Category: Players

One Month in the Books: Red Sox April Report Card

red sox outfielders

Your 2016 Boston Red Sox starting outfield. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

Red Sox made it through a very tough April schedule (although it was loaded with home games) with a respectable 14-10 record. Pretty remarkable given the fact that they had the worst starting rotation in baseball for the majority of the month.

I only ranked the main players. Guys like Noe Ramirez and Josh Rutledge will get graded when they have proved they are worthy of my consideration. Let’s get right into it.

[I think this goes without saying, but these grades are relative to my expectation for each player coming into the season. Not who has the best numbers.]

Christian Vazquez

He’ll probably never win the Silver Slugger, but ended April on a 5-game hitting streak. More importantly, when he returned from the DL, the starting pitching made a miraculous turnaround. This guy is a great game caller and receiver, and made an immediate, tangible impact on the Red Sox pitching staff. Grade: A-

Blake Swihart

Blake only appeared in 6 games before his demotion in the middle of the month. He was batting .278 when he was sent down, but was without an extra base hit. His trip to Pawtucket wasn’t due to his performance, but due to a backlog at the catcher position once Vazquez returned form injury. The Sox like his bat and are trying him in the outfield in AAA. Grade: Incomplete

Ryan Hanigan

A solid backstop who’s struggling at the plate. Sound familiar? If he doesn’t pick it up, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sox called up Swihart to get a little more pop out of the catcher position. Grade: C-

Hanley Ramirez

His approach at the plate has been refreshing – he’s toned down the leg kick and his hitting for average – but his power numbers have been pretty weak. Obviously the big question coming into the season was his defense at first base… Dude hasn’t made an error all year and has shown he can pick it. Given his history as a middle infielder this shouldn’t exactly be surprising, but after last year’s misadventure in left, you’d be forgiven for being nervous. Grade: B-

Dustin Pedroia

He’s healthy (for now), raking, and flashing the leather up the middle. Ho hum. Grade: A

Xander Bogaerts

He got off to a slow start, but his average is coming back up and he’s drawing walks at a better rate than last season. His power still hasn’t developed like we expected, but maybe that’ll come as the weather heats up. No errors in the field. Grade: B+

Travis Shaw

Hitting .300 with good power, while playing rock solid defense at third. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Grade: A+

Jackie Bradley Jr.

Mr. April. He’s piling up clutch hits and ended the month with a bang, going 3 for 3 last night with two triples, a double, a walk, and 3 knocked in. He’s riding a 7-game hitting streak and his average is up to .272 after a rough start.

And the gold glove caliber defense in center goes without saying. Grade: B+

Mookie Betts

The homers and defense have been there, but everything else has fallen short of our (stratospheric) expectations of Mookie. Nothing to worry about, he got off to a slow start last season too, but just not what we expected thus far. Grade: B-

Brock Holt

He’s shown some pop, but his batting average is about 20 points below what we’re used to seeing. I blame this largely on being part of a platoon with Chris Young. It’s tough to stay locked in when you’re riding the pine every few games. Grade: A gentleman’s C+

Chris Young

He’s supposed to be the right-handed platoon guy, but he’s inexplicably had more plate appearances against righties thus far in 2016. The former All-Star is hitting .185. Grade: D-

Rusney Castillo

Bizarre. He appeared in one game and went 2-4 and was promptly demoted. Given his upside I’d like to see him platoon with Holt and send Young packing. He can’t do much worse than .185. Grade: Incomplete

David Ortiz

He’s slashing .321/.418/.654. His 1.071 OPS is tops in the league. Leading the team in average, home runs and RBIs. Seriously, why is this guy retiring? Grade: A+

David Price

Hasn’t been a pretty start for Boston’s new ace. His 5.76 ERA is an accurate barometer for how he’s performed so far. But there are reasons for optimism: he’s striking out a ton of guys (fanned 14 in his last start, though it was against the hapless Braves), and he’s a notoriously slow starter. I’m not worried, but he’s certainly underperformed. Grade: D+

Clay Buchholz

Hoo boy. I’m a pretty shameless Buchholz defender but this has been a disastrous start to the season. He’s had one decent start and four pretty bad ones, leading to a 6.51 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP, striking out only 19 in 27.2 innings. Grade: F (sorry Clay. You’re still my boy)

Rick Porcello

Well, well, well. After a shaky start, Freddy has settled in to a nice little groove. His home run bugaboo is still there, but outside of the gopher balls, he’s been dominant. 2.76 ERA, 0.918 WHIP, 36/6 K/BB in 32.2 innings. And he hasn’t given up a homer in his last two starts (again, thank heaven for the Braves). Grade: A

Joe Kelly

He’s on the shelf with a shoulder impingement, but owned a truly impressive 9.35 ERA before he got hurt. Given the emergence of Steven Wright and the imminent return of Eddie Rodriguez, look for Pumpsie to be returning to the bullpen. Grade: F

Steven Wright

His 1.37 ERA is second in the AL and has locked down a rotation start for the foreseeable future. Grade: A+

Henry Owens

Decent in two starts. Probably gets bumped from the rotation when Eddie returns. Grade: C

Tommy Layne

Lefties are hitting .385 against him. Righties are hitting .143. Go figure. Grade: D

Robbie Ross Jr.

