Where Should Andrew Benintendi Bat in the Order?

In this case, I think the joke answer is the correct answer.

Anywhere he wants.

I'm not sure there's a wrong place to put an immensely talented hitter. The hope is that he'll produce no matter which number is written next to his name.

But, is there a better place than another? Probably.

I happen to be a subscriber to the theory that a batting order should be top heavy. Your lead-off batter will get the most at-bats over the course of a season, so why wouldn't you put your best hitter there? Now, as with every statistic people try to use, there's some thinking that needs to be applied. If you're doing a line-up for, say, the 2013 Red Sox, David Ortiz might have been the best hitter. But, batting him lead-off to be followed by Mookie Betts has some obviouls flaws. I don't like the idea of Betts hitting a triple to the gap, but only reaching second base because Papi was clogging the way. So, it's probably best to use the "best hitter at the top" idea to only decide "top half" vs "bottom half" of the order. As long as Papi's somewhere in the top four or five, you're probably getting enough of his at-bats.

So, I'd say Benintendi should find a place in the upper half. That much is obvious. But, how about from there?

There's been some talk about batting 'Tendi third as a way to break up a string of four right-handed hitters in Pedroia, Betts, Bogaerts, and Ramirez. I agree that going right-left through the order isn't a bad idea. But, I wouldn't define the line-up just to do that. If you're looking at Bogaerts-Ortiz-Betts, sure. No reason not to stick Ortiz in there. But, I wouldn't want to see Bogaerts-Bradley-Betts just as a way to alternate the batter's boxes. But, I think Benintendi is a pretty reasonable candidate to slide in the middle there.

The drawback? Generally, the third hitter is your best hitter. Does anyone care that a rookie is being cast in that spot? Does the rookie? Will he pit too much pressure on himself to produce "like a 3-hitter"? All accounts are that he's a pretty mature guy, who should be immune to himself. But, it's easy to be cool and collected when you're not assumed to be the best hitter on a team destined for the World Series. It's easy to be fast and loose when you're playing with house money. A 22-year old making his ML debut out of necessity has no pressure. The starting opening day left fielder and #3 hitter has a bit more. So, how 'Tendi would handle the spot remains to be seen. As for his teammates? Assuming they even care, I'm not sure how much they should care. Betts would probably bat clean-up as the protection. Hanley would be protecting the MVP. Pedroia would bat leadoff. Really, only Xander would be taking anything resembling a "demotion" going from #3 to #2 in the order. He'll just have to be OK with that fact.

Because, all things being equal, the idea of throwing Benintendi in the middle of the righties is a fine idea. Do I think that going Pedroia-Bogaerts-Betts-Ramirez in a row would be a problem? No. They're good hitters. I can't imagine a tough righty pitcher just mowing them down. (Frankly, if a pitcher mows down those four, not sure Tendi has much of a better chance.) So, if Tendi proves to not be able to handle the "pressure" of the position, I'd have no problem swapping him with Bogaerts. But I'd start with him batting third.

What would you do?

Is Sam Travis the Latest Trade Chip?

If he's not, he probably should be.

Once again, the Red Sox have a young player doing very well during spring training when there's not really a spot for him on the major league club. Last year Travis Shaw transformed a good couple weeks into a starting position when the team broke camp, and he never really hit that well again.

This year Sam Travis is lighting up the scoreboard with his eyes on a spot in Boston. Like Shaw, Travis has a couple roadblocks. The Sox just signed Mitch Moreland to play first base, and have a healthy Pablo Sandoval ready to resume his role at third.

Sounds like Travis has turned into a pretty decent trade chip.

Now, Travis is a better prospect than Shaw ever was. You could envision Travis producing a little closer to these lofty numbers. But, the Red Sox made a mistake with Shaw last year. They should have traded him in the spring before the bloom came off. Without an obvious need for him, perhaps the Sox should trade high on this Travis.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think every prospect is a trade chip. Andrew Benintendi is the top prospect is all of baseball, and I think the Sox should keep him. They need him this year to play left field. It's the same reason I was just fine with trading Moncada in the deal that brought Chris Sale. The Sox didn't have a spot for Moncada. They have a spot for Sale.

