There were no nights like this last season. No nights where anyone thought, even for a second, ‘you know, there could be something going on here.’ Last season the Red Sox lost a lot. There was nobody there to see it. They were the tree that fell silently in the forest except it was a tree that was struck by lightning, cut down, shoved through a chipper, turned into toilet paper, and used in a port-a-potty.
This season feels much different. No port-a-potty TP here, at least not yet. Certainly not last night as the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays and ace Hyun Jin Ryu at Fenway Park, 4-2. They did this on the strength of a few core players, one in specific who wasn’t a part of the TP-fest that was the 2020 Red Sox.
A while back I made the comparison between this group and the 2013 team. It’s not perfect, but there are some throughlines. While some may focus on the free agent acquisitions the two teams have in common, what stands out most to me are the star players coming off down seasons, the ones that were written off but emerged as strong as ever to power their teams the next season.
The 2012 team hit fine, or at least the core did, with the exception of Jacoby Ellsbury who had a particularly rough season, but the pitching in 2012 was just bad. Jon Lester, Felix Doubront, Josh Beckett, and Clay Buchholz were all 10-20 percent below league average, while Daisuke Matsuzaka had an ERA almost 50 percent below the league average, and John Lackey missed the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. All those guys had much better seasons in 2013 or were gone from the roster before that season began.
We’re just three weeks into this season but you can start to see glimmers of a similar narrative forming once again. J.D. Martinez reprises the role of Ellsbury, but like in 2013, the big turnaround comes on the mound, and the part of Lackey will be played by Eduardo Rodriguez, and that brings us to yesterday.
A quick interlude: Have you checked out the Sox Outsider Podcast? I had a couple great episodes with fun guests this week. I had Bryan Joiner of Over The Monster on this past Sunday to go in-depth on the Red Sox roster, and Monday I spoke with Jonah Birenbaum, formerly of The Score, about the Blue Jays and the AL East. Give them a listen! The podcast is available where ever you get your podcasts, or click here for a list of sites that feature the Sox Outsider Podcast. Thanks!
Eduardo Rodriguez Was Good
You might not have known it if you were playing fantasy baseball or if you just checked the line score, but Rodriguez had IT last night. He pitched with finesse, he pitched with power, and he pitched with purpose. Yes, he got jacked twice, so he wasn’t perfect. Once Rodriguez left a changeup up in the zone, and Bo Bichette hit the ball to yesterday, thus breaking time travel for future generations. Jerk. The other homer came in the seventh inning when manager Alex Cora unexpectedly sent Rodriguez out to start the inning, despite finishing the sixth at 88 pitches.
Grichuk hit Rodriguez’s second pitch of the inning out, a slider that was at the very bottom of the zone. It was not a terrible pitch at all, but one that had less movement than Rodriguez was shooting for, and that was enough. Cora pulled him after that. Even so, the man spent most of the game in the left hand lane, hand on top of the steering wheel, sunglasses firmly planted on the bridge of the nose. He commanded his pitches, moved them around the zone, and wound up with 13 total swings and misses, at least one on each of his pitches according to Baseball Savant. His final line looked great if you forgive the extra homer or chalk it up to managerial over-exuberance. But even if you aren’t so generous, it was a good performance, and a promising one. In six plus innings he gave up just the three hits, the two homers and a swinging bunt off the bat of Bichette who I think was out at first, but was called safe on a very close play.
Three hits, two runs, six strikeouts, and a walk is a great line and it’s such a relief to see Rodriguez dealing after what happened to him last season which he missed due to COVID-19 and an associated case of myocarditis. It’s great for him and his family that he’s fully healthy and great for the Red Sox that he looks on top of his game once again.
Now do Chris Sale.
X
Bogaerts has had a strange season to date. To my eye he’s struggled in the field more than I’ve ever seen. He’s never been the rangiest shortstop, but he always made the required plays and maybe just a few more besides, and that package worked just fine because he’s so smooth and such a fantastic hitter. Over the past four seasons Bogaerts has an OPS 38 percent above league average, which for anyone is great but for a shortstop is, dare I say, scrumtrulescent.
This year fielding has been more of a difficulty. He’s missed on quite a few routine plays that any major league shortstop should make (I don’t want to think about what thoughts are going through Chaim Bloom’s mind when Xander bounces a throw). What’s more, at the plate he’s been very good, if a bit hit lucky (example: today’s “double” which was a fly ball the Toronto left fielder badly misplayed). You won’t catch me complaining about a .435 on-base percentage, especially on a team that doesn’t take many walks otherwise, but the power just hasn’t been there. No homers entering tonight, until…
Hyun Jin Ryu tried to sneak a fastball by him on the inside corner and Xander got it. I mean, he GOT IT. I’m not sure if the pitch was supposed to be down, that’s where catcher Danny Jansen tapped his glove to indicate where he wanted it just before Ryu threw, but there was a runner on second at the time, so it could’ve been a decoy signal. Either Ryu missed his spot by a fair bit (up instead of down) or he put it where he wanted it and Xander crushed it anyway. Works for me either way. A good swing and a good sign for the Sox star shortstop.
Competition
It’s worth noting again a point I brought up with Jonah Birenbaum on the latest Sox Outsider Podcast, that the Red Sox have had a bit of a tough schedule to date. The Twins, White Sox, and Rays aren’t an easy slate. The Jays are right in line there as well, a good team that should challenge for the playoffs. The only meatballs so far have been, well, Baltimore twice. That’s two meatballs I guess, one which the Sox profoundly swung and missed on and the second they crushed into the Monster seats.
Then there’s the pitching. The Twins hit them with Kenta Maeda and Jose Berrios. The White Sox brought Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel. The Rays threw Tyler Glasnow and the Jays have pitched Ryu. Not all pitchers have been aces, but it feels like an abnormally large number have been. And so far, Boston hasn’t had a problem. Sure they’ve been shut down by a few guys this year (John Means comes to mind) but they got to Giolito, they got to Berrios, and they got to Ryu. Actually, what they did to Giolito goes beyond “got to” but we’ll save the flowery language for now. The Red Sox offense has been for real so far, and they haven’t done it by crushing Triple-A call-ups and back end types.
And, bringing it back to yesterday’s game, it’s worth noting further that they hit Ryu without Rafael Devers or Alex Verdugo in the lineup, both of whom got the night off (though Verdugo did come in to play left for J.D. Martinez in the ninth).
The schedule doesn’t get easier, nor should it. But this team seems more up to the challenge than we’ve seen in a few seasons. There is a camaraderie that certainly wasn’t there in 2019 or 2020. The season remains young. There is much time left. But this is officially a good start.
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I believe in Xander, but he’s never bounced this many throws. Wonder if his shoulder is OK