So Goes the Pitching Staff
In the midst of a four-game losing streak that has dropped the team to 4-8, Sox fans have begun the multi-annual ritual of name calling and finger pointing as to where blame lies on the club’s current skid.
While the hitting has been poor by the normal standards, perhaps the most alarming development of the season has been the utter failure of the starting pitching staff.
Of particular note is how easy the hurlers have been to hit and how often they have been falling behind early in the count. Jon Lester (5.40 BB/9, 1.5 K:BB ratio), John Lackey (4.26 BB/9, 0.83 K:BB), Jon Papelbon (8.44 BB/9, 0.40 K:BB), and Clay Buchholz (5.40 BB/9, 1.33 K:BB) have been the poster children for this trend -- seeing a precipitous deterioration in their first strike rates, zone percentages, and their contact rates.
April 19, 2010
mike silver
