The Good:
The Standings.
Coming into Friday, the Sox were tied with Toronto for 1st place, 1 game up on Baltimore. It's been awhile, but the Sox are back on top, at least for the moment.
Starting Pitching.
The Sox have gotten fantastic starting pitching for most of this month, with David Price returning to dominance (until the 8th inning, every time). Rick Porcello continues to pitch tough, and is the most consistently dependable arm on the Sox staff this year. Hell, even John Farrell's decision to get Steven Wright hurt by using him as a pinch runner hasn't derailed this rotation. Clay Buccholz has stepped up in a big way, delivering back to back outings with 6 IP 1 Run.
Andrew Benintendi is DOPE
The Rookie has 22 hits in 68 at bats since coming up from the minors, and he has been even better in the last week, with 4 extra base hits, including his first career home run.
Oh and he also made this INSANE catch in the 8th inning of a 3-0 game.
Dustin Pedroia Keeps Grinding
He has hit .370 over the last week, raising his year long average to .310. He also has 30 doubles and 12 HR on the season, so he has been flashing some of the power that made him an MVP candidate a few seasons ago. He also plays fantastic defense at and up the middle position, and runs the bases well. He has a 4.8 WAR, which is 20th best in baseball, and doesn't include the value of his clubhouse leadership.
David Ortiz Hit 4 More Homers
He now has 30 HR, 100 RBI, and 40 doubles on the season. Its August, and he's 40. A-Rod is retired right now. Life is Good.
Sandy Leon: I think he's For Real?
When he first came up and started off red hot, everyone (myself included) wrote him off as simply on a random streak of success. Well, he's now played in 49 games, and he's hitting .369. And honestly, I don't think it's the result of luck. He has hit over 70% of his balls in play hard or medium according to Fangraphs, which means he is making solid contact. He does pull the ball a lot, which has enabled opposing managers to get him out more often by using a shift. However, I have started to believe in the Sox needle-in-a-haystack starting catcher.
The Bad
John Farrell is Still Clueless
The Red Sox are succeeding right now, but they continue to blow winnable games late, which is where managers can really make the difference with in game decisions. Recently, Farrell has made a habit of trying to stretch successful starters as long as possible. This usually means Price or Porcello pitching into the 8th inning, which almost never goes well. If you get 7 strong innings, and the starter is over 100 pitches, go to the bullpen. Just don't push it, especially in the regular season. 2 of the Sox losses on his roadtrip were caused by 8th inning meltdowns.
A big part of the reason Farrell struggles with late game situations is his inability to identify his 8th inning guy in the bullpen. Junichi Tazawa has been downright awful this year, and nobody has really stepped up to take his slot. Carson Smith was supposed to be that guy, but he got hurt. Same for Koji Uehara, although he might be back as early as next week. The Sox traded for Brad Ziegler, and he has had some lockdown outings but has also blown a couple games. I don't feel super comfortable with him. Farrell has been going with Matt Barnes in the 8th recently, basically with the thinking that since he throws really hard he is a good reliever. While that's not a terrible idea, Barnes has a lot of trouble walking people, and the Sox simply can't afford to have him not know where the ball is going in a big time stretch run game. Hopefully Uehara can come back and continue to defy Father Time to solve this problem for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment