Trying to value pitch calling

On May fourth I asked the question, Should Jason Varitek be the Starting Catcher? Not much has changed as at the time I noted "In 146 IP thrown to Martinez the staff has a K/BB of 1.64, but when Varitek has caught in 83.6 innings the staff has thrown a 2.35 K/BB." That trend has largely continued as Varitek has saw more time, so how much is the difference worth? Some things to keep in mind is that this is a skill we really can't value before the catchers catch the same pitchers. We knew Victor Martinez was not the best catcher, but how could anyone know for sure his pitch calling would raise these questions. So this is more of an exercise done in retrospect and would help decide how to approach Martinez this offseason.

5/24 Online Seats Game Thread: Back to the AL East

The Boston Red Sox did to Philadelphia what the Bruins could not this weekend. But the boys of summer will have a whole new challenge, as they head south to Tampa Bay to face the Tampa Bay Rays in a good old fashioned AL East showdown.

5/19 Online Seats Game Thread: Twins Escort Red Sox Back to Boston

The Boston Red Sox return to the safety of home after a rough road trip to Detroit and New York. Scott Baker and the Minnesota Twins will try to stop the welcome back parade in its tracks against Clay Buchholz tonight.

5/14 Online Seats Game Thread: On the Road Again

The Boston Red Sox will begin a lengthy road trip tonight against the bounding Tigers, as Clay Buchholz looks to tame the struggling Max Scherzer.

Drew Back on Track, A Thing or Two About Numbers, What is Fixable?

Drew Back on Track No Sox hitter in the past two weeks has been hotter than J.D. Drew. In Boston’s last ten games, he’s batted 17-for-36 with three homers. The eight Ks are a bit unfortunate, but nothing concerning. Not including last night, his first strike percentage is down to 63.4 from 72.7, his BABIP is up to .329 from .194. What is particularly exciting about Drew’s performance is the type of contact he’s making. Besides it being hard and consistent, he’s been doing an excellent job of sending the ball the other way on two strikes. According to MLB.com’s Fenway Park hit chart, Drew has four opposite field singles this season to go along with two doubles. In 2009, he had all of five singles (seven depending on how narrowly or widely you define the left field) and five doubles (up to nine for the width of left field). In particular, Drew has been serving these opposite field singles with two strikes. Keeping his hands back and serving outside pitches into right field means he’s timing the ball much better than he had been. Lots of hitters in slumps will get ahead of the pitch and roll the ball over to the pull side...

5/8 Online Seats Game Thread: Buchholz Backs Boston

The New York Yankees took their twentieth win of the season last night from the Boston Red Sox. Boston will send Clay Buchholz to the hill tonight to face C.C. Sabathia to put the Red Sox past the .500 mark.

The Case For Optimism

Monday night, we got a glimpse of what this team could look like with things going right. Clay Buchholz put together another solid outing, further cementing himself as this season’s most reliable starter, and the offense put on a show — especially during a long 6th inning that saw seven Sox runners cross the plate. The question is this: was what we saw last night something we can expect to see again, or was it simply a reminder of how frustrating this season has become?

I was a huge fan of this particular iteration of the club going into 2010 — probably the most excited I’ve been about a Sox team since 2007. Unsurprisingly, the abysmal start has dampened my optimism pretty significantly, but it hasn’t yet killed it. I still think that by the end of the season we’ll see a team that more closely resembles the one that decimated the Angels than the one that lay down in front of the Orioles. Here’s why.

Should Jason Varitek continue to catch

Heading into 2010 it was a fairly easy choice that we wanted Victor Martinez to supply the offense we needed from the catcher position and give adequate defense behind the plate. So far though there has been some early results that might be good reasoning to place Martinez in the DH spot more often and give Varitek a final year of significant work in a Red Sox uniform. While Martinez offense has not been there yet this season his number look fine. He is striking out only 7 percent of the time, which is lower than any season in his career. His walk rate is a bit low at 8.5 percent, but nothing significant from his career rate of 10 percent. His power has not been around yet, but neither has his luck with a BABIP of .241. Once that regresses to the mean his average will return and his OBP. There is good reason to use him over Ortiz at the DH, but is there a reason why we should use Varitek over Martinez at catcher? I was wondering the same thing and no it's not a question of offense. He may look impressive right now, but a .500 ISO will make anyone look impressive. The power is exceptional, but once it regresses his other numbers will return to what they have been or a .230/.330/.440 line or a .340 wOBA. That is about league average and although probably better than Ortiz right now not a reason to change.

5/3 Online Seats Game Thread: Buchholz Brings it Back Home

After a sweep by the Orioles that can be described as nothing short of embarrasing, the Boston Red Sox will start fresh as the Angels come to Fenway Park to face Clay Buchholz.

4/27 Online Seats Game Thread: Boston Beats Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox were able to take the first game against Toronto last night, but Shaun Marcum will head to the hill to protect his home turf, while Clay Buchholz looks to build on what's shaping up to be a good year.