That doesn’t mean that the questions that surfaced over the 2-10 start no longer have legitimacy. Several of the inquiries we received in the mailbag this week involved that miserable opening. Before they become a thing of the past, let’s explore some of those issues in the latest edition of the mailbag.
Thanks to all of those who submitted a question this week. Keep them coming.
1. Where will Carl Crawford’s final lineup spot be and when can we expect that resolution to be made?
— Bwonder
That’s the million dollar question. Crawford is a very good offensive player when he is going, but there aren’t many spots at the top of the order that seem to suit him right now. He was 3-for-32 without a walk in the leadoff spot. Dustin Pedroia is rather firmly entrenched in the No. 2 slot and the team wants to keep Adrian Gonzalez batting third. Crawford is not a cleanup hitter. It’s possible he finds himself batting between fifth and seventh going forward, but against some righties he has owned in the past, he’ll get some more looks at the top of the order. Do not expect a resolution per se, but some movement up and down the lineup based on the matchups.
2. Can we go ahead and call Jed Lowrie our everyday shortstop?
— EL
As tempting as it is to say so amid Lowrie’s incredible hot streak, the answer is no. Not yet. Lowrie will not hit .500, he remains inferior defensively compared to Marco Scutaro and his ability to play multiple positions still gives the team incredible value as a backup to others. If Terry Francona absolutely has to find a spot for Lowrie each and every day, he can by giving someone somewhere a rest. But there are so many established everyday players on this team that that is not possible. Expect Lowrie to continue to get the bulk or all of the starts at shortstop against lefties, as well as starts at third base and maybe even designated hitter. He’ll be in there four or five times a week, at least.
The one caveat in this is if the team explores a trade of Scutaro. There are a handful of teams that could use a veteran shortstop, and the Red Sox could use another arm or two, or perhaps some more catching depth.
3. Is it still too early to say that Jason Varitek needs to be behind the plate at least 50 percent of the games? I know Jarrod Saltalamacchia needs to get acclimated, but I don’t see the team making it all the way without the team captain behind the plate. The pitchers don’t seem to be as comfortable with Saltalamacchia. Your thoughts?
— Stephanie Dutra
As was the case with Lowrie, we had dozens of Saltalamacchia questions this week. Rather than give the same answer for each, I’ve chosen Stephanie’s offering.
To answer the first part, I don’t think Varitek will be in there more than half the time. He may get as many starts as possible when Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka are on the mound, as well as a day game after a night game here and there. But there will be no abandonment of Saltalamacchia at this time. He had a solid game his last time out, catching a quality Jon Lester performance and going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. I do think the Sox would benefit from having the captain in there two or three times a week, but Saltalamacchia is still their starting catcher and is starting to settle in.
4. To what do you attribute the sudden surge of power from Jacoby Ellsbury?
— VTSoxFan3
See that? Vermonters just know how to ask a question. There was no amount of editing on my part, nothing to make it readable or anything like that. Succinct, grammatically correct and pretty darn interesting.
For one, Ellsbury is now 27. Players often hit their prime at about this age, and part of that involves approaching their peak in terms of power. Ellsbury had some degree of pop in the past, but he has really driven the ball to right this season. It actually began in spring training, during which he had three homers.
Another reason why this might be happening is Ellsbury’s intense work ethic, which was only increased due to his injuries last year. Ellsbury made a renewed commitment to his strength training in an effort to bolster his core stability. Francona has discussed how his center fielder looks stronger top to bottom, and it takes much more than just big biceps to hit a baseball a long way. Increased strength in every body part will result in a few more home runs, and that’s what we are seeing with Ellsbury.
5. Tony, why can’t MLB go to some sort of electronic strike zone like the Amica Pitch Zone in a hand-held for the umpire so all he has to watch for is fouls, swings and hit by pitch? It seems like every ump has his own strike zone and some have different zones for different teams or even players. Either that or MLB should at the least hold them accountable — if they don’t maintain an 80 percent correct call average than they should have to go to school for a month without pay.
