July 09, 2018

Fifteen Game Flashback

  • It has been a really nice stretch for Boston including the last homestand. Heading back home after a stomping of the Kansas City Royals, the Red Sox are 12-3 in their last 15 games including three series sweeps of the Angels, Nationals and Royals. That brings the total to 9 series broomings on the season for Boston as the Angels were also blanked when the teams met in Southern California. Boston outscored Los Angeles 49-12 in their 6 meetings and the Angels are the only American League team so far that has been unable to take a game off the Red Sox. The Sawx also closed the book on the Mariners for 2018 on the last homestand taking the season series 4-3. The Mariners' series featured a wild opening game that saw Steven Wright hammered for 10 runs in 3.1 innings of work. Wright promptly hit the DL after this dreadful outing with lingering issues arising from his surgically repaired knee. The Red Sox found themselves down 4-0 and 10-5 in that contest but still managed to rally for a 14-10 barnburner victory. Below are the numbers for the last homestand and where Boston stood in the win-loss column.
Record (5-1)     Season (55-27)  GB 0.0     Series Play (18-6-2)

Name G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA
▼		 OBP SLG OPS
Jackie Bradley Jr.517173810260310.471.471.8821.353
J.D. Martinez6272591130392411.440.481.9201.401
Eduardo Nunez515134500132100.385.467.6151.082
Christian Vazquez416162620120200.375.375.6881.063
Rafael Devers622226830150310.364.364.6361.000
Sandy Leon2761200140200.333.286.8331.119
Mitch Moreland626265812150600.308.308.615.923
Xander Bogaerts522181540014210.278.409.500.909
Brock Holt414121320022400.250.357.417.774
Blake Swihart3882200000100.250.250.250.500
Mookie Betts524175400126300.235.417.412.828
Andrew Benintendi626244510022110.208.269.250.519
Tzu-Wei Lin2550000000300.000.000.000.000
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/29/2018.
Name G GS
▼		 W L SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA GB/FB BAbip SO9
Brian Johnson216.27111511.3543%.3006.8
Rick Porcello115.28442526.3545%.3337.9
David Price1116.05112711.5050%.26710.5
Eduardo Rodriguez1114.07542209.0035%.3894.5
Chris Sale1117.040011300.0060%.36416.7
Steven Wright113.110101022327.0044%.4675.4
Matt Barnes3023.00001600.0075%.00018.0
Justin Haley101.00000000.0033%.0000.0
Heath Hembree302.10001300.000%.00011.6
Joe Kelly403.25322204.9136%.3574.9
Craig Kimbrel3023.10002600.0025%.00016.2
Hector Velazquez2015.07220403.6061%.3897.2
Brandon Workman303.01001500.0020%.20015.0
Generated 6/29/2018.
  • As of late, Chris Sale has been knocking the stuffing out of the radar gun and has simply been overwhelming the opposition. After his shutout effort against Seattle to pull Boston back into a share of first, he became the leader in K/9 in the Live Ball Era with a 10.7 mark pushing him ahead of The Big Unit, Randy Johnson (10.6). Up to that point, the numbers on Sale's last 4 starts read: 28 IP, 15 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 43 K. It's little wonder that Sale was selected to his seventh consecutive all-star team.
  • David Price was also on a tear after dispatching the Angels in a 9-1 victory. He had allowed 3 runs or fewer in his last 9 consecutive starts, his longest such streak since joining the Red Sox. Alas, as it is for Price, he just can't leave well enough alone and decided to try to give the media the business with regards to the talk about his inability to pitch in his start in New York because of playing video games.

