Red Sox Mid Season Report Card
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Boston Red Sox have reached the All-Star break at 51-37. And while 88 games represents 7 more games than the mid-point of their 162-game schedule, we still consider the All-Star break the unofficial midway point of the baseball season.
logo
Kevin Youkilis (A-): Youk is second on the team in batting average (.293) and leads the team in OBP (.406) and slugging percentage (.575). He’s tied for the team lead with homeruns (18) and RBI’s (57) with David Ortiz and is rock solid defensively. He should have been an All-Star.
Dustin Pedroia (A-): Before the injury, Pedrioa was doing everything you would expect from the diminutive second baseman. He’s hitting .292 with 12 HR’s and 41 RBI’s and it a true catalyst for this team. He was also slected to the A.L. All-Star team.
Marco Scutaro (B): The 11 errors are a career high for Scutaro at shortstop in any one season. However, he has done well at the plate hitting .283 which is 16 points above his career average with 4 HR’s and 28 RBI’s.
Adrian Beltre (A-): The only thing preventing this from being an A+ was his early season defense which has been much better over the last month and a half. Offensively he has been outstanding! He leads the team with a .330 batting average and has hit 13 HR’s while driving in 55. He will be playing in the All-Star game in Anaheim tomorrow night. We don’t hear anyone crying for Mike Lowell’s return, do we?
J.D. Drew (B-): His numbers haven’t been all that bad - .275, 10 HR’s, 42 RBI’s and he has played in all but 10 of the teams games thus far. Still, a hamstring here, a quad there, it’s always something with Drew making you question how tough this man is and whether he has the guts to play through nagging injuries. Even with his solid glove in right, he still hasn’t lived up to the 14 million dollar a year deal he was signed to despite what his general manager says.
Victor Martinez (B): V-mart is one of the many walking wounded currently on the shelf. But, before he broke his thumb, he was having a solid offensive season and was voted to the All-Star team. Defensively, he still struggles to throw out baserunners.
David Ortiz (A-): An “F” for April and an “A+” for May, June and July so far. Papi’s resurgence at the plate was a big reason that this team took off in late May when they were trailing Tampa by 8 ½ games in the division race. His 18 HR’s and 57 RBI’s are all you could ask for at the break.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron (incomplete): Ellsbury was to be your starting left fielder with Cameron in center but injuries have limited their play. Thank goodness for the surprising contributions of players like Daniel Nava, Darnell McDonald and even Eric Patterson who have all done their best to fill the voids left by these two.
Jon Lester (A): He is the ace of the Boston staff and one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. He’s 11-3 with a 2.78 ERA and leads the team in innings pitched (120) and strikeouts (124). There are not enough superlatives to describe his pitching to this point.
Clay Buchholz (A): Red Sox management thought that Buchholz had the stuff to be a top of the rotation starter which is why they have resisted trading him the past couple of years. They have been proven right. Before his hamstring injury, Buchholz went 10-4 with a team best 2.45 ERA. Real good stuff!
John Lackey (D): The Red Sox spent a lot of dough this offseason for Lackey to be a top 3 pitcher in their rotation and so far he has pitched like a #5 starter. Don’t let the record (9-5) fool you! That’s more the product of a productive offense. All of the other numbers are not good. His ERA is 4.78. He’s given up 135 hits in 113 innings of work and his strikeout to walk ratio of 1.47 is the worst of his career.
Tim Wakefield (C): Give his age and the fact that he throws the knuckleball, he has pretty much done what was expected from him. He hasn’t been great. He hasn’t been horrible. Just okay.
Josh Beckett, Diasuke Matsuzaka (incomplete): Beckett should be thrilled that he receives an incomplete because in his 8 starts he was pretty much horrendous! Hopefully he returns and is much closer to the ace that he is being paid to be. As for Matsuzaka, our expectations have been lowered so much for him that he has actually been somewhat of a pleasant surprise since returning. Hopefully he can keep it up.
Jonathan Papelbon (C): Not the best first half for the Red Sox closer. He doesn’t trust any pitch other than his fastball and he’s not locating it like he should. Hitters are sitting dead red on his fastball and having some success. He’ll be okay if he does a better job of spotting the fastball or finding a reliable second pitch to mix in.
Daniel Bard (A-): Is he the heir apparent to Papelbon as closer? Maybe. With the exception of a few shaky outings, he’s been very reliable.
Hideki Okajima (D+): I feel almost guilty assigning him this grade because he has been such an unexpected find for this organization. Still, this is not a career grade, it is based on only this season and the lefthander hasn’t been up to snuff.
Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen (D-): I don’t know about you, but I have zero confidence when these two enter the game. Ramirez may have the flattest fastball I have ever seen which is why he gets rocked by big league hitters. Delcarmen’s problems may be more between the ears. Either way, it’s not good.
Terry Francona (A): I have as much respect for Terry Francona and the job he has done here in Boston as I did for Joe Torre when he was in New York. Francona seems to puch all of the right buttons and sticks with players (see David Ortiz) when the rest of Red Sox Nation has given up on them. And Francona always seems to be right. If he’s guilty of one thing, it may be sticking with a struggling starter one or two batters too long. Still, the man has done an outstanding job!
Related Articles
- The 2010 Red Sox: What You See Is What You Get!
- The Boston Dead Sox
- 2010 Red Sox: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
- Still Too Early to Write Off the Sox?
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It