Mojo Dojo Casas House: Boston Red Sox 2024

Because there are more deals to come, I can’t camp out in the hot stove thread, and because Cotillo published this interesting list of 24 predictions.

My favourites:

18. Curt Schilling is told to stay home when the 2004 team reunites at Fenway. Already a pariah, Schilling’s decision to publicly reveal Wakefield’s battle with cancer just days before his death may have been the last straw in his relationship with the Red Sox. There will be 2004 teammates who will be strongly against honoring Schilling, despite his massive role in that championship.

20. Kyle Teel is the first of the “big three” prospects to debut. Teel will tear up Double-A, get a quick promotion to Triple-A and be knocking on the door of the majors by the deadline. Connor Wong will cede the job by the end of the year. Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony will wait until 2025.

24. Alex Cora manages his last game in a Red Sox uniform. Either they play poorly and Breslow wants to go in another direction or they play well enough to make teams want to pay Cora handsomely in free agency. Both outcomes could lead to his departure, potentially for a big market team in New York or Los Angeles. Craig Counsell will get a large Edible Arrangement from Caguas.

4. Adam Duvall comes back but James Paxton and Justin Turner sign elsewhere. None of Boston’s top three free agents have signed yet. That could change quickly. Duvall’s market has been quiet and it feels like he may be had for cheap late in the winter. He was a great fit for Fenway and could return as a DH option... especially if he can play first base to give Triston Casas some rest against lefties. The Red Sox have talked to Paxton about a return but it looks like the Mariners are in play for him again. It’s all but certain Turner goes elsewhere. His market is similar to that of old friend J.D. Martinez.

5. Bobby Dalbec is finally traded. In December, Alex Cora went out of his way to talk about Dalbec having a role on the major league team next season but considering the history, that’s hard to believe. Breslow will do right by the player and finally give him a chance in another organization.

1. Bello becomes a full-blown stud

2. Casas is even better this year. Some ups and downs but basically both halves look like last year's second half. Legit scary territory

3. Jansen is mediocre and eventually traded for a bag of baseballs

4. Pablito becomes the new Brock Holt and is basically everybody's favourite player

more after the break

Re 3 they are looking to trade him rn

Also, Jarren Duran feels like someone they could trade and I cannot imagine a city a right wing guy like him would hate more than Seattle

Proud single father Trevor Story and his large adult sons.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDmGm-mWYAAcwD2?format=jpg&name=900x900

where tf is Raffy

He’s not a young infielder? Like was supposed to be for minor league guys but Casas & Grissom supposedly wanted to go. It’s unfortunate that Mayer’s not there but they probably don’t want him at unofficial camp with him finishing the season injured last year.

Raffy needs it as much as anybody plus cmon man the vibes demand it

Idc, he’s got two young kids, who knows what’s going on with him

A day before the club’s Rookie Development Program media availability, Anthony, Mayer and Yorke took in the scene of flurries at Fenway Park. For California natives like Mayer and Yorke, it was their first time seeing snowfall.

Welcome to Boston.

“Just the walk back from here to the hotel, I almost slipped four or five times because I’ve never had to deal with ice on the sidewalk before,” Yorke, 21, said. “So it’s super new to me.”

“I woke up in the morning, and I looked out my window, as I usually do, and I saw snow everywhere and was like ‘This is crazy,’ ” Mayer, 21, said. “It was awesome, I was making snowballs, all that little kid stuff, enjoying the snow, but yeah it was cool.”

Thanks, I hate this

Turner and his representatives reached out, but could not get the Red Sox interested enough to engage in talks. He will be a significant, needed addition for the Jays https://t.co/gEa18aQjRY

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) January 31, 2024

Perhaps the biggest deal of the off-season?!

https://www.sportico.com/personalities/executives/2024/theo-epstein-returns-to-fenway-1234765152/

Epstein leaves his role as a special consultant to MLB with the move to FSG, but he will continue to informally serve the league’s competition and on-field committees. The special advisor role is part time, allowing Epstein to continue as an operating partner to sports-focused private equity group Arctos Partners, which has an investment in FSG.

…

On the baseball side, Epstein says he’ll act as a sounding board and executive coach, if needed, to the Red Sox baseball operations people. Notably, he hired Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow while at the Cubs. “I’m a full believer in him and what he and his team are going to mean for the Red Sox,” Epstein said of Breslow, who joined the Red Sox in October. “With the other sports, where I have a lot to learn, hopefully my experience not only with teams but with Major League Baseball and with private equity will come in handy, at least as a supportive resource for the people at FSG.”

I need to brush up on my Theo lore…only learned the gorilla suit thing recently

This is going to be such a train wreck. I can’t wait.

MLB announced today that a Netflix documentary crew will be following the Red Sox throughout the 2024 season.

It's been a project in the works since 2021.

More details here: https://t.co/gUAQGcLe6t

— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) February 7, 2024

oh my god.

cold open with Kennedy and Warner getting booed off the stage at Winter Weekend in Boston obv

Story Camp

this is going to be incredible

They don’t have final cut!

