Why does Francona love Darnell McDonald?

Romanianbornwin · 06-30-11, 12:16 PM

lol I know, I have the under for the game, so I was happy about that!

rm18 · 06-30-11, 12:16 PM

I think he took the under

Otters27 · 06-30-11, 12:20 PM

Played against Darnell in high school. Guy was unreal. Glad to see him in the Majors. Not doing as good as he should batting but good defender and fast

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 12:22 PM

Originally posted by Otters27

Played against Darnell in high school. Guy was unreal. Glad to see him in the Majors. Not doing as good as he should batting but good defender and fast

Very cool that you did and I'm sure he was a tremendous high school player but then again, isn't every major leaguer? I'm sure he's a helluva athlete and calls his mother every day. But he's a fukkin nightmare in this line-up!

yisman · 06-30-11, 12:27 PM

Under was logical today.

No Ortiz, no Youkilis, NL park, two ace pitchers.

red sox lineup is not good

ellsbury
mcdonald
a-gone
pedroia - a leadoff or #2 hitter, not a cleanup guy
varitek

pavyracer · 06-30-11, 12:27 PM

I'd bet you Casperwaits doesn't like Darnell batting 2nd either.

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 12:28 PM

Oh, and there goes Reddick with another hit! Wouldn't want that hit coming in the 2nd spot when Ellsbury led off with a single. What the hell Francona!

rm18 · 06-30-11, 12:32 PM

I think Pedroia can hit cleanup against a lefty the way he is going but the rest of the lineup is a mess

Romanianbornwin · 06-30-11, 12:34 PM

Here was my explanation of why I liked the under:
Jon Lester has an average 3.66 ERA for this season, but a better 3.11 ERA when he pitches on the road. He has allowed 3 runs or less in each of his last 4 starts and has a good 2.45 ERA in his last 3 starts. I think he will be very motivated to go pitch a good game, so his team does not get swept by the Phillies today. He also has had good success against the Phillies posting a remarkable 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched against them. The only batter in the Phillies lineup that has hit Lester well is Ibanez who is 4-9, but other than that Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are hit less in 6 at-bats and Jimmy Rollins only has one hit in 5 at-bats. Cole Hamels has a good 2.49 ERA for the season and a 2.73 ERA during his home starts. He has allowed 3 runs or less in 9 out of his last 10 starts. He has also been good as of late, posting a 1.45 ERA in the month of June. The Red Sox have had some trouble scoring runs lately and Hamels has dominated them in the past, with a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings pitched against them. The first two games of this series had a combined 5 and 3 runs total and this one is low scoring also. BET UNDER 7

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 12:37 PM

Gents, can we keep on topic. The total was 7 and the game involves two of the premier pitchers in baseball so let's not pretend we just found the cure for cancer by touting the Under.

I'm talking about Darnell Bleepin McDonald being put in prime spots in the Red Sox batting order. Tell me why this is happening and I'll applaud but let's get off the why this game is going Under talk.

Romanianbornwin · 06-30-11, 12:43 PM

ok....I think the reason McDonald is put hitting #2 is because he is in front of Gonzalez and that would logically give him good pitches too hit. As an example, lets say that there is a runner in scoring position with two outs and McDonald is up to bat. Lester wants to retire McDonald in that at-bat. Because if he gets on base, Lester has to face Gonzalez with more people on base and he does not want to do that. So he would be willing to give better pitches to McDonald to hit and get him out of the inning. Then he would just face Gonzalez with the bases empty next inning.....

yisman · 06-30-11, 12:44 PM

Swinger, McDonald batting second was a good reason to bet under.

Of course he shouldn't be batting second. We all agree it's not smart.

Footballtime · 06-30-11, 01:10 PM

Mcdonald will be playing alot more, Mike Cameron was designated today prior to the game! Thank God, Guy was hitting like 150 in about 100 atbats!

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by yisman

Swinger, McDonald batting second was a good reason to bet under.

Of course he shouldn't be batting second. We all agree it's not smart.

The voice of reason. Thank you Yizzy.

Romanian, not busting your balls here but Lester pitches for Boston.

unusialsusp5 · 06-30-11, 02:09 PM

mcdonald will be designated for assignment also as soon as they can find somebody..he is quite possibly the worst baseball player they have had since don buddin..look up his stats sometime...he is by far the worst hitter in the majors ranking behind even the bottom backup catchers...can't even move a runner never mind get a hit ever. no one would claim him off waivers since he's been on them all season...

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by unusialsusp5

mcdonald will be designated for assignment also as soon as they can find somebody..he is quite possibly the worst baseball player they have had since don buddin..look up his stats sometime...he is by far the worst hitter in the majors ranking behind even the bottom backup catchers...can't even move a runner never mind get a hit ever. no one would claim him off waivers since he's been on them all season...

Agreed. And why doesn't Francona know this? Look, I'm a Francona fan and I understand that Crawford is out and he needs to be creative but why, oh why, bat him 2nd and 5th?!

