More of the same frustrating story for the Sox. The offense showed up just in time during the finale of a four-game set in Oakland to prevent a sweep at the hands of the AL-best Athletics. Boston moved on to Seattle on Monday night and, once again, the team mustered only one win – a 5-4 win on Wednesday night in Clay Buchholz’s return to the rotation. The team was outscored 20-4 in the first two games of the series against a largely underwhelming Mariners offense. Boston would need a sweep in the Bronx this weekend to salvage a .500 record on the 10-game road trip.
Boston is unfortunately learning the hard way that two-run home runs from super-utility guys like Brock Holt are fantastic, but they don’t win many games all by their lonesome…
Postseason Hopes Fading According to FanGraph’s Playoff Odds tool, the team had a 13.4% chance of reaching the postseason as of Friday morning (7.7% as the AL East champ; 5.8% as a Wild Card).
Trade Anxiety Mounting Fill in the first blank with any veteran starting pitcher and the second with whomever you so desire to be the team’s power-hitting outfielder and you’ve got much of the talking head “FIX IT” narrative over the past few weeks covered. Events transpiring over the past week may shift the focus overwhelmingly toward punting the season.
On ESPN Insider, Dan Syzmborski cites the 2012 mega-deal with the LA Dodgers as a precedent for recovering value on a lost season. He covers all of the trade possibilities, which can basically be broken down into a few categories:
– Veteran position players who have limited, short-term value in the coming months: Stephen Drew, Jonny Gomes
– Veteran starting pitchers with theoretically high upside: Jon Lester, Jake Peavy, John Lackey
– Elite bullpen arm: Koji Uehara
– Proven™ bullpen lefty: Andrew Miller
– Idiot free-swinging catchers who roll over outside pitches to second base to ground into double plays and kill rallies during high-leverage situations: A.J. Pierzynski
Many have pointed to July 1 as a good cutoff for a clear decision on either riding out the roster in hopes of making the playoffs or cashing out on older players and acquiring prospects. Boston will have to play incredibly well against the Yankees this weekend to change any minds by next Tuesday.
Club executives have already begun circling the wagons around the idea that, yes, Boston fans smart and understanding enough to support a “Sell” mentality next month.
For the record, this space is officially on board with the sell veterans for prospects route no matter what happens over the next week.
Clay Buchholz Looking Much Improved On a positive note, Clay Buchholz looked good in his first start in nearly a month on Wednesday night in Seattle. Sure, he gave up three home runs and some other loud noises, but he also managed to touch 92-93 mph with his fastball and pitch into the 8th inning while throwing only 76 pitches.
Boston’s long slog back to .500 continues. The Red Sox split a four-game set with the Indians last weekend and then earned a three-game sweep in a ridiculously well-pitched three-game series against the Twins that saw a total of seven runs scored between the two teams.
The finale on Wednesday was the type of win every good team needs once in a while. John Lackey went nine scoreless, but the Sox entered the bottom of the 10th inning down a run after Koji Uehara uncharacteristically surrendered a homer (Chris Parmalee, no less). Enter David Ortiz and Mike Napoli, who went back-to-back to end the ballgame and clinch the sweep.
Boston began a West Coast road swing last night in Oakland against the Athletics, who came into the series boasting a differential of nearly 100 runs better than any other team in the American League. They added to that with a 4-2 win behind Scott Kazmir, who kept the Sox in check for seven innings aside from allowing a two-run homer to Dustin Pedroia.
The Red Sox Starting Rotation Could Get Crowded On WEEI.com earlier this week, Alex Speier noted the importance of the club’s rotational depth, which has been a chief reason that the team’s hopes of making a run at a playoff spot this fall are still alive. In the absence of Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront, Rubby de la Rosa and Brandon Workman have made the most of their opportunities.
Though both Workman and De La Rosa are relatively young in age (both are 25) and baseball years, both offered the Sox players with some big league track records of success. Yet even while those track records suggested that they might not be overwhelmed, the fact that they have yet to encounter a major hiccup is noteworthy.
In five starts by Workman and four by De La Rosa, both have thrown five or more innings every time they’ve taken the mound; Workman has yet to allow more than three runs, while De La Rosa has given up four in two starts and none in two starts, including Monday’s one-hit, three-walk, three-strikeout effort in which he elicited 12 outs via ground ball.
De la Rosa’s fastball velocity in his four starts has been particularly impressive. He’s the only pitcher on the team who is capable of going out and throwing 94-95-mph consistently for six-plus innings. And yet, he’s blooming at a time when Clay Buchholz is just about ready to rejoin the rotation.
Meanwhile, Workman’s six-game suspension offers Felix Doubront an opportunity to start tonight against Oakland. Coming back from a bruised shoulder, Doubront will pitch for the first time since May 20. He has thus far underwhelmed with a K/BB rate of 31/19 in 45 innings this season. The guess here is that if Doubront shows some life on his fastball, he may be moved to the bullpen as potentially a better lefty option than Chris Capuano, who has been used sparingly over the last two weeks.
Brock Holt! When a utility infielder who looks like Matt Damon circa Good Will Hunting makes his first start in center field and does things like this, he’s going to win a lot of fans in Boston.
