by Sully on April 8, 2013
in Red Sox
Five games in it appeared the Red Sox offense would function differently than past quality Red Sox offenses. This edition would walk, steal some bases, make a lot of contact and rely on a lot of singles, infield hits, and whatever else it took to push runs across the plate. It still may be that way. A good afternoon against a knuckleballer struggling to find it, and Dave Bush, does not all of a sudden mean this group will lead the league in slugging. But a six-home run explosion does get the wheels turning a bit.
Mike Napoli is a bigtime power hitter when healthy and getting regular at bats. Will Middlebrooks is still developing, and has a quick bat with plenty of pop. Daniel Nava in his platoon role can work counts and unload on pitches to hit. Jacoby Ellsbury showed he had a big bat two seasons ago, Shane Victorino has slugged .506 from the right side for his career and Jonny Gomes has always hit lefties hard, too. Dustin Pedroia has sneaky power and David Ortiz will be back before long. Few catchers slug the way Jarrod Saltalamacchia can. You see the point. It was obviously premature to draw conclusions about how the offense would have to function.
On the pitching side, Jon Lester cruised. Staked to a five-run lead before he even took the ball, it was a low-pressure environment to say the least, but let’s give him credit. He was efficient, controlled and touched 95 on the NESN gun a number of times on his way to six strikeouts, no walks, no runs and just five hits over seven innings. All-around encouraging stuff from Lester, Clayton Mortensen and the rest of the club on an afternoon where they won 13-0.
Well almost all-around encouraging. Jackie Bradley, Jr. has looked a bit lost over the last four games or so. His ability to draw walks combined with his defense likely make him an asset for the club regardless, but teams are attacking him on the inside part of the plate with a lot of success. In fairness to Bradley he has had some tough matchups, including C.C. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and J.A. Happ from the left side, and R.A. Dickey the knuckleballer. Let’s see him at home, against Baltimore, and in front of a crowd that’s sure to give him a warm welcome. However he fares I think we can all agree the adulation from the likes of Peter Abraham and others in the Boston media was premature at best and likely overstated, too.
Today’s the home opener. Weather should be great, and Clay Buchholz faces Wei-Yin Chen, who was hit hard all Spring but pitched effectively in his first start of the season against the Rays.
by Sully on April 7, 2013
in Red Sox
That was about as bad as a single game gets. Boston fell to Toronto 5-0 and lost their starting pitcher to what appeared to be serious injury. The offense completely no-showed against what we thought was a very hittable J.A. Happ, something that arguably even rises to the level of concerning when you consider how this personnel is supposed to fare against lefties. A righty-stacked 2-through-6 of Shane Victorino, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli, Will Middlebrooks and Jonny Gomes managed a single hit and were on base all of three times. Jackie Bradley Jr. looked a bit overmatched, and it’s not hard to envision a scenario where he heads for Pawtucket when David Ortiz returns. As concerning as Boston’s output was, all credit to Happ. If Happ is anywhere between above average and as dominant as he was yesterday this season, the AL East might already be settled.
Of course the big story is John Lackey‘s biceps injury. It looked bad real-time but not as bad as some have suggested. His arm didn’t “pop” or come out of place or anything. It seemed to have gone numb as a result of the biceps tear or strain, but there’s reason to hope his elbow and shoulder were spared. Whatever the case, he is likely out a while.
The on-field impact of Lackey’s loss is hard to measure. How could you count on a whole lot from him given the performance in Boston to date combined with the fact that he missed the entire 2012 season? On the other hand, if he was going to pitch anywhere close to as well as he did yesterday before his injury, the loss is significant one. Steven Wright, Allen Webster, Franklin Morales and others are all capable of taking a rotation turn, though, and in Webster’s case he might have a chance to be a star.
The personal element of the Lackey injury is more deflating than its impact on the club. He was fit, people all around Major League Baseball had vouched for his character, he was committed to making things right here in Boston. Maybe the injury allows him to return once again before long but if not, I hope that fans remember the earnest effort Lackey made to rededicate himself. It doesn’t excuse his perceived lack of preparedness before this year but we all mess up, we all learn hard lessons and how we bounce back is the measure. Lackey bounced back. This biceps injury just sucks. No two ways about it.
Today it’s Jon Lester and R.A. Dickey.
by Sully on April 6, 2013
in Red Sox
It took Boston 13 games in 2011 to win its third. Eight in 2012. This season it took four and after last night’s win against the American League East favorites, the Red Sox have guaranteed themselves a .500 road trip through the Bronx and Toronto to start the season. If that sounds insignificant, in any other year it probably would be fair to categorize it as such. But for this year’s Red Sox team, amid a climate of skepticism, it’s huge.
Mike Napoli hit his first home run in a Red Sox uniform, a welcome sight after looking alarmingly bad against Andy Pettitte Thursday night. That it came off Josh Johnson, a nasty and hard-tossing right-hander, made it all the more satisfying. Dustin Pedroia reached base three times, Will Middlebrooks homered and Jonny Gomes walked twice in his only two times at bat after coming on for Daniel Nava. Shane Victorino continues to hit from the left side of the plate. Boston triple-slashed .293/.396/.512 in front of 45,000+ facing a Cy Young candidate.
The pitching star was Koji Uehara, who came on in the sixth to protect a one-run lead with a man on second and nobody out. Uehara needed nine pitches to notch two strikeouts and a lazy fly ball to center field. Despite tossing just an inning Uehara led Boston, position players and pitchers, in WPA last night.
It was kind of a classic Felix Doubront start. Great peripherals, he struck out six and didn’t issue a walk, but he looked pretty hittable. That Blue Jays lineup is going to rake this year, though, and there’s no real shame in being dominated by a star like Jose Reyes, who doubled twice and homered. It was good to see Doubront attacking the strike zone, even if it meant too many hard-hit balls. His numbers looked worse than they might have otherwise because Farrell stuck with him too long, a decision I sensed was more a gesture of confidence in a young pitcher than a tactical one.
John Lackey and J.A. Happ at 1:07 today.
by Sully on April 2, 2013
in Red Sox
“Today is how we can win a lot of ballgames.”
-Jonny Gomes
On their way to an 8-2 win in the Bronx yesterday the Red Sox notched 13 hits, but only a couple for extra bases. They managed eight walks but also stranded 13 baserunners. Jon Lester labored at times but finished the game with a solid seven strikeouts against just two free passes. The bullpen was excellent. Jose Iglesias had three hits and Jarrod Saltalamacchia had three walks. That might never happen in the same game again. Jackie Bradley, as Peter Gammons noted, matched Carl Crawford‘s 2012 bases-on-balls total in his first game above Double-A. He also made a fantastic catch in left field early in the game to rob Robinson Cano of extra bases, and the Yankees of a run. Jacoby Ellsbury and Jonny Gomes were excellent. Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks pretty much no-showed, and combined with Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia, Boston’s two-through-5 hitters posted just a .190/.227/.190 triple-slash in their 22 plate appearances.
That’s all a way of saying that it is not as though everything had to go right yesterday, not even close, and the Red Sox rolled to an 8-2 win against C.C. Sabathia and the depleted Yankees. For the Red Sox, Wednesday night may prove a stiffer test. Hard-throwing righties like Hiroki Kuroda should be trouble for Boston, particularly without David Ortiz‘s services. But for today let’s just enjoy a big early-season win, and recognize that it wasn’t like the stars had to align for the Sox to pull it off. The way Boston won felt entirely sustainable, a great sign for a club in desperate need of fostering both hope in its fanbase and belief in itself.
