Red Sox Week 2 Review

It's hard to believe, but the 2016 baseball season is already two weeks old. Usually, April baseball is like the first few months of a relationship: lots of highs, wonderful new experiences, and willful ignorance about your partner's readily apparent flaws. However, the 2016 Red Sox are not your typical girlfriend. They are the obviously bipolar, powder-keg bag of crazy that you KNOW you shouldn't go anywhere near, but find yourself taking home anyway. I knew this season was a bad idea going in, but here I am anyway. Oh well. Lets take a look at the first two weeks of the Red Sox smoking hot body, as well as their clear emotional baggage.

Tits&Ass

At 6-6, there must be some things this team is doing right. Lets dive into the elements of this squad that make me think it will all be worth it in the end. 

1) The Offense. As we hoped going into this season, this has been the major strength of the team. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz are the leaders of this squad, and have been getting it done at the plate. It's especially encouraging to see Ortiz get off to a fast start, as he has been known to come out of the gate very slowly. Perhaps even more exciting has been the continued success of Travis Shaw, who has been cruising along at a team-high .342 average this year after hitting .270 in 65 games last season as a 25-year-old rookie. In March, the team viewed him as a potential long-term answer at 1st base if he could hit consistently, so his results so far have been more than exciting. Additionally, it is a wonderful relief to have Hanley Ramirez swinging the bat with two healthy arms again, as his .306/.327/.469 slash line have me reconsidering the bitter hatred I developed for him last season. All in all, the Sox offense has scored 59 runs through 12 games, good for 9th in baseball.

2) David Price. If you're going to pay $217 million over 7 years for a pitcher, he better be a damn good one. So far, Price has not had his best stuff, allowing 9 Earned Runs through his first 18 Innings Pitched. However, two of his three starts have been solid performances (6+ IP, 2 ER), and he has struck out 27 hitters against just 4 walks. Frankly, after the last couple of seasons, it just feels good to not be absolutely terrified by every guy we put out there.

3) The Young Guys. The baseball world in Boston has revolved around the Red Sox "awesome pipeline" of products for so long now that its honestly a bit nauseating to talk about them, but this year we are seeing some real, incremental steps in developing these guys into the core of a successful major league team. While none of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. or Brock Holt is hitting over .267, all four have had their moments. Brock Holt (greatest name in sports) hit a Grand Slam as part of a 5 run 6th inning comeback against the Blue Jays last Friday. Betts has been excellent in right field, and has 4 extra base hits. Bogaerts had an 8 game hit streak. Bradley has played Gold Glove caliber defense in centerfield, and is a major threat on the basepaths. Most importantly, he has only struck out 8 times, which is being credited mostly to his offseason decision to start using a baseball bat at the plate instead of a bendy straw. If these kids can continue to improve, this team could find its way into contention in the very near future.

The Emotional Baggage

At 6-6, there must also be things this team is NOT doing right. Let's dive into the things that make me believe this is all heading towards broken glass, streaming tears, and a fashionable ladies' shoe thrown  at my head from across the bar.

1) The Pitching. While the Price signing was incredibly exciting and obviously a great first step in the right direction, the last two weeks have made it abundantly clear how dreadful this staff still is. If you're going to follow up Price with a rotation of Clay Buccholz, Joe Kelly, Rick Porcello and Steven Wright, you might as well just light $31 million on fire and save the wear and tear on Price's arm. So far, in 9 starts, those 4 guys have combined for 48.2 IP, and allowed 29 ER. That's an ERA of 5.32, which I would describe as... bad. Very bad. Add in the unexpected struggles from the Sox Bullpen at times this year, and the pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.75, which is 24th in baseball.

You know that old saying, 'defense wins championships'? Well, the Red Sox front office has too, and they also have a response: "We're good. We've got 31 year old who has never seen a disabled list he didn't want to be on, a knuckleballer with barely over 100 career IP, and two guys whose ERA last year was barely south of 5.00. Go fuck yourself." Infuriating.

2) The Managing. John Farrell led the Red Sox to a completely baffling and thoroughly undeserved World Series title in his first year as manager. He is a badass who wrestled cancer into submission last year. He also had the balls to bench a $95 million tub of lard named Pablo Sandoval, which I am grateful for. However, he also has made a few very questionable choices already which have cost the Sox Ws.

Example #1:
Chris Young was brought to Boston specifically to add outfield depth against left-handed pitching. On Sunday, Farrell started Young in left field against Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada. Estrada is a righty. Young went 0-3 with 2 K's in a loss. Farrell said after the game that Young "needed to get his swings in" ahead of Monday and Tuesday's games against left-handed pitching. How does hitting against a righty starter prepare him for that? Isn't "getting your swings in" the reason baseball teams have batting cages and practice facilities? This seems like a move a manager would make in spring training, not once the games count.

Example #2
Craig Kimbrel was brought to Boston to be a fireball throwing closer, a role he has filled exceptionally well. For his career, he strikes out 1.6 batters/inning pitched, and has led the league in saves 4 of the past 5 seasons. When you tell him to get 3 outs in the 9th inning to protect a lead, he gets the job done. However, he has also struggled with his control, and as a result often makes it interesting for himself by putting a couple batters on base before breathing fire from his shoulder mounted rocket to get out of it. As a result of this combination of traits, Kimbrel is not a multi-inning pitcher. In fact, he has pitched more than one inning only 5 times in his 6 season career, and hasn't recorded more than 4 outs in a game since his rookie season. Yesterday,  Farrell brought Kimbrel in with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning. Kimbrel allowed all three inherited runners to score, and the Sox lost. Farrell completely misunderstood his players' strengths and weaknesses, and it directly cost the team a win.

The Sox are going to need every W if they are going to compete for a playoff spot, and Farrell is not putting us in the best position to do so.