Hi Tony, what logic is there to benching Jed Lowrie, who is hitting .400-plus, for Marco Scutaro? Now, I know Scutaro needs playing time but it seems that the logical thing to do would be to make Lowrie the starter with Scutaro the utility guy, at least for the present time.
–Coliwabl
If Lowrie continues to hit over .400, it will be hard to ever sit him in favor of Scutaro, or anyone for that matter. But you sort of answered your own question. Everyone needs to play, and even if Scutaro is legitimately the utility guy, that doesn’t mean he is only a late-game replacement — he will receive playing time. Also, remember that Lowrie has never played a full season, or even close to it, at the major league level. Scutaro did so last year, and did so in an extremely admirable fashion. When Terry Francona chooses to play Scutaro now, it’s usually with a right-hander on the mound. Lowrie is far more potent against lefties.
The Angels had a right-hander on the mound Sunday and Lowrie had played eight straight games. Just a good time to get him a rest if he is going to be the nominal starter going forward.
Tony, I know the pitchers have had a great run. Yet, it still seems like Jarrod Saltalamacchia is having throwing problems. How long do you think that the Red Sox will stay with him if the psychological problem he had pops up again? If they do replace him, do they look internally or externally for his replacement?
–John
We had several questions related to the catching situation, including a multi-tiered one from Josh. Thanks for all of them. We’ve chosen John’s question because, well, it was the first of the bunch and didn’t contain any spelling errors.
Saltalamacchia has been erratic since early in spring training with his throws, and there are those throwing issues in his past, so this isn’t just a one-month aberration. However, we have to remember we are less than four weeks into the season and the Sox committed themselves to this guy, or at least to giving him every opportunity to assume the role for years to come. For now, getting Jason Varitek in there a bit more, continuing to work on the side and becoming more and more familiar with the staff — which should eliminate one potential source of stress — may allow the young catcher to get his feet under him.
If it never comes and a replacement is necessary, there aren’t many options out there. Bengie Molina‘s name keeps popping up. My guess is the team would use an internal option in a time-share with Varitek in the interim, perhaps someone like Luis Exposito, Tim Federowicz or Mark Wagner. The first is a talented backstop who may translate into something pretty good one day. The latter two are defensive-minded catchers who will manage the game as well as can be expected from a minor league import.
Hey Tony, what do you make of the AL East so far? With the Red Sox finally coming around here, it is becoming noticeable that only the Yankees have a team above .500 right now, and they aren’t playing lights-out ball by any means. Do you think this whole division is a little slow and will heat up or do you think it will be a Sox runaway when they get going?
–CJ
It has been a slow start for most of the division, but you can see the cream rising to the top right now. New York sits atop the division, Boston is gaining ground and Tampa Bay has caught fire as well. It seems as if the power trio will gain hold of things in time. Toronto still has a few holes and Baltimore, as is so often the case, may not have enough starting pitching to hang in there.
I do think the division will heat up as a whole as each team irons out its respective issues, but I don’t see a Sox runaway. The Yankees aren’t perfect, but they will remain right there until the end. If the Rays fall off, as some expect they will, you could see a fantastic two-team race between Boston and New York, something we really haven’t seen since 2005.
Is Carl Crawford’s breakthrough performance this week the end of his slump?
–TJ
It is just a small sample, but it doesn’t take much to get a guy going. Crawford is not a .171 hitter, so we know there are some hits to come. That said, this might be one of the years through the course of his contract where the numbers just don’t come. Sometimes the expectations of a big contract and playing in a major market can deflate some stats. I fully expect Crawford to have some seasons in Boston that make him worth the money, but this just might be one year where he falls short. If he finishes hitting .265 with 11 homers and 37 steals, it might not make many people happy. That said, you have to remember this was a long-term investment. Also, to get to .265 will take some pretty good production from this point forward. Hopefully, for him, this weekend is the start of that production.
Why did Francona take Daisuke Matsuzaka out after seven and then eight strong innings in his last two starts? One hundred-sixteen pitches on Saturday is a lot, but why not give him a cap of, say, 125 in exchange for the opportunity to pitch a complete game? Dice-K could use the show of confidence to finish what he started.
–David in South Pasadena, CA
There are so few complete games this day and age that they have a special feel when they occur. But Francona could not care less about that, especially in April. He has never shied away from pulling a guy after eight in order to spare him the extra work. If either of those games were closer than they were, Matsuzaka might’ve been sent out. But there is no need to burn up another 15 pitches or so if the other team is still a handful of runs away from making it a save opportunity.
