Ok, so yesterday's save opportunity was not Foulke's fault. Wily Mo (for the second time in his short MLB career) has bounced a ball from his glove to the stands in Fenway. In the end, it doesn't matter as the Sox won, but Foulke can't catch a break...
Anyway, with that said, let's discuss the OF. If, say, the Yankees had Sheffield and Damon go down with injuries, they'd be in BIG trouble. But the Sox are, actually, not going to suffer too much from Crisp and Nixon being out for a little while.
Now, Stern is not Crisp, but Youk was money in the leadoff spot yesterday, so Stern hitting down near the bottom of the order isn't bad...Plus, he can hit. Also, he is solid defensively, and has a pretty good arm. This won't kill us, and it isn't like we are losing a lot of power from the lineup.
Wily Mo scares me, and he can't go to the minors to learn how to play. This move was a huge gamble with a huge possible upside, but this is a wasted roster spot that they can't clear for the entire year if they have to...I am sure after a year or so of working with Ortiz and Manny and working out in Fenway's strange outfield that he'll improve, but this is going to be tough to watch this year.
Dustin Mohr was solid in spring training. He's a pretty good fielder with some pop. If they move Tek to the five-hole, and maybe put Mohr ahead of Lowell in the lineup, they should be ok. Plus, this was a "tweak" without pain. They just want Trot to rest it up a little. 5 days or so...
So, my lineup...
1B Youk
2B Loretta
DH Ortiz
LF Manny
C Varitek
RF Mohr
3B Lowell
CF Stern
SS Rodriguez
I agree, Wily Mo hasn't done much yet, and that muffed catch was pretty terrible. But that pitch by Foulke was not a good one - possibly the worst one he's thrown all season. A bp fastball.
ReplyDeleteJeez, lets give Wily Mo a chance - he's still young and has some serious power. He has WAY more upside than Mohr (and both have serious splits versus L/R).
ReplyDeleteAnd to say he hasn't done much yet? He's barely played. Hell, Manny has not done much yet either.
Well yeah, of course it's early, but it's still fun to speculate. One thing that's insane: Manny has 7 walks already.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't realize WMP has only 5 AB so far - thought it was much more for some reason.
Hey, maybe they could get Bronson back and stick him in RF. He's outslugging even Ortiz.
ReplyDeleteOh man, even Adam Dunn is in on it: "He's got more homers than Wily Mo already."
ReplyDeleteBut then he goes on to say: "He's shown me two tools already."
Uh, that's great Adam. Please stop speaking now. Thanks
I was sitting right near Wily Mo for that catch, and I can assure you that if he wasn't there, that ball would have landed in the bullpen anyway. Not that it matters much, of course, but... there it is.
ReplyDeleteYes, but he should have had it. And fly ball where the fielder is there would fall if they weren't there...
ReplyDeleteHe was under it and he jumped and didn't have to...
I am not killing Pena here. All I am saying is that this is a player who obviously needs some minor league time to learn the game. He took a terrible route to the ball and when he got there he jumped, knocked himself into the wall and, therefore, the ball from his glove.
I foresee an injury then a minor league rehab for this guy...
The biggest problem with Pena is that the Yankees gave him a major league contract and when he was 21, 22 he should have been in the minors getting 500 ABs. Instead he was forced to be kept on Cincy's roster after the Neagle deal.
ReplyDeleteI still like him better than Mohr, who has proven at age 30, that he is nothing more than a 4th OF.
Neither guy could win a spot last year - the main difference is Wily Mo was competing with a group of guys named Griffey, Dunn and Kearns while Mohr was competing with Brad Hawpe and Larry Bigbie.
Hey, don't knock Larry Bigbie. Didn't we once almost trade Lester, Papelbon, Delcarmen, Pedroia, and Hansen for him?
ReplyDeleteYeah it was either that or Kelly Shoppach.
ReplyDeleteLove the controversy yesterday with Shea and as much as I don't like the guy, his response to Beckett was pretty good - i.e., I'm not looking for a walk.
X, that is my point with Pena. He needs a little minor leaguing, that's all.
ReplyDeleteIn my first post I wrote that he has a potential huge upside. The guy definitely has talent, but a little grooming would help. The only way they can get him to the minors is by "injury".
While Mohr may be only a 4th outfielder, at least he has proven he can play at a major league level.
Pena is not quite at that level, yet...
And my original point of this post was to say that even with two of their starting outfielders with injuries, and not playing, that they are stacked with depth and options.
Yeah I know we got a bit off track and I agree that we have more depth than most (not just in the OF, but everywhere).
ReplyDeleteI guess my point is that my preference would be to play Pena over Mohr. Pretty much by every measure Pena has been "more" productive in his limited MLB experience. The K's will drive Boston crazy, but its not like Mohr does not K (4-1 K-BB raito last year). Sure Dustan may be the better fielder, but I don't see that justifying Mohr over Pena.