Of course, we all know who’s going to be the star(s) of this show

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F2LZahLXQAAjllO?format=jpg&name=large

Imagine if they call up Marcelo in September.

Sox Nation is going to collectively melt into a little puddle and then drown in his eyes

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GFvo6z3WsAAXQOq?format=jpg&name=large

4 potentially great teams in the AL East and Netflix buddies up with the Red Sox...

For sure it'll be entertaining, I guess the best one to choose if you want drama

lmao those incredibly genuine “quotes”

Pivetta was the MLBPA rep who negotiated it!

Hopefully we get lots of shots of Trevor doing his stretches

Watched The Franchise last year, from 2011, and an underrated bit of these kinds of things are moments like this:

Amazing clip of Bruce Bochy telling Brandon Belt he made the team in 2012 🥲

"If you need a beer, grab a beer." pic.twitter.com/HuqL4tTlkN

— KNBR (@KNBR) January 11, 2023

Btw it’s underrated how fucking adorable Raffy is every time they mic him up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeRkiFBzZSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHtNAvTauCM

iirc Cora says he's not drinking these days, or at least not as much.

I'm stoked for the 2004 doc as well but i hope there's a cache of HD/film footage out there that hasn't been seen à la Last Dance, rather than, i dunno, AI-upscaled broadcast footage. i mean of course i will watch the hell out of it regardless.

They should adapt that Athletic article about the Idiots except there’d be too much nudity

in another decade we'll just be able to feed that article into a an AI as a prompt and we'll get the entire doc. you choose the nudity level.

“Constant”
https://i.postimg.cc/63wY6Dmx/IMG-4991.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/4yxPVpG8/IMG-4992.jpg

See if you can get the Mojo Dojo and Mojo Nixon threads right next to each other today.

Story Camp!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbHvkDUjfR0

The most coveted title of Story Camp: Knockout Champion 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5d1F5onwtK

— Red Sox (@RedSox) February 8, 2024

Vaughan Grissom looks like a fun hang

The right side of the infield is just going to be bro central

Alex Cora suggested that he sees a full season of Story as a reason to expect a significant defensive upgrade this year. His range to his right and cross-body arm strength are both in an obviously excellent place at the start of spring training. pic.twitter.com/Je8xh9e5Ru

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) February 13, 2024

Lucas Giolito didn’t know that former White Sox teammate Liam Hendriks was signing with the Sox until this morning when Hendriks texted him asking where he was and told him “I’m in the breakfast room.”

— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) February 19, 2024

Spring training gives us the best Content

Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock: Tigger/Eeyore/Bird of Prey/Koala/Black Bear/Winnie the Pooh/Dug

Houck deviated from the pack with his initial answer. “Honestly, I’m more like a cartoon character,” he said. “I’m like Tigger.”

If Houck is Tigger, then what would his closest friend on the team, Whitlock, be?

“I think he’s Eeyore,” Houck said with a chuckle. “I’m all over the place and he’s just kind of like –”
Whitlock chose that exact moment to amble over. The pitchers’ lockers are next to one another.
“I’m saying how I’m Tigger and you’re Eeyore,” Houck told Whitlock. “Especially at 7 o’clock in the morning, I’m definitely Tigger and he’s definitely Eeyore. Until you get coffee in him, he’s definitely Eeyore.”

“Eeyore?” Whitlock exclaimed, equal parts outrage and amusement.

“Until you get coffee in you, yes!” Houck responded.
“I mean, yes, Tigger is right for you,” Whitlock said.
Then, Martin walked over and told them he was a giraffe.

“Giraffes makes sense,” Whitlock said. “I’m a bird of prey.”

Because he’s going to be feasting on batters this season? “Oh jeez,” Whitlock said.

“I mean, that’s what you said you were,” Houck said with a grin.

“Birds of prey, they’re sometimes solitary, but huge family values and they always mate for life,” Whitlock said. “I’ll go red-tailed hawk, because that’s what we have in Georgia.”

“Wow, you really went deep on that,” Houck said.
Then, another pivot. “Now that I think about it, honestly I might be more of a koala,” Whitlock said. “I love these questions.”

“I’m a bear, because a bear always wants honey,” Houck said, pivoting as well. “I like sweets, I like Sour Patch Kids, Mike ‘n Ikes –”

“I think he’s a good black bear, because they’re not scary,” Whitlock said of Houck. “Grizzlies, you run away.”

Or perhaps Houck is Yogi Bear.

“Hey there, Boo Boo! I think I found a pic-a-nic basket!” Whitlock said, mimicking the cartoon character’s voice perfectly.

“I don’t know what I am,” Houck said.
“You said I was Eeyore,” an affronted Whitlock replied. “What the heck? I’m a depressed donkey?”
“He’s just low-energy sometimes,” Houck said. “Like you, before you have your coffee.”
“I mean, that’s true,” Whitlock agreed.

