Newsletter Excerpt, April 27, 2026 -- "Mailbag"

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For all of Alex Cora's past success, he simply hasn't shown the ability to effectively manage a roster on the younger side. That he continued to platoon Marcelo Mayer with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and otherwise regularly pulled Mayer vs. left-handed pitching is a glaring example. Maybe this young core will lead Boston to its next great postseason run, maybe it won't. But a great manager should be able to adapt to the hand he's dealt. It doesn't seem as though Cora was able to effectively do that. 

-- Brian K.

I haven’t written it so much as Slacked and BlueSkied it, but Cora’s handling of Mayer is, to me, a firing offense in and of itself. From moving him off shortstop in favor of a 33-year-old Story to platooning him with waiver bait, just a total failure to understand the talent he has. 

-J.

 

Newsletter Excerpt, April 26, 2026 -- "Alex Cora Fired"

 

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card. (Zelle users, please email me for details.)

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All too often when a team fires the manager, it hands the job to the guy sitting two feet to the left of the manager, and nothing much changes. I’ve never understood the idea that you want the manager gone but will gladly give the reins to the manager’s bobo. This is a clean sweep, a change not just in the driver’s seat but in the whole front section of the bus. It’s an admission that the problem wasn’t one guy, but a bunch of guys. It also gives Tracy a chance to get established without having to navigate the tricky politics of working with the fired guy’s entire staff.

 

Newsletter Excerpt, April 24, 2026 -- "Phailin' Phils"

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card. (Zelle users, please email me for details.)

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The Phillies have earned their 8-17 record by having a bottom-five offense and, quietly, a miserable defense: last in Outs Above Average, 26th in Defensive Runs Saved. Even with Harper and Schwarber hitting, the Phillies’ position players are third-worst in baseball by FanGraphs WAR. They’ve allowed the highest batting average in baseball on grounders (.294), and the highest BABIP on fly balls by so much it looks like a floating-point error.

Phly Balls Phind Phield  (BABIP allowed on fly balls, 2026)

            BABIP

Phillies     .191

Astros       .136

Mets         .126

Tigers       .123

Red Sox      .123

 

 

 

 

Newsletter Excerpt, April 23, 2026 -- "Fun With Numbers: We're Walkin' Here!"

 

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card. (Zelle users, please email me for details.)

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Team numbers...team numbers might be interesting. The record for walks in a season is held by the 1949 Red Sox, who drew 835 free passes, a year after drawing 821. No team has walked 800 times in a season since then; as mentioned above, this was during the local maximum for taking ball four. The Angels lead MLB with 119 walks, on pace for 741. The Brewers have drawn 117 walks in three fewer games, on pace for 824. so they might have a shot. The 21st-century record is held by the 2000 Mariners, who drew 775 walks. There are a few teams, including the Yankees and Cubs, who could take a run at that mark.

 

 

 

Newsletter Excerpt, April 22, 2026 -- "Darned Sox"

 

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card. (Zelle users, please email me for details.)

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One year ago today, the Red Sox were building around two consensus top ten prospects -- Anthony and Kristian Campbell -- and a third, Mayer, who was a consensus top-25 guy (and not far removed from being top-15). Today, Mayer has a 73 OPS+ and is being platooned with waiver bait. Anthony has a 99 OPS+ and a .325 SLG. Campbell is an outfielder -- not even a center fielder, as he’s played mostly in the corners -- with a .333 SLG at Triple-A.

I will again say that we’re 23 games into a 162-game season, with plenty of time to rally. Amid all these struggles by young players, Ceddanne Rafaela has taken some positive steps at 25, and Wilyer Abreu continues to be very good on both sides of the ball. The 2025-29 Red Sox, though, are supposed to be winning around the homegrown core that Chaim Bloom built across his four drafts, and right now, the best players in that core are providing almost nothing. There’s no path to a Sox championship that doesn’t involve Mayer and Anthony being stars.

 

 

 

Newsletter Excerpt, April 20, 2026 -- "Step Right Up and Beat the Mets..."

 

This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.

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Hoerner has struck out nine times this year in 97 plate appearances. He struck out 8% of the time last year, 10% of the time in 2024. If you need a ball in play -- say, when the winning run is on third with one out -- Hoerner is absolutely the guy you want up there. Only Arraez has a better contact rate since 2024. Behind him was Michael Busch, a good player off to a poor start who, even at his best, has twice Hoerner’s strikeout rate, Even taking into account the platoon advantage Busch would have, the Mets’ best chance of getting out of the inning was to intentionally walk Hoerner and try to strike out Busch. In the event Kimbrel walked Busch, that would bring up Alex Bregman. Bregman is also a good contact hitter, but not as good as Hoerner, and if he were batting, there would be a force available at every base, making some of his contact good for the Mets.

There won’t be two times a year I advocate for an intentional walk, but this is one of them. Mendoza needed to maximize the chance of a strikeout, and instead he minimized it. Hoerner flied out to right, PCA scored, and the Mets lost their 11th straight contest.