The Grady Sizemore Experiment Comes to an End Boston designated the struggling outfielder for assignment on Tuesday and called up Garin Cecchini for what could be more than just a one-day stint (as the team did earlier this month). Ben Cherington left the door open for Sizemore to potentially return to the system on a minor league contract after the 10-day waiver period. Sizemore is reportedly still healthy, so its likely some team looking for outfield depth will take a flyer on him.
Looking back at Sizemore’s Boston tenure, Shane Victorino’s prolonged absence forced the team to cross its fingers and entrust the veteran outfielder to be a key contributor in the offense. From Baseball Reference’s Lineup summary page for the team: Sizemore was the No. 5 hitter in the most common batting order used by John Farrell this season. Granted, Farrell has only used that order four times in 73 games, but Sizemore led off 10 times, slotted in at No. 5 for 15 of his starts and as the No. 6 hitter in another eight games. Sizemore simply did not hit for enough power to justify being an everyday starter in a corner outfield position, let alone a middle-of-the-order presence.
Three outs away from being swept in Detroit, the Red Sox came to life in the 9th inning on Sunday night, thanks to David Ortiz. Papi hit a moonshot off Joba Chamberlain to give Boston a 5-3 victory. The win reportedly came on the heels of the first “team meeting” called by John Farrell. The three-city, nine-game road trip still wound up a disaster as the team finished with a 2-7 mark after losing lose two of three against the Orioles in Baltimore.
The Sox returned to Fenway Park last night and won, 5-2, behind another strong outing from Jon Lester and this insane throw from Jackie Bradley Jr.
To Sell or Not to Sell With Boston tied with Houston and leading only Tampa Bay in the AL Wild Card standings going into last night, a healthy discussion has begun regarding a trade deadline that could involve the Red Sox as sellers rather than buyers. Boston has historically been a buyer around the end of July with only a few exceptions over the years. Most notably, the team was eventually a seller during the 2012 season. But that mega-deal with the LA Dodgers came in late August, nearly four weeks past the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
“Obviously we’re not happy with where we are,’’ said Cherington, who joined the team here Tuesday and spoke with reporters Tuesday afternoon. “That’s not up to our standard. We still believe it’s going to get better. We believe we have a very good team ahead of us this year. Most of that will come from within, guys here performing, getting back to a level they’re accustomed to.
“So look, we’re all in this together. We know collectively we have to get better. We’ve got to perform better. That starts with me. We have to make that happen. We’re not ready to proclaim this has to happen, or this has to happen. It won’t be any particular move.”
For what it’s worth, Boston inked outfielder Andres Torres earlier this week. He is unlikely to be ready before August and looks like nothing more than a right-handed platoon partner for Jackie Bradley Jr.
Debating John Lackey’s $500k option for 2015 Using a SoSH user poll as a proxy, it seems that the vast majority of Red Sox fans think John Lackey should be willing to play for $500,000 in 2015 since that’s what his original contract with the Red Sox calls for if he missed a season. Would he play for the league minimum is another question entirely, of course. Boston is in a precarious position with Jon Lester heading toward a likely nine-figure free agency contract and Clay Buchholz no longer looking like a reliable front-end starter. There is probably some angst on both sides of this business arrangement, even though neither has expressed it publicly. The best solution is probably one of those perfect compromises in which both sides give a little and walk away slightly unhappy. As of right now, if there were Vegas odds made for who would start Opening Day for the 2015 Red Sox, John Lackey would probably have the shortest odds given what we know right now.
Brandon Workman Takes No-Hitter into the 6th Inning The lone Red Sox win in Baltimore came thanks in large part to Brandon Workman’s 6 ⅔ shutout innings against the formidable O’s offense. It was the team’s first 1-0 win of the season. Overall, Workman’s been fine as a fill-in starter. His K/BB rate (21:10) over 28 innings isn’t great, but he’s been solid enough to join Rubby De La Rosa as a guy who could be given an extended shot in the starting rotation this summer.
Former MLB player and one-time Red Sox fan favorite Gabe Kapler’s lifestyle/health blog “Kapstyle” is a fantastic source of information. Kap’s written about a whole host of topics, his favorites being weight lifting, cross training, weight management, workout routines and all the other similar stuff you expect from a dude of his stature.
In a column posted on Monday, Kapler extolled the many virtues of coconut oil, including everything from its dietary advantages to its dermatological powers to its ability to whiten teeth for a fraction of the price of those whitening strips.
But the bodybuilder-cum-professional athlete-cum-sports analyst-cum-blogger saved the best for last:
You’re moisturized and smelling tropical, your teeth are white and your face looks like you’ve just visited a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. The sun has set, and the moon is out. Perhaps you have a friend nearby, perhaps it’s just you by your lonesome…well, this is awkward. I’ve promised you authenticity, honesty and openness. Take this how you wish and I’ll spare you the step by step. Coconut oil is the world’s greatest lubricant. I can’t help where your mind goes with this. Once the ball leaves the bat, I can’t steer it.
