diehard sports fans. I only follow my team when they're in the playoffs" - Homer Simpson
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by bestbostonsports on Aug 12, 2010 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions
It's not like sabermetrics is some mystical thing.
Stats are stats. It’s just like it takes some time when you first see them to understand batting average or OPS, but eventually you get use to the scale and figure out what they measure, and you just get comfortable with them. Even if their derivations are a bit more complicated than you might be used to, getting used to using them is the same as anything else. You see a lot of the stats, develop a feel for them, figure out whats good and whats bad, and learn what each stat tells you about the player.
If you want a general idea of a lot of the different stats used, I highly suggest http://saberlibrary.com/ Just mouse over the offensive stats or whatever on the top bar, and you can click through to a bunch of great relatively simple explanations. And usually they explain nicely exactly what each thing tells you, when to use it, and give you various players and their stats to give you a benchmark for what is good. I love it.
For instance, the page for wOBA. http://saberlibrary.com/offense/woba/ It tells you why it’s needed and what information it provides, gives a couple example players from 2009, from Pujols at .449 to Scutaro at .354 to Betancourt at .271. And it gives us some misc information, like the fact that wOBA is not adjusted for park factors on Fangraphs.
BTW, as a note.
My favorite offensive stats are wRAA and wRC+, both offensive stats based on wOBA. wRAA is a counting stat, while wRC+ is a rate stat.
Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA) measure exactly what it says, how many runs above or below average a hitter was. It’s also park adjusted.
Weighted Runs Created+ (wRC+) is like OPS+ where it’s put on a very easy to read scale, 100 is average, 125 is 25% above average, 75 is 25% below average. Also park adjusted.
For defensive stats, some combination of UZR and +/-. They have different methodologies, but for the most part agree or are somewhat close. I generally use defensive stats as ballpark measures though, I try to bucket players into terrible, bad, below-average, average, above-average, good, and great; and not try to dig too much deeper than that.
For pitching, I generally mix and match FIP and xFIP. xFIP is the best predictor of future ERA, and it contains all the things that a pitcher has been shown to be able to really control, Ks, BBs, and GB%.
there are tons
but i generally go to either:
or
http://www.baseball-reference.com
Both those sites have links to further sites of interest.
Thanks
That place was for diehard sports fans. I only follow my team when they're in the playoffs" - Homer Simpson
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by bestbostonsports on Aug 12, 2010 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Prediction from Nostradamus of Sox Failure:
11 games later and the Sox have already won 7.
And this from a fan who really likes the Sox. Where’s the faith?
I think we will go 7-27 over our next 34 games
The certified ambassador of all things good and great, here at OTM.
by gizmosandy on Jul 31, 2010 5:19 PM EDT reply actions
I hope you know that you just started something...
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 12, 2010 1:46 AM EDT up reply actions
How would you guys feel about bringing Hall back next year.
Obviously at a lower salary as a backup infielder. He’s about average defensively all over the infield, can play outfield in a pinch (though obviously this isn’t a situation we want to be in), and is about an average hitter, terrible at getting on base but with a bit of power. That’s a pretty useful combination. Now, I think Lowrie is a better backup infielder in almost every way, but bringing Hall back could be an option.
Hall was only here because of Lowell really
And Lowell won’t be back and we’ll still have Lowrie who can apparently play every position in the infield. Unless Lowrie gets moved (which is entirely in the realm of possibility) I don’t expect Hall to be re-signed. We’ll have Lowrie as the utility infielder and Nava/Kalish/McDonald as backup out fielders.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Scoot will probably still be the starter
He’s getting starter money and plays pretty solidly. It’s more likely one of them gets traded this off season than Lowrie replaces Scoot as starting SS.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
I really hope Lowrie doesn't end up traded
just the possibility having having a player as good as he is as a bench guy is very exciting to me. And he’s so cheap that there’s no sense in trading him without a pretty sweet return.
Exactly
He would be awesome to have as our utility guy, like we had with Cora.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Bill Hall
Has helped this team out TREMENDOUSLY this year.