Josh Beckett was taken out after eight earlier this year and even Tim Wakefield was deprived of a CG chance in Philadelphia last season. It’s just not a priority for Francona. Keeping these guys fresh is.
Hi Tony, my question is what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow (European)? Ha ha, just kidding. My real question is, a lot of opinions are being thrown around this way and that about how the lineup should be formed. What lineup do you think has most potential to win games and why? Have a nice day
–Window
According to the Internet, which never lies, the answer to the first question is 11 meters per second.
As for your second inquiry, I’ve contended from the start that it depends upon Jacoby Ellsbury. If he is getting on with regularity, nobody else should be batting leadoff. After that, Dustin Pedroia is your No. 2 hitter, Adrian Gonzalez is batting third and Kevin Youkilis fourth. When he is in there, Jed Lowrie needs to be in a position to drive in some runs, i.e. fifth or sixth. At the bottom of the order it might just be a matter of mixing and matching to make sure there aren’t too many lefties in a row.
I heard that Ryan Kalish was going to have the season-ending surgery. Now, we know this is J.D. Drew’s last year with the Red Sox. Do you think Kalish will take Drew’s spot and play every day or will that be Mike Cameron’s job if the Sox do re-sign Cameron?
–Boston baseball
First off, it is not a given that Kalish will have season-ending surgery. He is going to try rehab and is hopeful for an earlier return. Regardless, there is a very good chance he will be playing right field in Boston next year, provided he overcomes the injury just fine. This is also the last year of Cameron’s contract. Perhaps he would be re-signed to a one-year deal as a fourth outfielder once again, but I don’t see a scenario where he is the starting right fielder next season. It’s Kalish’s for the taking, if he is healthy.
Why doesn’t David Ortiz hit to left field more to beat the shift?
–Hank
Hey, Hank. Ortiz certainly goes to left in the air, but the shift in the infield plays him to pull. He’s been known to drop a bunt down the third-base line once in awhile, but it’s extremely rare. There was a moment in a game during the last homestand where the Red Sox needed some base runners and the opponent had a heavy shift. Francona gave Ortiz the “bunt sign,” basically mimicking the action as if to suggest that Ortiz should think about it. The slugger proceeded to take a few massive cuts before flying to center. We have to remember that placing a bunt in a particular spot is not always an easy thing, especially for someone not used to doing it. People seem to think he is just leaving a single on the table every time he refuses to do it. It just seems that Ortiz would rather play his game and try to beat the shift without resorting to anything out of the ordinary.
Do you think the recent success of the starting pitching staff is a surprise to the organization?
–Sox fan in NY
If you asked high-ranking members of the organization is they are surprised, they would say “no.” This is what they expected when they put together this rotation last year. If you held a gun to their head, they might admit that this particular streak is a bit of a shock, just because of how good it has been. Still, you might recall that the Red Sox assembled this quintet to start the 2010 campaign and figured it would carry them, all part of the run prevention scheme that didn’t necessarily take off. Everyone is healthy, comfortable and knows their role now, so you might expect some improvement overall this year. That said, this is a pretty special span. Don’t take it for granted.
Tony, I love to read all you write for the site here, but I had a question. What do you see as the main cause for the team’s struggles with runners in scoring position? I’ve noticed the team seems to be striking out looking a lot in these situations. To me, that is very frustrating. Thanks for your time. Keep up the great writing.
–Colton
Thanks for the kind words, Colton. Francona has been asked about this particular issue several times. He says, and it’s sometimes easy to see, that players are pressing a bit in these situations. That seems to have come about because of the overall struggles early on. When the guy in front of you and the guy behind you are both hitting around .150, players might feel the need to be the one to get the big hit. This scenario can build upon itself and build into something team-wide. Boston enters play Tuesday hitting .207 with runners in scoring position. It should normalize as Crawford and Ellsbury and Youkilis and others get their averages up a bit.
Tony, can’t you do anything about the filthy language on the “live blog” segment of the Red Sox page? Some of the posters should be barred from posting or their postings should be removed.
–Ken Hancock
Ken, thanks for pointing it out. We do our best to police things, but there are often nights where there aren’t enough eyes to go around. If someone continues to be a punk, we’ll remove their postings and block them from commenting any further. I implore you all to just try and keep the discussion to baseball. No need to puff out your chest and insult a fellow reader just for the sake of winning an argument.
