June 05, 2018

Gut Check Time in Houston


Road Recap

Record (2-2)       Season (41-19)  GB 0.0     Series Play (14-4-1)

  • The train of optimism heading full steam to Houston was quickly derailed as DL stints were granted to Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts. I'm kinda getting that sinking feeling with regards to Pedroia as you begin to wonder if this is the injury that marks the beginning of the end of a tremendous career. Setbacks after major surgery are commonplace, but he's not a young guy anymore either. With Betts, he's simply been the most vital part of the Boston offense to date, and Boston needed all the ammunition it could muster to outduel the reigning World Series champions vaunted starting pitching.
  • After dropping the first two games of the series, it seemed like our worst fears would be realized, particularly with the unenviable task of facing Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton in games three and four. Verlander left after six innings leading 3-2, but a solo blast by Christian Vazquez and a two-run shot by Andrew Benintendi in the seventh off Astros reliever Will Harris enabled David Price to secure his sixth win. Heath Hembree was first out of the gate to protect the lead and now has a 2.00 ERA in his last nine innings stranding his last 5 inherited runners. After an impressive string of scoreless innings, Joe Kelly exhibited mortality in the second game as he was belted for 3 runs in only a third of an inning. Kelly had only allowed 1 run in his previous 24 innings coming into that contest. He also allowed another run after coming in for Hembree in the eighth, but Craig Kimbrel locked down a 5-4 win. Boston escaped with the series draw after a huge night from Brock Holt. Holt had three hits including a two-run triple in the sixth off Morton that really put the game to bed. Brock's blast also made a winner out of Rick Porcello who was dynamite with the heart of the Astros' order as he struck out Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa two times each. Matt Barnes stemmed the tide nicely after Porcello left in the seventh with two aboard. Houston was rallying and had closed the gap to 6-3, but he punched out Altuve and got a groundout to end the threat. To demonstrate how splendid these two victories were Red Sox became the first team to score multiple runs on Justin Verlander in a month, and the first team to score six runs on Charlie Morton in two years. Boston put up 9 runs over 11.1 innings combined against Verlander and Morton.
  • Taking a closer look at game four hero Brock Holt, he is now batting .409 with RISP to lead the Red Sox. Brock is batting .265 with two strikes which is good for second on the team. Mookie Betts has been otherworldly in this category as he is batting .340 when down two strikes and has 7 homers and 10 doubles in 32 hits. Andrew Benintendi is nipping at Brock's heel in the RISP department with a .404 clip. Benny has driven in an imposing 32 runs in this situation tying JD Martinez for the team lead. Since May 15th, Benintendi is now has a team-leading slash line of .388/.463/.821 with 7 homers and 20 RBI.
  • Getting back to the starting pitching, David Price has been on a roll. Boston has won in each of his last five starts, and Price has gone 4-0 with a 2.87 ERA in 31.1 innings. Much has been made of his inability to win on the big stage, so it was great to see him shine in Houston. In those 31.1 IP, he has struck out 34 batters. It hasn't just been Price that has been wonky against the best of the AL though as can be seen below.
  • Rick Porcello seems to be coming around with his second win in as many starts in the Houston finale. After having a brilliant 4-0 start to the season, Rick scuffled in May going 3-2 with a bloated 5.35 ERA as he was bitten by the long ball in May with opponents clubbing 5 dingers in his 6 outings. The gopher ball was his nemesis last season as he surrendered 38 to lead the majors. His calling card is ground balls and with pitchers that have 10 or more starts with 60 IP, he is seventh in the AL with  48.1%. That has helped him notch eight wins so far (8-2) in 2018 which ties him with Cory Kluber for second in the American League.
  • In the category of worrisome trends has been the rapid decline of Chris Sale. In his last two starts, his is 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA. The swing and miss stuff remains though as he has struck out 14 in 10.1 innings in those starts. Sale is among the league leaders in swing and miss with opposing batters coming up empty 198 times. Still, Boston is only peaking their head above .500 with Sale on the mound as the Red Sox are 7-6 in Sale's outings this season. Chris is tops on the Boston staff in homers allowed with 10, and he has given up a tater in each of his last 6 outings. Not really time for grave concern, however, given the small sample size.
Road Trip by the Numbers
NameGPAABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSBA
▼		OBPSLGOPS
Sam Travis11101000200001.0001.0001.0002.000
Eduardo Nunez313123500000410.417.462.417.878
Andrew Benintendi418155510233610.333.444.8001.244
Christian Vazquez1431100111010.333.5001.3331.833
Xander Bogaerts417152430022110.267.353.467.820
Brock Holt312121311040300.250.250.500.750
Sandy Leon312121300000400.250.250.250.500
Mitch Moreland417163400231500.250.294.625.919
J.D. Martinez416141300132310.214.313.429.741
Jackie Bradley Jr.416142210002610.143.250.214.464
Rafael Devers312120110000600.083.083.167.250
Blake Swihart412120100010311.083.083.083.167
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/4/2018.
Name G GS
▼		 W L SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA GB/FB BAbip SO9
Drew Pomeranz1115.06442517.2046%.3859.0
Rick Porcello1116.15322512.8437%.2227.1
David Price1116.05331714.5041%.26710.5
Chris Sale1116.06441616.0033%.2949.0
Matt Barnes202.22000200.0083%.2866.8
Heath Hembree202.00003200.0050%.0009.0
Brian Johnson100.22000000.0050%.5000.0
Joe Kelly201.134430227.0043%.2000.0
Craig Kimbrel1011.00000200.000%.00018.0
Steven Wright103.01003400.0080%.20012.0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/4/2018.



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