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Sickly Sox Regress To The MeanApril 28th, 2008
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Five days. That’s all it takes. From a six-game winning streak filled with memorable late-inning heroics to a five game nose-dive the Red Sox would like to soon forget as the team heads into its first off-day since April 7, a span covering 20 straight games played in between.
But with a run differential that didn’t match their spiffy 15-7 record heading into Wednesday’s contest against the Angels, the Sox were due for a little regression towards the mean—though, ideally, not in the span of 120 hours. Of course, a team-wide bout with the influenza epidemic of 2008 hasn’t helped matters.
Ravaged by a nefarious flu bug, the Sox were forced to dip into the depths of their system when ace Josh Beckett and the so-far-undefeated Daisuke Matsuzaka fell victim to the pervasive virus last week during a three game set with the Angels.
As a result of the unexpected scratches, Boston called up two starters from the minors—Triple-A Pawtucket right-hander David Pauley, a middling young arm who had previously made his debut in 2006, and fellow righty Justin Masterson, a top five prospect in the Sox system making the jump from Double-A Portland. In addition, Jon Lester took to the hill on three days rest in the middle game of the series.
While the Sox stole a win with Pauley on the mound instead of Beckett in the first game, the team dropped the next two to the Halos; though, a silver lining was provided in the form of the 23-year-old Masterson, one of the top tier blue chippers the Twins targeted in a potential Johan Santana-to-Boston deal this past off-season.
Equipped with a plus-plus sinker with heavy drop, the six-foot, six-inch Masterson, a second round selection (71st overall) out of San Diego State in the 2006 amateur draft, mastered the LA of A hitters for six strong innings, allowing one run on only two hits while striking out four and inducing his specialty—the groundball out—ten times on the day.
But the impressive effort went for naught in terms of a Boston win as the much-maligned underbelly of the Sox bullpen coughed up the lead without delay in the seventh inning, costing Masterson, ranked by Baseball America as the 64th best prospect in the game, a win his big league debut.
Still, the first-look at yet another highly touted prospect churned out by the ever-improving Theo Epstein-run player development machine helped lessen the bitter aftertaste from the loss.
Often compared to former Red Sox and current Dodger Derek Lowe, the imposing Masterson, aptly nicknamed “The Jedi” around the Interweb due to his last name, sits anywhere from the mid-80s to the low-90s with his sinking two-seam fastball, which he delivers at a three-quarters angle with the type of slinging motion that’s bound to make opposing batters uneasy in the box.
Despite being optioned back to Double-A Portland following the game, Masterson’s stay on the farm may not last the entire season as he could make a permanent impact on the big club by mid-season in the rotation or, more likely, in the bullpen as a middle reliever, an early season trouble spot for the Sox thus far.
BoSox Offense Looking Ill
Although the Boston pitching staff suffered the worse from the infectious flu, one would have assumed that it was the positional players that had been under the weather during a lost weekend in Tampa Bay.
At the very least, those pesky RNA viruses weren’t the only thing causing headaches and queasiness; the Red Sox lineup was just as sickening against the Rays as the offense scored a total of five runs and one lone tally over the last 23 innings of the three game series.
Yes, for the first time in history, the once lowly Rays swept the scuffling Sox with aplomb, looking like a team that will be a thorn in the side of playoff hopefuls all season long.
A coincidence, for sure, but since nixing the “Devil” from their moniker, the new incarnation of the Rays not only own the best bullpen earned run average in all of baseball but also appear to have the makings of formidable rotation once Scott Kazmir returns from a left elbow strain and joins the extremely underrated Jamie Shields and the always-talented-but-yet-to-put-it-together-until-now Edwin Jackson.
Of course, revamped and improved or not—and I do believe the future is bright in Tampa Bay, especially with the plethora of arms the organization has in the pipeline—one run over 23 innings? Really? One run? My inner-Harry Doyle is not pleased.
All the worse, the MIA offense wasted a pair of brilliant pitching performances from Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Utilizing his knee-buckling curve and devastating change-up with pinpoint command, the 23-year-old Buchholz, pitching with the slimmest of leads, held the Rays scoreless until the eighth inning. But with one down in the frame, a missed strike three call by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna extended a Dioner Navarro at-bat, allowing the pinch-hitting catcher to serve the very next pitch for a line single. A batter later, Akinori Iwamura launched a two-out, two-run blast to deep right on a hanging curve, one of the few mistake pitches thrown by Buchholz on the night.
Determined to play the stopper, Beckett matched up with Shields in a Sunday afternoon pitcher’s duel. Equally as dominant as Buchholz, the ace right-hander fanned a career-high 13 batters while scattering four hits and yielding two runs. But the slumbering offense, following a one-run outburst the day before, plated none, zippo, nada in support of Beckett’s seven strong.
A week ago, it was the offense bailing out shoddy pitching; now, it’s the offense failing to provide a measly run or two in support of superb outings. Ah, the unpredictable ebb and flow of a baseball season. And how quickly it can turn.
On the bright side, third baseman Mike Lowell, recovering from a sprained right thumb, is set to come off the disabled list Tuesday after completing a rehab assignment in Triple-A Pawtucket over the weekend. However, his replacements—a combo of rookie Jed Lowrie and veteran Sean Casey (now out with a strained right hip flexor)—have produced in his absence while Kevin Youkilis, moving across the way from first base, has played flawlessly at the hot corner.
But on the not-so bright side, David Ortiz was kept out of action for the final two games of the Tampa Bay series due to a bruised right knee suffered on an ill-conceived head-first slide into first. Off to a difficult start to the ’08 campaign, Ortiz had recently shown signs of coming out his April slump by hitting .298 with a .377 on-base and .532 slugging percentage over his last 11 games prior to Friday’s contest in which the beleaguered slugger finished 0 for 6 at the plate.
This, not the five game losing streak, is certainly the worse news of the weekend: it’s one thing for Ortiz to be off to a slow start, it’s another if his right knee, which proved to be problematic at times last season and required arthroscopic surgery in the off-season, is still giving him some discomfort.
To use a metaphor: if the Red Sox lineup, one-through-nine, constructs a house, then Ortiz functions as the foundation. Over the long-term, with the foundation weakened, the house will crumble. This past weekend, I think we saw a few bricks loosen and a shingle or two tear off the roof.
Needless to say, the Boston batting order needs a healthy and productive Ortiz. So, let’s ice that bothersome knee and can all future belly-flop freefalls into poor, unsuspecting bases, OK, Papi?
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