On The Hill
The Red Sox are riding a three game losing streak, and they manner in which they have coughed up the L's speaks volumes about the trouble with the Boston pitching: it's inconsistent. The only starter that has been truly dominant has been Curt Schilling, returning to the form we saw in 2004, and for relievers, Jonathan Papelbon has been absolutely lights-out all season, though lately we've seen some balls start to get hit a litte harder. For the sake of, (ahem) brevity, I'll be short on pitchers on the DL. So if you're looking for something interesting about Clement, Wells, or Foulke, you'll have to look elsewhere.
As before, I'll be using the statistics available at RedSoxStats.com and MLB.com to complete this review. Great sites, very helpful, check them out.
STARTERS
1. Curt Schilling: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Ideally, we hoped to get our ace back, something that was lacking from the 2005 team. Realistically, we just hoped to get an effective pitcher who can eat innings and provide guidance to the rest of the staff. WHAT WE GOT: Our wildest dreams. Almost. He's posted a 11-3 win-loss record, but in all fairness, it should be better. Unfortunately, Schilling has fallen victim to the Curse of the Quiet Bats and the Hex of the Ancient Bullpen, which will be discussed a bit more later. He's also had trouble with home runs on the road, having served up 19 long balls for opposing hitters. Still, he's been able to control the pace of the majority of his starts and command the respect his presence should demand. His strikeout numbers are still pretty solid (124) and his walks are very low (16), but his OBA is pushing .300. as is his BABIP, meaning that when they're hitting him, they're really hitting him hard. His fly ball (FB) ratio has started to climb, which is certainly something to be worried about considering he lives off the fastball, but all in all, Schilling has been everything we could have hoped for.
2. Tim Wakefield: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: An innnings-eating, knuckleball-tossing veteran who eats innings and picks up his share of wins without much fanfare. WHAT WE GOT: Exactly what we wanted... but no run support. Wakefield's still under .500 with his record, but that's mostly because the sox were averaging just under 3 runs/game for most of his starts. Add to that the fact that Josh Bard was just terrible during his first four starts, and we see Wake as probably one of the biggest victim of circumstance on the staff.
3. Josh Beckett: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The ace of the 2003 World Series. WHAT WE GOT: A batting-cage pitching machine with an 11-5 record. Beckett has given up 27, 27 home runs in his 19 starts, and somehow still hasn't caught on to the fact that AL hitters can really turn around a fastball. His solution to his inconsistency has, for some bizarre reason, been to throw even more fastballs. His ERA has swollen to a disappointing 5.13, and his whip is somehwere around 1.3. Beckett needs to learn the breaking ball and he needs to put his pride aside. We all know he would give his right arm for the team, but will he give the fastball?
4. Jon Lester: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: That's an interesting question. I guess we really just wanted a starter who wasn't Jason Johnson, and we seem to have gotten him. We also wanted to see the crown jewel of the Sox farm system come up for his debut. WHAT WE GOT: A pitcher with amazing poise, average stuff, and a lot of confidence. He's pulled 4 wins out of a hat that includes a 1.61 WHIP. Somehow, Lester has been able to load the bases on countless occasions against both the best and worst lineups in the majors, and still manage to get out of jams. His cutter is apparently his pitch of choice, and he throws it with regularity. His presence is refreshing, and although he will certainly need to develop his talents, he's got a great head on his shoulders and a major-league demeanor.
5. Matt Clement (DL) // David Wells (DL) // Jason Johnson (Oblivion) // Kyle Snyder // Lenny DiNardo (DL): WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Anything. WHAT WE GOT: A little of this, a little of that. The struggles of Matt Clement are well documented on this site, David Wells has barely pitched during the 2006 campaign, and both are on the disabled list, so they're not doing a whole lot are they? When Clement was healthy, he was little better than Johnson, despite a much higher salary and long-term deal. DiNardo wasn't very good, but he didn't make me want to slit my wrists either, though maybe that had more to do with the fact that I had zero expectations for him. The brightest spot in all of this is Kyle Snyder, who pitcher once against the Nationals for a win and was then promptly shipped to Pawtucket for some more seasoning. He will, in fact, be coming up for today's game against the A's, facing a lineup more intimidating than Washington.