Postscript: The following morning, Whitlock told the Herald that after much discussion between the pitchers, Houck was the golden retriever Dug, from the movie “Up.”

Let’s hope he doesn’t get called up till next year

.@RedSox top prospect Marcelo Mayer spoke with @SamDykstraMiLB about rebounding from last year's shoulder injury and the adjustments he's made. #MLBTonight | @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/x6yLw7UphZ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 5, 2024

I love him

Red Sox born & raised. pic.twitter.com/gzQodZjDUg

— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 7, 2024

TIL it’s bay-o

You should watch this, it’s the canonical Bello video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNuOnnQNPk8

https://i.postimg.cc/SsVRQhJK/IMG-6603.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/zvBBVcgF/IMG-6604.jpg

Proud dad Pedro

https://i.postimg.cc/65qjdz7W/IMG-6774.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/hGLpS5Yr/IMG-6775.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/q7V1HT1q/IMG-6776.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/JzBpFncS/IMG-6777.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GJCWRenXMAA2djm?format=jpg&name=large
Cook!

at Seattle! What a day for you. :)

Don’t even talk to me about split loyalties here, it was hard enough being simultaneously happy and sad (ok mostly happy) when Casas hit that Barry Bonds home run in SF last year.

at 24 years & 316 days old, Brayan Bello will be the 4th-youngest Opening Day SP for the Red Sox in the last 85 seasons, older than only:

1979 Dennis Eckersley: 24 y, 184 d
1961 Bill Monbouquette: 24 y, 243 d
1995 Aaron Sele: 24 y, 305 d https://t.co/oXXZUNZ5R9

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 19, 2024

Also, please let Trevor Story be great, he’s been making plays like this since he came back from injury

.@Tstory2 makes it look easy 😎 pic.twitter.com/rjtu6VQ1R8

— MLB (@MLB) March 19, 2024

That 'thing' on Isaiah Campbell's face is a thing of beauty. Can't even focus on his pitching when he's got that thing staring at you. That's a +1war stache

Doesn’t look like Bello had his best stuff last night but he still pitched five innings and gave up 2 earned runs (off a Haniger home run). No walks.

Stats was talking last year that Bello’s fastball was unusually hittable:

Last season, Bello threw 362 four seam fastballs to left-handed batters. They batted .333 with 8 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, and a .704 SLG against that pitch.

In his final spring training start, 1 of his 91 pitches was a four seamer.

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) March 29, 2024

No four seamers from Bello tonight. pic.twitter.com/QZmW2x2z8v

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) March 29, 2024

The season is officially back pic.twitter.com/34Y3CX5pXv

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) March 29, 2024

Also, Joely remains TERRIBLE, I have no idea why he made the roster over Bernie and I hope they cut bait on him sooner rather than later.

yeah i do not understand that either

i was reading that about bello’s fastball a couple of days ago. on the one, great that he’s adjusting, on the other hand, major league pitchers without a fastball are kind of a rare bird these days. the 0 walks is probably my favourite stat of the night

https://x.com/alexspeier/status/1773536959840834013?s=20

We need a full ⁦biomechanical analysis of Tyler O’Neill’s throw from RF. pic.twitter.com/UZnJUCzk4j

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) March 29, 2024

I saw that, hilarious. He made a similar acrobatic throw in his spring training micd up video.

that's beautiful

yeah i do not understand that either

i was reading that about bello’s fastball a couple of days ago. on the one, great that he’s adjusting, on the other hand, major league pitchers without a fastball are kind of a rare bird these days. the 0 walks is probably my favourite stat of the night

Watching it back both NESN and WEEI were saying Duran was distracting Casas and he didn’t look happy if you watch the bottom of the ninth back. Story’s like, you’re on your own bro, if he wants to eat you I can’t do anything about that.
https://i.postimg.cc/QdkyfGMK/IMG-8213.jpg

And that Rafaela triple! Ceddy/Story/Duran/O’Neill are going to be menaces on the basepaths and it’s fun. Especially impressed cos Cal Raleigh really is good at throwing runners out.

Yes, this. pic.twitter.com/CEQYoA07Sx

— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 29, 2024

- get Joely Rodriguez off this team and Bernie back ASAP
- Casas & Story both have timing slightly off, feelsbadman.jpg (though it’s literal March)
- need Grissom off the IL ASAP
- Cora’s continued inability to manage a bullpen in high leverage
- Devers pls don’t be out too long
- Abreu nightmare game :(

However:

+ can this team actually defend now? The starters look good!
+ the pitching. The pitching! 3 ER over 16 innings.
+ Trevor Story in the field
+ Ceddy just incredibly special
+ the speed on the basepaths is night and day
+ provisional YES on Tyler O’Neill

However

The Dunedin Police Department’s scanner on February 7, 2020 pic.twitter.com/IwJ8uzFjX7

— Pod On Lansdowne (@PodOnLansdowne) March 31, 2024

This is so cute, sorry if this offends. Masa is so loved, I’m always seeing guys hugging him

what is happening lol pic.twitter.com/YaQ2bw8o17

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) April 2, 2024

Kenley doing Kenley things

(unable to throw strikes against the *checks notes* bottom of the A's lineup)

Kenley is playing through a back strain atm iirc and also closed out the first game last night which was like 16 hours between outings for him. It was ugly but the man got it done. I don’t think they put him in there if they didn’t use most of the pen yesterday.

