Every week, The Lineup will take a comprehensive, numerical and often uproarious look back at the previous week of Red Sox action both on and off the diamond.
Unlike previous episodes of The Lineup, we're going to run through it like we're keeping score at home … from position No. 1 (pitcher) to 9 (right field).
Without further ado, let's get this party started:
Clay, Clay, Clay, my boy, we all knew you could do it!
I'm not ready to jump on the Buchholz bandwagon just yet, but you can't deny that he's been an absolute stud in each of his last three starts.
He went six strong against CC Sabathia in New York, allowing six hits and just two runs, but lost as Sabathia shut out the Red Sox 5-0.
Five days later, Buchholz was the unlucky opponent of Justin Verlander, who twirled a masterful four-hit shutout against the Sox at Fenway. But Buchholz was excellent again in the loss to the Tigers, going seven and giving up five hits and just one earned run.
On Wednesday, though, the season's second win finally came. Buchholz again went six strong, allowing just five hits and one run as the Red Sox rolled to a 6-1 victory over Roy Halladay and the Jays.
Let's hope that the toughness Buchholz has displayed in his last three appearances — all coming against All-Star pitchers — continues down the stretch.
As Tom Caron wrote in his blog on Thursday, manager Terry Francona has been searching for that No. 3 man in the rotation with Tim Wakefield still sidelined by his calf. Based on his last three starts, Clay should get the job.
A lot of people are saying that with Jason Varitek's waning contributions with a bat in his hands, he should cede the starting catching job to new Sox slugger Victor Martinez.
An observation: Since the Red Sox picked up Martinez from the Indians at the trade deadline, he's hitting .324 with five homers and 14 RBIs. Over the same period, Varitek is hitting .118 with zero homers and one RBI.
Over the same period, the Sox are 5-4 with V-Mart starting at catcher. They're 4-5 when Varitek starts behind the plate.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
To be fair, most of the time Varitek has been behind the plate, Martinez has been playing first base. At first base, when V-Mart is behind the dish, you can find either Kevin Youkilis (who is hitting just .167 since his return from suspension) or another Sox newbie in Casey Kotchman.
When Kotchman was acquired from the Braves for fellow first-sacker Adam LaRoche just before the deadline, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. And it still doesn't.
Kotchman is hitting just .214 since heading north. Not so great. But he has played a flawless first base. All season long. As in a 1.000 fielding percentage – in 94 games. In the immortal words of Borat, "Very nice!"
Kotchman's stick work is nothing to write home about, but he's not expected to be an everyday guy. If he can come in late in games and keep the defense in check, he can still be a valuable contributor to this squad.
Dustin Pedroia is the reigning AL MVP. He was chosen to be an All-Star this year, but missed the game to be with his wife, Kelli, who went into early labor in mid-July. Turns out that Kelli had a healthy baby boy — named Dylan — on Tuesday with Dustin at her side. Pedroia missed two games, but the Red Sox won both. Win-win situation.
Playing second in Pedie's stead? None other than early-season starting shortstop Nick Green. OK, so he was just 1-for-9 combined (.111) in those two games that Pedroia missed, but he scored two runs in Tuesday's 10-9 win and played solid with the glove. It's like Pedie wasn't even missed.
Meanwhile, in New Papa Land:
"He's awesome," Pedroia said of baby Dylan. "It's pretty awesome to be able to take your first son home and just enjoy the time with him, the first couple of days.
"My wife went through kind of a tough nine months, but the ending worked out great," Pedroia continued. "He's healthy and she's healthy, so it's been awesome."
OK, David Ortiz is not a third baseman. He's a DH. I get it.
But I can rationalize listing him here: See, when teams put on the "Ortiz Shift," more often than not, it's the opposing team's third baseman that ends up fielding his liners up the middle. So there you have it.
The real reason we have to talk about Ortiz is that — OK, drum roll, please — Big Papi is back, baby!
We've been hoping to say that since early April, but now it seems appropriate. His four home runs in five games this week were huge, not to mention his .318 average and eight RBIs on the T&T road trip (to Texas and Toronto). Those stats just seem so much friendlier than his .188 overall mark in August.
Gotta love Theo Epstein's deal to pick up shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the Reds.
OK, so he's 32 years old and in his second go-round with the Red Sox, and his .263 average in Boston is 17 points higher than his staggeringly mediocre career mark.
But this dude is slick with the leather. Whether it's going into the hole to backhand a hard grounder and firing to first to narrowly get a runner or doing a balletic pirouette to narrowly miss turning an astonishing double play Thursday against the Jays, Gonzalez has added a serious defensive presence up the middle.
One commenter remarked at the time that Gonzalez was the best defensive shortstop in Red Sox history. Maybe that's a bit of a stretch. But the point is a fair one, as the same commenter subsequently suggested that, "having gonz @ ss reminds of the old saying, ‘an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.'"
Preach on, brother (or sister)!
I guess the larger point to draw from the results of the last week are that when the team is hitting — and it appears they are, boosting the team average to a more reasonable .266 over the last 30 days — getting solid (if not stellar) defense out of your second baseman and shortstop is enough. Take care of what you're good at, and let the big guys do the raking.
Left field is Jason Bay's domain. And no, he's nowhere near the .324 average he had at the end of April, but it's tough to argue with three homers and five ribbies in the last week.
Of course, how he plays against the Yankees this weekend will affect how he is judged by Red Sox Nation, especially after missing three of four games during their series two weeks ago in the Bronx.
Similarly, center field is Jacoby Ellsbury's territory, especially with such little team depth in the outfield.
And no one should have much to complain about after another solid week from the 25-year-old speedster: a .324 average, five RBIs and one more steal, which leaves him just one swipe shy of Tommy Harper's team record, a mark that has stood for 36 years.
Looks like someone woke up on the right side of the bed on Thursday!
After a horrendous month of July that saw him bat just .217 with two homers and five RBIs and a week that saw him come under fire from his manager for asking to be removed because of a sore groin in the eighth inning of a vital game in Texas against the Rangers, J.D. Drew came up big on Thursday against the Blue Jays. He went 4-for-4 with two homers, three RBIs and two runs on the night before — yes — being removed for a pinch runner in the eighth.
"I needed a chance for my groin to catch up, and it worked out that I had a couple of days [to rest this week] with the day off [on Monday]," Drew said afterward. "Definitely, when I came back and started playing, I felt a heck of a lot better than I did going into it."
And Francona knows how important Drew's health is to the Sox' playoff hopes.
"We recognize that we are a different team when he's able to go out there and be healthy and play like he can," Francona said. "Sometimes you suck it up for a day or two to try and get a guy going more at full speed."
That's just what he did, and at least on Thursday, the Sox were better off for it.
