After Loss To The Dodgers, Chris Sale Labeled Himself A "Liability" To The Red Sox (And A Reaction To Adding Andrew Cashner)

For a decent stretch here in Boston, fans had grown accustomed to some players and coaches passing the blame and failing to be accountable. Clay Buchholz was great at it. When asked about the 600-foot grand slam he’d given up in the second inning, he’d be the first to tell you that it was a good pitch and that he put it exactly where he wanted it. The batter put it exactly where he wanted it, too. On the moon. There’s a famous video mashup of John Farrell speaking glowingly about David Price’s pitches after a start in 2016, all while Price himself was trashing each and every pitch in his arsenal.

That’s not the case anymore. The Red Sox rotation, as well as Alex Cora himself, are the most accountable bunch I can recall. When they suck, they’ll be the first to tell you. Cora has even admitted managerial faults that he wasn’t even asked about before. It’s refreshing, but then after admitting your faults, they need to be corrected.

Back on April 16, Chris Sale made his fourth start of the season and got knocked around by the Yankees in the Bronx for four runs and a loss. He called his season to that point “embarrassing” for his teammates, family, the fans, etc. and then proceeded to post a 2.44 ERA over his next 12 starts with 124 strikeouts in 77.1 innings. There was a problem, he held himself accountable, and then he dominated from that point forward.

Now we’re back to April 16 again with roughly the same sample size. When Sale beat himself up to the media after that start in New York, he had made his fourth start and had a 8.50 ERA to that point. After Sale’s stretch of 12 dominant starts, he’s now allowed five earned runs in each of his last three starts. That’s 15 earned runs in his last 16.1 innings with opponents hitting .328 with a 1.027 OPS against him.

I mean, numbers like that are virtually impossible when Sale is at his best. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s not at his best or anywhere close. In fact, he called himself a “liability” after his most recent start against the Dodgers.

It’s been a weird season for Sale. He’s never posted an ERA north of 3.41 in his life and in that year, he was still an All Star. Through 19 starts this year, the lefty has pitched to a 4.27 ERA and a 3-9 record, not that a win-loss record matters all that much. What’s absolutely insane is that he hasn’t earned a victory at Fenway Park in over a year when he beat the Rangers back on July 11, 2018. That’s clearly not an indication of how he’s pitched at Fenway Park and mostly flukey, but still. It speaks to how odd things have been.

While Sale has certainly pitched well enough to win at least some home games since his last official victory at Fenway Park in 2018, the left-hander has a 4.11 ERA in 13 starts at home since that July 11 victory last year. For all the attention that we paid to Sale’s velocity at the beginning of the season, his velocity over this recent three-start shit stretch has been fine. If anything, it’s actually been up a little bit, averaging around 95 MPH.

The problem now with Sale, as it was at the beginning of the year, has been location. I pointed it out a week or so ago in the case of David Price. Back in 2016, the media and fans alike had a field day with Price as it pertains to the radar gun. Well, if you watch Price’s starts now, his fastball velocity is about the same now as what it was when people were freaking out. You never hear a word about Price’s velocity anymore. Why? Because he locates like a motherfucker. Watch a supercut of Price’s starts when he’s on. Nothing out over the plate. He’s painting corners, mixing his pitches, keeping hitters off balance and offering nothing to hitters that can be driven anywhere.

Sale’s slider is still one of the nastiest pitches in the game, no doubt. But when he’s leaving his fastball out over the plate, especially to right-handers, they’re not missing very often, as displayed in the north of a thousand OPS that hitters have against him in his last three starts. They’re hitting the ball, and they’re hitting the ball hard.

Back to the point about accountability, of course Sale called himself out after his start on Saturday, but he wasn’t alone. Cora called himself out as well, saying, “We need to get this right. That’s on us, the coaching staff.” Like I said, pitching record is hardly a good indicator of how well a pitcher is or is not doing, but aside from his 3-9 record, the Red Sox as a team are 6-13 when Sale takes the ball. That can’t happen when you’ve got your ace on the mound. For comparison’s sake, take someone like Eduardo Rodriguez — the Red Sox are 14-5 when he takes the mound this year, as he also leads the team in innings.

Stating the obvious, the Red Sox need to get Sale right. Something that plays into the team record for when a pitcher is on the mound, Rodriguez leads all of baseball in run support, as Boston has averaged 7.58 runs per game for the lefty. You have to scroll all the way down to 67th in the league to find Sale, getting 3.79 runs per game of support. That explains why the Red Sox were 6-6 during that 12-start stretch when Sale had a 2.44 ERA and led the world in strikeouts.

But you can’t blame run support when you’re giving up five earned runs a game. That’s on Sale, and he knows that. While accountability is great and, at times, can be refreshing, it’s the second half of the season and the Red Sox are fighting for a playoff spot. If they’re going to secure one, they need Sale to be Sale. If there’s a glass half full stance here, it’s that Sale has already had a shitty stretch in 2019 and bounced back with a stretch of dominance three times as long. Do that again.

Final score: Dodgers 11, Red Sox 2

Side note — The Red Sox traded for Andrew Cashner on Saturday. Some quick thoughts on that: I am a fan of this move. He was the Orioles Opening Day starter, which obviously isn’t saying much, but is expected to be the Red Sox’ number five starter now that the plan is to move Nathan Eovaldi to the bullpen to solve Boston’s late-inning problem. On the year, Cashner has a 3.83 ERA in 17 starts, which would give him the second lowest ERA in the Red Sox rotation behind Price (3.24). I think that speaks more to how poorly everyone else in Boston’s rotation has performed than to how well Cashner has performed, but nonetheless, it’s a good pick up.

The right-hander has also been outstanding since the start of June with a 1.41 ERA in five starts. The strikeouts aren’t really there (18 SO in 32 innings), but Cashner is a clear upgrade over what the Red Sox have been trotting out there in Eovaldi’s absence. Since Eovaldi went down in mid-April, five different pitchers have combined to make 16 starts and posted a 6.79 ERA, a 1.66 WHIP and a 2-7 record. While Cashner might not be a “name” per se, he’s an upgrade over what you had going on and he makes the rotation better.