Red Sox Strut: First baseman Mitch Moreland, RHP Doug Fister
A weekly article series where we examine two players who deserve to strut their stuff for the Boston Red Sox. This week – Mitch Moreland, Doug Fister.
If you want to fully understand what the Red Sox Strut is, it means to have reason to walk with a confident, proud air around you. Some people mistake it for vanity, arrogance, or being pompous. This incorrect assumption is not what we mean. The Strut is about knowing that your deeds showed off your amazing skills to the baseball-loving public.
It wasn’t a great week for the Boston Red Sox. The team has dropped four straight after being swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles, shrinking their division lead to a mere 2.5 games.
The O’s needed that sweep to get back to .500 this season. It hasn’t been their year, yet they seem to have Boston’s number. The Red Sox are 6-10 against Baltimore, so while they remain far outside the race for the division title the O’s are still playing the spoiler role.
The Players Weekend uniforms were a great idea, in theory. After Boston dropped all three games wearing them, the players should follow Chris Sale‘s lead and cut those uniforms to shreds.
Speaking of Sale, he’s coming off his worst start of the season in Cleveland. The Indians roughed him up for six earned runs in only three innings. It’s the second time this month Sale has been blasted by Cleveland and his struggles against a potential playoff opponent are becoming a concern.
A disappointing week can still have a silver lining. Here are some of the bright spots from last week.
Position Player Candidates
The Red Sox have counted on Chris Young to help fill in while Jackie Bradley is on the disabled list. He responded by going 3-for-10 (.300) with a double and a walk. Solid numbers, although he failed to drive in a run and was one of the main culprits behind Boston leaving 13 men on base in Sunday’s loss to Baltimore. Young struck out to end the third inning with runners on the corners and flew out to end the fifth with the bases loaded.
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Xander Bogaerts is finally breaking out of his second-half slump. He went 7-for-24 (.292) last week with two doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBI. He’s still batting a meager .221 since the break, but his .259 average this month is nearly 100 points higher than his miserable July.
It was a fairly uneventful first week with the franchise for Rajai Davis. He did collect his first pair of hits in a Red Sox uniform, going 2-for-8 for the week. He was also caught stealing on his only attempt. Last year’s league leader in steals will have better success on the bases, which is one of the several ways he can contribute to his new team.
Eduardo Nunez was only 6-for-29 (.207) last week, but he homered in consecutive games to help the Red Sox split the four game series in Cleveland. He led Tuesday’s 9-1 route with a double and a home run, driving in five RBI.
Position Player who gets to Strut
Mitch Moreland is heating up again after a toe injury derailed his performance in July.
The veteran first baseman went 6-for-20 (.300) last week with three home runs and five RBI. Maybe we need to update his Players Weekend uniform to say Four-Bags.
Wednesday’s 6-1 final score may give the impression that the Red Sox ran away with the victory, but that wasn’t the case. Boston struggled to do much of anything against Indians ace Corey Kluber until Moreland’s solo shot in the fifth inning. The Red Sox would do most of their damage against Cleveland’s bullpen, but it was Moreland that got the offense going.
The following night was an ugly loss for the Red Sox as Sale imploded against Cleveland. Moreland ensured it wasn’t a complete disaster by collecting three hits, including a pair of home runs. He drove in four of Boston’s six runs to at least create the illusion that a comeback was possible.
If the home runs weren’t enough, Moreland showed his versatility by pitching a scoreless inning in Friday’s loss to Baltimore. It was the second time in his career that Moreland has pitched in a major league game. He kept his scoreless streak going, but don’t expect him to extend it further anytime soon.
Pitching Candidates
Drew Pomeranz earned his 13th win of the season by blanking the Indians over 5 1/3 innings. Four walks contributed to an early hook, but Big Smooth struck out nine while outdueling Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber. Pomeranz is now third in the league in wins, fifth in ERA and eighth in K/9 rate. He’s been one of the league’s best pitchers in the second half, posting a 2.35 ERA since the break while piling up seven wins without a loss.
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There were no save opportunities this week, but Craig Kimbrel still made a couple of appearances. He tossed a pair of scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out four.
The Red Sox pitching staff was hemorrhaging runs in Friday’s embarrassing loss to Baltimore, but it was Robby Scott who finally stopped the bleeding with a clean eighth inning. Scott logged 1 2/3 innings last week, retiring every batter he faced.
Fernando Abad pitched in a couple of mop up appearances, allowing a run over three innings of work. He still can’t be trusted in a tight spot unless he’s brought in only to face a lefty, but his 2.92 ERA is far better than any of us could have expected after his disastrous stint in the second half of last season.
We already touched on Moreland’s scoreless inning on the previous slide. In a week where Boston’s pitching staff was routinely hammered, it doesn’t hurt to reiterate one of the few bright spots.
Pitcher who gets to Strut
The pitcher who had the best week on this pitching staff is also the one who entered with the lowest expectations. With the Red Sox desperate to put up a fight in an otherwise dismal week, they called on the Fist to save them.
Doug Fister‘s record may show 1-1 for the week, but he pitched brilliantly in both outings.
His first outing started out with a solo home run to Indians leadoff hitter Franciso Lindor. While the initial reaction was to assume Fister was on his way to being shelled again, that homer turned out to be the only hit the right-hander would allow the rest of the game. He became only the third pitcher in the modern era to pitch a complete game in which the only hit he allowed was a leadoff home run.
Fister took a hard-luck loss on Sunday after allowing back-to-back RBI doubles in the first inning against Baltimore. He settled down to make it through seven innings without allowing another run but ultimately lost 2-1 when his offense stranded 13 runners.
There were some brutal outings when Fister was inserted into the rotation, but he’s recovered to become a surprisingly solid No. 5 starter. He’s lasted over six innings while allowing no more than three runs in four of his last five starts. Over that time his abysmal 6.04 ERA has dropped to a more palatable 4.53 ERA.
Next: Is Sale tipping pitches?
Who knows when or if the Red Sox will get David Price back this season. At least they can now feel confident sending Fister out every fifth day in the meantime. If he keeps up his recent success, Fister may even make a case for earning a spot in the postseason rotation.