The Red Sox Had An Opportunity To Make Up Some Ground Against The Shitty A's And Lost Three Of Four
Aren’t you sick of talking about silver linings when it comes to this 2017 Red Sox team? I’m always looking for a reason to look at the bright side, but they’re making it really fucking difficult this year.
It’s Monday, so this would normally be the time when I’d go over Sunday’s game, but just because they managed to avoid the four-game sweep with a win yesterday doesn’t mean we should avoid talking about how huge of a disappointment the series was overall. To drive home the point of how pathetic the Red Sox performance had been over the weekend, I kept referring to them as the “last place A’s” but then I realized that they’re not in last place anymore because they got to beat up on the Red Sox for three games. Embarrassing, really.
The Red Sox lost on Thursday when Hector Valazquez made his major league debut and got rocked for six earned runs in five innings. Friday night, they wasted another gem from Chris Sale, who struck out ten batters for the eighth consecutive start when Heath Hembree gave up a walk-off bomb in the 10th. And then they got smoked again on Saturday when Drew Pomeranz SHOCKINGLY only lasted four innings.
This fucking guy’s a joke. He’s made eight starts for the Red Sox this year, and he’s averaging 4.2 innings per start. There are 101 pitchers in the MLB who have made at least 8 starts, and only two of them have averaged fewer innings per start than Pomeranz. TWO! Both Chad Kuhl and Tyler Glasnow of the Pirates have averaged 4.1 innings, so it’s literally the smallest gap possible between Pomeranz and the two starters who have averaged the fewest innings per start throughout the entire league.
And then Pomeranz had the balls to bitch out John Farrell in the dugout after he told him his day was done after needing 97 pitches to make it through four innings. Get the fuck outta here, guy. You obviously want to see your starter hate having the ball taken out of his hand, but Pomeranz has absolutely NO ground to stand on here. If this were Sale, then you’d love it because he’s averaged more innings per start than anybody in baseball this year (7.1), but Pomeranz? He hasn’t pitched more than four innings in a start since May 3. Fuck this guy.
I also think it says a lot that Pomeranz felt comfortable enough to disrespect his manager like that, too. Like, who is Drew Pomeranz to push back against a very justifiable decision made by his manager, especially after he had been removed from his last start with an injury? Just a theory, but perhaps he’s getting some “fuck the manager” vibes from others in that Red Sox clubhouse, which would allow him to feel more comfortable with having an exchange like this, especially in a public setting. These types of blowups aren’t uncommon, but they usually take place in the clubhouse, far away from any cameras that might capture the moment. He, apparently, didn’t care who saw this. I found that interesting and worth reading into.
On the positive side of things, Eduardo Rodriguez continues to fly under the radar as one of the bright spots this season. Sale and Craig Kimbrel have been phenomenal, and I don’t think that “phenomenal” is the word to describe what Rodriguez has been if Sale and Kimbrel’s performances are the bar that you have to reach, but he has been really, really good. Rodriguez went 8 innings on Sunday, allowed three earned runs and stuck out eight with just one walk. It was his sixth consecutive quality start, while the Red Sox improved to 6-3 in games that he’s started. Not that he’s been as good as Sale, but the Red Sox are also 6-3 in games that Sale has started.
Rodriguez is second to Sale on the Red Sox staff in ERA (3.10), WHIP (1.09), and innings per start (6.0). And what’s crazy is that if David Price were healthy to begin the season, then Rodriguez might’ve started the year in Pawtucket. Steven Wright was out of contract options, and Dave Dombrowski had said that Pomeranz was penciled in to be at the back end of the rotation, so you would’ve had Sale, Price, Rick Porcello, Pomeranz and Wright with no Rodriguez, who has easily been your next best starting pitcher behind Sale.
Offensively, Mitch Moreland had himself a series. He had been cold for quite some time, hitting .167 with a .574 OPS over 22 games from April 21 through May 16. Over his last four games, he had that ground rule double that started the rally for Boston in that 13-inning victory in St. Louis last week, and then he homered in three straight games in Oakland, his only three hits in that series. We’ll take it, though.
Final score: Red Sox 12, A’s 3