Monday, April 23, 2012

Are the Red Sox suffering a hangover from 2011 collapse?

Coming into the season, the Boston Red Sox were considered a legitimate playoff contender, despite an epic September collapse that saw the team blow a 9 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL Wild Card. The addition of Andrew Bailey was supposed to offset the loss of Jonathan Papelbon, who signed with Philadelphia. They also replaced Terry Francona with Bobby Valentine, who was supposed to bring more structure and discipline to the clubhouse for a team that supposedly lacked both under Francona.

Thus far in 2012, things have not gone as many had hoped for in Boston. The team has posted just a 4-10 record, and 2011 All-Star Jacoby Ellsbury will be out approximately six weeks after separating his shoulder sliding into second base. Carl Crawford has also yet to see the field this season, as he's recovering from left wrist surgery. Closer Andrew Bailey is also on the disabled list for thumb surgery, and the entire pitching staff has been abysmal, posting a league-worst 6.68 ERA. The team has decided to skip Daniel Bard's start, temporarily sliding him to the bullpen in hopes of shoring up their disastrous relief pitching this season. Bard thrived as the setup man to Papelbon the past two seasons, but was moved into the rotation this season.
The bullpen has been especially horrendous this season, as offseason acquisition Mark Melancon has already been demoted to Triple-A after surrendering 11 earned runs in just 2 innings (49.50 ERA). De-facto closer Alfredo Aceves hasn't fared much better, surrendering 8 earned runs in just 3.0 inning while converting just two of his four save opportunities. Throw in hideous performances by Vincente Padilla (9.82 ERA) and Franklin Morales (6.35), and the Red Sox bullpen is among the worst in the league.

Bobby Valentine has also had his issues including questioning Youkilis' commitment to the game in a recent radio interview. To this point in the season, Youkilis has struggled, posting .190/.271/.310 splits while recording just one home run, five RBI and 14 strikeouts against just three walks. Pedroia immediately stood up for Youk, and after meetings between Valentine and both players, things have apparently been squashed.

The lineup as a whole has been pretty solid, ranking in the top ten in batting average, runs batted in and slugging percentage, but still are missing both Ellsbury and Crawford, as they have just five stolen bases this season, and haven't been able to manufacture runs the way they did in 2011. Even with solid production from the lineup, the team needs better pitching from almost the entire staff, as the front end of the rotation (Beckett, Lester and Buchholz) have combined to allow 39 earned runs in 53.2 innings (6.54 ERA).

Despite all of their early-season struggles, this team does have enough talent to compete for a playoff berth this season. Whether this is a hangover from the Red Sox 2011 season, or just an early bump in the road of a long season, the team needs to get better production from the pitching staff. If not, then even the returns of Bailey, Crawford and Ellsbury won't be enough to dig the Sox out of their early hole.

No comments:

Post a Comment