Not terrible, not great. Grade: C

Matt Barnes

His numbers are ok, but he hasn’t passed the eye test. I don’t trust this guy. Grade: B

Junichi Tazawa

Lefty’s boy owns a 0.93 ERA and a microscopic 0.621 WHIP. Good to have the old Taz back to hold down the late innings. Grade: A+

Koji Uehara

He’s had some rough patches which is worrying given his age. It’s too early to tell whether or not he’ll be able to regain his old form, but his load should be lightened with the return of Carson Smith. Grade: B-

Craig Kimbrel

Papelbon 2.0. His control abandons him at times which gets him into trouble that he can’t always escape. His 4.09 ERA is twice as high as we expected, but I’m not worrying yet. Grade: C-

Dave O’Brien

Comparing him to Don would be cruel and pointless. But he’s just not Don. He’s crisp, professional, knowledgable, and has interesting anecdotes. But he doesn’t giggle like Don did and he doesn’t have the chemistry with Jerry (not yet at least). Grade: A*

*but he’s no Don Orsillo

The offense has been spectacular, and the pitching is coming around. Bring on May.

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.

2016 Red Sox Roster Preview: Outfielders

red sox outfielders

Your 2016 Boston Red Sox starting outfield. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

The Starters

Left Field

Brock Holt

2015: 129 games (58 at 2B, 33 at 3B, 20 at RF, 8 at LF, 7 at SS, 5 at 1B, 2 at CF, 1 at DH), .280/.349/.379, 2 HRs, 8 SBs (1 CS), made 1st All-Star Game.

The Brock Star’s propensity for excellent production before the All-Star break and a precipitous decline afterwards carried itself to its logical conclusion last year. He earned an I-shit-you-not All-Star nod on the strength of his utility player heroics and .791 OPS, and then not-unexpectedly crashed down to Earth with a very pedestrian .653 OPS the rest of the way.

I guess what I’m saying is that you could do much worse than Holt as an opening day left fielder, but he’s probably better suited to fill in at other spots once injuries inevitably come into play. And that means a certain 27-year-old Cuban would-be phenom is going to have to step up.

Center Field

Jackie Bradley, Jr.

2015: 74 games (32 at RF, 27 at CF, 17 at LF), .249/.335/.498, 10 HRs, 3 SBs (0 CS)

That’s right, it’s everyone’s favorite mercurially talented outfielder, hopefully ready to finally lay claim to his rightful everyday spot in Boston’s outfield. When he’s not making catches at the wall look routine or throwing the ball from home plate over the center field wall for kicks and giggles, he could either be found going 5 for 40 (see May through July) or looking like Willie Mays’ secret mutant son (see August). This is a guy who had 55 hits last year, and most of them were for extra bases. So yeah. He could be pretty good.

Right Field

Mookie Betts

2015: 145 games (133 at CF, 11 at RF, 1 at DH), .291/.341/.479, 18 HRs, 21 SBs (6 CS), 19th in MVP voting.

Mookie slashed his way into the hearts and minds of Sox fans last year despite the team’s dreadful overall performance. He’s one of maybe 2 or 3 players that I think of as untouchable (in terms of trade discussions), and it’s as much for his bat as for stuff like this:

via GIPHY

Yeah, he’s tremendous. If both he and Bradley can come close to their performances at the plate in the 2nd half of 2015 – well, that would probably be too much to hope for, but it would be amazing. And it’s hard not to feel good about Betts in right field. He’s already proven that he’s more than capable of handling center, and it’s no slight against him that Bradley is a better fit for center field. Mookie is an incredible athlete, but he’s also a converted second baseman. And JBJ is a savant.

The Bench

Rusney Castillo

2015: 75 games (48 at RF, 24 at LF, 6 at CF, 2 at DH), .253/.288/.359, 5 HRs, 4 SBs (5 CS)

Not a super showing for Rusney last year, and that performance combined with his struggles this spring have led to Brock Holt starting in left field. So far, he can’t really run, he doesn’t walk, he doesn’t slug, he doesn’t hit for average, he plays okay defense, and he’s 28 years old. I’d say it’s now or never, except that the Sox are due to pay him $11 million a year for the next 4 years. Oh boy.

Chris Young

2015: 140 games (76 at RF, 55 at LF, 15 at CF, 2 at DH), .252/.320/.453, 14 HRs, 3 SBs (1 CS)

A Yankee last year, Young is a pretty durable guy, having played at least 100 games every year since 2007. He was an All-Star in 2010 for Arizona, and hey, you know, he’s pretty good. He had the 5th best fielding percentage among AL outfielders last year. You could do much, MUCH worse than Young as a backup outfielder. And we have (see Craig, Allen).

Stay tuned for more roster analysis over the next couple days as we scratch and claw to make this blog look respectable.