Sleep well,
Kap
Gabe buried the lede here and he clearly has little respect for that whole inverted pyramid reporting style. But he more than makes up for it with his well-crafted subtlety. When was the last time a sports column in the Boston Globe or the Boston Herald told you about something that feels awesome on your genitals?
Thanks to Kapler, the world may almost be ready for Wade Boggs’ “lifestyle” blog…
The Red Sox swept the Tampa Bay Rays last weekend in a series that began with some serious back-and-forth between David Ortiz and David Price on Friday night. John Farrell was ejected, teams were warned, aggressions ran high. Somehow, Mike Carp took all the posturing personally and after he took exception to being hit by an inside pitch, the benches cleared. Things went as they typically do after that. Boston was on its fourth manager by the end of the game, a Sox victory on a walk-off gapper from A.J. Pierzynski.
Boston Wins Seven In A Row
The bench-clearing nonsense the night before gave way to some of the team’s best baseball of the season on Saturday and Sunday. Rubby De La Rosa and Jon Lester pitched gems and Brock Holt swung a red-hot bat (four doubles in four ABs on Sunday).
The Sox hit the road on a seven-game win streak before old friend Justin Masterson shut the offense down for 7 innings on Monday night en route to a 3-2 Cleveland win. The offensive silence continued for the remainder of the series as the Indians swept the Red Sox courtesy of a walk-off 12 inning home run from Asdrubal Cabrera on Wednesday night.
The feast or famine Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Tigers tonight in Detroit.
De La Rosa Gets Called Up, Dazzles De La Rosa was promoted to fill the hole created by Clay Buchholz’s trip to the DL. But he may be here to stay for a while if Saturday’s performance is a sign of things to come. From the ‘mikey lowell of the sandbox’ on the Sons of Sam Horn message board:
Rubby de la Rosa’s 2014 major league debut was nothing short of spectacular. 100+ heat? Check – Rubby rang the bell at 100.5 mph in the third inning, touched 98 as late as the seventh inning, and averaged 96.6 on 39 fastballs. Dominant changeup? Check – 46 changeups, 37 for strikes, 13 for whiffs, in any count and to any location. Legitimate secondary pitches? Check – 12 sliders, mostly to RHB, and 3 of them for whiffs; and 8 sinkers, averaging 95.3 mph. De la Rosa pitches backwards — throwing fastballs out of the strike zone and changeups for strikes. He doesn’t seem to get distracted by runners on base.
De La Rosa is just the latest reminder that pitching really isn’t this team’s problem. Through Wednesday, the Red Sox pitching staff led the major leagues with a total of 9.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). The Braves (8.1), Yankees (7.7), Athletics (7.5) and Nationals (7.3) rounded out the top five best staffs in terms of overall WAR. (For those out there who enjoy the Cherington Screwed Up the Bullpen narrative: that 9.5 WAR includes a major league-leading 3.2 from relievers.)
Garin Cecchini Gets Called Up, Gets a Hit, Goes Back Down One of the organization’s top prospects saw unexpected game action on Sunday when Dustin Pedroia was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. The infielder was up as a one-day band-aid with Stephen Drew not slated to return until the following series in Cleveland. It was a sip of coffee rather than a cup. But Cecchini made the most of it with a beautiful, inside-out swing for a double and his first major league hit.
Mookie Betts Gets Called Up…To Pawtucket… News of Betts’ promotion to the PawSox came over the transom on Tuesday. From the GM:
“You look at his performance over the course of the season to date and he’s really excelled in every area of the game,” said general manager Ben Cherington. “He’s controlling the strike zone, he’s running the bases, he’s playing defense, he’s obviously hitting, he’s hitting for power, and I think at some point, we have an obligation to challenge our young players when they are performing at a level where it’s not certain that they’re being challenged, it’s up to us to make sure that they’re being challenged.”
If Cherington is being genuine here, Betts has to be considered a viable candidate to contribute to the big club later this season, either as a mid-season “acquisition” in lieu of a significant deal prior to the non-waiver deadline on July 31 or as a September call-up.
Jon Lester’s Revival and David Ross Jeff Sullivan writes that Jon Lester’s on pace to shatter the number of called third strikes located outside of the strike zone he’s accumulated in a single season. While some of those punchouts are surely due to perfect execution from Lester, David Ross’ ability to frame the outside corner should not be overlooked. Lester has, based on Baseball Savant’s pitch tracking tool, reaped the benefit of 27 punchouts in which the pitch was outside of the strike zone.
With Pierzynski, in three games, Lester has registered five called strikeouts. Three were out of the zone. With Ross, in nine games, Lester has registered 34 called strikeouts, and 24 of them were out of the zone. Ross, as a catcher, doesn’t lead baseball in called strikeouts on balls, but that’s because he isn’t a regular starter. On a rate basis, he’s No. 1. Here’s some work between Lester and Ross from Sunday afternoon:
At the moment, there might be no better battery than Lester and Ross. Or maybe there are better batteries, but this is a good twist for Lester and for his career, as he’s posting ace-like numbers in a season in which his team badly needs them. Lester has lifted his strikeouts, and a big part of that has been working with his catcher to expand the called strike zone. To a reasonable extent this should be sustainable, and it doesn’t look like there are many reasons for the Red Sox to have Pierzynski catch Lester all that often. Jon Lester’s always had the pitches he’s throwing. Right now he’s finding a way to get the most out of them.