  • His attempt at humor would have been a lot more effective if he had of actually had some success in the Bronx. Instead, Price was bludgeoned on Sunday Night Baseball for 8 runs with the Yankees blasting 5 long balls off him in a demoralizing 11-1 loss in the rubber match of the series. Getting back to Chris Sale, all he did was toss a remarkable 7 inning goose egg in the Bronx and registered his third consecutive start with double-digit strikeout totals. In Sale's last 6 starts, he has a 1.10 ERA and hasn't allowed a homer in his last 44 innings - the longest stretch of his career. He also punched out 12 Royals in his last start of the road trip to extend his double-digit strikeout starts to four games and picked up the 100 win of his career in the process.  Additionally, Chris has also been a Yankee killer along the way. Among the 500+ pitchers who have made at least 10 starts vs. New York in the Live Ball Era, Sale owns the lowest career ERA (1.61) against the Yankees, as well as the highest SO/9.0 IP ratio (11.62). Conversely, Price has an 8.43 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in nine starts against the Yankees since joining the Sox and has allowed 13 home runs in 47 innings. To make matters worse, he has a 10.44 ERA in five starts at Yankee Stadium with the Sawx and has been reamed for 10 home runs over 25 innings. Price topped off the road trip in an equally appalling manner, beaning three hitters in one inning against the Royals which ironically occurred on another national telecast as the game was featured on FOX. Boston cruised to a 15-4 win regardless, but at that point, Kansas City had tied the game. Cora was left with no choice but to lift the troubled lefty.
  • As good as June was for Sale, it was horrifying for Joe Kelly. Once the people's champion, Kelly regressed significantly and had the faithful saber-rattling as clambering for bullpen help. Not a pretty sight below as the numbers extend to July 2nd.
  • JD Martinez has been absolutely magnificent for Boston and was recognized for his efforts with an all-star berth. JD  swatted a firm .400 in these last 15 games with 5 homers and 19 RBI. His partner in crime, Mookie Betts, will also travel with JD to DC as a first-team all-star and scored 15 runs in these last 15 games second only to Martinez who touched the dish 16 times. Mookie belted his 16th leadoff homer in Kansas City which is a Red Sox franchise record, and he also registered the 100th dinger of his career joining Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice and Ted Williams as the only Boston players to launch 100 homers before turning 26 years of age. 
  • Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez have tag-teamed for a solid platoon pairing at second base, as can be seen by the road numbers below. Each man brings a slightly different flavor to the lineup with Nunez packing more of a wallop at the plate and indiscriminately hacks aways at will. On the other hand, Holt offers more reliable defense and keener knowledge of the strike zone. Both Holt and Nunez combined for a .278 BA in June, and Nunez is currently enjoying a 4 game hit streak (7-18, 4 R, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI).

  • Odds and Ends: Steve Pearce has done nothing but hit since coming to Boston. He was added to the roster on June 29th and is hitting .450 with 4 doubles serving as a reliable option against tough lefties for Alex Cora. Christian Vazquez broke his pinky finger in Kansas City, so Blake Swihart looks to get one last shot at proving he can catch at the major league level. In a small sample size, Blake's bat may be coming around as he is hitting .385 in his last 9 games. Losing Christian hurts, but for my money, Sandy Leon has been the better of the 2 backstops so far this year, so hopefully, he can maintain consistency with the added workload. Leon has hit .286 in his last 9 games with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 8 RBI. Tyler Thornburg finally made it back to the big leagues but stumbled against the Royals. To be fair, he hasn't pitched since 2016 and will need time before he can be considered an effective weapon in the late innings. Below are the numbers for the road trip. 
    Record (7-2)     Season (62-29)  GB 0.0     Series Play (20-7-2)

Road Trip by the Numbers
Name G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA
▼		 OBP SLG OPS
Blake Swihart6652300011200.600.667.6001.267
Brian Johnson1221100000000.500.500.5001.000
Steve Pearce623204940032200.450.478.6501.128
Mookie Betts94437101440236520.378.477.6491.126
J.D. Martinez73230711202101800.367.375.6331.008
Andrew Benintendi93933912301461130.364.462.5451.007
Rick Porcello1330110030200.333.333.6671.000
Brock Holt625221700042111.318.400.318.718
Eduardo Nunez626264820150400.308.308.500.808
Xander Bogaerts8372778202108200.296.459.5931.052
Rafael Devers836326920164800.281.361.438.799
Sandy Leon724223620141600.273.304.500.804
Mitch Moreland624196500034400.263.375.263.638
Jackie Bradley Jr.833273520044720.185.303.259.562
Christian Vazquez515150100020410.067.067.067.133
Heath Hembree1110000000100.000.000.000.000
Eduardo Rodriguez1220000000100.000.000.000.000
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/9/2018.
Name G GS
▼		 W L SV IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA GB/FB BAbip SO9
Rick Porcello22213.01655314203.4641%.3689.7
David Price2218.01512121126313.5041%.42913.5
Eduardo Rodriguez221112.0105538203.7531%.2296.0
Chris Sale22213.0611223010.6939%.27315.9
Brian Johnson114.282222003.8639%.4213.9
Matt Barnes404.020016000.0067%.22213.5
William Cuevas102.021100104.5063%.1430.0
Justin Haley204.284420207.7136%.3160.0
Heath Hembree3013.221126102.4525%.14314.7
Joe Kelly302.111115103.8633%.00019.3
Craig Kimbrel3033.030015000.000%.42915.0
Tyler Thornburg201.1322000013.5014%.4290.0
Hector Velazquez404.063310106.7565%.3130.0
Brandon Workman4013.122201105.4055%.1002.7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/9/2018.




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