Boston’s struggles are also well documented, but as the Sox get set to open a big week against AL East rivals Baltimore and Tampa Bay, the Sox are just one game under .500. That’s nothing to throw a parade over, but with the way things have gone this season, reaching .500 would be a nice step in the right direction.
The Red Sox were able to get out of the City of Brotherly Love with a series win on Sunday thanks in large part to Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s gargantuan blast to dead center field.
Salty’s success is where we open this week’s 6-4-3.
Six Red Sox Thoughts
1. Salty (and Shoppach) giving Red Sox one of best catching duos in baseball right now
When you’re still under .500 on May 21, there probably isn’t a ton to be happy about, but the play of Red Sox catchers — especially Jarrod Saltalamacchia — has been encouraging. The veteran backstop has had a power surge of sorts this year, hitting seven home runs and driving in 19 runs, helping to contribute to a .888 OPS entering play on Monday. The exclamation point came Sunday when Saltalamacchia blasted a 466-foot home run off of Cliff Lee. His work behind the plate has been impressive, too, and don’t forget that Saltalamacchia has caught Josh Beckett‘s last two starts, arguably his two best of the season. Saltalamacchia isn’t alone in playing well, either, as Kelly Shoppach has been a serviceable backup as well.
2. Beckett coming around?
Josh Beckett turned in another fine performance on Sunday afternoon, giving him two strong starts in a row after reaching his low point on the season against the Indians following the lat issue and an ill-timed golf outin. Beckett’s velocity looks like it’s where it should be — in the neighborhood of 93-94 mph — but his secondary stuff has been just as good. That was especially the case Sunday where had both his curveball and changeup working. The curve was vintage Beckett, and the changeup was as good as we’ve seen it, sitting at about 87-88 mph with some real good downward movement. The Mariners and Phillies certainly aren’t scoring 10 runs a game or anything like that, but it’s a step in the right direction for Beckett.
3. Youkilis return on the horizon
It sounds like Kevin Youkilis could be back with the team this week in Baltimore. It will certainly be an interesting situation to watch play out. Will Middlebrooks has become a fan favorite in Boston, but it should probably be Youkilis’ job when he gets back. If he’s healthy, he’s still a valuable member of the lineup. If he’s contributing, it makes sense to let him play (and maybe drive up his market value?) while letting Middlebrooks continue to play every day down in Pawtucket.
4. Miller time in the bullpen
Andrew Miller has been maddening in the past with constant battles with inconsistency. He’s been the model of consistency this season, however, and has been virtually unhittable. He’s yet to give up a run since returning to Boston, and he’s striking out hitters at a rate (11.4 per nine innings) that’s four K’s per nine innings higher than his career average. He’s also dominated left-handed hitters to a .103 (3-for-29) average between Pawtucket and Boston, and he could prove to be a valuable left-handed arm in the pen moving forward.
5. Sweeney endearing himself to Boston
With Andrew Bailey on the disabled list and Josh Reddick raking in Oakland, it would be easy to say that Billy Beane fleeced the Sox this winter with that trade. Ryan Sweeney, though, has been a very pleasant surprise in Boston in the season’s first quarter. He had his finest moment on Saturday night with an absolutely incredible diving catch against the Phillies. He plays the game hard every night, and he’s even been a nice addition to the lineup thus far, hitting .311 up to this point. He’s come as advertised in terms of power, though, meaning he’s shown none.
6. Another big week on tap
It’s another important week for the Red Sox, as they’ll face the AL East’s top two teams. First, it’s a three-game set in Baltimore against the first-place Orioles, then it’s a return home to take on a Tampa Bay team that they’ve handled pretty well this season. It’s obviously a big chance for a team hovering around .500 and still sitting in the division basement to make a move and have a springboard type of week.
Four Observations Around Baseball
1. What’s wrong in Gotham?
The Red Sox’ early-season struggles and everything that’s come with them have kind of overshadowed the fact that the Yankees aren’t playing much better. In fact, they begin this week just one game better than Boston, thanks in large part to a 4-6 stretch over their last 10 games. They’ve been hit hard by injuries on their pitching staff, and they’ve been inconsistent at best at the plate. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez need to be better if they Yankees are going to make a run, because they have been virtually non-existent this year.
2. Dodgers show no signs of slowing down
The Dodgers are the best team in baseball right now, which still sounds weird to say. They’re rolling right now, with a three-game sweep of the Cardinals their latest triumph. If you get a chance, you have to check out their new closer, Kenley Jansen. The 24-year-old has some filthy stuff, most notably a fastball in the mid-90s that has a ton of life on it. It’s probably still too early for Mariano Rivera comparisons, but watching him move the ball across the zone with that kind of velocity on Sunday night on a national stage, it’s tough not to think of Rivera. If Javy Guerra can find some consistency in his new role, and Jansen can continue to be downright nasty, that could become one of the bigs’ better ‘pens.
3. MLB gets it right with Davidson
I already touched on this last week, but kudos to Major League Baseball for suspending Bob Davidson for a game after his spat with Charlie Manuel. Davidson sure looked to be baiting Manuel and the Phillies, and he paid for that. He has a history of being confrontational and it was finally punished. There’s a perceived double standard when it comes to discipline, and this could help start change the way that’s looked at it.
4. So long, Kerry
Kerry Wood called it a career at the end of last week, a sad ending to a career that once looked to have Cooperstown as a final destination. Injuries prevented the ultimate road block there, though, and Wood never turned into the elite pitcher so many people thought he would. He did, however, have this memorable 20-strikeout performance as a rookie in 1998, which is one of — if not the best — pitching performance in the last quarter-century.
Three Things to Watch This Week
1. Yu versus King Felix
It’s going to be a good one on Monday night when Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers invade Seattle to square off with Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. Hernandez’s accomplishments are already well-known, and Darvish is quickly turning into appointment viewing. He’s 6-1 with a 2.60 ERA in his first season in the bigs, a debut that certainly looks destined to end with the Japanese righty winning the Rookie of the Year, and perhaps even the Cy Young?
2. The newest NL East rivalry gets renewed
The Phillies and the Nationals are building a nice little rivalry thanks to Cole Hamels and Mike Rizzo. The next chapter in that rivalry will be written this week, starting Monday night in Philly. All eyes will be on Wednesday’s games where Hamels will take the mound for the Phillies. He may have a target on his back still after beaning Bryce Harper and then admitting he did it on purpose in the two teams’ last series. It will be a huge series for a Phillies team that could use a sweep in the worst possible way right now.
3. Big week for the Tribe
The Indians have been one of the bigger surprises this season, and they’ll get their latest chance to prove they’re for real this week. They open the week a series against a Tigers team that has underachieved this season before heading out on the road to take on the second-place White Sox. The Tribe jumped out to a hot start last season before fizzling out, so we have to take everything they do with a grain of salt until they show they can put it together for a season. A strong showing this week can offer the latest proof that they’re not going anywhere.