I have no idea how people suffer a full season of baseball. I couldn’t even look at gameday during the bottom of the ninth; I was sitting on the bed checking my phone’s lockscreen for a message from my friend telling me the game was over, while my husband* was following on his iPad and gleefully going “oh no he’s walked someone, double play? Oh no force out…” It’s rough, man, but an ugly scraped out win still counts just the same.

* he also watched my Spanish flu era king George Kirby get knocked around by the Guardians before turning to me and going “What is this, an all-hitter?” Who’d follow this fucking game?!

I love this trend, keep going Craig

Red Sox are in agreement with Ceddanne Rafaela on a contract extension, source tells MassLive.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 8, 2024

interesting look at the red sox consciously reducing fastball usage: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/not-so-fast-red-sox-cut-fastballs-in-new-approach/

Didn't reduce quickly enough to prevent Pivetta from hitting the IL. :-(

I’m glad you’re happy, Steve

:-( <> :-)

story out for the season

We know

I’m at opening day! I accidentally bought a ticket to tomorrow’s game first, so I guess I’m going to that one too

lol

This game is very boring to watch, I’m just glad Grissom will be back soon and I hopefully never have to see Valdez play 2nd again. If they move Rafaela to short they might be cooking. Nice to see Bello doing well, especially in the day.

*Sox commentator talks about Columbe having a teal glove and whether or not it goes with the Orioles’ black and orange.*

User Sharivari, as bored by this game as I am: teal and orange is a classic combo, man doesn’t know what he’s talking about

teal and black...the color combo that launched 1,000 expansion team unis in the 90s.

Tbf they then brought up in a latter inning the teal glove is because his child is autistic and he is active in autism awareness and education(teal being associated with that), which I liked learning.

I love Story so much, this hurts. I wanted a great year for him more than anyone.

Trevor Story just spoke for about 5 minutes. He was in tears, and had to pause several times to collect himself.

— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) April 9, 2024

teal and black...the color combo that launched 1,000 expansion team unis in the 90s.

― j.q higgins, Tuesday, April 9, 2024 2:37 PM bookmarkflaglink

San Jose Sharks have entered the chat.

Scenes from the postgame clubhouse: Trevor Story in tears at the thought of missing the year, Jarren Duran punching his locker and pronouncing repeatedly that he (expletive) sucks for dropping the flyball.

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) April 9, 2024

We're all like Jarren Duran sometimes fr fr

Hard watch. I feel so bad for him.

Anyone who rips players for getting hurt or is ripping Trevor Story today ... watch this. If you're still unsure after, you'd score a N/A on an EKG https://t.co/dM4lmWoIDp

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 10, 2024

just in case tracer didn't see dayo post this on the broadcasters thread:

IT'S HERE
IT'S FOUND

21 yrs ago I was a NESN truck intern watching Jerry relentlessly roast Don over what a lunar eclipse is. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard to this day. Enjoy the best six min of your week. (Enormous h/t to @sidsethupathi)

--> https://t.co/OCzRzDL0ak

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 9, 2024

aw thank you

JUSTIN
SLATEN

JUSTIN
SLATEN!!!!!

JUSTIN SLATEN

this young moose

Cash considerations and a minor league arm for this guy, what a steal

xp when you write moose I just assume you mean Casas

not sure if I'll be able to post pre-game so now will have to do...

Happy Patriots Day!

wink and kenley: just not good enough

hamilton, joely and bobby d: not even major league baseball players

everybody else i’m pretty happy about. despite what happened today abreyu is a sick player, love him

I love Abreu too. Special guy.

bobby dalbec is now 1-for-30 with 18 strikeouts

could i do better? no. but i wouldn't be *much* worse

He was getting absolutely rinsed by Massholes. Feel he didn’t really help himself with his “It’s not a slump” comment

pic.twitter.com/qCSok6kpz8

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) April 19, 2024

Cotillo prediction from January looking very good rn

15. Wilyer Abreu exceeds Alex Verdugo’s production in right field. As difficult as Verdugo was at times, the Red Sox wouldn’t have traded him if they weren’t supremely confident in Abreu’s ability to step into the right field position. As of now, that’s the plan. Abreu will have a better offensive season than Verdugo did a year ago.

He’s a fuxking MLB baseball player that’s for damn sure

He was such a guy today. We were thrilled watching him and he is only going to get better. Elite eye and he’s got pop and a great arm too.

left maybe not his natural position - he got fooled on a couple of reads - but always managed to recover

Cora is playing him in right but said they put him in left cos of the size of the outfield there

Carpenters who rose again in their early 30s pic.twitter.com/e84LENx1bP

— Liam Fennessy (@LiamFennessy_) April 21, 2024

Rafael Devers:

"I don’t know how people outside the organization see us but I think we’re a very capable group. We have very young talent here. They’re doing their job, stepping up and it’s very positive for us to win despite all the injuries."

