Boston Globe's 108 Stitches Podcast

Chris Sale represents a nightmare for opposing hitters, with an overpowering pitch mix coming from a delivery that is unlike nearly any other in the game. In this podcast, Sale discusses the origins of his delivery, what it enables him to do, and how he employs his pitches in order to maximize their effect.

Jim Callis of MLB.com breaks down the upcoming Major League Baseball draft, including potential Red Sox targets with the No. 24 overall pick of the first round.

A spring training that seemed to have no end has now ended. As it does, Peter Abraham of the Globe joined the podcast to take stock of the bigger picture of an unusual Red Sox spring training.

In just two years, MLB.com's Statcast has changed the way that baseball is seen and discussed. Terms like exit velocity, route efficiency, and spin rate -- once concepts that existed almost exclusively in MLB front offices -- have now made their way to a wider audience, including players, fans, and reporters. Mike Petriello of MLB.com discusses the impact that Statcast has had on the game and some coming new wrinkles to the product that have a chance to further challenge how we think about and discuss baseball.

Why did the scouting industry miss on Mike Trout and Mookie Betts? by The Boston Globe

With the release of the Red Sox top 10 prospect list, produced for Baseball America by Alex Speier, Baseball America's John Manuel joins Alex to discuss some of the conversations that went into the rankings as they appeared – particularly the selection of Andrew Benintendi over Yoan Moncada for the top spot – while also digesting the state of the top of the Red Sox farm system.

This year’s World Series features a litany of Red Sox-related storylines – at a time when the Red Sox aren’t in the World Series. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe looks back at the Red Sox season that was, while Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe looks ahead to the ex-Sox who are going to be occupying the spotlight of the Cubs’ wrestling match with Cleveland for a title.

As David Ortiz plays the final regular season games of his career, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe joins the podcast to discuss the larger-than-life slugger’s career, including the controversies that sometimes involved Shaughnessy, and a farewell tour that has been unlike none other in recent Red Sox memory.

Andrew Benintendi barely had time to unpack his suitcases while blitzing through four levels of the minors en route to a big league callup in August. One month later, Robby Scott joined Benintendi in the majors, but after a very different ascent. Scott is one of the most unlikely Red Sox to arrive in the big leagues since Daniel Nava. In this episode of 108 Stitches: The Podcast, Scott — at a time when he’s emerging as a potentially important bullpen option — discusses a trajectory to the big leagues that was anything but a straight line.

The decision to remove Rich Hill from the middle of a perfect game placed a spotlight on the risk/reward assessment of pitcher workload management. While the manager and pitcher serve as the focal points of that conversation, a team trainer has enormous involvement in the conversations about how to proceed in circumstances such as Hill's. To lend perspective on the matter, then, former Red Sox head athletic trainer Mike Reinold – who managed Josh Beckett's blister issues in Boston – joins the podcast to discuss the dilemmas of managing pitcher workload.

Alex Speier is joined by Chad Finn of the Boston Globe and Mookie Betts' uncle, ex-Red Sox Terry Shumpert, to discuss Betts' upbringing.

To answer that question, we talked with all three of Benintendi’s minor league managers.

Bullpen usage is the low-hanging fruit on the second-guessing -- and even the first-guessing -- tree. Every decision represents one of several options, which in turn means that there are obvious alternatives to consider if and when something goes wrong. That said, it's worth asking: Is there an objective measure to evaluate whether or not a manager does a good job of managing his bullpen? What does "good bullpen management" mean to a manager? Manager John Farrell takes stock of that question and how he approaches self-evaluation when it comes to handling the Red Sox' bullpen.

The Red Sox dealt the best pitching prospect to enter their system this decade, sending righthander Anderson Espinoza to the Padres in a one-for-one deal for lefty Drew Pomeranz. In Espinoza, what did they give up? Was it a sensible risk for a rotation in need of reinforcements? Keith Law of ESPN joins the podcast to examine the dynamics of the deal and to discuss his midyear top 50 prospects rankings, which was loaded at the top with members of the Red Sox farm system.

Major League Baseball hit the Red Sox with significant penalties for alleged "package" deals to circumvent regulations on the bonuses to which they could sign international amateur free agents. What does that mean? What are the penalties? What did Major League Baseball want to accomplish with those penalties? And what might be the consequences -- intended and unintended -- of them? Ben Badler of Baseball America joins 108 Stitches: The Podcast to help explain all of that.

On the day of Major League Baseball’s Draft, Jim Callis of MLB.com joins 108 Stitches: The Podcast to look forward to what might transpire Thursday night, including some of the players in play for the Red Sox with the No. 12 overall pick of the first round. Also on the podcast: This summer, Ken Griffey Jr. will enter the Hall of Fame as the first No. 1 overall selection ever enshrined in Cooperstown. Brewers pro scout Tom Mooney remembers the details of the historic scouting process 29 years ago that led the Mariners to take Griffey with the top pick of the 1987 draft.

What is it like for a hitter to go a month without a hitless game? How do pitchers and catchers approach the task of stopping streaks? What is a manager's view of his involvement with such a run? And what is the statistical probability of something like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game streak? This week's 108 Stitches Podcast examines those distinct questions and perspectives with the help of Red Sox manager John Farrell, Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, and Baseball Prospectus writer Russell Carleton.

The recent Red Sox/Yankees game that swung over the ball and strike calls of home plate umpire Ron Kulpa raises a simple question: Isn't there a better way of doing this? Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and NESN analyst Jerry Remy join Alex Speier to discuss their views on current umpire performance and the potential role of technology in calling balls and strikes.

Red Sox manager John Farrell, Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey, and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe join Alex Speier to discuss how catcher value is defined and determined in baseball today.

Alex Speier previews the 2016 season by speaking with Red Sox ace David Price, Globe beat writer Peter Abraham, and Red Sox director of pitching analysis and development Brian Bannister in a test run of a new venture for us.