Author: Lefty

Baseball Is There for You

baseball is there

It always starts before I’m ready for it, and then it sticks around. And it keeps going every day for about 7 months (except for Wednesday and Thursday of this particular week, actually). It doesn’t go away until I’m tired of it and spending most of my time thinking about football.

More than any other sport, it’s just…there. I don’t mean that it’s like wallpaper, although I’m sure some people feel that way. I mean that I could put my head down and concentrate on work for a week, come home, turn on NESN at 7:05 ET, and the Red Sox would be playing. You could take off on a Friday night for a 9-day Caribbean vacation, turn your cell phone off, forget about the world entirely, come back late on the tail end of the weekend, and catch the last three innings of Sunday Night Baseball.

I don’t mean to be sentimental. God knows there are enough people who romanticize the sport, treat great players like they’re deities, and find ways to be obnoxiously sanctimonious when discussing a game that many of us started to play at the age of 6. But it does distinguish itself from other sports that compete for our attention.

Football was my first love. I don’t know who decided that football starts at the beginning of September, but it was a smart choice, at least for my money. Growing up, I remember it as one of the only things about the fall that counteracted the dread that accompanied the start of the school year. But football has historically made us wait all week for it, to its benefit (although the NFL has recently distanced itself from this positive attribute with its foray into weekly Thursday Night Football). It’s a weekend game, designed to increase our appreciation of time spent away from daily routine.

Professional basketball and hockey are near identical in their design: they start in mid-autumn, run until late spring, and have 82 regular season games and 4 playoff rounds of 7-game series. But they also have the least predictable schedules. Are the Celtics playing on the third Wednesday of the season? I have no idea. The NBA usually has a full slate booked on Fridays, but other than that, the only thing I can tell you is that there are 4 games on Christmas Day. Don’t even bother asking me about the NHL I don’t have a clue.

But you can set your watch to baseball. Is it 9 p.m.? The Red Sox are probably playing. And if they’re not, someone else is. And because of that regularity, baseball is there for you. No matter what you have going on in your life, you can count on it (a certain strike in 1994 notwithstanding) on a daily basis. The players you look up to will fade, and then your ability to play yourself will follow or lapse into dormancy, and then players younger than you will begin to retire. But baseball will still be there for you, in one way or another.

Red Sox Make Panicked Flurry of Roster Moves

ron brace

Who knew that an impingement could affect so many lives? (Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)

The bus/plane from Pawtucket to Boston and back has been busy recently. Since Joe Kelly hit the DL with a right shoulder impingement, a word that somehow sounds scary and boring simultaneously, it’s been all plans and backup plans and counter-plans from Sox management. And it’s all been fueled by the minor leagues.

On 4/20, Boston recalled sidearm reliever Noe Ramirez from Pawtucket, only one day after the team had sent him down to bring hard-throwing Heath Hembree up from AAA (Hembree had gone 5 innings in Pawtucket without giving up a run at that point. He’d also struck out 9 and allowed only 2 hits).The Sox also called up pitcher William Cuevas in exchange for utility man Marco Hernandez, and I’m gonna be honest, I hadn’t heard of him before this move. While only 25, he hasn’t done much to distinguish himself at the minor league level so far. It seemed that Boston intended for Cuevas to start in Kelly’s place.

But that wasn’t to be. After David Price was chased from an afternoon slugfest on 4/21, Cuevas was forced into long relief just in time to get saddled with his first major league loss. And with that, his purpose had expired, and he was sent back to Pawtucket on 4/22. In his place? Lefty Roenis Elias, who lost the 5th slot in the starting rotation to Steven Wright after coming to Boston from Seattle in the Wade Miley/Carson Smith trade.

But with an inning and two-thirds left in a 5-2 ballgame on 4/23, John Farrell elected to use Elias, too, in long relief. The lefty got out of the jam he’d been sent in to clear up in the 7th, but he blew up in the 8th, giving up 4, count ’em, 4 doubles. And so yesterday, he was summarily sent back to Pawtucket. So where does that leave us now?

Well, poor Noe Ramirez, whose WHIP has now climbed above 2.00, was on the bus with Elias. So the Sox filled the 2 open spots with 1. that freak with the big hands, Henry Owens, and 2. another player I’ve never heard of: Pat Light. Stats-wise, he seems to be lacking: he’s never really figured it out, with a career minor league ERA of 4.63. But since Owens officially got the start in Kelly’s place, maybe Light will get the chance to really own a long relief role for a week or two. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll be sent down before I can blink.

