John Lackey’s latest head shaking start came last night against a Baltimore Orioles team 
that started 4 guys I’ve never heard of. The Boston Red Sox have seen their playoff lead fall all the way to 2 games (and for a few hours yesterday down to 1.5) over the Tampa Bay Rays. The $82.5 million man gave up 8 earned runs in 4 and a third while given 11 runs to play with. Boy, did he take advantage of the playing room. Given the frequency with which runners have crossed the plate against Lackey this year, you have to wonder if he’s involved in some sort of Black Sox scandal ala Shoeless Joe. Alas, Mr. Lackey is doing just fine in the bank account so he has little to gain in purposely giving up runs. That’s a shame because it would be a lot more comforting solution for Red Sox fans who have come to the consensus (along with the rest of the baseball world) that John Lackey is very, very bad.
The Sox are currently running starters out there who would have a hard time getting the Astro’s out (Ouch). The last three starts for the Red Sox, who are in a crawl to the playoffs, have been made by guys with ERAs of 7.99, 5.08, and 6.49.
It’s gotten so bad in Boston that the players are pushing for Alfredo Aceves to get a start. He’s not even an especially great reliever. Should he start, he’d probably give up some 3 runs in 4 2/3 — Significantly better than John Lackey’s last start.
This post is about John Lackey, not how the Sox are going to fix their problems. So with that in mind, Lackey has given up the most earned runs in the AL this year with 111 or about 4.1 per start while also managing to hit 19 people in his 27 starts. He’s averaged 5 2/3 IP per start this year contrast that with Verlander’s 7 1/3 and we’re talking about the bullpen having to pitch an additional 5 outs per start. It’s all an interesting take on a guy paid $16 million a year to give up a run every 23 pitches.
But, it’s all OK because Lackey is a super guy, and a great teammate. UHM, uh, not so much. From Buster Olney’s July 10th article, “The rest of the Red Sox position players deserve some kind of award for not reacting to Lackey’s body language, which is the worst I’ve ever seen in a starting pitcher.” He goes on to suggest that “the Red Sox position players should all make a pact to physically react to every mistake that Lackey makes on the mound.” To which one reader responded that the Sox may get hurt doing that much physical activity.
Lackey stared down Francona as he walked off the mound last night because of his frustration with Francona’s decision to take him out of the game before he was eligible for the win (Remember, you have to pitch 5 innings as a starter to get a win). This, to me, just screams of John Lackey as a selfish jerk. He gave up 8 earned, wasn’t helping his team win in the middle of a playoff race and was mad that he was taken out because he was now ineligible for the win. Who cares about wins anymore? Apparently only John Lackey. I remember Derek Lowe pitching well but getting the loss one game and he was quoted as saying it didn’t matter what statistical decision he got, it was his job to help the team win. It’s that team first mentality that Lackey lacks likely (alliteration intended) because of his general douchebag-ness.
As our friends over at The Outside Corner put it Whatever the Question in Boston is, John Lackey is Not the Answer.
Stat of the Day: Justin Verlander has the most pitches thrown this season. No real surprise. His 3821 are some 191 pitches more than the second highest total which is really very surprising.
-Sean Morash
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