The Teflon Man

[60'sfan]

A lot of people have been criticized for the collapse of the Red Sox, but John Farrell has seemingly avoided all of blame. I think he deserves a good portion of it. To wit.

In this recent 6 game losing streak, the Sox lost a 2-0 game to the Angels when John Farrell elected to give the red-hot David Ortiz a night-off when he knew that Mike Napoli wouldn't be able to play. Instead he rolls out the .136 hitting Kelly Johnson and bats Daniel Nava third. I like Nava but if batting him third isn't waving the white flag I don't know what is. I have never been able to figure out why a DH needs a rest. Perhaps if he is in the throws of a horrible slump, you might. But Ortiz has been on a tear.

Last night, he brings Koji into the game with a three run lead. Nothing wrong there although Koji has been a little shaky lately. Koji gets two of the first three out but then a walk and a single loads the bases. Nieves visits the mound but Farrell elects to leave Koji. Next Austin Jackson smashes a two-run double to left that scores two and brings the Mariners within one. Mujika who has been pitching very well lately is ready in the pen but Farrell elects to leave Koji in there. Dustin Ackley singles to give the Mariners a one run lead. Still Farrell leaves Koji out there. Robinson Cano singles to score Ackley and finally Farrell takes Koji out. Mujika strikes out Morales in four pitches. On a much bigger stage, a red sox manager was fired for leaving Pedro out there too long.

I'm not suggesting that Farrell be fired for this, but he should be getting some of the blame.

 

[G0UCONN]

Sox players have pretty much collectively spit the bit all year and team does not appear to have been constructed very well.

There have been very few times I have seen Farrell make a move and thought it was wrong....

 

[Husky25]

A lot of people have been criticized for the collapse of the Red Sox, but John Farrell has seemingly avoided all of blame. I think he deserves a good portion of it. To wit.

In this recent 6 game losing streak, the Sox lost a 2-0 game to the Angels when John Farrell elected to give the red-hot David Ortiz a night-off when he knew that Mike Napoli wouldn't be able to play. Instead he rolls out the .136 hitting Kelly Johnson and bats Daniel Nava third. I like Nava but if batting him third isn't waving the white flag I don't know what is. I have never been able to figure out why a DH needs a rest. Perhaps if he is in the throws of a horrible slump, you might. But Ortiz has been on a tear.

Last night, he brings Koji into the game with a three run lead. Nothing wrong there although Koji has been a little shaky lately. Koji gets two of the first three out but then a walk and a single loads the bases. Nieves visits the mound but Farrell elects to leave Koji. Next Austin Jackson smashes a two-run double to left that scores two and brings the Mariners within one. Mujika who has been pitching very well lately is ready in the pen but Farrell elects to leave Koji in there. Dustin Ackley singles to give the Mariners a one run lead. Still Farrell leaves Koji out there. Robinson Cano singles to score Ackley and finally Farrell takes Koji out. Mujika strikes out Morales in four pitches. On a much bigger stage, a red sox manager was fired for leaving Pedro out there too long.

I'm not suggesting that Farrell be fired for this, but he should be getting some of the blame.

The Sox waved the White Flag on the current season on July 31. It's useless to use any episode over the last 4 weeks as an example of Farrell's (mis)management skills. Discounting the fact that the manager has an effect on about 20 games over the course of any given season, Farrell is not expected to win games anymore for this season. He's only expected to keep a positive clubhouse morale and to keep players on his roster relatively fresh. It sucks for the paying customer, but it is what it is.

If you want to blame him for something, how does Buchholz continur to be so bad under Farrell's watchful-pitching-genius eyes?

 

[Waquoit]

It's a lost year. I can't gin up much outrage after last year.

 

[60'sfan]

The Sox waved the White Flag on the current season on July 31. It's useless to use any episode over the last 4 weeks as an example of Farrell's (mis)management skills. Discounting the fact that the manager has an effect on about 20 games over the course of any given season, Farrell is not expected to win games anymore for this season. He's only expected to keep a positive clubhouse morale and to keep players on his roster relatively fresh. It sucks for the paying customer, but it is what it is.

