Month: August 2015

The Post-Koji Era Starts Poorly.

Posted on August 12, 2015 in Game Recap
Marlins walk off with the win against Koji-less Red Sox. (Photo by Joe Skipper/Getty Images)

Marlins walk off with the win against Koji-less Red Sox. (Photo by Joe Skipper/Getty Images)

Somehow between Friday and yesterday Koji‘s X-Rays went from being negative to positive, and from him joking about missing the rest of the season, to him actually being slated to miss the remainder of 2015. This just about the worst piece of news the Red Sox could have received in regards to winning baseball games this year.

However, the Red Sox must continue to play and flew into Miami for a quick two game set with the Marlins, who are tied with the Phillies for the worst record in baseball. The game went entirely according to plan until a certain point late in the game (can you guess which inning?).

Steven Wright had the hill and was rock solid once again:

Pitchers IP  H  R ER BB SO HR ERA
Wright 5.0+ 5 2 2 5 4 0 4.09

He put two runners on to start the 6th and got the hook. Of course, the bullpen allowed both runs to score, but still a solid outing.

The offense did their job in support of him, building a 4-0 lead heading into that disappointing 6th inning.

Mookie Betts made his triumphant return to the Boston lineup and got right back into the swing of things with an RBI single in the 3rd and an RBI double in the 5th. He was 3-5 with two RBIs.

Jackie Bradley Jr. had two more hits, including a triple, and scored two runs. He’s been much more aggressive at the plate which is good to see. The only hypothesis I could come up with as to why he rakes at every single level besides the majors is because of his approach. I think MLB pitchers took advantage of his patience and pumped in strike one and strike two, meaning JBJ was always hitting behind in the count. That means he was seeing a steady diet of major league quality “out pitches”. That’s not a recipe for success no matter who you are. Swinging earlier in the count can help Jackie see better pitches to hit, and will also keep pitchers honest earlier in the count. Once he piles up a bunch of hits early in the count he’ll ideally be able to settle back into his old approach with greater success.

He also did this in the field:

I think what Lefty said the other day is dead accurate: he may be the best outfielder I’ve ever seen in my life. That’s why it’s so hard to give up on this guy. If he can even hit a little bit, he’s incredibly valuable.

Xander scored on a wild pitch and Rusney Castillo had a RBI triple to round out the Sox’ scoring at 4. After the two aforementioned Wright runs and another surrendered by a combination of Layne and Ogando in the 7th, the Red Sox entered the 9th inning with a 4-3 lead.

To be fair, new closer Junichi Tazawa came into the game with the thinnest of margins, but he certainly didn’t excel in his new role. The first batter of the inning hit the first pitch he saw 410 feet to dead center, but the yard held it for out #1. He then surrendered back-to-back singles and uncorked a wild pitch, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. The next batter, Adeiny Hechavarria, lifted a sac fly and the game was tied. The save was blown. Koji’s absence was already felt.

The Red Sox went in order in their half of the 10th. In the bottom of the frame they brought in Craig Breslow who gave up a leadoff triple to Dee Gordon. Having a runner on 3rd with nobody out means the Marlins had an 84% chance of scoring Gordon and winning the game that inning. Breslow went to Yale and smartly surrendered a walkoff single to Justin Bour two batters later, as to not disturb the statistical norm of the situation that he found himself in. Game, Miami 5-4.

Notes:

–Xander was 2-4 and is still raking.

Bradley Dazzles, Henry Owens Has Big Feet

Posted on August 10, 2015 in Game Recap

Look at the lettuce! Look at the intensity! (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Henry Owens left the mound with the lead for the second time in two major league starts, and this time the bullpen didn’t blow it. And Jackie Bradley, Jr., of all people, made sure that the lead was a little more comfortable for the relievers who’d have to protect it in the final innings. Before we get into it, though, the Sox made one pretty notable transaction after the game ended.

Justin Masterson was designated for assignment.

He was actually moderately effective in this matchup. He was the first reliever in the game for Owens, who’d started the sixth inning by giving up a ground rule double to Ian Kinsler. But he gave up a leadoff solo home run to first baseman Jefry Marte in the 7th, and that was it for his Red Sox career. Marte, whose career has spanned all of 16 major league games so far, pimped the hell out of it. One of the cockiest bat flips of the year. Anyway, like Masterson said himself later, he was on a one-year deal in Boston and he wasn’t part of any future plans, especially considering his 2015 performance.

The Sox struck first, in the bottom of the 2nd. With two outs and Alejandro De Aza on first, Blake Swihart reached on an error by Kinsler and Josh Rutledge beat out an infield single to load the bases. Bradley drew a five-pitch walk for his first RBI of the afternoon, and Brock Holt managed another infield single, bringing Swihart home to give Owens a 2-0 advantage.

