June 11, 2018

Fenway Power Outage


Homestand Highlights

Record (3-3)       Season (44-22)  GB 0.5     Series Play (15-5-1)
  • Boston left a couple of wins on the table in this homestand as their starting pitching certainly gave them ample opportunity against a pair of subpar AL Central visitors. Boston starters tossed 36.2 innings and logged a 2.95 ERA against Chicago and Detroit. What makes that even more impressive is the fact that included in those numbers was the trainwreck of an MLB debut for Jalen Beeks who was slapped around by the Tigers in the Detroit finale for 6 runs in only 4 innings of work. The Red Sox other starters all logged quality outings with the most dazzling start by Chris Sale. This was extremely encouraging as his last two outings he was 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA. Sale's start also illustrated why this homestand left me wanting more as he suffered a 1-0 loss in the Chicago opener despite going 8 innings and striking out 10. Steven Wright authored an eye-popping victory in the opener against Detroit. He has now fired 16 consecutive scoreless frames, he owns a 1.57 ERA and has held opponents to a .147  batting average in 23 innings this season.
  • In the bullpen, don't sleep on Brandon Workman. His stuff has looked crisp, including a nasty hook in 3 scoreless innings. Workman has only allowed one baserunner in those 3 innings. Heath Hembree continues to toss up goose eggs and turned in his fifth straight scoreless inning in the finale against the White Sox.  Heath has stranded 9 of 12 inherited runners this season, including each of his last 7. Overall, with a Matt Barnes hiccup aside in the White Sox finale, the Red Sox bullpen was terrific. The pen posted a marvelous 1.56 ERA in 17.1 innings with an amazing 23 punchouts. Boston relievers only walked four men with three of those freebies granted by Barnes.
  • The real story of the homestand was the lack of clutch hitting. In the Chicago series, Boston was 1-26 with RISP, and in their last four games, they are a repugnant 2-36. For Blake Swihart, it has been a case of "be careful what you wish for" as he has struggled mightily since Boston parted ways with Hanley Ramirez. Blake even got a  chance to catch Jalen Beeks, and it was the first time he caught at the major league level since April 12 of 2016. He had only 2 hits in the homestand and he has the faithful is pining for Ramirez. I don't feel that way, though, as Boston had to see what they had in Swihart. It's really big picture stuff, and hanging onto Hanley for another 22 million dollar hit didn't look really sexy with Hanley's .163 May batting average. The Red Sox have won each of Christian Vazquez’s last 10 starts, and in 13 games since May 16, he is batting .283 (13-for-46, 2 HR, 2 2B). Ya gotta hand it to Christian as he has been coming on at the plate leading the squad on the homestand. That alone also speaks volumes with regards to the lack of punch exhibited. Bench depth has been tested and the results haven't been pretty. Along with Swihart's struggles, Sam Travis was recalled after Dustin Pedroia went back to the DL and hasn't really been able to get on track at all. 
  • The good news is that Boston is on track for a 108 win season. The bad news is that the New York Yankees are on pace for 113 win campaign. The Chicago series loss was the first one since May 14-16 against the Oakland A's. Despite losing 3 of their last 4 games, the Red Sox lead MLB with 44 wins. They now head out for a 10 game road swing through Baltimore, Seattle and Minnesota. At 21-11 (.656), the Sox are tied with the Washington Nationals for the majors’ 3rd-highest winning percentage on the road. Boston has the most wins at home (23-11) and the second-best winning percentage (.676) behind the Yankees.
Homestand by the Numbers
Name G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA
▼		 OBP SLG OPS
Christian Vazquez416142510122200.357.438.6431.080
J.D. Martinez520185610242300.333.400.7221.122
Rafael Devers622201620012510.300.364.400.764
Andrew Benintendi628266730232310.269.321.615.937
Xander Bogaerts626242610141600.250.308.417.724
Mitch Moreland521182410003300.222.333.278.611
Jackie Bradley518142300111610.214.389.429.817
Eduardo Nunez621200400011310.200.238.200.438
Brock Holt514120200012500.167.286.167.452
Blake Swihart414131210001500.154.214.231.445
Sandy Leon2770110000300.143.143.286.429
Sam Travis312110100011300.091.167.091.258
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/11/2018.
Name G GS
▼		 W L SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA GB/FB BAbip SO9
Jalen Beeks1114.076634113.5027%.4299.0
Rick Porcello1116.05323503.0039%.2787.5
David Price1116.05223603.0060%.3339.0
Eduardo Rodriguez1115.25111501.5944%.2787.9
Chris Sale1118.061111001.1372%.31611.3
Steven Wright1117.02003600.0063%.1337.7
Matt Barnes303.05223406.0050%.50012.0
Heath Hembree302.10001400.0033%.00015.4
Brian Johnson104.03110502.2580%.30011.3
Joe Kelly101.00000200.00100%.00018.0
Craig Kimbrel1011.00000200.000%.00018.0
Bobby Poyner101.00000100.00100%.0009.0
Hector Velazquez202.01000200.0060%.2009.0
Brandon Workman303.01000300.0029%.1439.0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/11/2018.





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