The All-Star break affords the opportunity to look back at the first half to see what went right and wrong for the thirty MLB teams. The Boston Red Sox are up next, and here is the pre-season post on the AL East.
| Statistic | Boston | AL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs per Game | 5.28 | 4th |
| Batting Averge | .265 | 7th |
| On-Base Average | .352 | 3rd |
| Slugging Percentage | .448 | 4th |
| ERA | 4.07 | 2nd |
| Strikeouts per 9 IP | 7.7 | 1st |
| Walks per 9 ip | 3.20 | 2nd |
| HR per 200 IP | 19.4 | 1st |
Those numbers are pretty much a sabermetrician’s dream, aren’t they? First or second in three true outcomes, and an offense that concentrates on getting on base and hitting for power. They’re even stealing at a 75% clip.
What Went Right
The bullpen is posting an ERA about one run lower than the starters. This allowed the Red Sox to carry Brad Penny, who doesn’t go deep in games, and survive the early season problems of Beckett, Lester and Matsuzaka. Now that Beckett and Lester are back to dominating, the bullpen lets them carry Smoltz and limit him to five or six innings of work. Penny can give up three runs in five innings, and the bullpen can shut down the opposition the rest of the way for a low scoring game and an overall low team ERA.
The Jason Bay deal looks better all the time, especially with the Manny suspension. Fifteen of his 20 home runs came with men on base this season, and he’s likely to blow away his career high in RBI. They caught lightning in a bottle with Nick Green, and Kevin Youkilis is posting the best numbers of his career.
Jason Varitek rebounded nicely after a down 2008. His batting average is still low, but he gets on base and hits for power at his career norms.
What Went Wrong
David Ortiz got off to a poor start, hitting .185 at the end of May. June was a very Ortiz like month (.320/.409/.653), but he’s back to hitting 200 in July. The difference, however, is that he’s hitting for power in July. If Ortiz was the Ortiz of previous seasons, this would be the rare combination of the best offensive and defensive team in the league.
Matsuzaka’s injury put a crimp in the rotation early. The Red Sox acquired enough depth to get through it however, and I’ve seen talk of sending Dice-K to the bullpen when he returns.
The Red Sox seem to be keeping the shortstop position together with duct tape. Green isn’t a long term answer, but Lugo is getting on base decently, and Lowrie is due back soon. With Lowell’s hip acting up and Varitek not getting younger, they may want to address third and catcher at some point. Don’t be surprised if a deadline trade includes someone for one of those positions.
Other teams in this series:
- Oakland Athletics
- Seattle Mariners
- Texas Rangers
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cincinnati Reds
- Houston Astros
- Chicago Cubs
- Milwaukee Brewers
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Baltimore Orioles
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Tampa Bay Rays
- New York Yankees
Posted by David Pinto at 8:29 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 3 Comments
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July 15th, 2009 @ 10:40 am
What makes you think Boston is the best defensive team in the league? UZR has them at 12th in the AL…
July 15th, 2009 @ 10:52 am
@Greg F.: I meant defense in terms of overall run prevention, not fielding per se.
July 16th, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
[...] baseball gets underway again, it’s nice to look back at the first half with David Pinto. It’s also nice to know that the Yankees haven’t fared well against good competition [...]