5. Dalbec
6. Raudes (10 on soxprospects.com
7. Chatham (8)
8. Lakins (17)
9. Ockimey (9)
10. Longhi (12)
11. Chavis (11)
12. Johnson (6)
13. Shawaryn (13)
14. Cosart (18)
15. Shepherd (20)
16. Cedrola (43)
17. Bautista (21)
18. Anderson (23)
19. Taylor (31)
20. K Martin (15)
No Hernandez in top 30 (7th on soxprospects.com)
I do think a lot of Sox fans overvalued Holt.
As an infielder, he is very weak up the middle. He's simply not a shortstop, and always seems to be out of position at second base, where he seems clueless on how to take a throw from an outfielder. His 3b defense seems tolerable, and he's actually a surprisingly good defender in the outfield, including in center.
He's a good role player to have who makes it easy to carry someone like Young, who is slated for a platoon and would otherwise be a lousy fourth outfielder. But let's not go overboard with him and he isn't someone the Sox need to get into the lineup more often...
You're underestimating the value of a guy who can play 7 positions at any given time. The first time the guy ever played first base in his life was at the major league level. There are maybe 3 or 4 guys in all of baseball who can do what he does throughout a full 162 game schedule. Stat guys will never get it, but his peers do. Trust me on this. He's as respected as anyone in that clubhouse.
Let's put it this way. Remember when all of the "stat people" were whining because Farrell was playing Jonny Gomes against righties in the playoffs on their way to a World Series Championship in 2013, despite the " stats" saying that he was wrong? Farrell's response was to the media was, "Good things seem to happen when he's in the line-up." You'll probably never understand because you've obviously never played the game at a high level, but Brock Holt is the type of player that "makes things happen" when he's in the line-up. Again, there's a reason why any team in baseball would love to have him on their roster, and yes, you want to get him in the line-up a few times a week to keep him fresh.
Last edited by Eddy Ballgame; 02-23-2017 at 11:22 PM.
I'm not yet a believer in Holt's OF defense, but he has done pretty well so far out there.
In over 1100 innings in the OF, fangraphs has his UZR/150 at -2.4.
That's fine for a supersub- 5th OF'er.
I agree that Holt's 3B defense is tolerable at 3B, but my guess is Rutledge is a little better.
I think Holt has high value as a supersub, but his value to us would be higher, if he was the first back-up at more than 1-2 positions.
Yeah, let's play Holt a few times a week, because he's so damned respected in the clubhouse. That will make all the benched players that are better than him thrilled.
What do I know, I've never player high level baseball, and we all know only real players know anything about baseball.
If we have a better player at a particular position, we should play him.
Ummmmm...John Farrell's not going to use his bench based on a statistical analysis that shows Josh Rutledge might have a better chance of catching a ground ball at 3rd base. He's going to try to keep guys fresh, and yes, barring injury, Brock Holt is going to have more at-bats and play more innings in the field than anyone else on the Sox bench this season. Their is no such thing as "first backup" or "2nd backup" at every position.
Where did I say JF uses stats to make decisions? He's going to play the best sub when ever he can.
If you don't think a manager has a depth chart for each position, you must not have ever player high level baseball.
I never claimed or implied any Sox sub would have more ABs than Holt, so I'm not sure where that came from.
Stick to analyzing the stats, coming up with the same ridiculous trade proposals 400 times and copying and pasting minor league prospect rankings. In all seriousness, there's value in that on this message board. Try to avoid the human element of the game of baseball, though. Waaaayyyy over your head.
[QUOTE=moonslav59;1049460]Where did I say JF uses stats to make decisions? He's going to play the best sub when ever he can.
If you don't think a manager has a depth chart for each position, you must not have ever player high level baseball.
I never claimed or implied any Sox sub would have more ABs than Holt, so I'm not sure where that came from.
[/http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2017/02/john_farrell_third_base_job_wide_open_for_pablo_sa ndoval_and_brock_holt
Read that. Take a break from the stats. Notice the Hanley Ramirez/David Ortiz part of the article in there that will give you a little insight as to how the "mental aspect" of the game works. Read more of these types of things. Read some books. Get away from the "stats" once in a while.
Holt had unsustainable BABIP's in 14 and 15. Last year, he was right around .300 in that category and the real Brock Holt showed. He is what he is, a super sub who won't embarrass himself. He'd be a replacement level 2b but his versatility makes him really useful