Second, the Sox showed resiliency and explosiveness
offensively today. Gonzalez and
Pedroia are swinging well and we got contributions up and down the lineup. I don’t think anybody doubts that the
Sox are going to be among the league leaders in runs scored again this season.
Now obviously the pitching staff is in shambles. The focus is on the bullpen, but if we
could get a starter to go 6 or 7 strong innings, there wouldn't be so much
pressure on the bullpen in the first place. Beckett was abysmal and Buchholz was not much better. I feel like it is last September all
over again. More than anything,
their downfall last Sept. was due to a lack of pitching depth and their
inability to find starters who could get through 6 innings. The Bailey injury and subsequent
Aceves/Melancon meltdowns have gotten the most discussion, but I feel like the
most important issue facing this team is finding some quality starts.
I'm looking forward to seeing Doubront and Bard starting
games 4 and 5. There will be a ton
of pressure on Bard. If his first
start stinks then even those who are in the "give him a month as a
starter" camp will be hard-pressed to keep from changing to the "make Bard the closer" camp. Lost in
all the discussion about whether or not Bard should be moved back to the
bullpen is his potential as a starter.
His poor pitching lines in spring training (while he was learning what
it is to prepare for a game as the starter and not in the bullpen) has
overshadowed the fact that he has a dynamite arm and a couple of suitable
off-speed pitches. I wouldn’t be
shocked if he ends up being their second or third best starter by the end of
the year if he isn’t yanked back and forth from the ‘pen to the rotation and
back to the ‘pen (how’d that work out for you
Joba/Yankees?).
Speaking of the closer - Aceves and Melancon melted down
(again), but today was the only loss that can be put squarely on their
shoulders (or a combination of Buchholz/Aceves/Melancon’s shoulders) - Thursday
was the Verlander show. That said, neither has shown that they
have the stuff to get hitters out when it matters most. Yes, it has been two appearances a
piece against a team, as noted above, who can absolutely rake. But I think it is becoming clear that
we are not going to have a closer this year with the stuff of Papelbon or Bailey.
So who gets the next save opportunity? My guess is Franklin
Morales. Bobby V has already shown
that he will not have the patience to stick with a lineup or a player who is
not performing. Two games in he
benched Youk. After getting shut
out he changed the batting order around the next day. Tito used to stick with his guys in the same roles and same
spots for months without producing – I think it’s fair to say Bobby V will
not. Morales has pitched 2 and 2/3
innings with 3 K’s and only one hit given up. So far, he has been brought in to face a lefty, Fielder, but
his career stats show that he is not any better against lefties than he is
against righties (more about this in my upcoming column breaking down the
entire bullpen). And while Morales
did throw a wild pitch today and only threw 3 first pitch strikes to his 7
batters (indicating he hasn’t exactly solved his control issues), he is the
only pitcher to show he can come into pressure situations and get outs. Plus, if Aceves or Melancon get the
next save chance and blow it again, they may never recover the confidence of
their manager, teammates, or fanbase.
As we close the door on a disappointing series to open the
season, let’s all remember the good news: the Yankees are also 0-3. There should be just as much panic and
just as many questions in the Bronx after this weekend as there are in the
Nation. Now let’s go get some
victories in Toronto!
Great column Brandon! I agree with all your points including the impressive Tigers, the Sox offense, the lack of quality starting pitching and Bard as closer/starter. Morales certainly looks like a candidate for closer as well as Padilla, but those guys may not be available until Tuesday and there is no off day until Thursday so who knows it may be Bowden or Atchison as the closer tomorrow (hopefully that means we are up by 5+ runs).
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the breakdown of the bullpen as they are certainly the lightning rod story early in the season. Unfortunately it's not going to get any easier in Toronto they have a very good offensive team as well with Lawrie, Bautista and others.
On a different note can we blame today's loss on Don Orsillo? He had a classic all time jinx in the bottom of the 11th after Melancon got the first out he said something like, and I'm paraphrasing, "With Aceves struggling the Sox appear to be looking for a closer and it looks like Melancon may be the guy. As soon as he said that I immediately had visions of a disaster which soon came to fruition.