![]() ![]() Considering that they pitch in the uber-talented AL East, I’d say that’s not a bad performance at all. This translates into a much better 3.74 FIP and 3.78 xFIP (corrected for HR luck), which puts them right in the middle of the pack. Rather, their 7.37 K/9 and 0.86 HR/9 rank solidly in the middle, and they’ve walked very few batters at 3.17 BB/9. But if you take a closer look at the figures, they have not pitched that badly. I read this article the other day impugning our new bullpen, and I’ll admit there have been some really bad moments, but has it really been that bad?Īs a group, the bullpen has an ERA of 4.89 thus far, which ranks as the 4th-worst bullpen in the AL and 6th-worst figure in all of baseball. Clay Buchholz is very solid in these peripherals, and so we should continue to see solid starts out of him, though he won’t likely reproduce that sub-3.00 ERA from last season.Īfter one month, it seems that everything about the sub-.500 Red Sox is unsatisfactory. Josh Beckett is fully healthy, striking out hitters at the highest rate in the rotation and a lower line drive rate. You can see that Jon Lester is his same dominant self, and that he is clearly the ace of this staff, boasting very high strikeout and ground ball rates. Here’s a look at these numbers from our rotation: At 150 batters faced, you can reference strikeout rate, GB rate and line drive rate, and at 200 batters faced, you can talk about fly ball rate and FB/GB ratio. While several hitting statistics are starting to stabilize by this point in the season, pitching stats take quite a bit longer to mean something. He’s fine for a few starts, but that’s it. Should Buchholz not be able to return, or Miller lose it, or Wake’s body break down, I really don’t want two months of Kevin Millwood up here. Andrew Miller has been a pleasant surprise, but we don’t know how long he can keep it up, and Tim Wakefield, who hasn’t gone over 140 IP in a year since 2008, is already at 81.2 IP. ![]() Jon Lester and Josh Beckett seem to be on track for now, and John Lackey has shown some signs of improvement, but there is still no timetable for Clay Buchholz to return to the rotation. Looking over our current situation, I’d recommend three moves by this year’s trade deadline. However, we are facing some major instability in the rotation and other areas, which could require some smaller moves to be made. I don’t see acquiring a big bat to be the priority right now. Drew, our offense is the best in baseball right now. The Red Sox are in first place and seem to be a lock for the playoffs. Matt Albers and Daniel Bard are getting overexposed because they haven’t been there, and Dan Wheeler hasn’t been effective. This bullpen went from being a real strength to a weakness pretty quickly with the loss of these two. They went out and got Kevin Millwood and Erik Bedard, but I think the front office could have done more to shore up the rotation, once they realized how bleak the situation was getting to be.Īnd don’t forget the devastating losses of Rich Hill and Bobby Jenks too. But who could have foreseen the loss/implosion of 60% of our starting five? In my opinion, going into the season with Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, Alfredo Aceves, and Felix Doubront as depth starters was not unreasonable. I’m not saying that Epstein is free from blame, not at all. The fact that we’re still the favorites for the wild card is pretty impressive. For all of you who are laying the blame for our September meltdown squarely at Theo Epstein’s feet: Brian MacPherson of the ProJo points out that the injuries we’ve sustained to the rotation this year would have been devastating for any club. ![]()
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