If you want to blame him for something, how does Buchholz continur to be so bad under Farrell's watchful-pitching-genius eyes?

I think the Sox began mailing it in long before July 31. July 31st was the surrender signal for sure. However, I disagree that a manager only affects 20 games a year. An average manager will have a team that plays to its talent level - no more, no less. A really good manager will have a team that consistently over-achieves. They may not make the post-season but they will be competitive nearly every game. A poor manager will under-achieve for the level of talent on the team. I would have to put John Farrell in the latter category, at least for this year. This Red Sox team should have had a much better season than they are having for the talent that is/was on the roster. I did not expect them to repeat and was expecting them to be in the middle of the pack with a good shot at the post season coming out of spring training. They have fallen way short of that and are now one of the worse teams in all of baseball. Sure Victorino has been hurt and Jacoby is gone but that does not explain the collapse.

With less talent and more injuries Tito Francona and Joe Girardi have been competitive and are at least in the hunt for the post-season.

 

[Husky25]

I think the Sox began mailing it in long before July 31. July 31st was the surrender signal for sure. However, I disagree that a manager only affects 20 games a year. An average manager will have a team that plays to its talent level - no more, no less. A really good manager will have a team that consistently over-achieves. They may not make the post-season but they will be competitive nearly every game. A poor manager will under-achieve for the level of talent on the team. I would have to put John Farrell in the latter category, at least for this year. This Red Sox team should have had a much better season than they are having for the talent that is/was on the roster. I did not expect them to repeat and was expecting them to be in the middle of the pack with a good shot at the post season coming out of spring training. They have fallen way short of that and are now one of the worse teams in all of baseball. Sure Victorino has been hurt and Jacoby is gone but that does not explain the collapse.

With less talent and more injuries Tito Francona and Joe Girardi have been competitive and are at least in the hunt for the post-season.

Sure it does. Think about who replaced the departures.

-Jacoby Elsbury had a .355 OBP and when he got on he made pitcher worry. They don't worry about Brock Holt or Daniel Nava and Jackie Bradley offers nothing at the plate.

-Victorino was a stabilizing force in both Right Field and at the Plate. Him getting hurt was actually pretty devastating. Nava should not be an every day right fielder.

-Drew was at least serviceable at the plate during the regular season and he was a vacuum in the field. Bogaerts has struggled both places. Then when Drew came back, he missed all of spring training. Few have the ability to hit the ground running in that circumstance.

-Salty was let go and replaced by A.J. Pierzinski? Really? Not only has Pierzinski been a sub-par catcher for a few years already, he's has a reputation for being a bad clubhouse character. Combine that with the loss of Dempster (A great clubhouse personality), and a season can turn pretty quick.

-Finally at least 4 players IMO (Gomes, Nava, Koji, and Breslow) had career years last year where it was unreasonable to expect a repeat.

I have no explanation for Buchholz.

 

[StoweD210]

I was looking at some stats from the 2013 Red Sox vs. this year's version. I was a little surprised to see that, so far, their record in 1 run games is pretty close (21-21 for 2013, 24-24 for 2014) and the number of shutout losses is also close (11 losses for 2013, 12 for 2014). Just going by the 'eye test,' it seemed like the 2014 team would be much worse in both categories.

Two places where there are bigger differences is in blowouts and inter-league games. In blowouts (5+ runs margin of victory), the 2013 team was 33-13. This year's squad is 11-17. In inter-league games, the 2013 team was 14-6, while the 2014 team is 9-8.

Others have brought up getting very little production out of Bradley and Bogaerts and Pierzynski failing to add anything. I'd add Sizemore to that list. Maybe the plan wasn't to have to have to play as much if Victorino was healthy, but he added nothing.