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 25, 2024

I intended to post this anyway but I’m definitely doing it to annoy Tom D (who I love!) now

OH MY, ABREU! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/jl4d9XbGtK

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 29, 2024

even with all the bullpen meltdowns, the red sox lead the MLB in team ERA by almost half a run

Plus four starters on the IL. Can we do some drooling over rule 5 superstar Justin Slaten itt please? He is A Guy.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GMdWuwTWAAAVU8K?format=jpg&name=large

He looks like he's from the 1970s and his name is like Jeff Beerbohm

I definitely giggled at the tone shift from Devers’ hugely professional answer (about Tyler O’Neill being walked to get to him) to LMAO YEAH I WAS SURPRISED

"We've been trying to make the adjustment. We know we haven't been able to bring a lot of runs in but, that's baseball and today was a different story."

Rafael Devers on today's win over Washington | #RedSox pic.twitter.com/V95XMg6Lmz

— NESN (@NESN) May 11, 2024

I love my tiny king
https://i.postimg.cc/L6Hbr09C/IMG-1062.jpg

Raffy is forever

"In the moment I wasn't thinking about that... When I got to the dugout and I saw my teammates it was a special moment for sure."

Rafael Devers on breaking the franchise record for most consecutive games with a home run | #RedSox pic.twitter.com/aZFyvbm2az

— NESN (@NESN) May 21, 2024

So reliable

Really did not have Tanner Houck breaking out as a bonafide stud on my bingo card for this year but it's something to see

If Giolito was healthy he probably isn’t even in the rotation

He’s a right handed Chris Sale

No, really

Tanner Houck vs. Righty Chris Sale, Sliders (individual pitches + overlay) pic.twitter.com/31tEWpLksb

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 23, 2021

I was thinking about that. If Giolito’s magically healthy tomorrow, who do you even move?

I mean Whitlock is probably out rest of the season? I bet you didn’t think we’d be saying thank God for the Criswell signing

he's been lights out!

Bello
Tanner
Pivetta
Kutter
Criswell

I don't know who I'd move tbh

https://i.postimg.cc/dQTbZ0td/IMG-1070.jpg

Oppo-taco tank. pic.twitter.com/6jYaYS6zo3

— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 21, 2024

Criswell would be very good in that Winck long reliever role who can do the odd spot start, no?

Probably so but I hate moving guys back and forth like that

I’m so happy they’re playing him in CF again

Ceddanne Rafaela is a human highlight reel. pic.twitter.com/i4QJyL6PSD

— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 28, 2024

That throw!!!!!

That’s our 95% percentile arm strength shortstop/CF hybrid!

I mean that is a no-hop throw to 1B from the deepest part of left center field.. astonishing

best throw i've seen since laureano's

The Braves just picked him up so I’ve seen that throw around today! Thank you for respecting Ceddy 🫡

It’s fucking insane how cursed this team is rn

Alex Cora just said Wilyer Abreu is landing on the IL with an ankle sprain and will see a specialist, per @jcmccaffrey.

Just an injury this team can’t afford right now.

And to think it happened going down the dugout stairs… this team is cursed.

pic.twitter.com/QlPdifMtIH

— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) June 4, 2024

3/4 of the starting infield laid low with injuries, unreal

not sure brayan bello deserves to wear mario lemieux's 66

I feel like a young pitcher struggling with his command since returning from injury isn’t really the problem, but regardless, I’m extremely glad I got to see him shit down the back of your boys in person ❤️

boston should have scored 10 yesterday

but instead the 1-4 hitters struck out seven times between them and failed to record a hit

Yeah exactly scoring one run against that pitching is pathetic

David Hamilton, who leads qualified rookies with a .296 average and .348 on-base percentage

Down is up and up is down

He’s hitting .355 over the last month, with power

Who knew?! He’s got a wrc+ of 128!

We all thought Dham was the odd one out here, how little we knew…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fz_yG53XoAAPOPc?format=jpg&name=medium

I still like to think that photo was taken somewhere in Devers’ house

It was in Toronto!

Everyone is (rightly) talking about a Duran but Ceddanne is quietly starting to adjust and in his last 30 games he’s .309/.333/.455. His last 15? .346/.370/.423. The lineup turnover from him to Duran when Ceddy gets on is a force!

Ceddanne in June:

.351/.383/.439 , OPS of .822

OAA on the season:
-5 at SS
4 at CF

DRS on the season (a washed measure & OAA is better for shortstops imo but Fangraphs uses it too so):

-3 at SS
6 at CF

OAA rates Dham as marginally better at short (-3) and DRS for him at the position is roughly the same as Rafaela’s. It’s insane because Dham has made so many high profile blunders - they’ve slowed down and he looks so much better there now - but I never worry about a ball being hit to Ceddanne in the infield. But maybe I should!