— Kevin
Detention for umpires? A radical proposal put forth by Kevin.
This might be a question better asked people under Bud Selig, but I do know that there is no desire to remove so much of the human element in one fell swoop. The umpires’ union wouldn’t allow it anyway. Also, there are systems in place to hold umpires accountable. The best of the best will work postseason series and All-Star Games. Those who miss a few calls now and again will hear about it from the league office.
Also, what fun is to watch a manager kick dirt on a hand-held device?
6. I’ve been watching a man with yellow headphones sitting behind the batter’s box for a couple of years now. Is he official or just a spectator?
— G. Young
Yo, G, as far as I know, that’s Jeremy Kapstein, a one-time “super agent” who has sat behind home plate for years now but only recently began sporting the headphones, presumably to cancel out the noise of the many yahoos on their cell phones calling their spouse at home to see if they are on TV.
7. Tony, when the catcher goes out to talk to the pitcher what is an example of what he might say. I have wondered about this and can’t seem to get an answer.
— Susan
Pizza toppings, postgame plans, cute girls behind the dugout. Each of these topics is explored when the pitcher and catcher meet. At times, they might actually discuss what pitch to throw in a certain situation.
Actually, it’s much more of the latter than it is any of the other items, although if a guy just needs to be calmed down for a bit, getting his mind off the matter at hand might help. Still, the two have to ensure they are on the same page. If one wants to throw a fastball in a 1-2 count with runners on the corners and two outs, and the other wants a curve, there’s a discussion that needs to take place. At times, if a runner is on second, they might want to alter their signs or put their heads together so that the runner cannot signal into the batter what pitch is coming. But mostly the pizza toppings.
8. How much should coaching and managing be blamed for this surprising start to the season?
— Gretchen
The interesting thing about the team’s slow start, before the last three games, is that the issues were up and down the roster. The starting rotation had many problems early on, the bullpen was up and down and we all know about the struggles with the lineup. But Francona has insisted that he and his staff be given as much blame for the losses as anyone on the field. He certainly doesn’t want the players pointing fingers at each other. On the other side of the coin is David Ortiz, who said that the front office and coaching staff has done everything to assemble a great team, and now it’s up to the players to perform.
Francona and the coaches cannot shoulder the blame for everything. It so often comes down to execution, and there wasn’t enough of that early on.
9. When will it begin to matter what the fans think? If we, as fans, can see that the pitching from Matsuzaka, John Lackey and Bobby Jenks is less than desirable, why can’t Francona see it? We desperately need better pitching, so what is Francona’s plan? Does he realize that many fans are getting to the point of frustration that makes us not want to watch the games? Don’t get me wrong, I love the Red Sox and always will, but this is unacceptable.
— Julie
OK Julie, lean back on the couch. Start with your childhood, and go from there.
In all seriousness, this is a massive overreaction. Sure, Matsuzaka and Lackey have been up and down in their Red Sox careers and the pitching was poor overall for the first two weeks, but this is not a team that is desperate for pitching help. To a man, they may deem some of their outings as “unacceptable” to them, but you have to realize as a fan that they will not have five 20-game winners and seven dominant relievers. And yes, Francona can see exactly what you are seeing, but he is part of a staff that is trying to get the most out of what these guys have to offer. Even if he was as frustrated as you were, any plans to fix it would fall more on the general manager than on Francona.
And Jenks? He had one rough outing. Are we not watching games because of that?
10. Tony, I was, unfortunately, at Monday night’s game against the Rays, and I noticed that Tim Wakefield was one of the few bright spots of the night. (I left after the sixth.) If Wake somehow does that consistently, and the starters continue to struggle, would it be an option to have him be bumped into the rotation and give a starter a night off? I know he’s in his last year(s) as a player, but I think five innings would be good for him.
