We could talk about the Sox dropping two of three to the Angels, but why bother? Most Boston fans dread these west coast outings based on past experience and I would wager a good portion of the fanbase is thrilled we won one game. Instead, let's talk about the two biggest problems facing Boston right now; the starting pitching and Big Papi.The starting pitching for Boston can be summed up in one word: "mediocre". I wanted to say "atrocious" at first but the Sox are in second place in the AL East and you can't be there with atrocious starters.
Nevertheless, Boston's rotation currently sports the worst ERA in the American League. Right now, the starters have a collective ERA of 5.91, which is almost a half-run worse than the team immediately ahead of Boston (Baltimore). And it is more than two runs worse than the league leaders (Angels - 3.52). Even the Yankee starters have a better ERA than the Sox.
And that isn't all of it. Only Tampa's starters have walked more batters (88) than Boston's (87). The Sox are fourth-worst in the AL in BAA (.291) It's a complete reversal of how the starters usually perform. In 2008, the Sox had one of the best rotations in the AL. But now...you hardly recognize them.
The staff ace is a 42-year old knuckleballer. No starter has an ERA under four. And only two (Wakefield and Masterson) have an ERA under five. The other three have ERAs all higher than 6.30! And don't get me started on their WHIPs...
And yet the Sox are firmly in second place. Brad Penny has four quality starts in six starts overall and Wakefield has five quality starts in seven overall. It's completely maddening. If these guys could just piece together a couple of good starts and stop relying on the bullpen and timely hitting to bail them out, the Sox would be running away with the division right now. Imagine what could happen if Beckett and Lester were pitching as well as Masterson. And I cannot believe I had to actually type that last sentence.
But that leads us to the other issue...timely hitting. Hitting in general. And the utter lack of it from one individual.
I never thought I would see the day when David Ortiz was the weak link in the Boston lineup. But yesterday's game...good Lord above, did he ever suck.
Papi went 0-7 with three strikeouts and 12 men left on base! Twelve! How is that even possible? Teams go entire seasons without leaving than many men on base in a game and Ortiz did it by himself!
Right now Ortiz is batting .208 and has an OPS of just .618, which is the worst for any starter. He is completely ineffectual as a batter right now and having that kind of hole in the top of the lineup is starting to have a negative effect on the Sox. What good is it when Ellsbury and Pedroia go a combined 6-12 and the next batter can't even get a scratch single?
Now, some wags will say that Papi was using steroids, stopped and that is why he's hitting worse than Jeff Bailey. I don't buy that. This is a hitting drought brought on by injuries and age.
Ortiz suffered some injuries during his time with Minnesota, but last year marked the first time he has suffered a serious injury in his 30s. His injuries are wear-and-tear types, not the kind you see from steroid abusers. Add to that the fact he has always been a...large fellow and that he is no longer in his prime (33 years old turning 34 in November). You add all of those things together, and what you get is an aging power hitter who has injuries that impact his swing. And that explains the lack of homers and hitting in general.
The bigger question is "What does Boston do?" If it were a lesser player, the obvious move would be to bench him and get someone else to DH. But this is the most popular player on the team and one of the most iconic Red Sox players in recent memory. You can't just bench Big Papi.
Ideally, the Boston brass would approach him about taking care of an "injury" and going on the DL for a few weeks. And while that was going on, they could slot Chris Carter into the DH position. Carter ripped it up in spring training and definitely couldn't do any worse than Ortiz is doing at this moment. And he's following the club right now as Tito plays mix-and-match to cover injuries in the roster.
But why wait? Even if it was just a 15-day stay on the DL for Papi, that could be enough time for him to step back, figure out what is going on and get his swing back. But something has to happen soon. The Sox cannot go all year with a 0-fer as their third batter.
2 comments:
Not that Yankees' starters have been that much better by any stretch of the imagination, but atrocious is the right word for the Sox starters so far. The reason the Sox are in the second, one-game out of first, is because the bullpen has been absolutely brilliant, fourth in the majors in ERA, and because the lineup, aside from Papi, scratches, claws and is dynamic.
But Dave, are you starting to worry that the workload the Sox's pen is logging right now will start to take a toll at some point if the starters don't straighten out?
Um...can I refuse to answer that question? :)
I am worried; you can only tax your bullpen so long before it shows signs of wear and tear. I think that is why Bard got called up; he's a fresh arm.
But the Sox starters are not atrocious. If they were, even the bullpen couldn't salvage them. The Boston rotation is third in the AL in quality starts, believe it or not. The problem is a lack of consistency. If they can start stringing together some good outings, the Sox will leap into first place.
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