Lastly, how often do you see a pitching change in the OP's scenario with Uehara? A solid closer comes in with a 3 run lead. He gets 2 outs, but also gives up 2 runs and has 2 runners on base. Not including injuries, how often do you see a closer get pulled in that situation? I don't watch much baseball outside of the Sox, but I can't think of any. It's easy to say a change should have been made after he blows the save, but I think every manager would have stayed with his closer in that scenario. Not saying that Farrell is beyond criticism for decisions this season, just not for that one.

 

[60'sfan]

Sure it does. Think about who replaced the departures.

-Jacoby Elsbury had a .355 OBP and when he got on he made pitcher worry. They don't worry about Brock Holt or Daniel Nava and Jackie Bradley offers nothing at the plate.

-Victorino was a stabilizing force in both Right Field and at the Plate. Him getting hurt was actually pretty devastating. Nava should not be an every day right fielder.

-Drew was at least serviceable at the plate during the regular season and he was a vacuum in the field. Bogaerts has struggled both places. Then when Drew came back, he missed all of spring training. Few have the ability to hit the ground running in that circumstance.

-Salty was let go and replaced by A.J. Pierzinski? Really? Not only has Pierzinski been a sub-par catcher for a few years already, he's has a reputation for being a bad clubhouse character. Combine that with the loss of Dempster (A great clubhouse personality), and a season can turn pretty quick.

-Finally at least 4 players IMO (Gomes, Nava, Koji, and Breslow) had career years last year where it was unreasonable to expect a repeat.

I have no explanation for Buchholz.

I am not trying to be argumentative because you make good points but Brock Holt has an OBP of .347 and he is at least a threat to steal. He's not Jacoby but he has 10 steals and the pitchers need to keep him close.

Daniel Nava is Daniel Nava. He got off to a slow start at the plate but has hit .303 for the last three months. I like having him on the team. He is a switch-hitter who can play any outfield position and first base. He is especially effective against right handers. I don't think he has a career year last year. He is a good hitter who has consistently hit .300 everywhere he has played.

Jonny Gomes didn't have a career year either. He had a typical year for him. Low batting average, good OBP and lots of clutch hits. He has always been a good clubhouse presence and is a winner. He has been in the post-season with Cincinnati, Oakland, Boston and will be in again with Oakland again this year.

Koji did have an incredible year last year but he has been pretty solid this year until just recently. He just doesn't get as many save opportunities as he did last year.

The flying Hawaiian has been very brittle lately and is a big reason why the Sox have not played well. But he missed 25% of the games last year. He is signed through next year but we may have seen the last of him.

Salty had a solid year last year offensively but he never was very good defensively. If the Sox could have signed him for one year or even two, we would not have had to suffer with Pierzynski. The future behind the plate is clearly Vazquez and Swihart. If anyone had a career year last year it was Salty. But cheer up he is hitting just .232 with the Marlins and is well below the league average for throwing out runners at 21%. With admittedly a small sample, Vazquez is at 45%.

I'm not sure what happened to Drew. He is still below the Mendoza line with the Yankees and no longer blame things on the lack of spring training. He could have a tough time finding a home next year.

I'm with you on Buchholtz. He is consistently inconsistent.

 

[mauconnfan]

One big reason seems to be missing from the posts, Napoli………47 RBI compared to career year at this point last year.

 

[G0UCONN]

One big reason seems to be missing from the posts, Napoli………47 RBI compared to career year at this point last year.

True...think he had like 47 RBIs by the end of May last year.

 

[Husky25]

True...think he had like 47 RBIs by the end of May last year.

One big reason seems to be missing from the posts, Napoli………47 RBI compared to career year at this point last year.

RBI is a dependent category. The guys in front of you have to be on base for you to drive them in too. Napoli was good last year, but he was better in Arlington.

 

[mauconnfan]

RBI is a dependent category. The guys in front of you have to be on base for you to drive them in too. Napoli was good last year, but he was better in Arlington.

Maybe but it's also dependent on "clutch hitting" which he was last year and is not this year. Sorry but I see too much of the Sox and he's had his chances and has not come through as compared to last year when he rarely missed a chance. As fas as Arlington he had 17 more RBI last year for the Sox than his best year of 75 for the Rangers. And after that it's 60's or less. He had a career year last year.

