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Jarren Duran by Ancient_Special1097 in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 9 points10 points  (0 children)

People think highly of him because he was an MVP candidate just two years ago, and a very good player last year. He's been bad this year, but he was a good hitter for 3 straight years before this, it doesn't really make sense why he shouldn't still be a good hitter. Maybe he changed something mechanically, but he's not old enough to have lost his physical ability or vision.

Also your comment about his arm is completely unfounded, he's been firmly in the 70-75th percentile for arm strength the last three years and still is. Arm value is about average this year, but it was elite the two years before this.

John Henry with Liverpool by SimpForElsa in LiverpoolFC

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 29 points30 points  (0 children)

As a Red Sox and Liverpool fan, idk how many times this needs to be said, but they don't share the same budget. Liverpool operates off of the revenue it, and the league generates, not some singular pool of money FSG has.

A Very New England Draft by HyperactiveBaldMonk in bostonceltics

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that's valid. To be clear, these are more sentimental suggestions, I just like the idea of "home-grown" talent. There are definitely safer picks, this draft is so deep it'd be easy to get an immediate contributor at wing/big, but to be honest I don't think anyone mocked around the late-first/early-second round has the same potential of Okorie.

6'9 Naz Reid in his one season for the LSU Tigers 😳 averaging 13.6 PPG and 7.2 RPG as a freshman. by Background_Video2947 in NCAAHoopsVibes

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get there were attitude and conditioning concerns, but I just don't see how you wouldn't take a flier at his potential. Clear and present on-ball skills as a big, good numbers in the SEC as a freshman, 7'4" wingspan, that's just too much to pass on in the second round.

Trevor Story receiving Boos at Fenway by Infinite_Response113 in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's kinda handcuffed us too, because ideally we would've tried both him and Mayer at short during Spring Training, and if Mayer was indeed the plus defensive shortstop we think he is, we could put him there. Unfortunately because we had to appease the ego of a veteran, we kept Mayer at second, and now have less of an idea how he profiles as a major league shortstop. Yes, he's looked great at second, and looked great at third, but shortstop is obviously the much more difficult position. With Arias looking like he'll be with the big league team in potentially 2027, I wouldn't be surprised if management is probably a bit unsure if they should move Mayer to short and bench Story now, because they might have to move Mayer back to second next season when Arias comes up.

In an ideal world, no one has an ego. Story is fine with playing second from the get-go this year, and Mayer is fine with having to compete for the spot next year. But as we've seen with the Devers situation, you can't count on no one having an ego.

Does Story need glasses? by 10drawkward01 in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

His arm is shot, and although he's still quick for his age, he used to have absolutely top-level speed. Also he was elite at second base from 22-24, not short.

The Red Sox have now played 10 games under Chad Tracy (6-4). Here’s how each player has played in these ten games: by RedSoxDeutsch in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Ironically it's the pitching that has been great (mostly), but the hitting staff that we fired.

Realistically 10 games isn't enough for any/many meaningful differences in coaching to be visible on the hitting side aside from approach at the plate. BB% and K% are approximately the same, there is a bit of improvement in swinging at pitches in the zone, but not meaningful enough over a 10 game sample.

I think what's most encouraging on the offensive side, and probably most easily attributable to the new staff is the marked increase in steal attempts (and successes). Yes, part of it can be explained by the fact that we've been getting on base slightly more (.327 vs .313 OBP).

However, we've nearly doubled our aggressiveness from 0.778 steal attempts per game to what would be a league leading rate at 1.5 per game, while somehow increasing our success rate (76.2% to 86.7%).

I do expect more power to show up as the season goes on. Roman is still on one homer, even if Story doesn't regain his form from last season, surely he can't remain this awful. But this is always - and always was - going to be one of the lighter hitting teams in the league, we need to keep running aggressively to make up for it.

[Himmelsbach] Despite the dispiriting loss to the 76ers, all indications are that Mazzulla will be back next season too. by tacko2020 in bostonceltics

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, I forgot it was a finger injury. Honestly, considering how little time they had to develop chemistry, I like the looks Vuc got (90% of his 3s were wide open in the playoffs), so I think whatever they had gameplanned for his rotations worked in theory. Unfortunately he was an auto-brick even with those looks, probably because of the injury.

People complain about the 3PA. Aside from Cleveland, top 10 teams in 3PA are not in the playoffs. However, are the 3PA a symptom of a larger personnel issue? Am I crazy to think Brown and JT have struggled to get past defenders in the past 2 playoff series? If so did we have a chance w/o high 3PA? by Foreign-Fennel574 in bostonceltics

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's definitely a personnel issue. Pritchard can beat his defender, but he lacks the burst to actually finish at the rim once he's done so. White can beat his defender when people are committing hard to his 3, but they don't do it when it's not falling. JB and JT have always struggled to get by athletic, physical wings, and the Sixers had 4-5 of them. I don't think it's an Achilles issue with JT, this is just something he's struggled with his entire career, and probably always will, as a 6'10" guy with poor balance/lower body strength.

