Many of you have been asking me how come I have not written about the Boston Red Sox slow start to 2010. The reason I have not written about the team yet is because I wanted to gather all my thoughts and really think about what has happened so far.
If I wrote about how I really felt at times, then something like “I would love to punch J.D. Drew in the face to wake him up” would have been written. I would probably write the same thing about Alfonso Soriano if I was a Chicago Cubs fan.
So here are my thoughts on what is going on Boston so far this year.
David Ortiz looks old. Ortiz looked old for a good part of the 2009 season and looks ancient through the first 10 games of the 2010 season. I had Ortiz as the “key” to the Red Sox offense in 2010 and if he looks like this in July, Boston may be toast.
Ortiz is hitting just .158 and has struck out 15 times in 38 ABs going into last night’s action. If he can’t turn it around, the Red Sox will have a black hole in the middle of their lineup.
Defense is still a problem. The Red Sox sacrificed defense for offense in the offseason. However, that philosophy has not worked out so well so far. The Red Sox have made errors in 13 games, which is third worst in the American League.
It’s a trickle down effect. When Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron were healthy, the Red Sox had a very good defense and a good offense. Now that they have been both placed on the 15-day DL, the Red Sox have just a good defense and a mediocre offense.
The Red Sox were putting Bill Hall in center field before they called up Josh Reddick and Darnell McDonald. That was just not going to cut it.
If your defense becomes weaker, which makes your already suspect offense weaker, then what do you have?
A single is a double. Theo Epstein addressed all the Red Sox defensive deficiencies except perhaps the biggest one: behind the plate. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pitch when your catcher(s) can’t throw anyone out?
Do you remember back in Little League when that was the case and how frustrating it was to pitch or even play defense? Well, that is what the Red Sox are going through right now.
Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek just can’t throw anyone out trying to steal. It’s really embarrassing at this point.
Red Sox catchers have allowed 30 out of 31 base runners to steal a base. That included last night’s 9-for-9 effort by the Texas Rangers. Any time Vladimir Guerrero and his Mark Eaton-like running ability steal two bases on you in a game, you know you have issues.
Teams are running at will and walks and singles become doubles and triples. Here is what I would do if I was Epstein.
I would put Martinez as the DH, bench Ortiz, and find the best available defense catcher in the majors or in the minors. I don’t care if the guy bats .200 for the remainder of the year. They need a guy who can slow down the opponents running game.
Essentially they need their version of Francisco Cervelli.
Jon Lester needs to get going. I know Lester is a slow starter, but he really needs to get it going. Three starts, 21 hits, 15 runs, and an 8.44 ERA in 16 innings.
The same thing that was plaguing Lester early last year, seems to be plaguing him again this year. He's not consistently hitting his spots. Lester will strike out the side one inning and then walk two and give up a home run the next.
If the Red Sox want to have any chance of turning it around, Lester will need to turn it around himself.
So the question is do I think the Red Sox can turn it around? I will say if they can get a defensive catcher, then yes. If not, teams are just going to run all over them and put too much pressure on the pitching staff, causing them to miss their spots.
Oh and yes, I still would like to punch J.D. Drew in the face to make sure he is alive.
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