First, allow me to apologize for the tardiness of today’s rather short piece. A crazy day at work created a crazier than expected evening. Certainly, I had much grander plans for my piece today. Alas, that will have to wait for another day. Still, I thought I’d leave you with a few observations and viewpoints about the Red Sox as of late.
- Yesterday’s lineup was quite possibly the worst lineup in my memory as a Red Sox fan. Seriously, it was disturbing. No team should ever field a lineup that goes: Ciracio 2B/Nava LF/Ross RF/Gomez 1B/Lavarnway DH/Saltalamacchia C/Valencia 3B/Lin CF/Iglesias SS. Look, Cody Ross has had a great year, especially against lefties. Still, if he’s the best player in your lineup on a given day, it’s pretty clear you’re conceding the game. Pedro Ciracio, Daniel Nava, Mauro Gomez, and Che-Hsuan Lin weren’t on the Red Sox’s 40-man roster coming out of Spring Training. Danny Valencia was such an awful hitter that the Minnesota Twins demoted him, and then traded him away for practically nothing. And then there’s Jose Iglesias and his .409 OPS in 69 plate appearances. Yeah. This season can’t end fast enough.
- Clay Buchholz finished off the season in much the same way he started it–with a bomb. Eight runs on six hits and two walks in 1-2/3 innings isn’t going to cut it. Making matters worse, he gave up three home runs in the second inning. Still, we shouldn’t let this one start overpower Buchholz’s season. Starting with his start against on the Rays on May 27th (yes, it’s an arbitrary end point), Buchholz excelled to the tune of 3.41 ERA and a 102/37 K/BB ratio in 140 innings. He pitched seven innings or deeper in 15 of his final 20 starts, with last night’s start being the only one under 5-1/3. His year-end ERA might be an unsightly 4.56 (95 ERA+), but he showed a huge amount of growth after a rocky beginning. Hopefully, he can carry that over to next season.
- According to Baseball-Reference’s WAR (rWAR), Dustin Pedroia has been the club’s most valuable player with 4.6 rWAR. Since David Ortiz (injured) and Adrian Gonzalez (traded) are second and third on the list, Pedroia is pretty safe. You have to go all the way back to the disappointing season of 1980 to find another Red Sox team who’s top rWAR total was that low. (Fred Lynn with 4.5.) The only other high total between 1980 and 2012 that was below 5.0 rWAR came in 2001 when Pedro Martinez registered 4.9 despite only hurling 116-2/3 innings. That distinction should be seen both as not only a testament to his dominance, but also a reminder of that season’s turbulence.
- Speaking of rWAR, here are a couple of fun stats about the Red Sox’s pitching this season. And of course, when I say “fun,” I really mean “pure torture.” In fact, you may want to throw up a leg after reading this part. The Red Sox pitching staff has been worth a total of 2.0 rWAR. Yes. The entire staff. The entire season. Somehow, they were still more valuable than the Minnesota Twins (-3.1), Cleveland Indians (-0.7), and the Chicago Cubs (0.5). Who were the most valuable pitchers on the Red Sox staff this season? Scott Atchison (1.7) and Junichi Tazawa (1.6). That should say all that you need to know about the staff of their pitching staff right there.
- Aaron Cook is an awful pitcher. He had a 92.2% contact rate, and struck out only 4.9% of the batters he faced. Strikeouts aren’t everything, but they’re pretty damn important. When you can’t strike anyone out, you probably shouldn’t be pitching in the major leagues anymore.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m really looking forward to the offseason. Will this season ever end?