Notes:

a. Former Patriots DT Ron Brace died at the age of 29. I spent some time around him during college, and he seemed like a really nice, gregarious dude. Someone once told me that his patented pass rush move was to hold his palm out in front of a lineman’s face like he was holding a plate, and then use that same hand to initiate a swim move. Or, as Ron put it, “Show them the hamburger, take it away.” So awesome. RIP.

b. Rich Hill update: he had 10 strikeouts against the Yankees the other day. He’s back (maybe)!

 

2016 Red Sox Roster Preview (Kind of): Infield

red sox roster preview

One of these things is not like the other ones (hint: he's not in the starting lineup anymore. And he's fat). Photo: Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports

The Starters

Catcher

Blake Swihart

2015: 84 games, .274/.319/.392, 5 HRs, 4 SBs (2 CS)

Became the only Sox catcher of consequence last year after Ryan Hanigan broke his hand in early May and Christian Vazquez went under the knife for Tommy John surgery. Sandy León was the backup, but was essentially an automatic out with an on-base percentage of .238 and a slugging percentage that was somehow lower.

While Swihart’s production was certainly a lot better than León’s and it’s enough to hold the starting catcher position for now with Hanigan as his only competition, it could be a different story when Vazquez returns from his current rehab stint in a few weeks. Swihart’s offensive skills are tantalizing for a catcher, but he’ll have to rake a lot harder and with more consistency if he wants to continue getting everyday reps.

1st Base

Hanley Ramírez

2015: 105 games (92 at LF, 11 at DH, 1 at 3B), .249/.291/.426, 19 HRs, 6 SBs (3 CS)

You all know the story, but in case you’ve forgotten, Hanley’s 2015 went something like this: oh man, hot start, Hanley’s so good. Oh wait, he kind of stinks at playing left field, but ha ha who cares, he’s hitting so well. Oh, just kidding, now he ran into a wall and he stinks at everything.

The question with Hanley for 2016 is whether he can produce enough at the plate to make it worth playing him at 1st base, a position with more than its fair share of great hitters. So far, the answer is yes, but I probably thought Hanley was a lock for the All-Star team at this point last year.

2nd Base

Dustin Pedroia

2015: 93 games (92 at 2B, 1 at DH), .291/.356/.441, 12 HRs, 2 SBs (2 CS)

Last year was another disappointment for Pedroia when it came to staying healthy. When he played, he was mostly great, but his hamstring kept him out of the lineup even after he tried to return from an early summer stint on the DL. We may never get the 2007-2011 version of Pedey again, but the Sox can’t go wrong with 150+ games of Gold Glove defense and high offensive production from a second baseman. There’s no one I’d rather have at second base (provided, of course, that he’s playing).

3rd Base

Travis Shaw

2015: 65 games (55 at 1B, 8 at 3B, 1 at LF), .270/.327/.487, 13 HRs, 0 SBs (1 CS)

Shaw started getting regular playing time in August, mashed, and was eventually declared Mayor of Ding Dong City. As for being an everyday 3rd baseman, well, we’ll see, but he can’t be worse than Pablo Sandoval. And when I say he can’t be worse, I’m really not stretching the truth that far. Not only was he terrible, but he was terrible for a long time. We just kept trotting him out there, and he kept being terrible and fat. It was awful.

But this is about Travis Shaw, who seems like a pretty cool guy, and hopefully he keeps hitting, because otherwise we’ll be in for another 5 months of 3rd base being played by a man whose idea of losing weight is gaining 20 pounds and who has the plate discipline of a drunk Vladimir Guerrero.

Shortstop

Xander Bogaerts

2015: 156 games, .320/.355/.421, 7 HRs, 10 SBs (2 CS), Silver Slugger

Xandah Bogahts!

When I say Xander Bogaerts is there something funny about that? from Kathryn on Vimeo.

Finally, a member of the Red Sox infield who played something resembling an entire 2015 season. Separating himself from the rest of his woebegotten squad with a breakout season, Bogaerts came into his own and established himself as one of the premier shortstops in baseball. While people started paying him notice for his offensive production, his defense also took a big step up: he went from committing the 2nd most errors among AL shortstops in 2014 to possessing the 2nd best AL shortstop fielding percentage in 2015.

And that’s a good thing, because there’s reason to curb our enthusiasm for Bogaerts’ offense. A statistician might tell you he got lucky last year – his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) was about 30 points higher than his career average. But principles of regression aside, Xander’s approach has its own inherent issues. He drew only 32 walks in 654 plate appearances last year, and he struck out over 100 times. He hasn’t really shown the ability to hit for consistent power either, even though 35 doubles is a pretty decent number. I’m saying our shortstop is bound to fall back to Earth a bit this year, but hopefully not before we get a few more clutch hits out of his system.

Oh, and he only just turned 23.