 

[60'sfan]

Maybe but it's also dependent on "clutch hitting" which he was last year and is not this year. Sorry but I see too much of the Sox and he's had his chances and has not come through as compared to last year when he rarely missed a chance. As fas as Arlington he had 17 more RBI last year for the Sox than his best year of 75 for the Rangers. And after that it's 60's or less. He had a career year last year.

Mike Napoli got off to a great start last year with 27 RBI in March/April. Other than that his RBI totals per month have been about the same. Last year he definitely had more opportunities with Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia and Ortiz in front of him. With the base stealing alone all he needed then was a ground ball or a fly ball. Another odd thing has happened this year. Ortiz is hitting home runs and driving in even more runs taking away opportunities from Napoli. Now, with the addition of Cespedes, who has a terrible OBP and hits home runs, the opportunities are even less. However, I have to admit that his clutch stats this year are pretty bad.

He did hit a three-run bomb last night.

 

[mauconnfan]

Mike Napoli got off to a great start last year with 27 RBI in March/April. Other than that his RBI totals per month have been about the same. Last year he definitely had more opportunities with Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia and Ortiz in front of him. With the base stealing alone all he needed then was a ground ball or a fly ball. Another odd thing has happened this year. Ortiz is hitting home runs and driving in even more runs taking away opportunities from Napoli. Now, with the addition of Cespedes, who has a terrible OBP and hits home runs, the opportunities are even less. However, I have to admit that his clutch stats this year are pretty bad.

He did hit a three-run bomb last night.

I disagree he had 60 something at the all star break or at least 50 plus no doubt last year. It seemed he had a big hit whenever he had people on base last year and no so much this year. Holt is hitting as well as Ellsbury although the base stealing is the same and Pedroia's been the same for a couple of years now. Papi has the same amount of everything pretty much he's just hitting less. My point is, and I hear form my local Sox friends so it reminds me, is he's not half as clutch as last year, it' not close!

By the way he'd be in the top 2 or 3 for the Yanks in RBI's so no biggie, I have it worst with that wiffle ball team!

 

[60'sfan]

I disagree he had 60 something at the all star break or at least 50 plus no doubt last year. It seemed he had a big hit whenever he had people on base last year and no so much this year. Holt is hitting as well as Ellsbury although the base stealing is the same and Pedroia's been the same for a couple of years now. Papi has the same amount of everything pretty much he's just hitting less. My point is, and I hear form my local Sox friends so it reminds me, is he's not half as clutch as last year, it' not close!

By the way he'd be in the top 2 or 3 for the Yanks in RBI's so no biggie, I have it worst with that wiffle ball team!

One small point on Pedroia. He is having a down year offensively. He is below his average in B.Ave, OBP, OPS, you name it. At the same time he is probably having his best year ever defensively. I have no explanation. He could be injured but would never admit it. He may be embarrassed about his offense and his making it up on defense. That's the way he is.

 

[mauconnfan]

You guys are funny……..he's always hurt when off a bit…….he's going to have more rbi than 2 years ago last year being one of his best rbi years close to his undeserved MVP year………..he's a good player but .283 isn't bad at all for him now………and his defense is better? Is he making more diving plays? LOL

 

[60'sfan]

You guys are funny……..he's always hurt when off a bit…….he's going to have more rbi than 2 years ago last year being one of his best rbi years close to his undeserved MVP year………..he's a good player but .283 isn't bad at all for him now………and his defense is better? Is he making more diving plays? LOL[/QUOTEu

True .283 is not bad but he is a career .300 hitter. He is below his average in almost every offensive category. His strike out to walk ratio is the worse it has been for his career. On the other hand, he still has great range in the field and has made only 2 errors all year.

 

[mauconnfan]

He's still a real good player. His range has always been pretty good but a tad (or more) overrated and that I will never back down from. But the kids good………..