Red Sox vs Guardians Series Review
Alex Cora v Masataka Yoshida
"Feels like only a matter of days before we hear the news about Rich Hill signing with the Sox."
Overall Takeaway
Coming into the series the Guardians were the best team in baseball and the Red Sox were the weirdest team. As the series ends, this has not changed. The Sox once again had a real chance to win the series, and then blew it with poor defense and fundamentals.
Game 1: Guardians 4-1
Game 2: Red Sox 8-0
Game 3: Guardians 6-4
What I Loved
Tanner Houck
He might have tripled his walk numbers in this game. He might have lost. However, he went six innings, giving up only two runs against the best team in baseball(record-wise), so I love that.
Connor Wong
I got these Wong stats from Tyler Milliken on X. No explanation is needed.
16 Games - 57 PA .370/.386/.667/1.053 5 HR, 1 2B 11 RBI 196 wRC+ 65th Percentile xBA, 78th Percentile xSLG 0.8 fWAR
Bullpen Game
Again, I don't love bullpen games. But with half the rotation falling apart, Cooper Criswell was able to step up and go five scoreless. This team makes no sense, and until this pitching staff crashes and burns, there is a non-zero chance Andrew Bailey is a god.
Hall of Famer Wilyer Abreu
5 for 12 a HR and 3 RBI. Love it.
What I Was "Mid" About
Reese McGuire
He has been in my love category for a while due to him and Wong being offensive beasts(comparative to last year), but his defense today puts him back in the mid category.
What I Didn't Love
Brayan Bello Injury
Wanted to defenestrate myself.
Alex Cora's Treatment of Masataka Yoshida
I've got some significant issues with what Alex Cora is doing to Masataka Yoshida. So does Masataka, apparently. Cora came out hard against the media yesterday after explaining how Yoshida initially did not play Sunday cause it was an LHP. Here are the Cora quotes.
"He's an everyday DH, man. I don't know what the big deal is. O'Neill had to DH yesterday. Raffy had to DH today. He'll DH tomorrow. I don't get it. It just happens that TO came out of the IL, and Raffy can't play third today. So he's not DH-ing. Our outfield is O'Neill, Abreu, and Duran. Yesterday and today, he was ready to play but we can't play him. How do you see it?" "Honestly, that one bothers me because it's very simple. If you look at the lineup and where we're at roster-wise, I cannot have two DH's. I wish. I wish I had three. Sorry about that. That one, I don't know the angle or what we're trying to accomplish here. But for me, I'm very fair with you guys as far as being honest and letting you guys know what's happened in the clubhouse, and that one, it's throwing me off, to be honest with you."
My main issue with this is the idea that Tyler Heineman, who no one knows or cares to know, played over Yoshida on Sunday because it was a lefty pitching. This is where analytics make no sense to me. I tweeted the following stats that clearly show Cora isn't looking at the numbers or lying about why Yoshida isn't playing.
Yoshida will be here for another three years at a not-so-cheap deal whether we like it or not. Who probably won't be here next year? Alex Cora.
