What is Up with the Sox

What is the deal with the Sox?

When is this team with a $166,770,400 payroll going to turn it around and compete in this division where the other four teams are within one game of each other? It is mind blowing to think that with the fourth highest payroll in the league, and having $100,000,000 more on the books than a Tampa Bay team who has made more with less than I have ever seen, the Sox are eight games under .500 and seven games out of the division.

            Boston is in the bottom half of the American League in home runs, average, runs, and RBI’s despite having a lineup that includes David Ortiz, Mike Napoli, Dustin Pedroia, Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. Having the fifth most hits in the AL is sort of a bright spot showing that the opportunities are definitely there but the team is just under performing right now.

           

Not all players have been a huge disappointment this season though, and a big reason for that is our middle infield. Dustin Pedroia is playing his typical scrappy game, with a stat line of .306/.367/.452 to go along with 9 homers and 33 RBI’s. This season may finally be the breakout year for the young Aruban star striking the impressive stat line of .294/.327/.409 with 3 home runs and 33 RBI’s. Hanley has done his part as well belting a team leading 15 home runs and a .282 average, but here comes the injuries. His talent has never been a question but his ability to stay healthy over the course of a season has always been an issue. Just ask Florida (now Miami) and the Dodgers. As for the Kung fu Panda, his hot start fizzled and while he is not playing badly, he is definitely not living up to the big money contract he so happily signed. These batting woes are nothing compared to our pitching issues so far.

            Going into the season it was known that our pitching was going to be a weakness of the team; no one imagined it would turn into this much of disaster though. With a league worst 4.38 ERA and a BAA of .265 it is no question that the magic John Farrell used to work is no longer present, leading to the firing of highly regarded pitching coach Juan Nieves. Three of the starters have ERA’s north of 5 (Porcello 5.54, Masterson 5.58, Kelly 5.67) with Porcello making over $20,000,000 this year. Anyone miss John Lackey’s scowling face now? I know I do.

           

The young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez who had a 0.50 ERA through his first three career starts has now ballooned over four runs, which was to be expected from a young rookie. It is clear that the rotation needs more than the energy of a young pitcher if the Sox want to make a second half push and win the division, which to me is still very winnable. Buchholz has shown flashes of Cy Young stuff but tends to follow up that start with a disaster performance that has me swearing uncontrollably at the TV. Masterson returned to the rotation Sunday with five shut out innings against the Rays so let us all just hope and pray he may return to his 2011 form.

So with all of this bad news how is it possible I still believe this team could make a push and actually win this division? Faith. And maybe a little luck. Taking a quick look at the other teams in the division it is possible to see that Boston could in fact make a run. Tampa Bay may have one of the best pitching staffs in the league, but their offense has scored the third lowest amount of runs which could pose a serious issue if their young pitchers start to struggle and without John Maddon pulling rabbits out of his hat, I could see that young team start to fall after the break.

The damn Yankees leading the division has to be one of the most painful things to see again because although we have struggled two out of the last three seasons it was comforting knowing they were right there with Boston. Tanaka is clearly not the same pitcher and is one pitch away from ending his season, not that I would ever root for a player to hurt themselves, and Sabathia is no longer even a decent fifth starter anymore.  That Yankees offense is back to being the bombers though second in the league in homers but it may be safe to bet that A-roid, Teixeira, and McCann could start to slow down come August.

Toronto has a potent offense that is filled with sluggers but their pitching is definitely suspect lead by the knuckleballer RA Dickey and their back end of their bullpen has been more than unreliable. Baltimore is the team that could give us the most trouble in winning this division. An all around solid team both offensively and with their pitching, led by Buck Showalter it would be hard to see this team crumbling.

The Red Sox are seven games back but the door is definitely open for them and they are trending upwards heading into the All-Star break, going 3-1 during their last road trip. If they can finish strong and pull off some trades to help bolster their rotation, cough Cueto cough, than they could find themselves in the hunt. A lot of the pressure would fall on their leaders in Ortiz, Pedroia, and Napoli along with some spark out of their younger players Betts and Bogaerts. If all those pieces don’t fall into place I would not be surprised if some familiar players such as Napoli, Buchholz, and Uehara aren’t seen around Fenway and some of their staff start to come under fire. Sorry Farrell you can only do so much.