We’re all for any useful data that helps to justify keeping A.J. Pierzynski’s at-bats to a minimum.
Boston Drafts Two High Schoolers in First Round The Red Sox took two high school players as their first two selections in a draft for the first time since 2002. Boston took shortstop Michael Chavis with the 26th pick of the first round and pitcher Michael Kopech with their compensatory selection (for Jacoby Ellsbury).
Their first-rounder, Michael Chavis, was getting consideration in the teens as a polished high school bat who makes a lot of hard contact but doesn’t have projection and will have to move off shortstop; it’s funny that the Sox took him, as I see some similarities to Dustin Pedroia -– both hitters have great hand-eye coordination with unorthodox swings, and Pedroia also was a shortstop who had no physical projection and had to move to second base in pro ball. In between those picks they took a hard-throwing Texas right-hander in Michael Kopech, who brings mid-90s velocity with a sharp slider but a funky, arm-heavy delivery that the Sox might have to tame to keep him healthy.
The Red Sox snapped a brutal, offense-starved 10-game losing streak in Atlanta on Memorial Day. Boston won the next night as well for only its second series sweep of the 2014 season – both of which have been of two-game variety. Back home in Boston, the Sox won their 10th game of the month Wednesday behind a very strong start from John Lackey and reaped the benefit of a variety of gifts courtesy of the sloppy Atlanta Braves defense. The team’s four-game win streak is its longest of the season.
Boston needed somebody in the lineup to get hot and it appears Xander Bogaerts will do just fine in that role for now.
The 10-Year Anniversary of the 2004 World Series Champs On Wednesday night, the Red Sox held a ceremony celebrating the (almost) 10-year anniversary of the 2004 World Series victory. The highlight of the evening was Manny Ramirez’s return to Fenway. His tenure as a Red Sox was complicated. Fans loved him. Reporters mostly appreciated his talent but were incapable of discussing said talent without bringing up the baggage he’d acquired along the way to becoming one of the best right-handed hitters of his generation.
The severity of Manny’s transgressions depends on who you ask. The Boston media liked to portray him as a clubhouse cancer. There is more than anecdotal evidence that Manny was a malcontent at the end of his time in Boston. However, it’s worth noting that the former general manager of the team, Theo Epstein, recently brought Ramirez on as a hitting instructor for a young, “impressionable” Chicago Cubs team. Perhaps time heals most wounds. Or the wounds weren’t nearly as grave as the talking heads wish to believe. Either way, there’s nothing media members love more than an apology.
Clay Buchholz Heads to the DL Fans can only hope that the embattled right-hander’s ineffectiveness over the first two months of the season truly is due to some physical ailment. The player and the team had not identified any tangible injury that was contributing to the struggles. That is, until this week. Clay apparently hyperextended his right knee on Monday during his start against the Braves. Tweaking his knee could be a blessing in disguise since it seemingly gives the righty a credible opportunity to actually skip a couple of starts. From the ESPN Boston story:
Buchholz said he’ll spend the next few days watching video and trying to refine his delivery. He thinks he’ll be back on the mound throwing bullpen sessions in the next four or five days. … Buchholz appeared confident that he’ll be able to fix what’s wrong. “I know it’s not an injury to my arm like it was last year, so first and foremost is health of that area of my body and the ball’s coming out of my hand fine; it’s just a matter of getting that little fire that I had last year, as far as throwing pitches in the zone, pitching to contact instead of pitching to swings and misses,” he said.
The bellyaching last year that Buchholz took his time coming back from a shoulder injury is likely to return at some point in June if Clay misses more than a few starts. The difference is the Buchholz many wanted to rush back on the mound last year was a Cy Young candidate during the first two months of the season.
Rubby De La Rosa Gets the Call With the Sox in need of another starter for at least a couple of weeks, De La Rosa heads north from Pawtucket. Rubby has been impressive in AAA this season. His strong peripheral statistics (sorry, Bob Ryan) suggest it’s fine time to see if the results in the minors may translate to success in the majors.
RDLR’s final AAA stats before his call-up. 2.75 FIP, 24% K%, 11% BB% 57%GB, 18%LD, 17%FB, 8%PU
NESN’s Jenny Dell Is Moving on to Bigger, Better Things Maybe
With the high school homecoming dance season a mere four months away, Jenny hath been freed to spread her wings and fly away.
CARVER, Mass. – Good to see the ol’ gang back together again. First time since 2004 since all the champs were in the same place. (Had my eyes peeled but couldn’t find Leskanic, though.)
I was especially happy Keith Foulke was at the Fens. That guy had ice water in his veins all year and was automatic in the playoffs. Au-to-ma-tic. Makes me want to check the sked over at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. Maybe Danzig’ll get back together again and tour. I bet they do a kickass live version of “Mother.” I’ll show up with my lawn chair, wearing my No. 29 Foulke jersey tee (sleeves cut) and a bagful of BK Whoppers.