RELIEVERS:
The largest problem with the bullpen thus far had been overreliance on the older relievers Tavarez and Seanez. However, at some point in the middle of June Terry Francona came out and said publicly that he was finally going to do what the citizens of the blogosphere so yearned for: he was going to start leaning more heavily on his younger arms, and that's exactly what he did. And that was how the Hex of the Ancient Bullpen was (mostly) cast aside.
1. Julian Tavarez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The reliever who posted a 2.38 ERA in St. Louis during 2004. WHAT WE GOT: More streaks than my car window. Tavarez has shown that he's absolutely capable of shutting down offenses for several innings at a time (he was a starting pitcher for the Dominican Republic during the Carribbean Series), but he's also shown that he'll suddenly lose the ability to stay out of the middle of the strike zone, evidenced by his 1.51 WHIP. Only thing is, he lacks Lester's ability to get out of the jams he gets into. As of late, his usefulness has been as the mopup guy, as he came out of the 'pen two nights ago to save his compadres from burnout.
2. Rudy Seanez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: I guess everyone else was hoping for the pitcher that was dominant with the Padres last year, but I was honestly not hoping for much. WHAT WE GOT: I won. Seanez has been terrible. His ERA is close to 5 and his WHIP is over 1.6. His fastball doesn't use enough gas to embarass opposing batters and his breaking ball hasn't been consistent enough to throw late in counts. He's coughed up a lot of runs in crucial situations, and he's so far in Francona's doghouse that he didn't take the hill until the 19th, that's right, the 19th, inning in the South Side Marathon. All he really has going for him is that he seems like a nice guy who feels bad about sucking it up. That really isn't much, though.
3. Mike Timlin: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The same guy who anchored the pen in 2004 and 2005. WHAT WE GOT: Reliability, but the need for other pitches. I would use Timlin as the posterboy for what the World Baseball Classic can do to a player who isn't prepared correctly to throw in pressure situations. I think he pushed too hard too early, and the result was a DL stint and the necessity of other, more rarely used off-speed pitches. Regardless, I don't get too worried when he takes the hill late.
4. Manny Delcarmen: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Our hometown hero. WHAT WE GOT: What we wanted. Delcarmen was originally being used so infrequently he could've been referred to as the Human Irregular Stream, but when Tito made his announcement, Delcarmen found himself getting the call. And the funny thing is, he's responded. He's had to make up for early outings where he coughed up runs, but he's learning how to throw his curveball for strikes and how, when it comes off of his mid-90's fastball, it makes hitters look silly. He could be good for several years.
5. Craig Hansen: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: A flamethrowing rookie with "Future Elite Closer" on his back over his number. WHAT WE GOT: A flamethrower learning the ropes. Hansen looks to, and probably will, be very good for some time, but he's still only one year out of St. John's. It's inappropriate to expect that he would be lights-out with less than one full year of service in the minors. As he spends more time here, I believe we'll see him improve significantly.
6. Javier Lopez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: A younger Mike Myers. WHAT WE GOT: A younger Mike Myers. Sit and stew on that for a while. You'll find you won't get too far.
7. Jonathan Papelbon: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: An above-average rookie starting pitch with the potential to lead the rotation into the next several seasons. WHAT WE GOT: A closer best summed up in the following statement: "Through his first 29 outings, he had posted a ridiculous ERA of 0.30. That's not an ERA; that's a blood-alcohol level at spring break. What's next? World peace?" He's been absolutely filthy all year long, exhibiting not only the stuff but the mental makeup to be an elite closer for at least this season. (I'm pretty sure he's batshit crazy... This guy talks about his Scrabble skillz as if he were the leading dunk king on the AND1 Tour.) His long term projection looks to be as a starter, but I know I for one am certainly glad he's as good as he is. (Doesn't hurt that he only cost me $6 in my Roto Auction.)
8. Keith Foukle (DL): WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Better than 2005, close to 2004. WHAT WE GOT: A pitcher on the mend, but one who is definitely on his way to recovery. A changeup that looked flat in the first part of the season began to really dip in the zone as he racked up the appearances. He's still trying to make his way back to the bullpen, and it will be interesting to see how he fits in with the general success of the younger relievers. (I could see Seanez getting stashed in a trash can somewhere...)