At times he looks awful, but as a whole, he’s benefitted us, for sure.
by RockEmSoxEm on Aug 12, 2010 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
1.2 WAR
I’ll take that any day from a guy who was just supposed to be a bench player.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Having depth is good, but we still can't count on injuries.
We could bring back Hall and trade Scutaro or Lowrie. I would like to see us something for a guy that won’t play much.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 12, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
He played 127 games there is 06 and 66 in 05.
I could argue that he isn’t 2B depth either having played more games at SS over his career.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 12, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
My point is that we're in a good position no matter what.
I think that Lowrie or Scutaro could definitely be a starter on another team. And I also agree that Lowrie/Scutaro is better than not having both, but my point is that maybe we can get something that will be more valuable that having Lowrie ride the pine. We can get a backup somewhere else.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 12, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Going into the future
I think that Scoot + Lowrie is better than Scoot + Hall or Lowrie + Hall. I know Hall has done well this year at the plate for us but he has the potential to be that guy that Theo signs that every one will bitch about in a year or two because he blows because we should have seen this coming, and honestly, if we do re-sign him and he does suck, we should have, this is the first time he’s posted an OPS over .750 since 2006 which is when he earned his last massive paycheck. That makes me nervous. The guy has had more bad years than good years lately. And he isn’t great with the glove.
We don’t know what Lowrie looks like as a full time starter, give him one more year here working behind Scoot and then when Scoot’s contract is up he and Iglesias can duke it out for starting rights in 2012.
Hall has hit himself into a starters job somewhere, someone is going to pay him a good bit of money for his slugging and that’s fine, it shouldn’t be us though when we have a cheaper replacement in Lowrie who can play everything in the infield and provide better defense.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Lowrie/Scutaro have value on the team and in trade.
This is just me: I’d rather see us trade one of them and sign a backup in free agency.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 12, 2010 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
definitely see your point
just the last couple years- between all the Hall, Patterson, etc. and Nick Green being our main Shortstop last year, I really hate the idea of trading away a cheap great utility guy. But yes, if the price is right, I wouldn’t say I’d want him to be untradeable. Just not someone I’d look to trade.
Rerun of the Sox's SS woes from 2008?
Seeing Scutaro struggle at the plate makes me think that he’s more banged-up than we’ve heard about so far. However, as injured as the team as a whole is, I suspect they think his defense is still worth having out there.
Interestingly, we saw pretty much the exact same drama play out before with Mr. Doubles two years ago.
Fenway: "An alternate and better universe, disguised as a ballpark." --Thomas Boswell
well he should get a day off today and hopefully a few more in the near future with pedroia coming back
so we’ll see. Hasn’t been a pretty week for Scutaro
No it hasn't
But I feel like he’s done this a couple other times this season only to bounce back, but I’d have to imagine that being hurt might have finally caught up with him.
Once Laser Show comes back Mr. Doubles can step in at SS more often and everything will be better again.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
He has played all but 3 games this year. That is damn impressive.
Yes one more game than the beast known as Adrian Bel-Tray.
I love Lester and Pedroia!!! ITS MAN LOVE!
A little freakish that the two guys with the most game-time are at 3B & SS
Most years, you get that at 1B & DH.
Youk was in third for games played going into yesterday, but now Drew has tied him (102) and will pass. So our top-three for games played will soon be at SS, 3B & RF. Go figure.
To be fair – Drew has usually been in our top 3 all but one year since he’s been here.
I for one, am damn happy we did not trade Buchholz last year for a would be, soon aging, Halladay
I’m going out on a limb….
If Beckett doesn’t pitch against the Yanks, Buchholz and Lester maintain dominance, Dice K continues to pitch decent, and Lackey steps his shit up to what we’ve expected of him…….
We’re making the playoffs. However, that is the only way, in my opinion.
Lineup for Today
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Jed Lowrie, SS
Victor Martinez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Beltre, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Bill Hall, 2B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, LF
Interesting…..I don’t hate it. Glad to see DMac getting some playing time, excited to see what Salty can offer.
All I can say is ...
while its not optimal – which would have V-Mart at C – it has simply GOT to be better than having Cash in the lineup.
I hope Salty can take his cue from our other call-ups and hit the requisite HR in his first AB …
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