So it would make perfect sense to make a move with Travis (and a catcher for that matter) while the value is at its peak. The Sox have some holes they could fill. You can always use another pitcher. Would Travis be a key part of a package for Jose Quintana? Someone else along those lines? 

Because, what's the advantage of keeping him? Having a decent bat sitting in the minor leagues? Who does that help? This team is built for now. Let's take advantage of that. Before it's too late.

See what Travis can get for you.

How Good was Nomar Garciaparra?

Ok. It's time to once again to look back through my scorecards and see how a Red Sox favorite performed while I was keeping score. Did he perform up to his expectations? Or beyond? Or was I a bad luck charm?

Today I decided to look at Nomar Garicaparra. Things sure did change for Nomar's fortunes with the Sox in a hurry, didn't they? But before it all fell apart, how did he perform while I was watching? Let's find out!

Wow. I'd say he did just fine. Wouldn't you?

Looks like I saw about a half a season worth of Nomar games. That's a fun thing to realize. In those games, I'd definitely say I saw a representative sample. A .362/33/129 extrapolated season is nothing to sneeze at from a shortstop. Or anyone else, for that matter. He was an absolute on-base machine. But, you knew that. That's a big reason why he ended up with a career OPS of 1.017 while I was in the building. That's one of the highest of the players I've done so far. 

Which always makes me happy. This is exactly what Nomar was. A terror at the plate. So, I'm glad I got to see who he really was. I always hate to think I happened to catch a great player on an off night. But, that didn't happen here. Nomar was definitely Nomar. How about you?

How did he do when you were in the park?

The Price Goes Down

During Spring Training 2001, the news came out that Nomar Garciaparra had a wrist injury. He would need surgery. 

It was crushing news. In fact, it bothered me how much it bothered me. It was just a baseball team, after all.

But, back then we were all still waiting. The Boston area hadn't had a world champion since the Celtics in 1986. The Red Sox, you may remember, hadn't had a title since a few years before that. 

But, this...THIS...was their year. They had Nomar, the two-time defending batting champion and all around MVP type. They still had Pedro Martinez, coming off the two best years any pitcher had ever had. That wasn't quite enough to bring a title. So, in the off-season they added Manny Ramirez. The best right-handed hitter in who knows how long. They were all set. Finally. This was going to be their year. 

Then, suddenly it wasn't. 

Devastating.

In 2017, things are a little different. The Red Sox have won three title in the years since 2001. The rest of Boston sports added seven more. We don't need THIS to be the year. The Patriots are the World Champs. The Sox won a title just over three years ago.

So, when news came out that David Price was having elbow issues, I was surprised by my reaction. "That's too bad. At least we still have Chris Sale and can give this a good run."

The urgency was gone. Even now that Price appears to be OK, it's not jubilation. More like just being happy to be able to see everything I expected. Cool.

I'm thinking that's a good thing. I know it's easier on me to not live and die over every single game. I know I'm enjoying looking forward to a fun season without worrying that they might not actually pull it out. If they don't, I'm sure they will soon. 

Two injuries to two superstars, and I couldn't have felt more different about them. Because everything changed years ago.

What a time to be a Boston fan.

I Did It!

That's right! This right here is my 28th post in the last 28 days!

Mush like the last time I tried this, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Once I made the rule, I was somehow motivated to actually write a post every day. No more "I'll wait until tomorrow, now I'll twitter." I said twitter can wait I need to post.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that not every post was worthy of a Pulitzer. OK, none of them are worthy of a Pulitzer. But, most of them were pretty darn good. 

And, just like I'd hoped, it got me rolling again. I refound a push to post. I rediscovered some different times to add writing to my day. I thought of some different angles to tackle. I asked for more visitors. It was good for me, and good for the blog.

I hope you agree.

Just don't expect a post tomorrow.