The Bench

Catcher

Ryan Hanigan

2015: 54 games, .247/.347/.328, 2 HRs, 0 SBs (0 CS)

When he isn’t driving Righty crazy by leaving his throwing hand in harm’s way, Andover’s own Ryan Hanigan is about as safe a 2-way catcher as you’ll see in MLB. He’s reliable behind the dish, always seems to be putting a lot of thought into his pitch selection, and his caught stealing percentage of 33% was marginally better than Swihart’s 28%.

On the offensive side, he’s no great shakes, but he’s a sight better than Sandy León. What he does do with admirable regularity is draw walks – throughout his career, walks have made up an eerily consistent 10% of his plate appearances. He’ll be around, and hopefully he’ll be able to keep coaching Joe Kelly through some starts.

Utility

Josh Rutledge

2015: 39 games (30 at 2B, 5 at 3B, 4 at DH), .284/.333/.338, 1 HR, 0 SBs (0 CS)

The product of the Shane Victorino trade, Rutledge had a cup of coffee with Boston after the All-Star Break in 2015. He was fine, and he didn’t embarrass himself. And now he’s up in the bigs again due to a certain recent disabled list assignation.

Josh seems nice enough, and he’s streaky and still young, but the truth is that you don’t want to see him in too many games. If he does start showing up in the starting lineup, it probably means that the roster has suddenly become riddled with injuries. It could also mean that someone went down in the infield and John Farrell decided that he’d rather put Rutledge in directly and keep Brock Holt in left field than slide Holt to the infield and replace him with Rusney Castillo. Anyway, yeah. It’s just something to think about.

P.S. Literally as I was writing this, I saw that Rusney Castillo had been optioned to Pawtucket. And there you have it.

Disabled List

Catcher

Christian Vázquez

2015: Out (Tommy John surgery)

It’s been so long since I’ve seen him play that I can’t say with absolute certainty whether or not he’s still a defensive force. But if I were a betting man, I’d say he still is. HARD-HITTING JOURNALISM, FOLKS.

And now that Castillo has been sent down to Pawtucket, maybe now’s the time for Vázquez to be called up? If not the catcher, then who? Henry Owens? Roenis Elias? It’s a mystery.

3rd Base

Pablo Sandoval

2015: 126 games, .245/.292/.366, 10 HRs, 0 SBs (0 CS)

This fat fuck. He STINKS. Okay, maybe he was a little unlucky last year, as his BABIP was all the way down to .270 from a career .307 average. But that can only explain so much of his futility. The guy was literally the worst deal in baseball last year. In every game that he played, he was such a negative influence that his Wins Above Replacement rating just kept sinking lower and lower until he had the lowest WAR in baseball. It was really quite an incredible achievement.

In any case, he showed up fat, and he still seemed to suck at baseball, so he lost his starting 3rd base job to Travis Shaw. And now he’s on the DL with a “strained right shoulder,” i.e., being a fat load. Anyway, there’s been so much written about this guy that I can’t bring myself to waste more energy on him. Until he actually shows some consistent and positive performance, the guy might as well be dead to me.

Weather Splits Series with Sox, 2-2

What it looks like over Cleveland right now. Probably.

For the 2nd time in 4 days, a Red Sox game has been postponed. CLEVELAND!!!

It’s also 1:43 in the morning right now, so I’m going to try to keep this short and sweet. Just a couple things to go over.

  • John Farrell has decided to run through the full rotation for the first go-around despite the most recent postponement. That means we’re getting Joe Kelly (somehow a #3 starter!), Rick Porcello, and Steven Wright for the next 3 games in Toronto and oh shit, it’s like I slipped into a fever dream from summer 2015. On the one hand, maybe it’s a good decision for continuity purposes and to get everyone into the swing of things. On the other hand, Farrell is basically flipping a coin with Wright rather than handing the ball to David Price for the Toronto series finale. And on the other other hand, the Sox will now use their ace in the home opener at Fenway. IT’S A CONSPIRACY, MAN. JOHN HENRY CONTROLS THE WEATHER.
  • There’s either not much to say yet about this team, or I’m really tired, or both. I just stared at the screen for 2 minutes while yawning and chuckling to myself about Pablo Sandoval being 0 for 1 so far this year.
  • RICH HILL UPDATE: Dude had a tough first day. He hit Adam Eaton with the first pitch of the game. Then he hit Jose Abreu later in the inning. And he got through that without giving up a run, and he had a clean 2nd inning, but then he gave up a triple, a single, and a double, and there were 2 errors (one by Hill), and he got yanked. Not his best, but I’m not convinced he’s out of gas yet.
  • I was going to come up with good, bad, and ugly sections, but I can’t think of anything notable to say for good and bad. So I’ll just do…
  • UGLY: I still haven’t written anything about the infielders, so both of our fans will have to wait until the weekend for my EXPERT INSIGHTS.