Manny’s Mr. T mohawk wasn’t surprising. Yah, he was a punk but he was a modern day Hack Wilson and yous can all call me an old fogey if ya want for talking about ribbies. Manny was like an automatic two RBIs every time he stepped to the plate.
The best part was they helped keep the Sox rolling. Three straight against Atlanta now. That’s what they get for leaving Mass. I don’t give a care how long ago that was.
Johnny Lackey was on his game tonight. Brought the A stuff to the table just when the team needed it. Had to keep it going and Lack was just on point. Nine K’s. No walks. I thought he was gonna kill Farrell when he came out to get him in the middle of a jam in the 7th. He’s a bulldog so he just doesn’t know any better. He’s gonna fight giving up that ball – even when he knows his arm is turning to dogshit. Love that as a fan.
All that being said, I’ve also got a bone to pick with Johnny Farrell that I’d like to put out there for mass consumption: Brock Holt leading off? The guy goes 0-for-5 basically every night he starts. I swear I’m not just saying that because he went 0-for-5 last night. His diminished stature at third base has already costed a game in the standings. And he gets to lead off in a game at Fenway as a reward.
That’s not to say the guy has no talent. In fact, I know he’s got his moments – Some day somebody at MIT’s gonna find a bunch of his equations written all over a empty classroom’s chalkboard. (Dude’s a dead-on ringer for Will Hunting!) But until that time…well, let’s all hope Steve Drew’s getting close to being about done horsing around in the minors.
*Ed. Note: Carver man and friend of the site Francis Flynn is an avid Red Sox fan, Boston-born and bred. Flynn’s day job is maintaining a 10-acre cranberry bog and tract of farmland that has been in his family for three generations. But his passion is following his region’s most beloved baseball team. Flynn recently agreed to provide Fenway Pastoral readers with his own recaps throughout the 2014 regular season. All we had to do in return was promise to publish his pieces unedited and to send him a case of Miller High Life (bar bottles were specified) every week.
The Red Sox took two of three at home last weekend against the Oakland Athletics, who were one of the best and most consistent teams in the American League in April. Last at-bat heroics from Grady Sizemore (Tuesday in 12 innings) and Will Middlebrooks (Wednesday) earned Boston its first “sweep” of the season in a two-game set against the Reds in interleague action. The Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers tonight in Arlington.
The AL East Pennant Race Is Looking Historically Tight Writing for ESPN Insider, ZiPs projection system creator Dan Szymborski noted that at the beginning of the week, the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles and Rays were projected to finish with 83 wins while the Blue Jays were on pace for 81 wins. As things stand right now, this could be the most exciting finish since the 1988 Morgan’s Miracle Red Sox.
Among tight races, where does this possible one rank historically? Going through the million sims of the ZiPS-projected AL East final standings for 2014, the average standard deviation for the teams in the division is 3.27 wins. To compare this historically, I repeated this simple measure of spread for the top five teams in every divisional and league race going back to 1901 and found that, yes, this projects to be an unusually open race.
….
1. 1988 AL East, 1.48
2. 1973 NL East, 1.92
3. 1964 NL, 2.00
4. 1967 AL, 3.21
5. 1915 Federal League, 3.24
6. 2014 AL East, 3.27 (projected)
7. 1987 AL West, 3.35
8. 1933 NL, 3.56
9. 2005 NL East, 3.81
10. 1940 AL 3.90
The projections don’t take into account all the moves, demotions and promotions that these teams will make over the summer. Boston could go the route of bludgeoning its middling competition by dealing away a number of its prospects for somebody like Giancarlo Stanton. Or Ben Cherington may opt to ride it out with his solid core of veterans and hope that a handful of the youngsters provide the adequate complementary pieces for another title run.
The Jon Lester Contract Saga It’s becoming clear that Boston’s reported 4-year, $70 million offer to Jon Lester earlier this spring was nothing close to a beginning overture for where the negotiations will ultimately travel. Lester’s dominant 15-strikeout performance on Saturday rekindled the debate about his worth. Fenway fans got to see what six years and $100 million got the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, when their “ace” Homer Bailey came into town and underwhelmed in battling Felix Doubront to a stalemate that ultimately took 12 innings to settle.
Homer Bailey’s career ERA is 4.30, and he’s had two seasons in which he has thrown over 200 innings. He has not pitched to the level of a Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, or even a Matt Cain. He’s never had any kind of a vote for the Cy Young Award, and has never been picked for an All-Star team.
But Bailey has managed to shift perceptions in the market, when he got a six-year, $105 million deal from the Reds in February. To agents and players, this deal seems to represent a new benchmark that has ratcheted up their expectations. For some club officials, the Bailey contract represents one giant wrench dropped right into the middle of salary machinations. So if you’re sitting in Jon Lester’s position, as a star left-hander with two championship rings just five months from free agency, a $70 million offer from the Red Sox might appear almost ridiculous, within the context of the Bailey contract.
