The Kansas City Royals were pleased with the numbers Hunter Dozier put up this summer. The 22-year-old infielder hit .308/.397/.495 between rookie-level Idaho Falls and Low-A Lexington. Given that many considered Dozier an overdraft, the Royals also likely were relieved.

First-year stats aren’t all that meaningful, but Dozier’s performance helped validate the decision to take him with the eighth-overall pick out of Stephen F. Austin State University. What the 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed hitter needs to do next is continue to swing a productive-enough bat to justify his move to third base. Drafted as a shortstop, Dozier saw the majority of his time at the hot corner after signing for an under-slot $2.2 million.

Dozier talked about his approach to the game — and his position in the future — near the end of his first professional season. Read the rest of this entry »

The ghost of Carl Mays smiled tonight. In 1918, the erstwhile right-hander pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship with a Game 6 win. Nearly a century later, on the eve of Halloween, Fenway Park was once again the setting for the final game of the Fall Classic.

It was a horror show for the Cardinals.

Boston rolled to a 6-1 win, rocking Michael Wacha in the process. John Lackey played the role of Mays, sucking the life out of the St. Louis offense. For the first time in 95 years, the Red Sox tasted champagne in baseball‘s oldest ballpark.

It was over early Read the rest of this entry »

The story of Game Five was Jon Lester. The Red Sox lefthander matched Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright pitch for pitch in what turned out to be yet another nail-biter in a white-knuckle World Series. When it was over, the Red Sox had a 3-1 win and a three-games-to-two lead heading back to Fenway Park.

The deciding runs came in the seventh inning, as did the night’s most-interesting Twitter debate. The game was tied, runners were on first and second, and there was one out. David Ross was at the plate. Lester was on deck.

A number of people — some within the media — began Tweeting that the Red Sox should pinch-hit for Lester when his spot came up. After Ross doubled to make the score 2-1, and put runners on second and third, the Tweets increased. “You can’t let Lester bat and give up an out here” was the common refrain. Read the rest of this entry »

Baseball is about randomness as much as it about probability. That was provenon Saturday when the game ended on an obstruction call. Tonight had its own atypical ending — a pickoff with the tying run at the plate — but it was a more-common unexpected event that decided the outcome.

The Red Sox won 4-2, at Busch Stadium, to draw even with the Cardinals. The hero was Jonny “Replacement” Gomes

Through four games, the 2013 World Series has been all about lapses. Lapses in judgment, lapses in execution, lapses in decision-making. The Red Sox have had more than the Cardinals. Despite coming out on top, that was the case tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

Much of the focus on last night’s game has centered around the obstruction call that gave the Cardinals a walk-off win. The poor defensive play that allowed the scenario to unfold played a major role, and it has also drawn a lot of attention. Ditto questionable decisions by both managers.

Almost completely overlooked are a defensive play and expertly-choreographed pitch sequences in potentially game-changing innings. Read the rest of this entry »

“Immediately once we got off the field, and into our locker room, we congratulated Jim. We said ‘great call.’”

Those were the words of crew chief John Hirschbeck, referring to third base umpire Jim Joyce’s obstruction call that gave the Cardinals a 5-4 win in Game Three of the World Series. The Red Sox weren’t so sure.

To say the call was controversial would be an understatement. It rivaled football’s infamous “tuck rule game,” but this time it didn’t benefit a team from New England, nor did it happen in a snowstorm. It happened in a sea of Busch Stadium red, white towels twirling, and ended one of the most-captivating baseball games you’ll ever see.

Boston manager John Farrell’s interpretation is telling. Read the rest of this entry »

In Game One, the Cardinals booted away any chances they had to best an effective pitcher and a relentlessly-patient offense. Tonight it was the Red Sox who made the mistakes. As a result, St. Louis took home a 4-2 win and evened the Series at one game apiece.

In the seventh inning, one of baseball’s smartest players made a pair of not-so-smart decisions. Yale-educated left-hander Craig Breslow came on to replace John Lackey with one out, runners on first and second, and Boston leading by a score of 2-1. He proceeded to forget about the runners.

Paying them little heed, Breslow allowed Pete Kozma and Jon Jay to execute a double-steal. Following a walk to Daniel Descalso, he committed an error that allowed the winning run to score. Backing up home plate on a game-tying sacrifice fly by Matt Carpenter, Breslow airmailed an ill-advised throw into left field. Jay came in to make it 3-2 Cardinals.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia shared the blame for both plays. Read the rest of this entry »

The last time the Red Sox met the Cardinals in the World Series, the hero of Game One was a Three True Outcomes infielder who was often criticized for being too patient at the plate. In 2004, Mark Bellhorn lined an eighth-inning home run off the Pesky Pole to give Boston an 11-9 win. They went on to sweep the Series.

The shaggy-haired Bellhorn would have fit in well with this year’s team As most FanGraphs readers know, the Red Sox epitomize patience and exude power. They saw more pitches than any team in baseball and were seventh among the 30 teams in Three True Outcome results [32.4 percent].

Tonight went according to script. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright had both a walk and a strikeout in a three-run Boston first inning. He threw 31 pitches.

Call it “The Red Sox Way.”

Coming into the Series, much was made of “The Cardinal Way.” Read the rest of this entry »

Three at bats by Miguel Cabrera against Junichi Tazawa went a long way in determining the outcome of the ALCS. Had the Red Sox set-up man not gotten the better of baseball’s best hitter, there is a good chance the Tigers would be facing the Cardinals in the World Series.

Cabrera is known for hitting fastballs a long way. Tazawa got him out by working away with fastballs.

In Game 3, with runners on the corners and one out in the eighth inning of 1-0 game, Tazawa struck out Cabrera on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-2 count. The Red Sox held on for a 1-0 win.

In Game 5, with runners on the corners with none out in the seventh inning of a 4-2 game, Tazawa got Cabrera to ground into a 4-6-3 double play on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-0 count. The Red Sox hung on to win 4-3.

In Game 6, with runners on first and second with two out in the seventh inning of a 2-1 game, Tazawa got Cabrera to ground out to shortstop on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-0 count. The Red Sox rallied from the one-run deficit to win 5-2.

Tazawa features a splitter, which he utilized 28 percent of the time in the regular season, but all seven pitches he threw to Cabrera were fastballs. That was the game plan, and not just for the 27-year-old reliever. The Red Sox attacked the hobbled slugger with hard stuff the entire series. Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers tonight and are going to the World Series. It seems an odd time to criticize lineup decisions by John Farrell. That is especially true when his two most-questionable moves turned into gold. Jonny Gomes doubled to lead off the seventh inning. Four batters later, Shane Victorino sent Fenway Park into a frenzy with a grand slam.

Leading up to the game — a 5-2 Red Sox win — I opined on Twitter that Gomes shouldn’t be in the lineup, and Victorino should be moved to the bottom of the order. There was logic behind my opinions. In retrospect, I still think I was right, even though I may have been wrong.

Farrell put it this way prior to the game: “At this point in time, gut feel comes into it a little bit more than numbers on a stat sheet or a given category. The way players respond in this environment has got equal weight, if not more, than what the numbers might indicate, or drive you to make a decision over the course of a regular-season game. This is a different environment.”

The Red Sox manager wasn’t referring specifically to his decision to play Gomes over Daniel Nava. The question posed to him was more general in nature, but for all intents and purposes, that’s exactly what he was referring to. Read the rest of this entry »