Also, I can’t believe Dham became A Guy so fast.

just watching the last couple games, Ceddanne is def looking really good. should probably get moved up from the 9 spot at this point.

Tempting to make him the No. 2 but why mess with success

I like him in the 9 spot though. The lineup (when healthy) is ideally something like:

Duran (L)
Hamilton (L)
Devers (L)
Casas (L)
O’Neill (R)
Wong (R)
Yoshida (L)
Abreu (L)
Rafaela (R)

And the bottom of the lineup is really good when they’re going.

You’re starting off with the leadoff being a quick guy who gets on and hasn’t much pop, which has been the case all season. Dham has confounded everyone by raking and getting his glove together (he started out in triple A and we could not have predicted this!). He makes a lot of contact and is possibly the fastest guy on the team.

Ceddanne is the second youngest player on the roster and he’s hitting ninth to have the least pressure on him (he’s a free swinger), but also the emerging theme of recent series has been that the 9-1-2 string of speedsters on base is a real potent threat in this lineup and they’ve kept rolling with that.

Grissom is supposed to be the 2B but he can’t play short and Hamilton somewhat can, so this middle infield logjam needs to be resolved soon. I really like Dham as a bench utility infield guy, but at the moment that speed kills feedback loop is too sexy for Cora not to resist and I don’t blame him. They set a franchise record for base stealing on Sunday!

Please enjoy all 9 (yes, NINE) stolen bases from tonight. pic.twitter.com/IH5ek7R4Os

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 17, 2024

So this team currently on a bit of a tear

Don’t jinx it!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GQ4jp9EWsAEA5ks?format=jpg&name=large

Mojo Dojo Casas House: Boston Red Sox 2024

already feels like "fuck 'em" is going to be this year's "do damage" or "band of idiots"

That was Jarren Duran’s 100th hit and 10th HR of the season.

He is the first American League player ever to record all of the following before the All-Star break:

- 100 hits
- 10 triples
- 10 HR
- 20 stolen bases

The only NL player to do that is José Reyes (2008).

— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) July 3, 2024

Connor extends his hitting streak to 17 games, MLB’s longest active streak. pic.twitter.com/8Xn9MUCY8b

— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 3, 2024

Roman Anthony gets on his horse!

Inside the Park Home Run for Roman Anthony pic.twitter.com/IOaeRjpxfa

— Portland Sea Dogs (@PortlandSeaDogs) July 5, 2024

Meanwhile, in big boy corner
https://i.postimg.cc/bNxT16x9/IMG-2925.jpg

It’s really funny that their lockers are adjacent. You just know they spend the whole time doing curls or talking about how much protein to consume for maintenance, bro.

A special night for the Duran fam. pic.twitter.com/tZETigd2Ht

— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 17, 2024

nice article about his late blooming and relationship w his dad here

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/19/sports/red-sox-star-prospect-jarren-duran-took-his-fathers-advice-hit-gym-became-different-hitter/

I feel this is in many ways the canonical piece about him?

https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-prospect-jarren-duran-could-make-an-impact-in-2021

As a 5-foot-6 student at Cypress High School, Duran said he was “the small guy who had to work twice as hard as everybody else.” A growth spurt helped. The guidance of his parents, Octavio and Dena, mattered even more.

“I owe so much to my dad,” Duran said of his father, who has advanced from field work to a management position at PepsiCo. “My dad was my discipliner and my mom was my caretaker. My dad would be tough on me and then my mom would (say), ‘Oh, it’s OK.’ Then, sometimes I’d have both of them critiquing me and I’m like, ‘Hey, Mom! You’re supposed to love me when Dad gets on me.’”

5'3" as a freshman!

Yeah.... there's a lot going on in that last quote

Trying to find a lonely island TO MAKE DAD LOVE ME gif and failing

Yeah it’s sad but it’s also extremely baseball player. Tyler Glasnow was talking about overbearing baseball dads and he was like, and I still couldn’t believe as a pro there are still fathers calling their sons and talking to them like they’re kids and they just put up with it

My third baseball-politics post today; promise this is a one-day thing. Letter a house member sent to Biden:

But the crux of the letter is a four-paragraph metaphor comparing the president to the Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez, a Hall of Famer who was left on the mound for the eighth inning of Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series despite being tired. Mr. Martínez allowed three runs, tying the game before the Yankees won with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning that denied the Red Sox a trip to the World Series, which they had not won in 85 years.

“There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics,” Mr. Raskin writes. “Your situation is tricky because you are both our star pitcher and our manager. But in democracy, as you have shown us more than any prior president, you are not a manager acting all alone; you are the co-manager along with our great team and our great people. Caucus with the team, Mr. President. Hear them out. You will make the right decision.”

