April 21, 2015

Red Sox Rundown - Boston Remains Strong in Series Play










After dismissing my grade 6 students, I scrambled back to the computer about ten minutes after the final bell to see if I could catch the tail end of the getaway game against the O's yesterday. I had already saw much of the damage during my lunch break that was self-inflicted by Baltimore, The O's generously spotted Boston 5 unearned runs, four of these in a third inning collapse to give the Sawx a successful 4-3 homestand mark.

Mercifully, the rains continued on "Marathon Monday", and our Sawx once again sit alone atop the AL East. They have maintained that perch either alone or shared for 13 of the first 15 days of the season. The Red Sox also increased there record to 5-2 against the Orioles on Patriots' Day games, and Boston remains undefeated in series play with a 3-0-1 record.

 I must say, I am relieved the game was cut short. With only five hits, Boston continues to defy logic with the starting pitching woes that they have experienced and lack of offensive punch. Boston failed to reach double digits in hits throughout the Orioles' series.

 "Our starting rotation is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."


Over the course of the past 7 days Boston starters owned the worst pitching ERA coming into the finale against Baltimore. A rotund 6.24 mark to go along with a 1-3 record in 6 games had us begging for a decent outing. Admittedly, I felt matters looked bleak with Masterson left to salvage the series. The thoughts of Justin serving up that 89 mph fastball to go along with his frisbee slider made me cringe. But a funny thing happened at the ballpark - Masterson became the first Boston starter to win two games in a rain shortened 7-1 victory.

 This series was encouraging at the beginning as both Buchholz and Kelly only surrendered 2 runs apiece. Boston gained a split in the the first two games, thanks in large part to Ryan Hanigan's first homer of the year. His two run shot allowed Xander Bogaerts the honors of the first walkoff win of the season in a 3-2 victory. 

 Clay decided to play high leverage in a few instances during his start but effectively scattered 11 hits while firing a few key strikeouts. However, the only Sawx batters to show an interest in offense were David Ortiz and Brock Holt with three hits apiece, and they fell 4-1.

 Then along comes Porcello, and you had to think that he would nail things down for a crack at a series win. Instead, he just got nailed as he was "Adam Jones'ed " to death as part of an 8 run smackdown. Farrell made the puzzling decision to leave Porcello in the game in the sixth  trailing 5-3. He was pushing 100 pitches and hit the first batter and was nicked by two singles one of which a bunt that hugged the third base line, to load the bases. Jones brought the hammer down with a bases clearing double to put it out of reach. Now, its Wade Miley's turn to pick up the staff as the team embarks on a 6 game road trip that will take them through Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Farrell may be wise to now watch his starters very closely and be ready to play chess with his bullpen pieces any time from the 6th inning on until some consistency is established.

"Where have all the doubles gone?"

 With the offense still somewhat dormant, I got to looking at the positional players with regards to extra base hits.  Looking at the left side of the diamond, there has been plenty of long ball power from Hanley, so we can look the other way with regards to doubles.  I'll take his 5 homers with a smile on my face thank you very much. Pablo Sandoval just hit his first extra base hit in the 8-3 loss on Sunday joining Bogaerts, who also has one. Bogaerts is seeing a steady diet of breaking stuff away, and to his credit, he is going with the pitch for his hits. The graph below shows why Bogie hasn't been doubling up as of late.

 Pablo's double was the 11th of the year for the Red Sox which is good for last place in the Majors. Boston has traditionally been a leader in this variety of extra base hit due to the home park design, but so far this hasn't been the case. When Boston won the world title in 2013, they blasted 363 doubles, and with the exception of 2014, they have led the Majors in this category since 2010. 

 It's not any prettier with regards to extra base hits on the right side either with the exception of Dustin Pedroia who leads the team with three doubles. Christ, Brock Holt is a supposed "bench player" and has two doubles, but Brock plays everywhere, and we should all be thankful for that. Holt is also rockin' a .462  BA. Even though Betts' batting average is bottoming out, he also has two doubles. Napoli and Victorino are still in the starting blocks.

 "Defense in left field just getting offensive!"

 After the first 13 games of the season, cracks are starting to form in the defensive foundation that was conceived in the off season, most noticeably in left field. Is anyone else getting tired of the excuses for Hanley's play in left? Yeah, uh "It's a work in progress"  or the "He's still learning as he goes along." When asked about his non-catch in a play in the Orioles series up against the Monster, Ramirez said it hit the wall, but as can be seen below, it clanged off his glove. 

 There's blood in the water now as his misjudgment of fly balls is becoming laughable. There also looks to be no urgency in his effort to run down balls, and he genuinely seems surprised when he catches the ball as he almost always looks into his glove to make sure the ball is in there. A perceived lack of effort seems to be part of this "Don't Worry, Be Happy" theme that was resonating through Spring Training. He, Pablo, and Big Papi formed a fast friendship right off the hop, and Hanley just kept reinforcing how glad he was to be back with Boston as he said "This is where I belong." Everything was sunshine and rainbows, right? That was then, but these times may be a-changin'.

 Now maybe I'm misconstruing this lack of hustle for outright fear. He sometimes looks like he is tiptoeing out there, scared to commit to the flight of the ball. Instead, he is content for letting it drop because it is easier to pick it up than catch it. Boston management felt they needed the offense so they said, we'll shell out the coin and convert Hanley to a left fielder because we need his bat. On the latter point, they couldn't be more correct, but on the former item, someone is not getting the job done. To be fair to both Hanley and the coaches, Arnie Beyeler in this case, some guys just can't play the outfield. Not everyone is Brock Holt. If Hanley really is unable to grasp this new position, I kind of feel sorry for him because he is going to be answering to plays like the ones seen here in every series. 

 What if he had more reps before the season began? Why wasn't he playing more left field in Spring Training? It was a new position so he should have been out there more. And ya know what? About 25-30 years ago, he would have been, but you see, Ramirez is a big money player and they don't ride the buses in the spring. A different set of rules do apply. The extra play probably would have interfered with his fishing trips anyway. When asked if he took any infield balls this spring when he made a brief appearance at third base earlier in the year, he simply replied "No, why would I?" Ummm.. because you played there before and may need to spell Sandoval? Hanley even said he practiced playing third base using a video game. This type of response makes him look foolish and unprofessional. It also furthers the notion of a lack of commitment as a defensive player.

 So in summary, this is my message to John Farrell moving forward:
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