GAME #94 - SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2021 - BOSTON RED SOX @ NEW YORK YANKEES

[MongoLikeSox]

Cora on Arroyo:
"He's putting good at-bats, he's hitting good pitching, and he deserves to start. He's comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it, so we'll go from there.”

So, then, if that's all a good thing....
               RISP         BA       Late&Close  Tied   Behind   5+Run Lead(stats padding much, Kike?)
Kike -      .186        .231         .178         .274     .206         .297
Arroyo -   .268        .271         .371         .333     .286         .207

I'm just a moron sitting on my couch eating way too much fatty foods. That said, it did not take me long to look this stuff up. And now he's gonna be out for some time and instead of someone with a chance of a future, we get frigging Santana. Cora might be a good guy to work for if you're not in his dog house, but he's too stubborn to realize when he's wrong. There is no way he's right. No way. I mean, this is the guy that gets more at bats than anyone in any given game, and he sucks on ice, and especially so when it counts. So we protect this selfish fielder and hitter while we send clutch to the I, all because we're protecting awful lifetime hitter?

Alex Cora = credible?   

[longgame]

I'm always amazed what the average guy on his sofa can find that the stats geeks can't figure out!  I guess you can look at Kike two ways and I think you know which way I look at him - his numbers are down because he had a rough start, or, he's had a crappy season with a stretch where he was okay (so JBJ without the glove).  Then you have him saying a month or so ago "I'm not used to playing every day" and then whining about not having one day longer for the All Star Break.

As for Cora, he should say positive things about players when talking to the press.  If he has an issue with someone, a good manager takes it to the guy, not the media.  But I get what you're saying, if that's good, then what about the guy whose number's stink?

[MongoLikeSox]

Absolutely agree on the punish in private, praise in public thing. I'm referring to his actions and decision making. We don't make room for .235 hitters. It's really that simple. He's got Chavis in the lowest level of doghouse cleaning up the wall markings Swihart left behind, all over about 30 points.

Granted, Cora was given ZERO center-fielders for the season. That's embarrassing is what that is. That's a whole other topic.

Kike's lifetime numbers are less extreme than the YTD numbers in those clutch-ish numbers I found. 
                      RISP         BA       Late&Close    Tied   Behind   5+Run Lead(stats padding much, Kike?)
2021-Kike -      .186        .231         .178         .274     .206         .297
Career Kike      .252        .239         .240         .274     .226         .272

I really didn't expect to see them this low for the year. The "Late&Close" BA is really astonishing. I hope to remember to look it up at the end of the year to see if it got better. 

I cannot decide if he's selfish or if he's pressing. 

[MongoLikeSox]

And the problem with stats -

I pointed out a number for Kike and his BA with >4 run lead as being close to 60pts over his normal lifetime BA. Last night showed the same thing in action, starting with his second time up in the game and a frozen rope to the fence beyond left field.

The thought I offer is this. Does he hit that 2nd HR because he is relaxed and not pressing, or was it because that slider did not dip a whole lot and he would have hit it anyhow? Perhaps the pitcher was trying a new grip or arm slot? Perhaps he was not throwing 100% because the adrenaline was down due to lopsided score. That said, it still broke more than the hanger he let pass him by the game before.