(There's a 2006 Pedro thread with a title that's probably awkward today.)

why was jansen in just now?? lmao

I was too in the moment to remember who was pitching but when the camera cut back to Kenley I immediately felt sad

why was jansen in just now?? lmao

well.. mission accomplished i guess

Slaten being injured is such a problem, Chris Martin too

entirely possible we sweep that series with both healthy

Shit happens, second game was the worst but Kutter just didn’t have it yesterday. I think they’d win the first one if Cora left Pivetta in another inning and they can go to Kelly later. Very reminiscent of Orioles series which also was lost on bullpen meltdowns. It’s a shame cos the pen has been great recently but it happens.

But more importantly, the left on base numbers were appalling and you don’t have to worry about the pen if you cash some of those guys in. There’s also the fact that Raffy afaict did absolutely nothing this series.

kutter may want to rethink attacking the zone QUITE that much with his 4-seamer...

peaks and valleys. raffy isn't always going to be hot. the pen won't always have it. but slaten and martin are such key pieces to the puzzle. bridge guys.

Kenley Jansen said he isn’t going to Colorado. He said he’s had to have his heart shocked 3 different times (2012,2018,2022) after pitching there, and he isn’t comfortable with any further risks. So, he wanted to pitch today to take some of the load off his teammates.

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 22, 2024

Raffy Devers has an OPS over 1000 on the season.

Stats pointed out how much he’s going oppo with significant power, which we saw in spring training.

Opposite field hitting pic.twitter.com/9AfnNHMMjh

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 1, 2024

"Must be a Fenway thing"

.514 BA / .649 ISO Home
.571 BA / .657 ISO Away

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 1, 2024

Raffy giving us a record-setting edition of @JetBlue's #FlyestPlays. pic.twitter.com/UMZ0OnM06n

— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 28, 2024

Meanwhile, in rehab:

It’s another @wasabi_cloud Challenge, this time with @mvptc37 and @GrissomVaughn turning the tables on @bradfo pic.twitter.com/npThAmfAno

— Baseball Isn’t Boring (@BBisntBoring) August 3, 2024

It should be illegal not to play him in CF

THERE IS ONLY ONE CEDDANNE. pic.twitter.com/p45v2W63NS

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 6, 2024

rs stats talking about moving him ffs

Rare bad Stats opinion. It’s clearly Duran they should trade

ok controversh, you saying that because he's 28, fewer years of control?

Left handed speed guy and his age, yeah

i don't know who I'd move tbh, i like them all, all my pretty little toys.... I guess what might stay my hand on duran is you gotta see how roman anthony actually performs in the bigs. Jarren's a proven guy

Roman I think is a late 2025 guy, but I guess we’ll see if he gets promoted this season and he’s forcing the door down. He is ofc another lefty (as are Mayer & Teel). If all those guys are good then you have:

Anthony, OF, lhh
Duran, OF, lhh
Rafaela, OF, rhh
Abreu, OF, lhh
Casas, IF, lhh
Mayer, IF, lhh
Story, IF, rhh
Devers, IF, lhh
Grissom, IF, rhh
Hamilton, IF, lhh
Yoshida, DH, lhh
Teel, C, lhh
Wong, C, rhh

On expiring contracts at the end of the year:

O’Neill, OF, rhh
Refsnyder, OF, rhh

I feel like they’ll try to move Yoshida this year which opens up a spot for a righty, but hitting lefties is a bit weakness for this lineup. Casas hits lefties well (our king), Devers is ok, but most of the rest not at all. Assuming Rafaela and Grissom are starting that’s 2/9, they probably hold onto Romy as an infield utility guy and hopefully Refsnyder too?

Does any other team in the league have a too many lefties problem? I’m pretty sure they don’t.

with mayer, grissom and story i'm not sure there's room for both romy and hammy as utility guys.. as a lefty hammy might be the odd man out

all quite speculative of course - injuries and... events.. will probably make all this clearer

Wilyer is so special

Since the all-star break, Wilyer and Romy rank 8th and 11th in quality of contact out of 280 MLB players. pic.twitter.com/kQQEMgcv0x

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 9, 2024

Our pitchers all need about two weeks off

What’s that smell?
https://www.truebites.co.uk/cdn/shop/articles/pork_burnt_ends_original.jpg?v=1566839967

that pork has not yet been pulled… i can only hope the same is true of the rotation

That pork is burned to a crisp is the point

I’ve missed this moose’s postgame yapping

"We're playing good baseball and today was a full team effort."

Triston Casas on the win over Houston@WebsterOnTV | #RedSox pic.twitter.com/aeY9hVQXIr

— NESN (@NESN) August 21, 2024

Lmao
https://i.postimg.cc/XYj8vdYh/IMG-6027.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/ht20QvJG/08e6592d-f77a-441a-8611-d4a4c7376e04.jpg

Sloppy game. I sent gyac some photos of Casas at bat and in the field--I'll post a couple here. We had great seats: just beyond first base, eight rows up.

