There’s been action aplenty this week for the Red Sox, just nothing positive and much of it barely relating to baseball. I’m carrying a big stick this week and will not speak softly so saddle up kids. Let’s start wit the errors simply because they’re too juicy and I’m too itchy.
Errors
Honestly, could Josh Beckett be more of an arrogant boob? After missing a start and golfing on a day off when he should have been resting his sore back he got called out on it and told the media, “We get 18 off days a year. I think we deserve a little time to ourselves.” I have always thought that Beckett was a tone deaf dunce. Golfgate, his subsequent comments and next pitching outing proved it.
"Since his last start in 2011, Josh Beckett had 145 days off until pitchers and catchers reported on February 19. While exiled in sunny Fort Myers during spring training, Beckett worked a grand total of 19 innings over 4 starts in 32 days. Since the beginning of the the 2012 season on April 6, Beckett has started six games and worked 34 2/3 innings in 36 days. Oh, and by the way, the Red Sox were off five of those days."
When Beckett did return to the rotation after his 18 holes – ah – rest, he was beaten like a rented mule by the Indians, giving up seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings. Give Boston’s bullpen truth serum and ask them how they feel about that. Beckett is spitting in the face of fans who have to sacrifice a lot of hard-earned cash for some of the most expensive tickets in baseball that by the way pay for his over $400,000+ per start and I for one am sick on it. I’ve had enough. Beckett has to go for the good of the club and for management to prove once and for all to a more loyal than they deserve fan base that they’re simply not going to take this kind of crap from any player anymore. Period. End of story. Trade him, prove a point and stop the inmates from running the prison.
Other errors:
– Daniel Bard‘s (2-4, 4.83) two balk’s in one inning in a 6-4 loss to Kansas City.
– Marlon Byrd‘s little league misread of a liner to center field that let in a run in a 4-3 Sox loss the following night, again to Kansas City.
– The entire Red Sox team for an appallingly bad week of baseball. They were swept by the Birds at Fenway last weekend – the first time since 1997 – and lost two out of three to Kansas City. This comes on the heels of losing two out of three to Oakland to kick off the month. They lost to Cleveland on Thursday night and managed a 7-5 nail-biter win on Friday night after being up 7-1. That’s a lot of losing and a lot of bad baseball.
Runs
Although only being outscored 47 to 40 since last Friday, Boston once again found every conceivable way to lose, managing only two wins all week. The most impressive runs of the week have been away from reporters.
Boston starting pitching always allowed just enough runs to lose last week. The team ERA is 5.25, 29th out of 30 teams in major league baseball. Starting pitching is killing this team. Excluding Darnell McDonald‘s appearance in Boston’s 17-inning loss to Baltimore and Boston’s bullpen ERA was a stingy 1.16 over the past week. Boston’s starting pitching ERA was 11.15. With those kinds of pitching stats the opposing team grows fat bats it doesn’t matter how many runs you score.
Hits
Ryan Sweeney (.353) and David Ortiz (.352) continue to hit the well. The two currently occupy the third and fourth spots in AL batting leaders, eighth and ninth in all of MLB.
Boston has been less than a hit with fans and statisticians alike this week. This week’s power rankings clearly prove why getting off the mat and competing in the AL East will be a near impossibility this year for Boston. First, the division is consistently stronger this year then in years past. There are no off nights. There are no patsies in their division on which Boston hitting can feast or on which the pitching staff can skinny up their ERA’s. Boston tumbled 10 spots last week in MLB’s power rankings to 24th overall in the majors while the Orioles (6th, up 6 from 12), Yankees (9th, down 3 from 6), Rays (1st, up 1 from 2nd) and Blue Jays (8th, up 1 from 9) all have Boston in the rearview mirror.
MEDIC!
For all the latest news and analysis from BoSox Injection, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or with our RSS feed.
