Red Sox vs Marlins Series Review
A Blog By Dean
Overall Takeaway
As disappointing as Sunday was, the Red Sox came away with a noter series victory against the Marlins. Starters performed well, start hitters continued to play great, and the bullpen was “eh”.
If you are wondering why my Red Sox reviews have been delayed, I have been working overtime on a new baseball website. Check it out below.
I Created A New Baseball Website
When I started doing The Skippers View a few years ago, I hated the idea of analytics. I hated the arguments, I disliked how complicated they were, and I resented how managers relied on them too heavily. I was a HATER.
Game 1: Red Sox 2-1
Game 2: Red Sox 7-5
Game 3: Marlins 5-3
What I Loved
Brayan Bello
Bello moves all the way up from “Don’t Love” To “Loved” in one week. I will trade him for not walking guys, even if it means only two strikeouts, for the week. Generates groundballs, but ironically at the lowest rate of his career. I've just written an in-depth blog on Bello, so please check that out.
Trevor Story
I still don’t know how Story only has a .730 OPS. His peaks are so high and valleys so low. Regardless, this is the most productive he has ever been in a Red Sox uniform. He has produced 3.1 bWAR, will get 100 RBIs, and have a 20-20 season. Zero complaints from me going forward. Okay, maybe strike out less.
Roman Anthony
Going into Sunday, Anthony was boasting a .280 AVG and .848 OPS. It stinks for Anthony that he is going up against Nick Kurtz for ROY. Personally, I lean more towards impact on the team, and the Red Sox are a Top 5 team in baseball since Anthony was called up.
Alex Cora
Kudos to Alex Cora for putting the best team (or close to it) out there on Sunday. If you remember, in years past, Cora would view a Sunday game as a throwaway if the series was locked.
Garrett Crochet
Crochet bounced back once again and put in a stellar start, going seven innings and only giving up one run. He and Skubal have been trading bad starts, so let’s see what Tarik does this week. If Skubal has another bad start, Crocher should be the betting favorite for Cy Young again.
What I Was "Mid" About
Ceddanne Rafaela
Let me start by saying that this is not a critique of Alex Cora. However, once Rafaela started moving around the field again, his offensive numbers dipped. The priority of the Red Sox in the offseason needs to be getting a first baseman. With that, you can have Campbell at 2B, Story at SS, Mayer/Bregman at 3B, with everyone rotating into DH.
Triston Casas is not the answer.
What I Didn't Love
Marcelo Mayer Surgery
Rumblings had started to emerge a few days ago that his season would be over. We officially got the word on Sunday that his season will end.
No Aroldis Chapman on Sunday
The bullpen, not being great lately, forced Chapman to pitch in games where he should not have been in, and he caught up on Sunday, where they desperately needed him.