harkness99

two s***ty AB's in row their for Abreu with RBI chances. Positives: Moncada with a nice drive. Negatives: Bennetti makes my ears bleed.

even though statistically sac bunting isn't productive there are still times I think it should be used. 9th inning two runners on... a non run producing or low avg hitter up - sac bunt is good. Now there is tremendous pressure on the pitcher as decent contact loses the game. Also the historical success of the hitters vs the pitcher following the sac bunts. Sac bunts should be extremely rare... there is no valid reason to practice them so much. Bunting for hits with speedy players is a whole different thing - They should learn how to bunt.

the tank is on for sure.... However I'm not sure I've seem many teams in my life as bad as we are now.. It doesn't really matter.. but wow is this team horribad.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 08:46 PM) He's been around for over a month. Tonight is the first run he's created in a long time .235 career hitter with no power... - War in 2 of his 3 seasons coming into this one.

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 08:44 PM) "Carlos" Sanchez has returned Never understood why some people seemed to think this guy was good.... always baffled me.

can we just forfeit the rest of the season? since our guys need to develop in the minors.. we have a bunch of half assed veteran turds in the lineup outside a couple players. Can we trade Yolmer and shields for a sleeve of golf balls?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 04:41 PM) That's silly. If anything, bunting makes plenty of sense. It's a fundamental skill that, when developed, allows a team a better opportunity to score 1 run. When the Sox are good again, that is something that helps them win close games. Beyond that, excessive bunting is actually causing them to lose games more often now, which is what I think we all want the Sox to do now. Really, if this persists in 2019 and 2020, then I'll take issue with it. At this point, I couldn't care less. statistically it doesn't increase your chances at scoring 1 run... look at the numbers I posted out of the baseball almanac... There are very few times where a sac bunt should be used... Acting like its some great skill for the future is laughable.

man did we have some bad at bats in key situations... However it matters not.

there is no intelligent method for any of this madness.... I don't care how you want to explain it. Bunting is a skill that is mildly useful... the frequency of the bunting and focus of it is not justifiable.

engel is an awesome defender... I hope that weird swing can work in the majors.

moncada bunts... Gonzalez swings away. I guess pure genius is hard to recognize.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 02:49 PM) Renteria needs to go to Bunters Anonymous or something, this is ridiculous. I apologize for everything I ever criticized about you Robin... I've never quite seen this boneheaded of a manager.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 12:37 PM) First off, one of your better run producers should be Moncada. Secondly, he's bunting to move runners along for the Yolmer Sanchez. Thirdly, he is up 2-0 with a crappy bullpen, Swarzak unavailable and Pelfrey with 96 pitches, and isn't playing for the big inning. Lastly, Moncada had never bunted in his life. If he took one off the finger and broke it, that would have just added to the stupidity. Maybe major leaguers should know how to bunt. That's a separate argument. But not all do, and Moncada is one of them. This pretty much sums it up.. top 5 prospect in all of baseball sac bunting for a career 250 hitter... who was about 7-45 for the month.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 12:32 PM) Yes, but he is now a major league baseball player and should know how to bunt. Not when you are the guy that's supposed to drive in the runs...

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 12:04 PM) I was out in the mountains, did Ricky really ask Moncada to lay down a f***ing bunt? Yes lol....

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jul 22, 2017 -> 09:03 PM) Yolmer is so smooth and graceful on defense. Very similar to Alexei in a lot of ways. Yolmer seems like a nice dude.. but can't wait for him and many of these others to disappear.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 22, 2017 -> 09:31 PM) Reality has been punching Yolmer and Hanson right in the face recently. These are good players to have in your line-up if you are trying to lose... oh wait...

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 21, 2017 -> 10:31 AM) You are looking at the run table. What are the odds of scoring 1 run? That's what matters. That's the point of a sacrifice bunt. It says pretty clearly at the end ... a sac bunt lowers your chance of scoring 1 run.

Clippard has James Shields stuff.

Anderson is unimpressive in so many ways right now.... Hopefully he figures out.. because "evidently" he has great talent.

It's time for Shields to find a new profession... Meatball arm with no control. Bring up some minor leaguer and let him get some experience. Pointless to have a guy like shields pitch.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 21, 2017 -> 08:27 PM) So slow out of the box If Tim Anderson has great speed... I've yet to see any real evidence of it.

just some data for people about bunting (some have read similar things, but I'm sure not everyone has) "Sacrifice bunting is giving the defense a free out. Free. No work, no need to make quality pitches. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the sacrifice bunt results in an out just over 96% of the time in major league baseball. According to a 2011 study of high school baseball in Texas, an attempted sacrifice bunt resulted in an out 83% of the time. This out is just about the most sure thing you can give. Attempted sac bunts in the bigs also result in the lead runner being throw out 17% of the time and a double play being turned 8% of the time. It is understood that the out is granted in the situation and an understood part of a sacrifice, but let’s look at other methods of getting to second if you insist on playing for one run. From 2000-2014, base stealers in MLB were successful 72.3% of the time. The success rate is loftier at the high school level (not including the increased likelihood of a wild pitch or passed ball at the amateur level). Would you rather have a 73% chance of having a runner at second with no outs or an 83% chance of having a runner at second with one out? The answer seems obvious. Just how important is it to get that man to second anyway? According to Dan Levitt of baseballanalysts.com, using a study that gathered information over 15 years of professional baseball, the expected run table for an inning sets at .877 in situations where there is a runner at first with no outs. However, if you decide to bunt the runner over, your expected run table for the inning drops to .693 with a runner on second and one out. In essence, you are voluntarily killing your own rally. In addition to the expected run table, basic percentages say that the sac bunt is the wrong play. According to Baseball Prospectus, you have a 24.4 percent better chance of scoring a runner from first with no outs than you have of scoring a runner from second with one out. 24.4 percent! Swing away. In addition, in situations with two base runners, teams stand a 10.4% better chance at scoring one run with runners on first and second with no outs than they do with runners on second and third with one out."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 20, 2017 -> 07:15 PM) When he does that, he isn't doing it for strategy. I think that is the disconnect here. To me he is trying to ingrain the skill into certain guys skill sets so that when they really do need it, they have the ability and count/situation are not something they are thinking about because they will have done it under all circumstances. I think he is doing it for strategy. He is getting a lot of flack for it, so he can play the "skill development" card. Is it a good skill to have? sure.. but it's not so important that we have more failed sac bunt attempts than half the AL has total sac bunt attempts. I don't really believe him, but it doesn't honestly matter all that much, because I doubt he will be the manager when the team is getting ready to compete. One positive I have about him - I think the players play with more confidence and less tight. However I have to real way of measuring that or knowing if its true. The frenzy of bunt attempts is something I can quantify.

yeah bunting for a hit isn't the same thing because you are not purposefully giving up an out.