As I've mentioned before, I'm the world's most inattentive fan at games. As we talk and talk--about the '87 MVP vote, about how much umpires get paid, about how many leadoff HR Brady Anderson might have hit the year he hit 50--I take notice of about 2/3 of what's happening on the field. The two best things last night were Vlad's two-run double and Kirk's stand-up double in the RF corner (the only part of play not visible to us). I'm Kirk's good-luck charm; I'd previously seen him beat out a throw at second for a double.

Hot dogs, too (Loonie Tuesday). I ate four; 18 between four of us.

My friend was going on and on about Schneider removing Francis after 5 (~75 pitches). It was his last start of the year, and he hadn't given up a run (and only three hits). I didn't care. The Jays bullpen is just awful.

https://i.postimg.cc/nzGcFMVF/casas-1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/63mbGfpY/casas-2.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/1XKHr09k/casas-3.jpg

Wow great seats!

I’m also an inattentive fan. Sometimes I’ll do the scorecard just to make myself pay attention. Going to a baseball game is really just an excuse to have long conversations ime.

Honestly, the beauty of baseball--just not the same as hockey or basketball.

Did you notice anything about how Grissom handled the ball? People say he’s better. Honestly at the start of the year I thought he was pretty stiff

I...didn't! But we did talk about him. 1) That it's just not right that he's not Marquis' son (which then had us rhyming off Expos players from back then: Delino DeShields, Moises Alou, Will Cordero, etc.); 2) Vaughn Grissom sounds like a baseball player; Spencer Horowitz sounds like a Nobel Prize physicist.

Loved this write up and photo. I woke up about an hour and a half into this game due to a cat trying to get into a drawer near me, which was about 2am my time, and so I saw the last part of the game. Sox bullpen has been brutally, league-leadingly awful the second half. I liked the Guerrero-Guerrero matchup!

Did Casas throw foul balls into the crowd at the end of the Sox inning? He threw out a ton of them at the game I attended before his injury.

Alejandro Kirk doubles are always incredible - look at those little legs go!

Did you have any observations about any Sox players the 2/3 of the time you were paying attention?

I’m really glad for the Loonie Tuesday update. Was the game sparsely attended despite that? What was attendance like?

Sweet photo of you and friend! Nick “son of Eric, nephew of Steve Sax” Sogard played in the first game and caused a minor flurry of interest on Blue Jays Reddit - I didn’t realise his dad was a Blue Jay for a huge month. What did you make of all Cora’s chopping and changing?

I have attended two (2) baseball games with Tracer Hand and can confirm he fills in the scorecard and also will talk at length during the game. During the Pittsburgh series my husband and I attended all three games with our mutual friend who TH also knows and we were talking the whole time, including about Reese McGuire’s Dollar Tree arrest every time he came up to bat. We also got talking to fans around us. A lot to love about attending a baseball game.

Also, I would have been mortified if Casas had a golden sombrero or something the night you saw him play but he was fine! Nice hit off a lefty.

Did you notice anything about how Grissom handled the ball? People say he’s better. Honestly at the start of the year I thought he was pretty stiff

Casas didn't throw any baseballs out, no. My friend's son and his nephew, both 13-14, tried all night to get a baseball. When the ushers had one to give away, they'd scurry down the eight rows to ask for it, but every time they lost out to someone younger. The one thing I'll say about the Red Sox was their lineup was just more impressive on the whole than what the Jays put out there last night. Boston had OPSs of .750-.800 up and down the lineup, led by Duran; not spectacular, but tough outs throughout, even Rafalea hitting 9th (just missed a HR). With Toronto, it was Vlad above .900, Horowitz pretty good, and then nothing. I can see where Cora would be a little desperate--they're still technically in it, so that win was crucial.

The lineup has been pretty good most of the season. It was when Devers took a knock on his second shoulder (he was playing through inflammation on the left one since spring training) that his production fell off a cliff and the lineup with it. With Devers and Casas both struggling, Duran gassed and the two rookies Abreu & Rafaela running out of steam at the end of the season it’s been very grim watching for about six weeks? Cora finally forcing Devers onto the IL last week has seemed to change the shape of the lineup significantly. It helps also that Casas and Story have shown signs of life.

The Rafaela situation is that he will swing at everything but also:

If you need a hit Rafaela gets a hit if you don’t need the hit he’s largely uninterested in the at bat entirely

— Céad Míle Fáilte (@ColeyMick) June 1, 2024

friend’s son and nephew*

Of no importance whatsoever, but: for some reason, the photo of me and my friend is reversed, so you can't tell where we're actually sitting.

Can I upload that video you sent? It actually gives the clearest view of your vantage point plus iirc one of you is being rude about George Springer

Sure..."Makin' the first out"--I think that's me (meaning "Great, you've got Casas on video making the first out").

It's a strange sensation going from having, like, no guys - to the extent that Tyler Heineman was DHing for us at one point - to having a surplus of guys at essentially every position apart from 1B and C.

We should start a 2025 thread but I was holding off on that until things quieted down. Title needs to be “The Roman Empire” obvs