The Red Sox released veteran starter Brad Penny late Wednesday night. While there may be some cheers in Red Sox Nation today, we can all collectively say good bye to that Boston rotation depth.
Another poor decision by the Red Sox front office. Let’s just hope that Buchholz and Tazawa can pick up the slack.
Analysis inside…
The Red Sox look to get back into the division race this weekend. Making the playoffs is most important, but the division would be great to take.
The Sox face off against their bitter rivals the New York Yankees in a pivotal three game series in Fenway. An important juncture for the AL East race, this series will determine whether the Sox can climb back in it or if the Yanks wrap it up early.
Game previews, matchups, and Sox news inside…
With a very active weekend and Monday, Firebrand presents a comprehensive roundup of the latest Red Sox actions and news. Draft signings, playoff outlooks, and veterans returning to health, FireBrand Potpourri has it all…
A lot happened in Red Sox Nation this past weekend. Instead of wondering, let’s get into the gritty details.
-The Sox Drop Two of Three in Texas
The Sox lost two to the Rangers. Yeah, it’s too bad. The Sox stand one game back of Texas in the Wild Card, but that’s history and it’s time to look to the future. Junichi Tazawa struggled in his latest taste of big league hitting, allowing 2 HR and 3 BB against 0 strikeouts. Brad Penny had his moments and held his ground against a good Texas offense. However, he is still no more than a back-of-the-rotation starter, which showed this weekend.
The clock continues to tick on Michael Bowden, representing the last of the Red Sox reserve rotation arms. While he sports a glowing scouting report and a pristine 3.20 ERA in triple-A Pawtucket, it is getting more and more difficult to see him being a success at the major league level this year. With just a 6.40 K/9 and 3.36 BB/9 this season, he is far from a sure thing…
Luck hasn’t been on his side, I will give him that. Penny has had to deal with a .326 BABIP, while surrendering line drives on only 18 percent of batted balls against. And his LOB percentage is at 66, which is far too low. Eventually, he should strand a few more base-runners.
But it is his love with the fastball, and the home run that is killing him. Do you know how often Penny throws the fastball? 73 percent of the time! This is the American League East, Brad. There has to be somewhat of a reliance on the breaking stuff too. Maybe he doesn’t feel comfortable throwing it. And he doesn’t always seem to have command of it. But his curveball has a “Pitch Type Value” of -15.4. That is horrendous.
Point is, he has no viable pitch outside of the fastball, and at times he even struggles with that. That is why he is so reliant on it. he simply cannot do anything positive with the breaking ball.
Since Brad Penny’s best this season seems to be six innings, three earned. Then that is what I expect from him. I just hope that he doesn’t fare worse. It is a critical game, in terms of the Wild Card, so let’s get a W!
With Thursday’s game still to be played, the Sox look toward their three-game weekend series in Texas, back 5.5 of the Yankees; up 1.5 on the Rangers in the wildcard. This is a big set – don’t take it likely…
With the Sox back in Boston after a long road trip, it’s time to take stock of what the team has left.
Is a playoff appearance still in the cards?
It’s a slump. That’s it. That has to be it.
Mayday! Mayday! We’re going down… aren’t we?
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between a slump and a freefall. When given the choice, you always root for the slump, because, what other options do you have…
Well, after a very, very disappointing series sweep at the hand of the Yankees, the Red Sox take on the Detroit Tigers. Yet, they have to face another very good pitcher in Edwin Jackson. The offense must wake up.
On our side, we have the declining Brad Penny. Hopefully, Penny can keep us in this game and let our capable offense of the past have a shot at a win.
One can point to one move, or non-move, that is the reason the Red Sox are so far out of the division. And that is the Yankees acquisition, via free agency, of Mark Teixeira. Had the Red Sox signed him, rather than the Yankees, it could very well have made up the difference. Maybe the two teams are tied right now, rather than 5+ games apart. Tex is currently raking at a clip of .284/.382/.557. And he’s stellar with the glove as always. His ‘WAR’ is 3.6 (3.6 wins over a replacement player).
Basically, adding Tex would have given the Red Sox the best corner infielders in the game.
But we didn’t add Tex. Instead, we decided upon saving tons of money–especially some probable dead money at the back end of Tex’s contract. And the organization felt it was best to put their stock in the players on the farm, rather than expensive veterans. Lars Anderson being the main reason why Tex wasn’t signed, as far as “players on the farm” goes.
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