One Of These Days, The Red Sox Will Score Runs For Drew Pomeranz, And It Will Be Glorious
In their last four games, the Red Sox have outscored their opponents 28-7, and somehow managed to go 2-2.
The “best offense in the league, my ass” crowd is pounding their collective fists on the table after these last two games, and they might have a point here. In their last two games, the Red Sox are 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position. They only managed to score one run yesterday, and it was because Chris Young came off the bench to hit a pinch hit home run in the eighth inning. Edwin Jackson came into Monday’s outing with a 6.26 ERA, and managed to blank the Red Sox over seven innings, while punching out 11 batters. Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded into two double plays to strand a total of four runners, Yoan Moncada had his first shit game at the dish, going 0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts, Dustin Pedroia went hitless for the first time since ‘Nam, Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, including one in a crucial at-bat with the tying run at third base in the 8th inning. The list goes on and on.
Jurassic Park was out in full force after the loss on Monday, joining forces in an attempt to write off run differential as a valuable statistic because of four games. That’s like David Price being the runner-up for Cy Young last year, having a 7.06 ERA after four starts this year, and then trying to discredit ERA as a valuable unit of measurement for a pitcher’s performance. It’s all about sample size. You can’t say that run differential is useless when the Red Sox blow teams out of the water, and then do the same when they lose a couple of one-run games. You’re essentially proving my point that it all evens out over the course of a 162-game season.
Poor friggin’ Drew Pomeranz, though. Guy came here from San Diego, joined the “best offense in the league”, and the Red Sox scored 11 runs for him in his first start with the team. Must’ve thought he’d never lose another game with run support like that. Since then, though, Pomeranz has made nine starts, and the Red Sox are averaging 2.4 runs per game for him, while the left-hander has an ERA of 3.35. The Red Sox are 3-6 in those nine games. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are averaging 6.75 runs for Rick Porcello (leads MLB), 5.83 runs for Steven Wright, and 5.62 runs for David Price, all of which are top 10 in the MLB.
You hear that violent wind blowing? Here comes the spin zone. Since August 1, the Red Sox have four starting pitchers in the top 15 in ERA in the American League — Eduardo Rodriguez (2.57, 8th), Rick Porcello (2.61, 9th), Drew Pomeranz (2.76, 10th), and David Price (2.87, 12th). Red Sox starters, combined, have an ERA of 3.12 since August 1, best in the American League, and second to only the Cubs. The league average over that span is a 4.50 ERA for starting pitchers.
Also, one more silver lining, Joe Kelly has looked really good in the two appearances he’s made since the Red Sox called him back up. Full disclosure, I have a bias against Kelly, because I think he’s a mega pussy for blocking every single Red Sox fan who has ever said anything mean about him on the internet. Most of it is justified for how terrible he’s been for the bulk of his Red Sox tenure, so I have every reason to question his mental toughness as a late-inning reliever if you can’t handle a little Twitter trolling. But you’ve gotta like what you’ve seen so far — two appearances, an inning in each, one hit, four strikeouts, no walks.
He’s not just throwing his straight as an arrow four-seamer anymore. He’s giving hitters something else to think about, instead of just trying to blow everybody away. Kelly has averaged 99.39 MPH with his fastball since being recalled, which is impressive, but a major league hitter is going to crush that if it has no movement, especially if he knows that it’s coming. However, of his four strikeouts, he’s gotten one on a curveball, and another on a slider. Curt Schilling made the point on Twitter that you can’t just add movement to a fastball, because then it just becomes a completely different pitch. What he can do, instead, is mix in other pitches for strikes, thus making his fastball more effective. It seems like that’s what he’s finally done.
Final score: Padres 2, Red Sox 1
Radio plug: I’ll be slapping Mazz around on the Baseball Reporters tonight at 6pm ET on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Feel free to call in and join the party.