— Soxfan34
The short list of replacements if one of the starters goes down is Alfredo Aceves, Felix Doubront (once he is stretched out) and Wakefield. It would take an injury, however, for Wakefield to get in there, and not just a few struggles here and there on the part of some starters. He is an insurance policy and a guy who will eat some innings out of the bullpen, but that’s about it for now. Not that he cannot give you five good innings, but the team won’t give him that chance just because someone like Lackey has a rocky start.
11. Do you read the comments under your blog?
— Soda
Not only do I read them, but I take to heart each and every insult. It takes plenty to come back day after day and blog every half inning, knowing that a dry recap of a 1-2-3 inning can just open me up for intense criticism.
Seriously, I do. I enjoy the back and forth between readers, but only when they are tasteful and the commenters keep things civil. A baseball discussion of any kind is a good one, and there are always comments which help me understand what fans are thinking, or which point out something I might’ve missed while wiping tears off my keyboard.
By the way Soda, I’m taking you out in Week 19 (inside joke, people).
12. Do batting practice pitchers ever try to pitch as if it were a real game in progress? Do they try to strike the batter out, or just serve “meatballs?” I should think that batters would benefit more from game-like pitches because that is what they are going to get later.
— Jim Bachmann
Thanks for the question, Jim. It’s not every week we get batting practice questions, so I appreciate the opportunity to tackle a new topic. And while getting the hitters into game-like situations sounds all well and good, that’s not the purpose of batting practice pitchers. They don’t necessarily serve “meatballs,” but they groove hittable pitches at a reasonable velocity.
The purpose of BP is to get the muscles warmed up that are needed to swing a bat. Whether the hitter wants to work on taking the ball the other way or whatever, that can be incorporated. But the pitchers (for the Red Sox this includes hitting coach Dave Magadan, and others) are not there to be mixing up speeds and trying to strike guys out.
In addition, several players need to take several hacks and it all needs to be done in a limited time. There is no time to be playing game scenarios.
13. Tony, how about Francona trying a fixed lineup and staying with it, like:
1) Ellsbury 2) Pedroia 3) Crawford 4) Gonzalez 5) Youkilis 6) Ortiz 7) Drew
8) Scutaro 9) Salty. Moving these guys around for every game just doesn’t make sense.
— Ron
Cannot have a mailbag without a lineup proposal. Your configuration has some merit, if everyone is hitting. But the way this team is built, there are many ways that Francona can move guys around and in and out of the lineup based on the opposing pitcher. He would love to be able to give players the same role every single day, just for consistency’s sake, but there is a very formidable bench filled with hitters who can have success against lefties. Look for varied batting orders for much of the season.
14. Hey Tony, Just a quick question .I thought that when we signed Carl Crawford we would have the fastest left and center fielders in the AL, but so far I have noticed a lot of balls going OVER their heads and hitting either the base of the wall, or the ground. Why don’t Crawford and Ellsbury play back a little further, and use their speed to come in, keeping the play at least in front of them. I think they are playing too deep. What do you think?
— Pete Conley
Usually, some of the better defensive, and speedy, outfielders will play a bit more shallow than others since they know they can get back on balls and by playing in they take away much of what is hit just over the infielders. I think back to Andruw Jones when he was in his prime as a center fielder with Atlanta. He practically was a fifth infielder when some hitters were up, because he could always get back on the ball well. If we are seeing Ellsbury and Crawford miss a few over their head, it’s likely a result of the pitcher grooving something. Ellsbury has actually made a couple of really nice catches going back on the ball in the past few days. Crawford misplayed a ball this weekend at Fenway that hit the wall, but it was not because he was too far in, he just didn’t get a good read.
I’ll keep an eye on this going forward to see if you are onto something, but my thought is that there were several hard-hit balls against Red Sox pitchers early on, balls that even the fastest, best-positioned outfielders would have a hard time getting to.