Romanianbornwin · 06-30-11, 02:27 PM

Originally posted by Swinging Johnson

The voice of reason. Thank you Yizzy.

Romanian, not busting your balls here but Lester pitches for Boston.

Ok, well then Hamels and the rest of the Phillies bullpen......you knew what I meant though

RubberKettle · 06-30-11, 02:30 PM

Back to back jacks

stevenash · 06-30-11, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by Footballtime

Mcdonald will be playing alot more, Mike Cameron was designated today prior to the game! Thank God, Guy was hitting like 150 in about 100 atbats!

Josh Reddick is on another planet compared to this guy.

Cliff Lee made Mac his personal meat puppet the other night, I loved that three pitch strike out, where Lee went in, out, in.
Third pitch called strike 3 with the bat on Mac's shoulder with that goofy look on his face, like "I just got taken to school"

Swinging Johnson · 06-30-11, 05:07 PM

What positively amazes me is not that he's playing him because I think he almost has to with the injuries but where he bats him. I'd bat that prick 10th if I could and Francona has him hitting 2nd!!!!

gryfyn1 · 06-30-11, 06:38 PM

The Mcdonald/Cameron thing has been killing me all year.... sure they dumped Cameron but Mcdonald isnt even as good as Cameron, and yet he keeps starting .... and i guess the with Kalish, Nava and Lin scuffling at Pawtucket they'd rather have a 32 at the MLB level suck than take a chance at a rookie sucking..

gryfyn1 · 06-30-11, 06:41 PM

as far as batting him 2nd, what ever, its not like even the best mangers in mlb get how to construct a lineup.

HoulihansTX · 06-30-11, 06:53 PM

Tito is an average manager. He is in a position that only major bullpen blowups can F'up.

Batting Pedroia cleanup today was a head scratcher for sure. He has Adrian Gonzalez a hitting savant, in the clubhouse everyday. Nevertheless Tito continues to help out the opposing team.

Managing in the NL is tough. Not one of Tito's strength.

stevenash · 06-30-11, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by gryfyn1

as far as batting him 2nd, what ever, its not like even the best mangers in mlb get how to construct a lineup.

Ideally your line up should have a good on base pct. guy with speed leading off.
Your second guy in the line up should be able to play small ball, get the lead off guy over, your second guy in the order should have good stick control, a better than average hit and run batter.
Your third guy doesn't necessarily have to have over the fence power, but he has to drive in the first, second or both hitters that bat in front of him.
Your fourth and fifth guys should have that over the fence power.
The second guy in the order is very important, extremely important, Mac is NOT a second in the order guy.
In reality Mac is the fifth outfielder, 24th man on the bench guy.

gryfyn1 · 06-30-11, 08:04 PM

Originally posted by stevenash

Ideally your line up should have a good on base pct. guy with speed leading off.
Your second guy in the line up should be able to play small ball, get the lead off guy over, your second guy in the order should have good stick control, a better than average hit and run batter.
Your third guy doesn't necessarily have to have over the fence power, but he has to drive in the first, second or both hitters that bat in front of him.
Your fourth and fifth guys should have that over the fence power.
The second guy in the order is very important, extremely important, Mac is NOT a second in the order guy.
In reality Mac is the fifth outfielder, 24th man on the bench guy.

Speed in nesecarry at the top of the order, in fact it more often wasted, why would you number one hitter be stealing with your best hitter coming up behind him and give away outs?

Certainly a good baserunner with speed is nice, but not nessecary.

And why would you want a number two hitter to be a 'stick man' and play small ball? Would you want to sac bunt with you best hitters up next? why give away outs?

actually the Sox usually do a good job with there basic line-up (execpt crawford should be batting 3rd)

stevenash · 06-30-11, 08:16 PM

Who said anything about sac bunts, your second guy has to shoot the hole to right if the lead off guy is on the move, that's what I mean by bat control.
I'd rather sacrifice some speed from my lead off guy, if he gets on at a .370 clip.
I'd rather have my guy on top of the order have an on base pct. of .370 with some speed, then a guy with .325 on base pct and blazing speed.
But if that lead off guy is in motion, that second guy in the order better be able to shoot the hole, or take the pitch and let him steal.

unusialsusp5 · 06-30-11, 08:36 PM

poor tito who really wants out of the managing game, especially in this town where he is 2nd guessed constantly, and has some medical issues he can use as an excuse to retire, is obsessed with using as many right handed bats as he can (he doesn't have many) against the left handers. further complicating this is the absolute hatred of them having to play interleague on the road with no DH. they are trying to expose poor darnell so they won't be 2nd guessed for waiving him, which they will do in july...

Swinging Johnson · 07-04-11, 08:09 PM

Once again Darnell McDonald is inserted as a pinch hitter for the much hotter Josh Reddick and what does he do? He strikes out. What the hell Tito! Get rid of this bum or at the very least....stop playing him!