A year ago, Betts was in Single-A hitting .145/.340/.263. He had some on-base ability (nothing wrong with a .340 on-base percentage), but as a hitter he was rarely squaring the ball up and had no power to drive it when he did. He was just another athlete with few baseball skills, another small guy in a big man’s game. He looked overmatched. Had he been on any top prospect lists at the time (he wasn’t) that would have pushed him off. One year ago, Mookie Betts was an afterthought in Boston’s minor league system.
… what he has done over the last 365 days (hit .360/.429/.557) is tremendous.
… The numbers themselves are staggering. Here’s a bullet point list:
More walks than strikeouts last season…
… and this season, too.
Almost as many extra base hits as strikeouts (55 to 57) last season.
More doubles than strikeouts this season, let alone homers and triples.
An on-base streak of more than 60 consecutive games.
With Dustin Pedroia signed through the end of the decade, there is plenty of discussion already among fans and scouts about whether Betts could be a viable outfielder. While his value would be diminished if he were to move off his defensive position at 2B to go to right field, it’s hard not to selfishly hope the Sox try it out if it means he contributes to the club sooner. Perhaps the more intriguing option would be to trade Middlebrooks (look, he had a walk-off hit!) and explore moving Betts to third base. That option could create yet another dilemma with Garin Cecchini still regarded as a top-tier prospect, albeit one with a lot less power than what would be ideal for a corner infielder.
Betts’ hot start is just another reminder that even as the big-league club hovers around .500 and underwhelms in the early going of the 2014 season, the organization remains in an enviable position with its depth and roster of exciting youngsters.
CARVER, Mass. – Had to watch Game 2 of the Sox/D-Rays twinbill tonight on the crappy-ass tube TV in my 10-year-old step-daughter’s room. Felt sorry but still sent her out to the kitchen to do her homework or probably play with her cell phone. She’s gonna be tired as hell in school tomorrow but she can tell her teacher its her moms fault for having a gaggle of her disastrous excuses for friends over for the B’s game. Not my decision that they went to overtime.
Pretty sure every single one of the “ladies” in my house showed up in a Chara jersey. Only one had enough class and respect to put on a old school Neely sweater. One of ‘em kept shouting about how much she loved Marchand. As I’m carrying my sixer of tall-boy MHL into my stepkid’s bedroom, I go, What’d daddy do to you?
Sorry finally on to the Sox. Getting real sick of everybody talking about infield shifts. Like nobodies ever done that before. Teams shifted in the 1980s and 1990s. TV people didn’t make such a fricking thing out of it back then though. Bearing all that in mind, nice to see Papi get two ribbies with a seeing eye single through the shift. Just the Lord’s way of saying sometimes being a big freaking dweeb works against you, Joe Madden.
Thought the Sox had it at 5-2. Right around the time the Rays tied the game 5-5, there was just absolute haywire coming from the other room. So I go, What the hell is going on? Apparently the Broons scored to get the game to overtime. Meaning I had to watch the Sox blow it while slugging High Life cans on my step-daughter’s bed. She barged in right about the time Koji gave up the dinger. Looked at me like I was Chuck Stewart or something. Oh well. Nothing I can do about that. The only other bright spot in a frustrating evening in my view was Bill Middlebrooks working three walks. Can’t deny the guy is less antsy at the plate right now. Wonder if getting some on a regular basis off that Jenny Dell when he was on the DL helped bring about some patience on his side of things? Just thinking out loud on that one. I don’t know and it’s not for me to say I’m not a expert.
*Ed. Note: Carver man and friend of the site Francis Flynn is an avid Red Sox fan, Boston-born and bred. Flynn’s day job is maintaining a 10-acre cranberry bog and tract of farmland that has been in his family for three generations. But his passion is following his region’s most beloved baseball team. Flynn recently agreed to provide Fenway Pastoral readers with his own recaps throughout the 2014 regular season. All we had to do in return was promise to publish his pieces unedited and to send him a case of Miller High Life (bar bottles were specified) every week.
Barely 13,000 fans were in attendance at Fenway Park on April 29, 1986, a breezy, chilly night (but not unbearable at 56 degrees at first pitch) in which the Red Sox hosted the Seattle Mariners. From Baseball-Almanac.com:
That same night Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics, in the early stages of a march to the NBA title, were facing the Atlanta Hawks at Boston Garden in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series. The Red Sox were such an afterthought that their broadcast was moved to WPLM on the FM dial from its normal spot on WRKO-AM to make way for the Celtics.
Roger’s command was off in the early going, which wasn’t all that surprising. To that point, he had walked 10 batters in his first 24 innings of the 1986 season. Roger may have been shaking off a bit rust early on since he was also working on two extra days’ rest going into the start thanks to a rainout in Kansas City. Meanwhile, it’s interesting to note that Boston had begun the season with a four-man rotation and only incorporated the typical five-starter staff in late April as the schedule became more demanding.
Legendary broadcasters Ned Martin and Bob Montgomery had the call on TV for a small, subscriber-only cable channel called New England Sports Network (NESN).
00:31: Seattle’s starting lineup.
00:55: NESN’s first set of stats show that Clemens had a pretty good April leading up to this start against the Mariners.