Following the leads of Schilling and Papelbon, the Sox' pitching in 2006 has been better than bad but not quite as good as it could (and should) be. I'm still holding out hope that Beckett wil learn to make the necessary adjustments to succeed in this league, but even if he doesn't, I expect him to be great should we make the postseason.
As before, I'll be using the statistics available at RedSoxStats.com and MLB.com to complete this review. Great sites, very helpful, check them out.
STARTERS
1. Curt Schilling: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Ideally, we hoped to get our ace back, something that was lacking from the 2005 team. Realistically, we just hoped to get an effective pitcher who can eat innings and provide guidance to the rest of the staff. WHAT WE GOT: Our wildest dreams. Almost. He's posted a 11-3 win-loss record, but in all fairness, it should be better. Unfortunately, Schilling has fallen victim to the Curse of the Quiet Bats and the Hex of the Ancient Bullpen, which will be discussed a bit more later. He's also had trouble with home runs on the road, having served up 19 long balls for opposing hitters. Still, he's been able to control the pace of the majority of his starts and command the respect his presence should demand. His strikeout numbers are still pretty solid (124) and his walks are very low (16), but his OBA is pushing .300. as is his BABIP, meaning that when they're hitting him, they're really hitting him hard. His fly ball (FB) ratio has started to climb, which is certainly something to be worried about considering he lives off the fastball, but all in all, Schilling has been everything we could have hoped for.
2. Tim Wakefield: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: An innnings-eating, knuckleball-tossing veteran who eats innings and picks up his share of wins without much fanfare. WHAT WE GOT: Exactly what we wanted... but no run support. Wakefield's still under .500 with his record, but that's mostly because the sox were averaging just under 3 runs/game for most of his starts. Add to that the fact that Josh Bard was just terrible during his first four starts, and we see Wake as probably one of the biggest victim of circumstance on the staff.
3. Josh Beckett: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The ace of the 2003 World Series. WHAT WE GOT: A batting-cage pitching machine with an 11-5 record. Beckett has given up 27, 27 home runs in his 19 starts, and somehow still hasn't caught on to the fact that AL hitters can really turn around a fastball. His solution to his inconsistency has, for some bizarre reason, been to throw even more fastballs. His ERA has swollen to a disappointing 5.13, and his whip is somehwere around 1.3. Beckett needs to learn the breaking ball and he needs to put his pride aside. We all know he would give his right arm for the team, but will he give the fastball?
4. Jon Lester: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: That's an interesting question. I guess we really just wanted a starter who wasn't Jason Johnson, and we seem to have gotten him. We also wanted to see the crown jewel of the Sox farm system come up for his debut. WHAT WE GOT: A pitcher with amazing poise, average stuff, and a lot of confidence. He's pulled 4 wins out of a hat that includes a 1.61 WHIP. Somehow, Lester has been able to load the bases on countless occasions against both the best and worst lineups in the majors, and still manage to get out of jams. His cutter is apparently his pitch of choice, and he throws it with regularity. His presence is refreshing, and although he will certainly need to develop his talents, he's got a great head on his shoulders and a major-league demeanor.
5. Matt Clement (DL) // David Wells (DL) // Jason Johnson (Oblivion) // Kyle Snyder // Lenny DiNardo (DL): WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Anything. WHAT WE GOT: A little of this, a little of that. The struggles of Matt Clement are well documented on this site, David Wells has barely pitched during the 2006 campaign, and both are on the disabled list, so they're not doing a whole lot are they? When Clement was healthy, he was little better than Johnson, despite a much higher salary and long-term deal. DiNardo wasn't very good, but he didn't make me want to slit my wrists either, though maybe that had more to do with the fact that I had zero expectations for him. The brightest spot in all of this is Kyle Snyder, who pitcher once against the Nationals for a win and was then promptly shipped to Pawtucket for some more seasoning. He will, in fact, be coming up for today's game against the A's, facing a lineup more intimidating than Washington.
RELIEVERS:
The largest problem with the bullpen thus far had been overreliance on the older relievers Tavarez and Seanez. However, at some point in the middle of June Terry Francona came out and said publicly that he was finally going to do what the citizens of the blogosphere so yearned for: he was going to start leaning more heavily on his younger arms, and that's exactly what he did. And that was how the Hex of the Ancient Bullpen was (mostly) cast aside.
