Coffee and Clippings: Players set for make-or-break seasons

Christopher Crawford (@CrawfordChrisV) of ESPN talks about four players who face make-or-break seasons in 2015… [subscription required]

We’re just more than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training, and though there are still some big names left on the market, most teams have addressed their various offseason needs and feel at least somewhat confident in what their 2015 rosters will look like.

And while those moves create optimism for fans and plenty to talk about, they also create headaches for some players, particularly young players who thought they had a chance to earn rotation spots or a place in the everyday lineup, only to see the club make roster moves that fill those various slots. For some young players, especially those who struggled in the previous campaign, those moves can be especially damning, and often create “make or break” developmental years for their respective careers.

Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) of the Boston Herald writes about Red Sox prospects who are slowly making a name for themselves…

The Sox will host their rookie development program this week. And even if the 2015 version of Brandon Workman or Mookie Betts isn’t among the 10 prospects who have come to town for a week-long series of seminars designed to prepare them for life in the big leagues (Betts actually is slated to attend, even though he made a smashing big league debut last year), the annual camp is a reminder of the value in looking beyond the projected Opening Day roster — and often even the 40-man roster — when assessing the season ahead.

In that spirit, we present four players who likely aren’t on most casual Red Sox fans’ radar at the moment, but might well be before the season is over.

David Laurila (@DavidLaurilaQA) of FanGraphs talks about Chris Archer’s innings, Boston backstops and more…

Chris Archer‘s attitude toward stats is a mix of new-school and old-school. The 26-year-old righty realizes pitcher Wins and ERA are influenced by things he can’t control. The number he cares most about, from a personal perspective, is innings pitched.

Archer threw 194-and-two-third innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2014. He did so effectively, fashioning a 3.33 ERA and a nearly identical 3.39 FIP over 32 starts. Pitching in his second full season, his W-L record was 10-9.

He fell short of his goal, albeit just barely.

Full article from Gammons Daily via http://ift.tt/1BTRw0w