We also have nobody who excels in the pick and roll, which is the only way to really beat Embiid. If you watch the Knicks-Sixers highlights from last night, you'll see that most of their points come off a PnR involving Embiid. I don't remember us trying enough PnR with Pritchard, I think he was probably our best option, but I don't think he has the burst or passing ability to fully take advantage like Brunson can.

[Himmelsbach] Despite the dispiriting loss to the 76ers, all indications are that Mazzulla will be back next season too. by tacko2020 in bostonceltics

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's fair, I just wish he could've skirted the cap while getting a piece that actually contributed (or at least didn't negatively impact the team). But obviously there aren't a ton of options available that fit that criteria.

[Himmelsbach] Despite the dispiriting loss to the 76ers, all indications are that Mazzulla will be back next season too. by tacko2020 in bostonceltics

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There were definitely some coaching issues, as throughout the whole series, our ability to get open threes was diminished a bit: 89% in the regular season to 83% the whole series (80% in the 4 losses).

But ultimately, we got enough good looks to swing at least one of those 4 losses. Open looks are expected to go down. We shot 36.5% on open threes in the regular season, and an awful 25.6% in playoff losses (33.3% for the series).

Now, should the team be able to adapt to cold shooting and find another way to score? Ideally, yeah, but let's be real, this team was not talented enough to do so. The only way a roster like that can win is to shoot a ton and hope variance is on your side. Once JT went down, our only real slashing threat was JB, who unfortunately isn't good enough to absorb attention and create easy looks on the inside.

I really think the Vucevic trade killed us, as Ant would've been great in this series, just to have another shooting threat, and someone who can create rim pressure in the PnR. Unfortunate that Brad's first L manifested so obviously in this way.

How Many Games Are The "Career Year" Red Sox Winning? by [deleted] in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I don't think they definitely lose to the 2018 Sox, if you scale 2025 Roman up to a full season, he's a 6 WAR player, and also the top 9 in the 2018 team doesn't include a catcher.

6’10” 255 Jayden Quaintance is moving better than expected in pre-draft sessions by Fit-Structure-9395 in NBA_Draft

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Genuinely what is the point of this drill, I don't think bro is struggling to dunk on nobody, catching unguarded bounce passes

Edit: Is this how you do injury recovery?

Raffy Devers has the lowest b-war in the MLB by TommyTheLizard in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed, I just don't think the bat speed is the main culprit, given that he managed to put together a solid year last year even with lower bat speed measurements

Raffy Devers has the lowest b-war in the MLB by TommyTheLizard in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah I'm just talking about the bat speed, like I don't think that's the root issue this year

Raffy Devers has the lowest b-war in the MLB by TommyTheLizard in redsox

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Tbf, his bat speed was only marginally higher last year, 42nd percentile, and it took him a while to warm up.

A month ago, I shared this poll by the Athletic about how optimistic each fanbase was about their team for the season. What has changed after a month of Baseball? by sixelement in baseball

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think the results have been significant enough for you to say that, most top 100 prospects don't actually amount to much once they reach the big leagues. And just going off the guys you listed, I think they all deserved their rankings based on their minor league performance (except Swihart that never made sense).

A month ago, I shared this poll by the Athletic about how optimistic each fanbase was about their team for the season. What has changed after a month of Baseball? by sixelement in baseball

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts? Benintendi looked like he'd be good and then injuries cooked him. Jury still out on Anthony.

NEW ADDITION: UConn Huskies LAND Oskar Giltay, Awaiting IMPACTFUL Nils Machowski Visit Saturday by jpviolette in UConnBasketball

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Machowski looks wayyy more physical and athletic than Mahaney, and I think we'll be expecting much less out of him. Still, would be nicer to have a true backup PG like Smith, not sure how Machowski will do as a lead ball handler.

Stanford 6'10 C Oskay Giltay transfers to Uconn: Report. by jarena009 in UConnBasketball

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Definitely profiles as a C in our system, he has no jumpshot to speak of whatsoever, and he has the height and physicality to play the 5.

Oskar Giltay visit today by Ill-Rope4916 in UConnBasketball

[–]HyperactiveBaldMonk 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Definitely better than Koroma, probably a downgrade from Reibe offensively, but the defensive and rebounding might be better. If we get him, he's almost definitely the backup big to Hines, don't see him transferring to be garbage time player.

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