May 12, 2015

Red Sox Rundown - An Inconvenient Truth?





"There's a lot of talent, and I'm confident we'll be better," Ben Cherington (May 11th)

 Looking at the picture above, we are now forced to align ourselves with the current results and Ben's placating words. A lack of talent was certainly evident in a rather depressing May to date as we continually pay the fare for some abysmal play by the Sawx. The month began with a five game losing streak including a Yankees sweep and series losses to the Rays and Blue Jays. The Red Sox own a 3-7 mark, but have been buoyed by their mini 2 game winning stint. Bracketed inside that span of games, we were forced to bear witness to a milestone homer from a fraud, lost our second starting catcher until the all-star break, and quickly discovered that the pitching is not the only facet of the game lacking in Boston. 

 I mentioned in my last post that if the team could consistently beat the rawhide like Hanley, all would be well. In his absence due to injury, however, the offense was so noticeably bad that it took two solo home runs from rookie Mookie Betts just to win their only game at home this month. After their opening game drubbing in Toronto to the tune of 7-0, Boston had been outscored 32-15, plating three runs or less in 6 of those 7 contests.  Mookie and Pablo have been supplying all the clout as of late with Betts hitting .346 in the past 7 days and Pablo blasting a solo shot in extras last night for the win. They are the only two regulars hitting above .250 in the past week. Against RHP, Sandoval is hitting an amazing .388 with a 1.052 OPS and 4 homers.
Allen Craig was a casualty as he had a chance to run with some ABs after Hanley's injury but couldn't answer the bell hitting .091 in 4 games earning a ticket to Pawtucket. Mike Napoli has me thinking that Hanley Ramirez should be worked out at first as an alternate plan. Hanley doesn't care where he plays as long as he hits, and outside of that homer in Toronto, Napoli has been terrible this year. Daniel Nava is the incumbent backup at first with Craig's departure, but he might be following him out the door soon. Nava can't seem to get it going and seen his playing time diminish considerably. With the Red Sox struggling to break even at this point, Rusney Castillo making mega-millions to play AAA, and Farrell's man-crush on Victorino, the writing could be on the wall for Nava. Shane just rejoined the club in Oakland after going 0-6 in AA Portland and promptly turned in an ofer in four trips last night. If he wasn't earning 13 million he'd probably be gone already, and Jackie Bradley Jr. has been brought up to split time with Shane. This has platoon written all over it even if Farrell doesn't want to say it. 

 To his credit, Cherington is beginning to see the error of his ways and has acted. He dismissed pitching coach Juan Nieves, finally cut loose Edward Mujica, and banished Robbie Ross. Nieves was simply a scapegoat and no amount of tutelage was going to turn the starting rotation around. Joe Kelly proved that as he walked 7 batters and allowed 6 ER in Juan's absence. 
Ironically, Mujica blanked the Sawx in order in his inning of relief last night with his new club which isn't much of an accomplishment considering the team is hitting .196 in the past seven days. Only the Astros are worse. Ben is travelling with the team on the West Coast swing and the scrutiny continues. As the rotation makes its seventh revolution, Boston is 2-0 salvaging the final game with a quality start from Clay Buchholz and a competent outing from Porcello in the opener in Oakland. Maybe an ugly haircut is the key success with regards to Buchholz. Who knew?

 The next guy on the bubble could be Craig Breslow. He had been chirping that he wanted more opportunities to be in higher leverage situations as he was relied on for this duty in 2013. He was afforded that chance last night in Oakland with the Sawx leading 4-3, and on only four pitches, gave the lead away. Matt Barnes looked like he'll fit in nicely as a long man/ spot starter going 2 innings for the win last night. Barnes took Ross' spot and seems to have no plans on relinquishing it. I'm also curious on the fate of Justin Masterson as he makes his seventh start tonight. With Eduardo Rodriguez chomping at the bit on the farm, Justin may be the first step in an overhaul of the starting five.

 Personally, I hate these West Coast trips as I am relegated to MLBTV condensed games for my Red Sox fix. Living on the East Coast in the Atlantic Time Zone pretty much rules out any night games for me unless they are playing them in October. Hopefully, Ben's words ring true, and I'm watching the type of Red Sox baseball I'm more accustomed to when the team returns to more favorable venues for viewing.
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