After another quiet inning for Owens, he got into trouble very quickly in the 3rd. He walked Rajai Davis to start things off (control is probably Owens’ biggest issue), and Davis stole second on a 2-0 pitch that sailed high and outside to the backstop, allowing him to take third base as well. The 6-6 Owens nearly managed to strand Davis at third, but he eventually gave up a two-out RBI single to Victor Martinez to make the score 2-1, Boston.

The 4th and 5th innings were pretty quiet for both teams except for, oh yeah, Jackie Bradley channeling Willie Mays on an over-the-shoulder catch to deep center on a fly ball by Marte.

Between Masterson’s effective relief inning for Owens in the 6th and the solo shot he gave up to Marte in the 7th, Bradley took a high inside fastball from lefty Tom Gorzelanny to right center for a solo home run of his own to make it 3-1.

With the score 3-2 after Marte’s bomb and a clean 3 outs from Robbie Ross, Jr. in relief of Masterson, the Boston offense got to work immediately. David Ortiz and Travis Shaw put together back-to-back singles to start the inning (Ortiz’s was a ground ball to the third base side that no one had a chance at because of the shift). De Aza bunted to advance the runners and was just barely out at first. But after Ian Krol struck out Blake Swihart, the Sox had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and the lackluster combo of Rutledge and Bradley coming up next in the order.

Somewhat curiously, the Tigers elected to intentionally walk Rutledge (slashing .143/.250/.143 in 6 games with the Red Sox) in order to bring up Bradley for the lefty-lefty matchup. Bradley worked the count full before lining a triple to right field to drive in his third, fourth, and fifth runs of the game. Brock Holt singled to bring Bradley home for good measure, and that wrapped up the scoring for the game. 7-2, Boston.

Both Junichi Tazawa, in the 8th inning, and Jean Machi, in the 9th, were effective. Tazawa had a clean inning, which hasn’t been the norm for him recently. Marte was robbed again in the 9th on a deep fly ball when Rusney Castillo made a terrific running catch.

So hey, the Red Sox won the series! Unfortunately, they’re going to need to do a lot more than that to get back within spitting distance of 2015 significance. They’re going to have to get the brooms out for at least three or four series (probably more like six or seven), and soon.

Notes:

1. Hanley Ramirez had the day off after hitting a foul ball off his foot the other day, and he spent it by measuring Henry Owens’ foot size with sunflower seed packs. John Farrell doesn’t get it. Orsillo is the best part of this:

2. Owens showed off a good pickoff move to catch Anthony Gose in the 5th.

3. A summary of Jackie Bradley, Jr.’s excellent day:

Red Sox Lose Heartbreaker to Tigers, 7-6

Posted on August 9, 2015 in Game Recap
David Ortiz Big Game

Papi was 3-4 with a double, a home run and 3 RBI. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

This game was a good metaphor for the season as a whole.

The starter looks unhittable the first few times through the order, then falls apart. The offense is strong, but the pitching falters (sometimes it’s the other way around). Certain individuals shine, but the team is inconsistent. Stretches of great baseball – and hope – followed by incompetence.

Wade Miley started the game strong, cruising through the first four innings, allowing only one man to reach second base and striking out 5. In the meantime, the Red Sox plated two runs on a Travis Shaw sacrifice fly and a Rusney Castillo fielder’s choice.

Then in the bottom of the 5th Miley gives up a two-run tater, to Connecitcut native Rajai Davis of all people, to tie the game at two. It was only Davis’ 3rd homer of the year.

In the top of the 6th Big Papi, who has been absolutely raking in the 2nd half and had a monster game, launched a solo home run to right, once again giving the Red Sox the lead.

In the bottom of the 6th, Miley would give up a single, a double, a single, a wild pitch, and another double, allowing the Tigers to jump right back on top 5-3.

HOWEVA. The Red Sox came roaring right back, plating three of their own in the top of the seventh, two of which came on a David Ortiz single, bringing the score to 6-5 good guys. It was at this moment that I briefly allowed my mind to wander.

The Red Sox are playing pretty well. You know, they’re only 10.5 games out of the Wild Card. If they keep getting decent starting pitching, and one of the young starters really steps up … Mookie should be back soon, and Pedroia can’t be far from returning … Shaw should finally be able to give them decent production from first … Man I’m still gonna miss Mike Napoli … the only thing standing between this team and a playoff spot (besides every other team in the American League) is the bullpen … Koji seems to be fine, and Robbie Ross Jr. was good yesterday, and Ogando had that one good outing that one time, and  Tazawa is the man! Look two quick outs. And a single to Kinsler big deal …

And a two-run homer to Victor Martinez, and I was back to reality. Not just about the bullpen, but the entire train of thought reversed course and pulled back into the station. I then started writing the obituary for the 2015 season, but I think it’s still too early for that. I’m not harboring any delusional thoughts about a long post-season run, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to be played, and who knows what will happen.

