Last week, I wrote about the possible effect of age and the long 2013 season on Red Sox hitting. While pitchers may not be affected as much (they don’t play every day and rarely hit and run the bases) age could possibly be a factor in this year’s failures on the mound.
Speaking of pitching, some writers have tried to blame the Sox slide into the cellar almost entirely on the batters. Following the disastrous Cubs series, Nick Cafardo quoted a few stats. One was the team ERA of 3.73, fourth in the AL. Another was the bullpen mark of 2.93, which I am sure has gone higher in recent games. Another was 49 quality starts, just behind Oakland’s 51. But these figures do not entirely tell the story.
Jon Lester is obviously the king of the staff at 9-7 and 2.73, surrendering only 111 hits in 122 innings, walking 29 and fanning 122. After Lester, however, it goes downhill. John Lackey has moderate-to-good numbers, but has been erratic. On June 18 at Fenway, for example, he shut out the Twins for 9 innings, a game that the Sox won in 10. But Saturday night, when a sweep would have looked good, he departed after 5 1/3, allowing 10 hits and 5 tallies- an unsatisfactory effort. The soon-to-depart Jake Peavy is a a bit hard to figure. He has 11 quality starts, but his 1-7 record and 4.64 ERA hardly qualifies as effective. His 17 homers allowed and 42 walks are the highest on the staff. Of the other two men who were starters at the beginning of the year- Felix Doubront and Clay Buchholz- the less said the better. Buchholz’s 6.11 and 92 hits allowed in 70 2/3 innings qualify him as one of the worst starters in baseball, and Doubront is not far behind. Rubby De La Rosa and Brandon Workman have looked good in spots, but can’t yet be counted on. No one can deny that Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa and several other relievers have had some terrible outings recently.
A constant problem for nearly every starter-despite their QS figures- has been their tendency to fall behind early in games. That might not have been as much as an issue last year, but for a group hitting in the .240’s and being held to 2 runs or less 30 times, it certainly is one now.
The Sox hitters have to wake up, but the team also needs some lights-out efforts, which have been rare. As Rick Pitino might say, Pedro Martinez is only walking through the door as a coach. So someone else will have to step up-maybe Lester or one of the kids.
The Townies are in a team slump-no one is exempt.L
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