I wanted to avoid writing about the pitching staff today, but the lack of strikeouts by our team is starting to get concerning. It’s not just a few pitchers, it is all of them. Anyway one thing I found today that I thought shouldn’t go unnoticed was Marco Scutaro’s start and excellent approach at the plate.
Before his at bat in the top of the eighth yesterday he had gone 24 at bats without a strike out. That is very good start although seven games is nothing when you learn that the record is 84 posted by Ted Williams in 1949. Last year Scutaro had two streaks longer as well. He had one streak of eight games and another of nine.
Looking at his Fangraphs page he had yet to swing and miss at any pitch in or out of the zone. Since he did not do that today he has gone eight games without swinging and missing at a pitch. When it’s all finished Scutaro will finish behind Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez in strike out rate, but that should take nothing away from how well he has put the bat on the ball so far. That he does best as he was tied for the best in the majors last year with a contact rate of 93.3%.
Looking also at his solid walk rate and you can see why Scutaro got a shot at the leadoff spot yesterday. This also got me wondering would Terry Francona think about doing that even with Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup? Perhaps, but let me go into why this would be better.
Ellsbury has had more chance than Scutaro and yet has yet to post even one walk. It appears this part of his game will not develop and will continue to post a .350-.360 OBP. That is solid, but Scutaro could make a big difference at the top by having an OBP around .370-.380. That difference is an extra 30-plus times on base.
Moving Ellsbury to the nine hole keeps his bat before the heart of the order in all spots except the first inning. This way his speed and effect on the defense while on base is still a factor, but the better OBP guy is allowed to score the runs he is capable of. I highly doubt Francona would make this change unless Ellsbury was injured long term or struggling badly, but if he can find the excuse to make the change it might be a spot that Scutaro quickly grabs a hold of.