Baseball Ed

I like a lot of the individual players on the 2025 Red Sox.
As a team, they've been hot fucking garbage.

Sean Newcomb has been traded to the A's for Cash Considerations. Honestly, the Red Sox getting anything back for him is a positive considering what he was thought of when Spring Training started. He did a good job in the role he was given.

Injuries are random by nature so I can't really be disappointed when they inevitably happen. Same goes with recent Bregman injury.

My six biggest disappointments?
-Houck/Bello implosion.
-Craig Breslow's communication/planning skills.
-Connor Wong forgetting how to hit.
-Confusing innings management.
-Trevor Story.
-Roman Anthony still in Triple-A.

Red Sox 2025 season hasn't been without its positives. In no particular order, here are my five most pleasant surprises.
-Narvaez's bat
-Crochet living up to the hype.
-Chapman pitching like an All-Star.
-Dobbins' rise.
-Just how much better a hitter DH Raffy is than 3B Raffy.

It's objectively very funny that despite his incredibly slow start, Triston Casas has still hit two more dingers than Vladdy Jr.

Short sample size but some remarkably bad luck for Zack Kelly so far on the season- 6.30 ERA to a 2.72 FIP and a 3.47 xERA per Fangraphs. Just 10 IP. He's throwing plenty of strikes (2 BB/11 K) which was more his problem last year. Stuff looks nasty as ever. It'll balance out.

I also think getting too high or too low on any of them takes credit away from the players themselves that are actually doing the work.

Not sure if this is a popular or unpopular or lukewarm take but I don't really think coaches have much of an influence in shorter stretches and you have to wait a few months and look at the numbers to really evaluate their success.

Things I am pleased with not having to talk about next offseason.
-Garrett Crochet extension
-Pursuit of Vladdy Jr
-Kristian Campbell trade rumors

WI supreme court candidate he tried to buy lost, tesla stock prices tanking, and he's getting pushed out of his government role.

The humiliation conga line that Elon Musk is going through is not enough. We need more.

Hogdale fan art.

Seems pretty obvious to me- Roman in left, Duran to center, Abreu in right. Has Rafaela done anything that says he deserves to start over those three? Versatility makes him the easiest to put on the bench. Not even a knock on Ceddy, just a lot of mouths to feed.

Roman Anthony is already knocking on the door. Can't keep him in AAA forever. Conversation is going to come sooner rather than later. Without injuries, how do you work out the OF situation?

Roman Anthony went 2-for-3 with two home runs (2), two walks, a three RBI (4) in today's 12-0 Worcester Red Sox win.

Five Old Friend Updates for 3/28
1. Mookie Betts (LAD): 3-for-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI
2. Luis Urias (ATH): 1-for-1, HR
3. Danny Jansen (TBR): 0-for-2, BB, 2 K
4. Manny Margot (DET): 1-for-2, RBI
5. Xander Bogaerts (SDP): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI

@redsoxstats.bsky.social Casas should be in the league’s early access for ABS, Seattle series was just like this for him too

People assume you throw enough money at a guy, it makes everything ok. Not everyone operates that way.

Jack Leiter getting hit in the nuts by that catcher's return throw about to be on every blooper real for the next few decades.

"Motherfuckers thought I was joking when I said this was a 95-win team. I'm not joking. I think this is a great baseball team. Not a good team. Great. Hard great like Tony the goddamn Tiger."

They are!

-They've named the Polar Park press box after living legend, Bill Ballou. Extremely well deserved, on top of his long and storied career, Bill is just a generally outstanding human being.

-Robert Stock gets the Opening Day start. Very interesting, straightforward guy. Love it when people's social media and IRL personas are basically the same. Rarer and rarer these days.

-I get kind of Jarren Duran vibes from Nate Eaton just in his intensity. Really looking forward to watching him play more.

-Noah Davis was traded to the Dodgers a couple of minutes into everything and left.

-Abraham Toro's first language was French, though he insists his Québecois accent isn't that noticeable. Mentioned that the Red Sox made him the best pitch to him this offseason rather than just throw a monetary figure at him like other organizations had.

-Shane Drohan is going to be starting and bulked up quite a bit during the offseason. Took it very slow after his surgery last year but the procedure seems to have made a difference. Interesting bounce back candidate. There was a time when he was on the verge of cracking some top 100 national lists.

-Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony were predictably the most popular guys there. Didn't get to talk to Roman but Marcelo mentioned that second base was easier than shortstop or third for him and how impressed he's been with Mikey Romero who he called "a really good player".

-Nick Sogard is going to contribute meaningfully to the Boston Red Sox in 2025, but his time in AAA won't go to waste as he continues to get reps at first base and bounces around the infield. Damn good ballplayer and one of the more genuinely good-natured people I've gotten to meet over the years.