1. Julian Tavarez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The reliever who posted a 2.38 ERA in St. Louis during 2004. WHAT WE GOT: More streaks than my car window. Tavarez has shown that he's absolutely capable of shutting down offenses for several innings at a time (he was a starting pitcher for the Dominican Republic during the Carribbean Series), but he's also shown that he'll suddenly lose the ability to stay out of the middle of the strike zone, evidenced by his 1.51 WHIP. Only thing is, he lacks Lester's ability to get out of the jams he gets into. As of late, his usefulness has been as the mopup guy, as he came out of the 'pen two nights ago to save his compadres from burnout.
2. Rudy Seanez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: I guess everyone else was hoping for the pitcher that was dominant with the Padres last year, but I was honestly not hoping for much. WHAT WE GOT: I won. Seanez has been terrible. His ERA is close to 5 and his WHIP is over 1.6. His fastball doesn't use enough gas to embarass opposing batters and his breaking ball hasn't been consistent enough to throw late in counts. He's coughed up a lot of runs in crucial situations, and he's so far in Francona's doghouse that he didn't take the hill until the 19th, that's right, the 19th, inning in the South Side Marathon. All he really has going for him is that he seems like a nice guy who feels bad about sucking it up. That really isn't much, though.
3. Mike Timlin: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: The same guy who anchored the pen in 2004 and 2005. WHAT WE GOT: Reliability, but the need for other pitches. I would use Timlin as the posterboy for what the World Baseball Classic can do to a player who isn't prepared correctly to throw in pressure situations. I think he pushed too hard too early, and the result was a DL stint and the necessity of other, more rarely used off-speed pitches. Regardless, I don't get too worried when he takes the hill late.
4. Manny Delcarmen: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Our hometown hero. WHAT WE GOT: What we wanted. Delcarmen was originally being used so infrequently he could've been referred to as the Human Irregular Stream, but when Tito made his announcement, Delcarmen found himself getting the call. And the funny thing is, he's responded. He's had to make up for early outings where he coughed up runs, but he's learning how to throw his curveball for strikes and how, when it comes off of his mid-90's fastball, it makes hitters look silly. He could be good for several years.
5. Craig Hansen: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: A flamethrowing rookie with "Future Elite Closer" on his back over his number. WHAT WE GOT: A flamethrower learning the ropes. Hansen looks to, and probably will, be very good for some time, but he's still only one year out of St. John's. It's inappropriate to expect that he would be lights-out with less than one full year of service in the minors. As he spends more time here, I believe we'll see him improve significantly.
6. Javier Lopez: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: A younger Mike Myers. WHAT WE GOT: A younger Mike Myers. Sit and stew on that for a while. You'll find you won't get too far.
7. Jonathan Papelbon: WHAT WE HOPED FOR: An above-average rookie starting pitch with the potential to lead the rotation into the next several seasons. WHAT WE GOT: A closer best summed up in the following statement: "Through his first 29 outings, he had posted a ridiculous ERA of 0.30. That's not an ERA; that's a blood-alcohol level at spring break. What's next? World peace?" He's been absolutely filthy all year long, exhibiting not only the stuff but the mental makeup to be an elite closer for at least this season. (I'm pretty sure he's batshit crazy... This guy talks about his Scrabble skillz as if he were the leading dunk king on the AND1 Tour.) His long term projection looks to be as a starter, but I know I for one am certainly glad he's as good as he is. (Doesn't hurt that he only cost me $6 in my Roto Auction.)
8. Keith Foukle (DL): WHAT WE HOPED FOR: Better than 2005, close to 2004. WHAT WE GOT: A pitcher on the mend, but one who is definitely on his way to recovery. A changeup that looked flat in the first part of the season began to really dip in the zone as he racked up the appearances. He's still trying to make his way back to the bullpen, and it will be interesting to see how he fits in with the general success of the younger relievers. (I could see Seanez getting stashed in a trash can somewhere...)
Following the leads of Schilling and Papelbon, the Sox' pitching in 2006 has been better than bad but not quite as good as it could (and should) be. I'm still holding out hope that Beckett wil learn to make the necessary adjustments to succeed in this league, but even if he doesn't, I expect him to be great should we make the postseason.
Labels: 2006 Season
Ryan Brodeur at 4:06 PM
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home