01:00: …even though his expanded line (taking out things like “Wins”) wouldn’t necessarily suggest what was to come that evening.
3:03: Clemens’ former teammate at the University of Texas, Spike Owen, digs in at Fenway Park for the first time during the 1986 season in a Mariner uniform. He’d be a Red Sox by the end of the summer, coming over in the Dave Henderson trade.
6:20: The count would run full and Owen would foul off a couple offerings before whiffing on a fastball.
(K #1)
8:08: Phil Bradley also works a 3-2 count against Roger before swinging at a fastball up and away. Ball four, perhaps. But a tough pitch to lay off at that speed after Clemens set him up perfectly with a breaking ball the pitch before.
(K #2)
10:02: George Steinbrenner favorite Ken Phelps gets Roger into his third straight full count of the game before swinging underneath this fastball. Three full counts and three swinging strikeouts after one inning for Roger.
(K #3)
10:47: Boston’s starting lineup for Seattle’s Mike Moore, a No. 1 draft pick.
13:00: Leadoff hitter Dwight Evans chases a nasty slider off the plate from Moore.
13:09: Dewey isn’t in the mood to go down quietly though. He argues with the ump that he caught a piece for a foul tip into the dirt, but replays clearly show the catcher caught it cleanly. A ball-shaped divot near home plate isn’t enough to win the argument, unfortunately. Boston would go down in order.
17:50: After a Gorman Thomas lineout to start the top of the 2nd, Clemens gets Jim Presley to chase a curveball.
(K #4)
18:45: Ivan Calderon quickly gets down two strikes and the electricity in Fenway becomes audible. Clemens delivers with his first called strikeout of the game on a pitch that may have been a bit off the plate. (Note – The angle here is at least a little deceptive as the center-field camera at Fenway wasn’t as truly aligned with the mound and plate in those days.)
(K#5)
30:00: After the Red Sox fail to score in the bottom of the 2nd, Roger starts the 3rd by inducing Danny Tartabull to hit a ground out to second on a full count, drawing an air of disappointment from the crowd looking for another strikeout. He gets back on track quickly by dropping this backdoor fastball on Dave Henderson for a called third strike.
(K#6)
31:54: Steve Yeager manages to put a ball in play as well, flying out to center fielder and current NESN employee, Steve Lyons. Nine up, nine down and six strikeouts for Clemens.
41:39: The Sox go down quietly in the bottom of the 3rd. Martin describes the pitcher’s duel as a “silent movie” so far. But it gets a little noisier when Owen singles to right field to start the Seattle 4th. Owen gives Clemens a little smirk as the perfect game goes by the boards.
45:05: Owen’s presence at first is a factor as Roger checks on him at least five times and even tries a 2-2 pitchout to see if they can catch him going to second.
45:07: Ultimately, Roger is still able to make his pitch to Bradley for his seventh strikeout, the sixth swinging punchout.
(K#7)
48:42: A nasty outside slider makes Phelps look silly as Clemens tallies his eighth strikeout. Monty remarks, “Roger’s gone to the snowman.”
(K#8)
51:47: Gorman Thomas hit one on a line his first time up, but falls behind 0-2, works it back to full, then hits a fly ball to Don Baylor in foul territory and he obviously just catches it eas….
52:05: Oops. No non-strikeout end to the inning after all…Baylor drops the ball. Martin and Montgomery both talk about how he’s publicly admitted he hates making that play ranging to his left into foul ground.
52:44: Roger takes advantage of another shot at Thomas and the slugger can’t hold up on an inside fastball. (K#9)
1:00:21: The Red Sox’s half of the 4th ends with a hobbled Jim Rice being thrown out by a mile at second base on a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out. Moore continues matching goose eggs with Roger.
1:02:08: On his way to a 10th strikeout, Clemens gets Presley to uncoil this awkward bid at a fastball that was at eye-level yet still too inviting after a nasty breaking ball to start the at-bat. Presley would ultimately get rung up on a backdoor fastball.
(K#10)
1:04:06: Roger gets ahead of Calderon quickly and again gets the call on the outside heater.
(K#11)
1:04:18: The bleacher crew loves it…
1:05:31: Tartabull lays off a 0-2 offering that is about a foot off the plate, but Clemens fools him (and Gedman, who had initially set up away) by coming back over the plate for an inside strike three call. Roger left the mound after five with 12 of the first 15 outs being K’s, including six straight to tie the team record.
(K#12)
1:08:06: Rich Gedman tries to get Roger some run support by stretching a hard-hit ball down the right-field line into a double, but Calderon guns him down easily at second base.
1:16:19: Clemens warms up for the 6th inning.
1:18:40: Dave Henderson becomes victim No. 13 on a fastball off the outside half of the plate. Seven straight K’s, a new team record.
(K#13)
1:20:28: Clemens gets ahead of Yeager as Monty remarks, “I don’t know about you, but every strike he throws sends cold cheels down MAH spine…” Yeager would go down looking for Clemens’ 14th as he finishes off the only Seattle batter yet to fan in the game to that point.
