The Red Sox invested so much young talent into acquiring Mead and Rutschman, two hitters with very similar under-the-hood offensive metrics. Grouping those metrics, which clearly the Sox targeted, the #1 closest MLB match to that profile is free agent Ryan Jeffers. Seiya Suzuki, right there as well.
Schlittler vs. Sox 41% (24/59) whiffs vs. Rays 16% (7/45) whiffs
The good old-fashioned curveball isn’t having a usage resurgence this postseason, but the guys that are throwing it are absolutely dominating with it.
Rafaela in the postseason 19 plate appearances 0-17, 4 strikeouts, 39% whiff 45% chase rate last year, 68% this year 12 of 13 batted balls poorly hit
Red Sox in the 2000s 14 years with Ortiz as primary DH 45 playoff wins, 3.2 per season 5 years with Martinez as primary DH 17 playoff wins, 3.4 per season 8 years with neither of the two as primary DH 2 playoff wins, 0.25 per season
DH plate appearances vs. the Yankees in the playoffs the last 2 seasons: 7 Yoshida 6 Refsnyder 2 Anthony 2 Monasterio Jahmai Jones tonight
Jahmai Jones batted .316/.426/.632 in 68 plate appearances against left-handed pitching after joining the Red Sox. July/Aug: 34 PA, .462/.588/.923, 23% K% September: 34 PA, .194/.265/.387, 38% K%
Since Trevor Story's game-tying home run in Game 2 vs. the Yankees last year, the Red Sox have sent 78 men to bat in the postseason against the Yankees without scoring another run. 10-for-73 (.137 BA), 4 walks, 27 strikeouts (35%).
Rafaela getting ahead 2-0, then immediately chasing 2 bad pitches, and grounding into a double play, fuuuuuuck man
Miller not pitching in high leverage with SF might have been a warning sign
Interesting tweak: Tolle didn't throw his 4-seamer in the 3rd.
So the greatest fastball pitcher in baseball is now throwing a god-like curveball in the playoffs at 3x the usage?
I plowed through most of Peter Gammons' new book last night. I've only seen a handful of pieces of publicity for it. It's like a long, extended version of Diamond Notes telling only warmhearted baseball and people stories. I'm guessing it'll be a big holiday gift season book.
The combo of Bregman and Devers combine this year for 65 HR, 179 R, 190 RBI, 8.5 WAR
Going to see Taking Back Sunday at the Centrum
Jumanji: What Year Is It?
ALT: Jumanji: What Year Is It?
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169 IP for Gray this season. 3.47 FIP, 3.69 xFIP, 3.83 xERA His 83% Left on Base% this season was the highest among all pitchers with 100+ innings pitched and helped shrink his ERA to 2.72.
The pitchers are on cruise control. The hitters are flirting with their worst month of the season.
Anthony has only K'd in 5 of his last 27 PA, so that 8-game wave of strikeouts appears to be a blip that passed. Since his return to action: 10th/153 - 90th percentile exit velocity 10th/153 - max exit velocity 10th/153 - HR/flyball 12th/153 - barrel rate 21st/153 - bat speed
Roman Anthony's home run (438', 107 EV) had a bat speed on the swing of 85.8 mph, which ranks 29th/5271 home runs hit this season.
Red Sox qualified hitters in the 2000s K% 32% Napoli '13 (worst) 29% Bellhorn '04 28% Duran '26 SLG .349 Lugo '07 (worst) .359 Offerman '00 .360 Duran '26 wRC+ 66 Lugo '07 (worst) 67 Duran '26 BA .204 Duran '26 (worst) OBP .260 Duran '26 (worst)
Since his 2-homer game in his return to Baltimore, Rutschman has fallen back into another skid (.167/.219/.333). His offensive transition to the Sox has been a rough go. It's mostly weak fly balls and grounders, he's hardly hit any line drives to help boost his offense/BABIP.
The Red Sox are 11-11 in their past 22 games, and the offense has been playing with the emergency brake on. 10 games left to figure it out. 18th - xSLG 25th - SLG 25th - xBA 26th - OBP 26th - Hard Hit% 27th - BA 27th - OPS 27th - wRC+ 29th - BABIP The roughest contributors:
Roman Anthony has struck out in 17 of his last 35 plate appearances, and his 2-strike approach has looked completely discombobulated.