First, I apologize for not blogging anything this weekend while the Red Sox foundered against the Yankees. It was a busy but great weekend, and I won’t bore you with too many details. I do have to say that I went to a cancer benefit called Cancer Can Kick My Ass (or CCKMA for short) and had a really great time. One of the silent auction items to bid on was four tickets to a New England Patriots game. I wish I had the money to get those tickets AND to get my to Foxborough…. Oh well, still had a great time.
So, I didn’t get to watch Saturday’s game. Since I live in the Midwest, Fox showed the White Sox game instead of the Red Sox-Yankees. That might have been a good thing. I went to a benefit Saturday night anyway, and I was in a great mood when I left. The Sox were up 9-0. When I arrived at the benefit about twenty minutes later, they were down 9-5. When I sat down to eat, it was 9-12. When I was finished eating, I saw the Sox had lost 9-15. How does that happen?!
It happened because of the Red Sox bullpen, which again blew a great start by a pitcher. From the stats and summaries, it appears Doubront pitched a great game, but the relievers were dreadful. Let’s compare:
Pitcher Innings H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Doubront 6.0 4 1 1 3 7 1 3.94
Padilla 0.1 4 5 5 1 1 1 9.82
Albers 0.0 1 2 1 0 0 1 4.15
Morales, F. (H, 3) 0.2 2 1 1 0 1 0 6.35
Aceves (BS,2) (L,0-1) 0.0 2 5 5 4 0 0 24.00
Thomas, J. 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 0 7.71
Tazawa 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Totals 9.0 16 15 14 8 9 3
That’s horrendous! Thanks goodness our first (Doubront) and last (Tazawa) pitchers remembered how to throw the ball to get outs! Aceves is looking almost as bad as Melancon!
And because of this and of no fault to his own, Bard’s start is being skipped. He was originally supposed to start yesterday’s game against the Yankees, but that game was rained out. Bard is now available in the bullpen.
I don’t think this is a good idea, since Bard is doing a good job as a starter and shouldn’t be moved around. But, what can you do? The Red Sox have to stop the bleeding somehow, and this is how the team (whether it was Valentine, Cherington, or the owners) chose to do it. If this helps, I can see Bard becoming the official closer and another pitcher brought in for a starter (Cook at this point and Matsuzaka in 30 days or less).
The Red Sox also traded Michael Bowden to the Cubs for Marlon Byrd. If you remember, Byrd was hit in the face by an Aceves pitch last season and was out for quite some time. Byrd has said that Aceves apologized after that game, and he didn’t think it was on purpose. Byrd is 3-43 this season. That’s a 0.070 batting average.
Maybe a change of scenery will be good for Byrd. Since this is Cubs territory in my part of the Midwest, I’ve heard people talk about Byrd in mostly positive aspects. Plus, Bowden wasn’t doing a thing for the Red Sox. I’m not sure how the trade balances out, but maybe this was Epstein’s olive branch for the defective compensation player the Sox received for him.
Jason Repko, who was brought up to play outfield while Ellsbury is on the DL, also was hurt in this game. Because of this, Lars Anderson was recalled from Triple-A. Yes, Lars Anderson who was the top prospect at one point, was supposed to have taken over playing first base at this point in his career but has instead faltered (which is why the Sox traded for Adrian Gonzalez). Now, Anderson is coming in to play outfield. Interesting.
In fifteen games in Pawtucket this year, Anderson is hitting .255 with 1 home run and 8 RBIs. I guess on the plus-side of things, he can play the outfield and first base. Versatility made be a good thing for this Red Sox team.
Crawford, Ellsbury, and, as much as it pains me to say it, Matsuzaka can not come soon enough to the help the Red Sox. Rich Hill should be coming soon as well to help in relief (if he pitches the way he did last year prior to being injured, he’ll be a Godsend). Andrew Miller’s also rehabbing, but he’s so erratic that I think he should stay in Triple- A as long as he needs. No use sending up another pitcher who lets the ball fly out of the park.
The Red Sox’s struggles should not be all on Valentine; in fact, only a minute part of the blame should be passed on him (mainly, leaving Bard in too long last week). In fact, it’s mostly the pitching’s fault. Buchholz needs to get with the program too. Out of the five starters, he looks the worst. He has a 9.00 ERA in three games (17.00 innings). Out of all the pitchers who have pitched for the Sox this season, only Aceves, Melancon, and Padilla have higher ERAs.
For the next 22 games, the Red Sox play teams that were under .500 last year (Twins and White Sox this week). Hopefully, with this schedule, the Red Sox can right the wrongs and get to at least .500 by the middle of next month. Here’s hoping!
*Also, I’m going to keep the blog going for the time being. I viewed the stats this week, and I’m getting a fair amount of views. I’m not sure if people are actually reading it every day/week/month, but it’s an outlet for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment