Is the Search on for a New Closer?

 Joel Hanrahan was obtained from the Pittsburgh Pirates this past offseason to become the Red Sox closer.  On May 7^th, he was placed on the disabled list to undergo Tommy John surgery; and more than likely, his career with the Red Sox is over.  He was 0-1 with 4 saves and a 9.82 ERA in 9 games.

The Red Sox then decided that Andrew Bailey would be the closer, as he was obtained from the Oakland Athletics the previous season for that purpose.  Unfortunately, Bailey has struggled mightily with the Red Sox for the past two seasons.  Last year, he couldn’t stay healthy enough to build a rhythm in the closer roll, and Alfredo Aceves spent much the season as the Red Sox’s closer.  This season, he’s struggled to in the closer role.

While Bailey has 8 saves this season, he’s been struggling as of late.  In last night’s game Bailey came in after for the save Doubront pitched a tremendous 8 innings of shutout ball (and, in my opinion, should have closed out the game since he was still only at 93 pitches and had retired 17 in a row).  It was a 1-0 ballgame, and Bailey gave up a home run to Kelly Johnson.  The Red Sox won 3-1 thanks to a 2-run home run by Jonny Gomes in the bottom of the 9^th inning.  Bailey earned the blown save and the win.

The last week, Bailey has given up 2 of his 5 home runs.  If you recall Saturday’s game against the Orioles, the Red Sox had a 5-2 lead heading into the 9^th inning.  Bailey gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs, and 1 home run in his outing, having the Red Sox win 5-4.  I don’t know if this is a mechanics issue, an injury issue, or a confidence issue for Bailey, but the Red Sox need an effective closer.  Someone needs to figure it out though, and decisions need to be made.

The AL East is a tight race.  The Red Sox are 2.5 games up on the Orioles, but only 8.5 games separate the first place Red Sox from the last place Blue Jays. 

Pitching has been an issue for the Red Sox (Lester’s ineffectiveness, Buchholz’s injuries, hit-and-miss starts from Dempster and Doubront).  When a pitcher like Doubront has the pitching game of his career thus far (like last night), you would hope your closer could come in and get the save without issues.  Bailey has not been doing this.

So, back to the title of this post: Is the search on for a new closer?  There have been some rumblings that the Red Sox are looking for a closer before the trade deadline, which is about a month and a half away.  If the Red Sox were to acquire a new closer, Bailey could be moved back to set-up or middle-relief, where he was pitching before Hanrahan’s injury.  Or, Bailey could be included in a trade.

There are rumors that the Phillies will make Papelbon available, but will the Red Sox bite at this?  Papelbon ran his mouth a little too much for my liking last season, but he attempted to redeem himself this year by saying how much he enjoys pitching from the mound at Fenway.  There are reports that three teams may be interested in Papelbon- the Red Sox, Tigers, and Cardinals, and the Phillies are supposedly scouting the three teams. 

If Papelbon is made available, it would make sense that the Red Sox would at least show interest in him.  He has 271 saves in his career, and 219 of those saves are with the Red Sox.  He is the all-time saves leader for the Red Sox.  He had a 2.33 ERA for the Red Sox (and currently has a 1.69 ERA this season).

Would Papelbon return?  I’m not sure.  Like I mentioned before, he did have some negative comments about the Red Sox before, but he’s recently said good things about pitching in Boston .  Papelbon’s a confusing guy, we all know this.  But, maybe reuniting with John Farrell and the Red Sox would be a good thing.

The Red Sox have other options besides making a trade for Papelbon.  They could use someone internally, like Tazawa, Uehara, or Aceves in the closer role.  They could also go after another, lesser known trade candidate.  Teams aren’t lining up at the moment saying they’re out of the playoff running at the moment, so trade targets aren’t prominent.

The Red Sox are currently 44-29, not a bad record to have at this point in the season.  They have the best record in the American League.  All I’m saying is if the Red Sox want to continue to play well, an effective closer is needed.  Farrell has options for now in his bullpen, but a professional closer might be on the Red Sox’s wish list by the trade deadline.

Surprises and Disappointments

I touched on the topic of surprises and disappointments in an earlier post, but I thought I needed to address the topic again.  This season has been a bit schizophrenic thus far, with some players over-achieving, and others falling below their potential and what we've seen in the past.

Surprises

Clay Buchholz
I think Buchholz has been the biggest surprise of the team so far.  He's 6-0 with a 1.78 ERA.  His WHIP is standing at 1.036, and he's been really impressive in his starts.  Even his last couple starts, where he's gotten no decisions, he's only giving up 2-3 runs.  This Red Sox team SHOULD be able to score enough runs in Buchholz's starts to win ballgames.  He's also averaging 9.5 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Bullpen

Honestly, I couldn’t pick just one reliever to be the surprise.  I knew the bullpen would be better than last year (I don’t know if they could’ve done much worse), but I didn’t know it’s be this good.  Granted, I’m only considering the relievers who are still in the bullpen (not Bard, Hanrahan, Webster, Wright, or De La Torre who all have ERAs of at least 9.00).  Miller (3.77) and Mortensen (3.68) have the highest ERAs, and Breslow (1.17) has the lowest.  Bailey’s WHIP is at0.811.  

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Last year, when Salty his .222 with 25 home runs and 59 RBIs, the Sox and fans were satisfied with those totals.  Sure, it wasn’t the greatest stats to have, but a catcher has a lot more responsibility than offense.  He’s calling the games for the pitchers.  This year, Salty is hitting .265 with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs.  Yes, the power has gone down slightly, but his average has gone up.  He’s making more contact.  In less than a quarter of a season, Salty has a third of the hits (30) he had all of last year (90).  Plus, the pitching is a vast improvement this year compared to last year, which means Salty’s calling a better game.

David Ortiz

In 27 games this season, Ortiz his hitting .349 with 7 home runs, 9 doubles, and 29 RBIs.  The only person who has more RBIs than Ortiz is Napoli, who has 35 in 45 games.  His on base percentage is at .397.  By comparison, Ellsbury’s is at .307, and he’s the leadoff batter.

Disappointments

Jacoby Ellsbury

As already stated (in this post and others), Ellsbury is not getting on base.  He has a .307 OBP and is only batting .242.  While his defense has been great, his offense is greatly diminished.  Ellsbury’s power is down as well.  He only has 1 home run this season.  The only other player currently on the roster to only have 1 home run, and is not a pitcher, is Pedro Ciriaco.

Joel Hanrahan

Hanrahan is injured beyond repair and will not play another game for the Red Sox this season… and maybe ever again; his contract is up at the end of the year.  He had Tommy John and flexor muscle repair surgery last week, and won’t pitch again for 12-15 months, at least.  I call Hanrahan a disappointment in the sense that he never really got to try and pitch for the Sox.  He was injured, which is disappointing (see what I did there?).  He’s an Iowa guy though, and he’s tough.  He’ll be back, just don’t know with what team and when.

Will Middlebrooks

Yes, Middlebrooks is hitting better lately, but he’s still only batting .208 for the season.  After the 3-home run massacre he gave the Blue Jays back in April, he’s faltered heavily.  He has 50 strikeouts, compared to 7 walks, this season.  He does have 20 RBIs for the season, and 8 home runs.  Hopefully, he comes out of this slump… fast.

Daniel Bard

Daniel Bard made two appearances for the Red Sox this season, because he was the only pitcher available on the 40-man roster.  He pitched 1.0 inning, walked 2, gave up 1 hit, 1 earned run, and has a 9.0 ERA.  He was sent back to Double-A, where he’s spent most of the season.  Things are so bad in Double-A for Bard (12.2 IP, 13 hits, 11 runs, 9 earned runs, 1 home run, 17 walks, 6 strikeouts, 6.39 ERA, and 2.368 WHIP), that he’s been shut down since May 15th.

Random Thoughts

- The weekend series against the Blue Jays started off great for the Red Sox with Jon Lester throwing a 1-hit shutout game.  He only gave up one double, and the Sox won 5-0.  Middlebrooks started to find his swing again and cranked out 2 doubles.  Every player had at least one hit except for Ortiz, Napoli, and Drew.

- Buchholz tried to follow-up Lester’s performance with a great outing himself, but the Sox lost 3-2 on Saturday.  Lester’s line was 8.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO.  The game was tied 2-2 going into the top of the 9th when newly appointed closer, Tazawa gave up a home run to Adam Lind.  Middlebrooks had another double and a single this game, and Ellsbury hit a triple, his 4th of the season.

- Sunday’s game was a blowout for the Jays, and the Sox lost 12-4.  Dempster gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings, Miller gave up 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, Mortensen gave up 1 run in an inning and a third, and recent call-up De La Torre gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning.  Napoli and Ciriaco each had home runs, but Middlebrooks stopped hitting and committed another error.  Victorino crashed into the fence (he's said to be okay after a trip to the hospital to be checked out).  The Sox lost the series, their third in a row.

- Not only did the Red Sox lose the series, they lost closer Joel Hanrahan for the year.  He’s going to have season-ending surgery performed by Dr. Andrews to repair his muscle flexor in his right arm.  He was calling out the nay-sayers on Twitter this weekend.

- The Red Sox also lost catcher David Ross to the 7-day concussion disabled list and called-up Ryan Lavarnway.  

- I can’t remember the last time David Ortiz got a hit, let alone a home run.  It’s almost painful to see him bat.  When he does make contact, he just doesn’t have the type of speed to beat out plays.  Here’s hoping Papi finds his power again.

- The Red Sox are no longer in first place.  They currently sit in third place.  They are 2 games back from the Yankees, and one game back from the Orioles.  

- On Friday, Daniel Nava had 23 RBIs, the same as Adrian Gonzalez.  Kind of interesting that a guy (Nava) who was originally signed for $1 had the same number of RBIs as MVP-hopeful Adrian Gonzalez.  (Currently, Nava has 24 RBIs and Gonzalez 26).

- Felix Doubront’s next start, scheduled for Tuesday, is going to be skipped.  According to The Boston Globe’sschedule, he’s going to pitch Thursday against the Rays.  

-Lastly, this is my 200th post of the blog.  When I started over a year ago, I honestly didn’t know if I’d continue it this long.  I am very happy I have, and I’m looking for ways to improve the blog and get the name out there more.  Look for more things to come in the future.

Injuries Mounting Up For Red Sox

For the past two seasons, the Red Sox were plagued by injuries.  Dustin Pedroia, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, David Ortiz, Will Middlebrooks, Jacoby Ellsbury, and numerous other players have spent considerable time on the disabled list the past two seasons.  This season was supposed to be different.  This season started off different.  And now, this season is starting to resemble the past seasons.

The season started with David Ortiz and Stephen Drew on the disabled list.  Ortiz was recovering from heel issues that sprouted up after he had recovered from the Achilles injury from last season; he has been remarkable since then though. Stephen Drew also started the season on the disabled list, having suffered a concussion in Spring Training.  He has also started to come around and been a force on this team, especially Monday night when he hit a game-tying home run and a game-winning double in extra innings.

The Sox were winning without Ortiz or Drew; we know that.  When the two of them came back to the team, I know I felt like this team had a fighting chance.  Keep everyone healthy.  Keep the starters on the right track.  Keep the bullpen fresh.  It was going to line-up right, this season.

Not looking so bright now.

Joel Hanrahan, who just came off the disabled list last week from a hamstring injury, ended up back on the DL; an MRI revealed inflammation in his forearm.  Andrew Bailey is having a bicep issue and was also placed on the disabled list.  The Red Sox called up Allen Webster to make the start tonight, sent Doubront to the bullpen, and Tazawa is now the closer.  

So, the Red Sox’s abundance of closers has been reduced to Tazawa, who Farrell claims is perfectly capable of handling the closer role.  This may be, and it may be the best for the team as Doubront has shown his velocity is down so far this season.  Webster, who pitched 6.0 innings and struck out 5 against the Royals in April, may be the best option for a starter the Red Sox have right now.  

Then, last night happened.