Baseball is great because the draft is such a crapshoot, and the rewards of drafting well are so delayed, that rooting for the Red Sox to tank for a better draft pick doesn’t really happen. You, as a fan, can watch all the games and be genuinely happy each time the Red Sox win. There are a lot of talented players on this team and a lot of intriguing storylines to follow. Who knows, maybe after De Aza is shipped to a contender for cash or a PTBNL Jackie Bradley Jr. will hit .350 the rest of the way, Castillo will keep hitting, Sandoval will volunteer to play first, Hanley will move to 3rd, Owens and Johnson have sub-3 ERAs, and all of the sudden our entire lineup and 4/5 of the rotation is set for 2016.

Notes:

-Papi was 3-4 with a double, a homer, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored and a truly professional walk in the top of the 9th that allowed the winning run to come to the plate. He’s now only 11 longballs shy of 500 for his career.

-The Blue Jays beat the Yankees again, and are now only 2.5 games out of first.

 

Napoli Traded, Koji Injured, Sox Victorious

Posted on August 8, 2015 in Game Recap
napoli traded

We'll miss you, Mike.

Before anything else: Boston traded Mike Napoli to the Rangers on Friday in a post-deadline deal, for cash or a player to be named later (hopefully a player, because cash is boring). Like I’ve said before, the Red Sox were unlikely to keep Napoli next year, so it was best to get something, anything for him while they still could. I might say that this move is an indication of giving up on the season, but Nap was such an offensive detriment to the team this year that Travis Shaw or anyone else has a good shot at improving on his production in what’s left of the season.

The Red Sox didn’t tell their usual story on Friday night. They got out to an early 2-0 lead against recent Blue Jay and current Tiger Daniel Norris on a 2-out, 2-run double in the first inning by Hanley Ramirez, who knocked in Rusney Castillo and Xander Bogaerts, both of whom singled. Even better, David Ortiz hit a 2-out, 2-run home run in the top of the 3rd, bringing in Castillo again, who’d singled for the second time. 4-0, Boston.

Meanwhile, Joe Kelly got out to a hot start, looking dominant in recording his first six outs of the game by way of strikeout around two first-inning singles. He put most of them away with some nasty-looking breaking balls. Both the 2nd and 3rd innings went in the books as 1-2-3 frames.

The Sox got another run in the 4th inning as the result of a rally that started with a single by Jackie Bradley, Jr. of all people. Buck Farmer (amazing name) relieved Norris after he gave up another single to Brock Holt, advancing Bradley to third. Jackie ended up scoring on a would-be double play that never turned from second base to give Kelly a 5-0 advantage.

But Kelly couldn’t keep us his total dominance, giving up a single to Ian Kinsler to start the 5th and a ball in the gap to Victor Martinez that should absolutely have been a double. But Jackie Bradley tracked it down, somehow making it look fairly easy. Kinsler had already advanced past second base and had to turn on the jets to make it back to first before Bradley’s laser throw hit Travis Shaw’s glove at first. It was impossibly close for the degree of difficulty involved. He really probably is the best defensive outfielder alive.

Unfortunately, Kelly wasn’t able to completely capitalize on the defense behind him, immediately giving up a 2-run home run to J.D. Martinez, his 30th of the season. With the score 5-2, Kelly got the last out of the inning by picking off Tyler Collins, who’d singled despite a tremendous diving effort by Xander Bogaerts, at first base.

Kelly also got help from his defense in getting out of the 5th inning after giving up a walk and a single to start things off. Center fielder Anthony Gose lined to Holt at second, who tossed to Bogaerts to double off Alex Avila.

Boston got two more runs in the top of the 6th inning. Ryan Hanigan was hit by a pitch (he’d later get removed for Blake Swihart) to lead off. Bradley grounded into a fielder’s choice and Castillo singled for the third time on the night, and Bogaerts hit a sharp ground ball double down the third base line to bring both runners around and make the score 7-2.

After starting the 6th inning with a walk to Kinsler, a fly out by Victor Martinez, and a double by J.D. Martinez, Joe Kelly was lifted from the game and replaced with Robbie Ross, Jr., who did an excellent job in a 2nd and 3rd, 1 out situation, getting a pinch-hitting Rajai Davis to strike out swinging and third baseman Nick Castellanos to ground out to second.

Jean Machi had his first decent outing as a Red Sox reliever in the 7th, giving up a double to catcher James McCann but nothing else. Justin Masterson had an equally decent inning in the 8th, giving up only a single to J.D. Martinez, who ended up a triple short of the cycle. But Masterson ran into trouble in the bottom of the 9th, giving up a leadoff double and a walk before striking out McCann. Gose walked too, and with the bases loaded and 1 out, John Farrell elected to bring in Koji Uehara to seal the win.

In a way, it worked out great. Koji got the last two outs of the inning for the unorthodox save. But the last out of the game came on a hard line drive back at the closer, who put his right arm in harm’s way to stop the ball and took the ball hard off his wrist.

He fielded the ball and threw to first for the game’s last out, but was in obvious pain as he came off the field. X-rays on Uehara’s wrist came back negative, which is positive! And these tweets should explain why Koji is the man: