Red Sox Strut: Catcher Christian Vazquez, RHP Rick Porcello
A weekly article series where we examine two players who deserve to strut their stuff for the Boston Red Sox. This week – Christian Vazquez, Rick Porcello.
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.
The Boston Red Sox inched closer to clinching a playoff spot by going 4-2 last week, dropping their magic number to five for a postseason berth and 11 for the division title.
The stretch of seven wins over the last 10 games has been equaled by the New York Yankees, keeping their division rival within three games in the division race. The team that falls short will almost certainly still make the playoffs, although Boston must keep fighting to avoid the uncertainty of a one-game Wild Card round.
Avoiding a scenario where one off night can end your season is incentive enough to win the division, but it’s even more appealing now that the Cleveland Indians have vaulted to the American League’s best record. The Tribe’s incredible 22-game winning streak was finally snapped, yet evidence that this team is actually still capable of losing a game doesn’t make them any less dangerous. An ALDS meeting with Cleveland could lead to another humiliating sweep, which should be avoided at all costs.
With just over a dozen games left on the schedule, it’s looking like the Red Sox may avoid that fate, or at least delay it until the next round. If these Strut-worthy candidates can stay hot over the next two weeks they should be able to wrap up their second consecutive division title.
Position Player Candidates
Andrew Benintendi tied for the team lead with eight hits last week, posting a .333 average and knocking in six RBI. He also swiped his 19th base of the season, leaving him one steal and one home run shy of becoming the third Red Sox rookie to join the 20/20 club.
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The highlight of the week came from Mookie Betts on Tuesday when he homered twice and tripled against the Oakland A’s, driving in six runs. That put Betts over the 20 home run mark, making him the first Red Sox hitter to post consecutive 20/20 seasons. The downside of this week came on Sunday when Betts exited early with a thumb contusion. He claims it’s not serious but even if he doesn’t miss more time it’s worth monitoring if the injury affects his swing.
A 3-for-3 performance on Tuesday convinced manager John Farrell to move Xander Bogaerts into the leadoff spot, which he’s occupied for the last five games. Bogaerts has collected five hits over that span, although four of them came in one game when the lineup exploded for 13 runs. He’s 1-for-15 at the plate in the other four games since moving to the top of the order, so it’s a bit premature to call the move a success.
Jackie Bradley went 7-for-22 (.318) last week with a pair of home runs. Both long balls, unfortunately, came in losing efforts. His two-run blast following a leadoff walk by Brock Holt broke up a no-hit bid by Jake Odorizzi in the sixth inning but would prove to be the only offense the Red Sox could muster.
Position Player who gets to Strut
All Christian Vazquez does is hit. Among Red Sox hitters who appeared in more than one game last week, Vazquez led the way with a .375 average. He also added his fifth home run of the season and drove in three runs.
Vazquez continues to rake at Fenway Park, where he owns a .372 average this season. His average is nearly 150 points lower on the road, although it was encouraging to see him collect three hits in eight at-bats during the series in Tampa Bay.
Entering as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Friday night’s marathon against the Rays, Vazquez contributed a base hit to help start a rally. He was replaced on the base paths by Rajai Davis, who would ultimately score the tying run that sent the game to extra-innings.
That game was followed by a two-hit performance by Vazquez on Saturday. It was only the seventh time all season that Vazquez has produced a multi-hit game on the road.
We are long past the point where Farrell needs to have his head examined anytime he starts Sandy Leon at home in a game where Chris Sale isn’t on the mound. If Vazquez continues this recent trend of hitting on the road, his workload should increase regardless of venue. While the larger sample still shows Vazquez struggles on the road, it’s not as if Leon has been more productive.
Pitching Candidates
Eduardo Rodriguez was solid in both his starts this week. He held Oakland to one run over six innings to pick up a win last Tuesday, then took a hard-luck loss against the Rays when he allowed only two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. E-Rod has been inconsistent since his return from the disabled list in July but he’s turning things around at the right time. In three September starts, Rodriguez owns a 2.55 ERA and has struck out 24 batters in 17 2/3 innings.
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Drew Pomeranz earned his 16th win of the season, tied for second in the AL. He held the A’s to one run over six innings, lowering his ERA to 3.28, which ranks fifth in the league. Pomeranz would be the ace of the staff on many teams and would be getting a lot more buzz if not for being overshadowed by Sale.
The scoreless streak by Austin Maddox to begin his career has reached 12 1/3 innings following three more shutout appearances last week. He’s walked only one batter and struck out 10 in his brief career. The sample remains small but Maddox is starting to earn enough trust to warrant a spot on the postseason roster.
David Price looked sharp in his return, tossing a pair of clean innings out of the bullpen on Sunday. He struck out two, retiring all six batters he faced on an efficient 21 pitches. Price touched 95 on the radar gun and showed the ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes. Much has been made about his postseason struggles but we’ve seen him thrive on that stage out of the bullpen before. Don’t be surprised if he makes a positive impact for the Red Sox in October.
Pitcher who gets to Strut
Rick Porcello hasn’t had many opportunities to Strut this season but his latest outing is one he can feel good about.
The right-hander looked to be back in Cy Young form against the struggling Rays lineup on Saturday. Porcello earned his 10th win by shutting out Tampa Bay over 7 1/3 innings. He only struck out three batters against a lineup striking out more than any team in the league of late, but only walked one and scattered five hits.
It was the third time this season that Porcello lasted longer than seven innings and the first since he went eight in Los Angeles on July 23. It was only the second time that Porcello made it through a start without allowing an earned run and the first time he has done so since April 19 in Toronto.
With only two starts remains this season, Porcello is assured of avoiding the dreaded scenario of becoming the first Red Sox pitcher since 1930 to lose 20+ games in a season. He currently sits at 17 losses and no Red Sox pitcher has lost more than that in a season since 1965.
Next: Betts improves after changing batting stance
It was never reasonable to expect that Porcello would repeat his breakout 2016 season but we had hoped that he wouldn’t revert back to his abysmal 2015 form. At least the results from this year haven’t been as bad as his first season with the Red Sox. Going forward, we should expect somewhere in the middle of those first two years in Boston, which is about where he’s at now.