Separated at Birth?

Comments

[IronHorse (yf)]

Please tell me we are not comparing Jed Lowrie to Lou Gehrig.

OK, I'll get off my overly-touchy thing where the real Iron Horse is concerned and just address the topic: do SFs think Lugo is all but replaced? I haven't followed the Sox closely enough to pick up on replacements, relative play, and all that.

[SF]

Please tell me we are not comparing Jed Lowrie to Lou Gehrig.

Uh, no, we're not comparing players. Just situations.

[SF]

IH:

I think there are enough SFs (myself included) who don't care if LFRS ever shows up on the field again. That may be foolhardy, and shortsighted, and in denial of some of his accomplishments (wait, there are accomplishments?!), or whatever, but there's something much more alluring about seeing an eager, talented (though raw) rookie playing everyday and sometimes failing as opposed to the known quantity who was previously occupying that spot.

[Atheose]

do SFs think Lugo is all but replaced? I haven't followed the Sox closely enough to pick up on replacements, relative play, and all that.

It sure feels like he's being replaced... Lowrie is hitting .300 in 23 games this season, and has provided tremendous defensive improvement at SS. If he continues to play like this (though it would be nice if his OBP of .338 improved) I can't imagine Lugo coming back. I'd send him in a crate to Abu Dhabi, Garfield style.

[Atheose]

Yeah, Lugo's OBP is almost .100 higher than his batting average. Sadly his batting average is .268.

[Atheose]

Somewhat off-topic: in his last 5 starts (30.2 IP) Daisuke has an ERA of 0.88. He's given up as many walks as hits (19), and his BAbip is only .238.

[A YF]

The only question is why Sox management didn't make this move sooner - like last year or even May 2008. It's not like Lugo had earned the spot.

[Atheose]

It's not like Lugo had earned the spot.

He didn't earn it, but the Sox paid it. It's tough accepting 36 mil spent as a sunken cost.

[IronHorse (yf)]

"I'd send him in a crate to Abu Dhabi, Garfield style". Abu Dhabi is actually pretty nice, though probably not on the crate-plan nor for an aspiring major leaguer, so I get your point.

As for Lowrie, I look forward to seeing him play this weekend as I don't even know what the kid looks like.

And Dice-K's performance this year makes me want to hurl. I sure hope there is a lot of luck thrown in there but he has been doing this (no to a 0.88 ERA, but certainly to a well sub-3.00 ERA) long enough to make it seem very real. Blech.

[IronHorse (yf)]

"I'd send him in a crate to Abu Dhabi, Garfield style". Abu Dhabi is actually pretty nice, though probably not on the crate-plan nor for an aspiring major leaguer, so I get your point.

As for Lowrie, I look forward to seeing him play this weekend as I don't even know what the kid looks like.

And Dice-K's performance this year makes me want to hurl. I sure hope there is a lot of luck thrown in there but he has been doing this (not to a 0.88 ERA, but certainly to a well sub-3.00 ERA) long enough to make it seem very real. Blech.

[IronHorse (yf)]

Sorry guys - d*%n typepad double-post.

[Nick-YF]

what I've read about Lowrie is that some in the organization are concerned about his range at short. It's a very good sign if he is indeed playing good defense because no one questions his bat. Hmm. Fantasy baseball pick up?

[Paul SF]

I'd be curious how Matsuzaka's walks affect his BABIP. The same thing that's making him miss the plate may be causing hitters to swing at pitches virtually guaranteed to produce poor contact, a la Chien-Ming Wang. I don't know if this is in any way true, but it's a theory.

As for Lugo, of whom I've been a bigger defender than most, there's no reason that shortstop shouldn't now be Lowrie's job to lose.

[A YF]

I second the "Abu Dhabi" is nice. After running around there for a week, I was shocked that that part of the Arab world is missing from the American propaganda machine, especially because we're directly "fueling" that growth.

"seem very real"

It's not. That success without the peripherals to match would be unprecedented. With all the crap folks gave Wang, where are the Sabrboys now to rip apart Dice-K illusory magic?

"It's a very good sign if he is indeed playing good defense because no one questions his bat"

I wouldn't that far - he's about average. But that's very good, and a huge upgrade over Lugo, so long as he continues to hit. His defense could even slip a bit and he'd still be a net positive.

[A YF]

"The same thing that's making him miss the plate may be causing hitters to swing at pitches virtually guaranteed to produce poor contact, a la Chien-Ming Wang."

There's a big difference there - namely the type of pitches being thrown. Wang's sinker can't be hit well. Period. So hitters started laying off it. And he needed to develop secondary pitches to succeed on days where he didn't locate the sinker.

Dice-K *is* probably getting hitters to swing at bad pitches. But he's getting by with a .249 BABIP . That's unheard of and completely unsustainable. Wang by contrast has never seen his BABIP below .280. And with the walks, add a TON of runs, once Dice-K's luck changes. For instance, he already has 60 BB. Wang has never topped that in a season.

[Devine]

Mmmmmmmm....magic. /Homer Simpson

[Atheose]

As for Lowrie, I look forward to seeing him play this weekend as I don't even know what the kid looks like.

He looks like just that--a kid. But every game he's been in so far I've watched him make fantastic plays, so it's a tremendous improvement. Hopefully he can keep his average up, even if his OBP is lower than Lugo's.

[Atheose]

Abu Dhabi is actually pretty nice

It's not the quality of Abu Dhabi that interests me, it's its distance from Fenway that I like.

[SF]

As for Lowrie, I look forward to seeing him play this weekend as I don't even know what the kid looks like.

Huge Rollie Fingers 'stache. Wears a rainbow wig. And a tat of Glenn Danzig across his right forearm. He's got an odd appearance, for sure.

[Paul SF]

That's at LEAST the third Danzig reference SF has dropped in the last couple months. Sounds like someone's a fan!

[Lar]

Gamer please? =)

[Atheose]

By the way, out of all starting pitchers with 70+ IP Daisuke's 5 HR is second fewest, behind Wang's 4.

[IronHorse (yf)]

Gamer up Lar...

[IronHorse (yf)]

"Huge Rollie Fingers 'stache. Wears a rainbow wig. And a tat of Glenn Danzig across his right forearm. He's got an odd appearance, for sure."

That's too bad. I was actually hoping he looked more like a guy falling down in the infield and flailing at home plate.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

"what I've read about Lowrie is that some in the organization are concerned about his range at short."

True, but the organization isn't exactly enamored with Lugo's range, either. Just make the plays you need to make.