As I stated in the last post, I am not able to watch the games when the Red Sox play the White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, Royals, or Twins.  It doesn’t make any sense, since I live in IOWA, not Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, or Wisconsin.  Seriously, the closest Major League team is 3 hours away.

Anyway, I’m getting my information purely from tweets and sports writings today.  Evidently, Middlebrooks and Ross collided in foul territory.  Middlebrooks hurt his right side of his body, and Ross hurt his knee and/or thigh.  This was in the fifth inning.  Ross left the game in the fifth inning when his knee swelled up so bad it prevented him from squatting, and Middlebrooks left the game in the seventh inning.

The hope is Middlebrooks didn’t hurt his ribs.  As Red Sox fans, we know how long it can take to fully recover from rib injuries (see Jacoby Ellsbury 2010 and 2012). Middlebrooks is scheduled for a CT Scan, and we should know more later today.  The Sox’s depth at third base is scarce, and Ciriaco committed 2 errors in an inning last night after being put in for Middlebrooks.

Ross, according to him, should be okay after some rest.  He thinks he just jammed the top of his knee.  The Red Sox are hoping both player are day-to-day, but they really won’t know anything until later today.

I’m really hoping this round of bad luck (and bad playing) is short-lived.  This is a talented Red Sox team, and it would be a shame to see them slide backwards due to injuries.  Right now, it’s just a waiting game.  Hopefully, the wait pays off.

Not a Good Weekend for the Red Sox

 The Red Sox started the weekend 20-8, with the best record in the Majors.  The ended the weekend 20-11, tied with Texas and St. Louis for the best record in the Majors.  The Sox were swept in the 3-game series against the Rangers.  It was the first time this season the Sox had lost 3 games in a row.  Bad, yes.  Horrible, maybe not.

I think this weekend proved to be a wake-up call to the Red Sox.  The Sox have been cruising through the first month of the season, and they’ve relied pretty heavily on their pitching for that.  Yes, the team had been producing (most notably Napoli and Ortiz), but the pitching is really what has made this team the force it’s been this season.

But, this weekend proved that pitching is fragile.  Last week, when Joel Hanrahan came off the disabled list, the question was who would close?  It never became an issue though, as Andrew Bailey is having problems with his biceps.  He’s scheduled for an MRI today.

The Red Sox have used Uehara and Tazawa a total of something like 30 times (sorry, I’m trying to recall what they had said during the game yesterday.  I believe it was 15 times for Uehara and 14 times for Tazawa, before they were used yesterday).  That’s about every other game, which isn’t the smartest thing to do this early in the season.  The Sox, in past seasons, have worn their bullpen down.  It always seems like the teams with well-rested bullpens are the teams that survive into the playoffs.

Middlebrooks needs to get his bat going.  I thought for sure this series against the Rangers would be the series to get him to hit consistently, since he’s from Texas and had many friends and family members show up for the game.  Middlebrooks was 1 for 7 with 3 errors and was benched for Sunday’s game.  I don’t know if it’s the sophomore slump, mental, or mechanical issues.  Middlebrooks needs to get going though.

David Ortiz, however, has continued to keep it rolling.  He is now carrying a 25-game (10 month) hit-streak.  He is hitting .438 with 10 doubles, 6 home runs, and 23 RBIs.  He has reached safely 33-consecutive games, the longest such streak for a Red Sox player since Dustin Pedroia had a 37-consecutive game streak in 2011.

The Sox play the Twins next, at Fenway Park.  As a disclaimer, since I live in the lovely Midwest where all games played against/by the White Sox, Cubs, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, and Twins are blocked out (figure that one out), I will not be able to actually watch the Twins-Red Sox game tonight.  I will be following on GameDay, however, and hope to see the Sox get out of this slump.

With all the speculation of Clay Buchholz having some foreign substance on himself that he rubs off on the ball when he pitches, it’ll be interesting to see how well he pitches tonight.  Buchholz has been phenomenal this season (6-0, 1.01 ERA); but it’s always appeared in the past that his issues were more mental.  Are these cheating allegations going to get inside his head, or will he continue to cruise?