Tag Archives: JBJ

The Red Sox Dodgers Preview Extravaganza

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The Dodgers just dispatched the upstart Brewers and move on to face the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series.  Cue the grainy black and white photos of The Babe in a Red Sox uniform. Let us see the Dropkick Murphy’s grinding rendition of Tessie. 

Cue fans using the Brooklyn Robins in barroom and water cooler talk, and a million google searches for ‘Red Sox-Dodgers world series history’ hitting the 1916 World Series page on Wikipedia.  Cue every old Brooklyn Dodger fan coming out of the woodwork, and the slightly less grainy photos and videos of Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese. A mountain of content on the 1988 LA Dodgers World Series winners will come out.

Cue Fever Pitch where the old guy counts off the string of Red Sox world series wins in 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918. Prompt Dave Roberts making his fateful steal in the bottom of the 9th in game 4 against Mariano Rivera.  Cue pictures of Alex Cora in an LA Dodgers uniform. The rating of this series is through the roof! 

It’s an old-school, original 6 type of World Series that will be chock full of intrigue and potential controversy.

Detroit Public Library

THE RED SOX

With a resounding thud, all the doubting and putting down of the 2018 Red Sox has been pushed off the desks of commentators nationwide.  This team is an absolute wagon with a horseshoe, four-leafed clover, and all the baseball gods in their back pocket. 

All the beautiful poignant vignettes of warm feelings are still cascading around the Red Sox: The Alex Cora birthday serenade in the clubhouse after beating the Houston Astros in 5 games.  David Price’s moment with friends and family that choked everyone up.  Alex Cora talking about the Red Sox sending supplies to his storm-ravaged homeland.  Alex Cora is the first manager from Puerto Rico to take his team to the World Series.  

Yes, changing managers can make a world of difference in the day to day operations clubhouse and team.  It doesn’t hurt that Cora is batting, oh, around .800 with his in-game and lineup decisions so far in the playoffs.

There’s every reason in our provincial New England bubble to expect a romp over the Dodgers in the World Series.  The bats are batting: JBJ! JD! PEARCY! MITCHY!  The gloves are catching: BENNY! MOOKIE! The pitchers pitching: PRICE! BRASIER! KELLY! BARNES! PORCELLO! Even maybe SALE!  Possibly KIMBREL!

THE DODGERS

PITCHING

And yet, there is a reason to pause.  

When it comes to the match-ups there’s not much, but what there is tends to favor the Dodgers.  Of the four starting pitchers on LA (Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, local boy made good Rich Hill, Walker Buehler), there’s only one player on the Red Sox who have any history. That’s JD Martinez against Kershaw.  It’s a minuscule 8 at-bats, but JD has managed a home run, double and .375 average against the talented lefty.

HITTING

On the other side are two individuals that show up again and again.  

We’ll start with Brian Dozier. He may not be what he once was, but he has a boatload of experience against the suddenly vaunted Red Sox staff. Dozier’s batting average doesn’t jump off the page, but the power does: Against Chris Sale, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, and Rick Porcello, Dozier has 9 doubles and 9 home runs in 146 at-bats.  If we push those to a full season that’s a 36 double and 36 homer pace.

And he’s the appetizer.

The main man, the designated villain of Red Sox fans and now most of Baseball, is none other than Manny Machado. The side stepper, the slide stabber, the very very bad man.

https://twitter.com/tosa_tina_/status/1052522276766273536

And he’s a force against the Red Sox pitchers: 4 doubles, 9 homers, 108 at-bats.  That’s a projected 18 doubles and, gulp, 41 home runs, and also hits a combined .298 against the Boston starters. 

Throw in the fact that the Sox batters haven’t seen the Dodgers pitchers and it could be an edge for the boys in blue.

We finish with one more subtle note on Alex Cora’s staff.  The hitting coach of the Red Sox is Tim Hyers.  If that name doesn’t leap off the page, it’s not your fault.  Hyers does what the best coaches do, he lets the players shine and stays in the shadows. 

It turns out Mr. Hyers was the Dodgers assistant hitting coach last year.  That means he has the inside track on the Dodgers best hitters, including Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Yasiel Puig among others. 

It’s going to be a fun series, why do we have to wait until Tuesday?

Why Jackie Bradley Jr. Is One of the Most Important Players on the Red Sox

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There have been a ton of great hitters in the Red Sox lineup this season, hence the reason they have the best record in all of baseball. With Mookie, J.D., Bogearts, Benintendi and Pearce, this offense can and will haunt every pitchers dreams. There is however, a particular player in this lineup that doesn’t get enough credit. A man who is one of the more important players on this team. That man’s name is Jackie Bradley Jr.

I myself have been on board with JBJ from the start. But many people weren’t. He’s always been looked at as a guy who can field very well but can’t hit. The problem with him is he can really struggle at the plate. He performs poorly against lefties, and can go cold against anyone. He started out 2018 hitting well under .200, but it climbed back up at the end of June.

This was only the beginning of the JBJ redemption tour to the haters. In the month of July, JBJ hit .260 with an .801 OPS. Not bad, right? It would only get better. In the month of August, Jackie has hit .291 with an .861 OPS, and since the All-Star break he’s riding an .854 OPS. He’s climbed his average up to around .230 now and has an OPS over .700 now after having it below that mark for most of the season. He also loves hitting at Fenway as his numbers have been particularly better there this year. He’s hitting .276 with and OPS near .800 in 59 games in Boston.

As I said above, JBJ is one of the most important players on this team which is something most don’t realize. There is absolutely nobody else I’d ever want roaming around in center field than this man. If you hit any ball in his general area, forget it. You might as well just put your head down and do the walk of shame back to the dugout. Unless he misplays the ball on purpose, there’s about a 0.0001 shot he’s not going to catch it. He’s catching everything. His range is just off the charts. What’s the best part about everything I just said? The fact that I haven’t even mentioned his arm yet.

Up here is Bradley back in 2014 throwing a ball over the center field wall from behind home plate. His arm has only gotten stronger since. It defies the laws of physics. It’s just stupid. He throws guys out left and right on a nightly basis and can throw up to 103 mph, and pretty accurately too. I feel like we almost take for granted what he does in center field that we think its normal. You really start to notice how valuable a certain guy is when he’s not playing. I can’t trust anybody like I trust JBJ in center field especially at a place like Fenway. He is an absolutely privilege to watch every night and the Red Sox are lucky to have him.

Jackie Bradley Jr. may not be the best hitter on this dangerous Red Sox offense. But he is certainly no scrub and someone to take lightly. His hitting has only been improving all year, and if he’s not the most elite defensive center fielder in the game I don’t know who is.