(K#14)
1:21:44: Spike Owen would fly out to center to end the 6th. 14 K’s through six innings is enough to get the bullpen up cheering like gleeful fans.
1:24:28: Dewey reaches on an error by Tartabull at second base to start the bottom of the 6th. But he is thrown out by a wide margin at second on a missed hit-and-run sign with Boggs at the plate. Whether it was Boggs or Evans who made the mistake is unclear.
1:28:25: After a Boggs walk, Buckner would finally break through for Boston with a ball that just sneaks over the head of left fielder Bradley. Second and third with one out for the Sox.
1:30:51: A Jim Rice grounder with the infield in keeps both runners in scoring position with two outs. Don Baylor would chase an outside breaking ball to end the threat.
1:31:55: As Fenway security chases down some rogue fans running on the field before the 7th, NESN shows a shot of the Seattle lineup’s box score thus far. Roger had thrown 92 pitches (60 for strikes) to that point.
1:33:29: Clemens makes quick work of Bradley to start the 7th for his 15th strikeout, a new career high.
(K#15)
1:36:43: Phelps chases a heater that trails ever so cruelly off the outside part of the plate for No. 16.
(K#16)
1:38:11: As Gorman Thomas gets his neck nice and loose, down in the count 1-2…
1:38:19: …The crowd rises to its feet.
1:39:31: And Thomas extends on a pitch over the middle of the plate and crushes a home run to straight-away center-field.
Martin remarks “one thing like that can ruin a whole night for somebody.” Then again, if the wind were blowing in even 5 mph harder, Lyons probably catches the ball as it only barely cleared the center-field fence. Boston now trails 1-0.
1:40:11: With another chance to notch No. 17, Clemens gets Presley down 0-2 but he grounds to first base to end the inning. Watching this replay three decades later, the obvious kneejerk instinct is to hope Roger flubs the feed from Baylor. He doesn’t and Roger now has six outs left to add to his strikeout total.
1:40:23: NESN cameras catch Roger slinging his glove into the dugout in frustration, clearly upset not only that he didn’t get Presley down on strikes but also that he’s now trailing in a game in which he has 16 K’s through seven innings.
1:48:30: After a two-out single from Lyons and a Glenn Hoffman walk, Moore begins to show some signs of fatigue. Dewey steps to the plate after a visit to the mound from the pitching coach and deposits a flat fastball over the middle of the plate over the center field wall.
Boston finally gives Clemens a lead, 3-1, as the game heads to the 8th.
1:51:06: Some enterprising fans have managed to string up an impromptu K wall above the center field bleachers by the time Clemens comes back out onto the mound in the top of the 8th, needing three more strikeouts to tie the major league record of 19.
1:51:52: Joe Sambito and Bob Stanley warm in the pen with Roger’s pitch count rising on a cold night.
1:51:57: Victim No. 17 is Calderon, who flails at a fastball that Martin notes probably could have been thrown anywhere and he was going to go after it.
(K#17)
1:55:32: Tartabull follows with solid contact, but it falls safely in center field for a base hit. It brings up Henderson, who gets to 2-2 before missing this fastball.
(K#18)
1:55:43: The crowd loves it. Martin: “It’s not a sellout crowd by any means, but they’re making sellout noises.”
1:55:52: A new Red Sox record.
1:57:29: Seattle sends contact hitter Al Cowens to the plate to pinch hit. He lifts the final out to Lyons in center and Clemens finishes eight innings with 18 K’s.
2:03:37: The obligatory shot of a manager standing in the dugout with his hand down his pants. Boston would put two runners on base but ultimately be held scoreless in its half of the 8th.
2:14:21: Roger takes the mound for the top of the 9th. This is what the CF wall looked like.
2:16:35: Strikeout No. 19 comes against the pesky Owen, who nearly put a ball in play down the third-base line but ultimately chases up and away like so many other Mariners hitters on this night.
(K#19)
2:17:55: With the count 2-2 on Bradley, the crowd comes to its feet. Monty remarks, “as a matter of fact, I’m gonna stand up…” Clemens paints the inside corner with a called third strike for his new major league record 20th K.
(K#20)
2:18:21: With the crowd in extended ovation, Roger isn’t quite ready to just grab the ball and move on so he lets it sink in by cleaning his spikes.
2:18:26: Roger composes himself quickly. Could he have enough left in the tank for No. 21 against Ken Phelps? Ned Martin lets out an “Oh Mercy…”
2:19:22: Determined to just put something in play, Phelps gets his bat-head out on 2-1 outside pitch and grounds to Romero at shortstop to end the game. Clemens can finally show some emotion.
2:20:03: The 20 Ks on the outfield wall.
2:20:50: A woman comes down to hug Clemens as he heads off the field. Efforts to confirm who that woman is were still ongoing at the time this was posted.
And it was pretty much definitely smooth sailing from there on out for The Rocket in Boston. A Hall of Fame career devoid of any complication, controversy and dissent? He is still to this day tied with Cy Young for the most wins in team history. He’d even strike out 20 batters again in 1996, his last year on the team – after which time he rode off into the deep red of the Texas twilight.
Fenway Pastoral 