Sunday's [17-inning] game seems to encapsulate the current plight of the Red Sox: bad starting pitching, a dearth of hitting with RISP, brave and effective relief pitching, yet still a loss because something stupid happens ...I thought I would check out how poorly the Red Sox are doing with RISP (more accurately defined as RATS (runners at third and/or second)):
.307/.381/.514
The batting average is 3rd best in the American League (behind Texas at .313 and Toronto at .308), the on-base and slugging percentages are 1st in the AL. And the Red Sox's OPS of .895 is the highest in the majors. (Boston also leads the AL with 12 home runs with runners in scoring position.)
So, far from getting a "dearth of hitting with RISP", the Red Sox are arguably the best team in baseball with runners in scoring position.
I think our starting pitchers are maybe falling into a habit that I don't want to see, complaining about the umpire. I went out and tried to put a stop to it before it spread. A couple of pitches were close and he stood there and looked at the umpire. That's not the way we're going to start this stuff.Nice move by Valentine, but did Doubront have a case?
Extra-base Hit(s) in First Four Games of Career (since 1918)
Enos Slaughter, 1938 CardinalsSlaughter is the only player to have an extra-base hit in his first five games.
Coco Laboy, 1969 Expos
Yoenis Cespedes, 2012 Athletics
Will Middlebrooks, 2012 Red Sox
Gary Marbry (Nuggetpalooza) tells us that Middlebrooks is only the third Red Sox player to have a multiple home run game in the first four games of his career and he's only the third player in major league history to drive in 4+ runs twice in the first four games of his career.
Pitching and injuries, everyones downfall
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to know how many players have had a 4-pitch walk in their first plate appearance.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you'd search for that. I guess you could search for a BB in a player's first 1 game and then go through them individually (though pitch by pitch is not available for a lot of years).
ReplyDeleteOn July 7, 2005, Adam Greenberg was hit in the head with the first (and only) pitch he saw in the major leagues.
Since the start of 2000, 182 players have walked in their first MLB game, but BRef is not letting me save the search.
ReplyDelete"Since the start of 2000, 182 players have walked in their first MLB game"
ReplyDeleteActually, I thought of one definite: Eddie Gaedel!
If it's 182 in the last 12 years, divide that by 3 or 4 (but less since some probably pinch-hit late) to get walks in first plate appearance of that game, then divide by 6 or so to get 4-pitch walks. All estimates of course. So it might be something like once a year this happens. But I'd still guess it's way less than that.
It happened last year, in a hilarious way! (And look for a cameo from a new friend toward the end.)
ReplyDeleteOur clutch stat must really suck then since we are certainly not getting runs when we need them.
ReplyDeleteOur clutch stat must really suck then since we are certainly not getting runs when we need them.
ReplyDeleteWhat would a "clutch stat" be?
There are splits of just about everything. The Red Sox hit better than average when the score is within 2, 3, or 4+ runs (either winning or losing), or when the Sox are behind in general. A hair below average in one-run games and below average when the score is tied. (And they are very good with 2 outs and RATS.)
If that is so, why are they losing so many games? It sure seemed that they couldn't hit anything over the weekend, except for the few bright lights in line-up. Obviously, our pitching must be truly awful (duh) because clearly teams are scoring more runs against the Sox than vice versa.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't Wade Boggs' number retired when he meets the qualifications for it?
ReplyDeleteIf that is so, why are they losing so many games?
ReplyDeleteThe pitching is bad; second worst ERA in the AL.
The RS/RA is not so bad, just about even: 155/161. But we have had a lot of high-scoring games. In nearly half of their games, they are scoring 3 or fewer runs. And probably not getting many RATS opportunities in those games.
"Why isn't Wade Boggs' number retired when he meets the qualifications for it?"
ReplyDeleteFrom the Red Sox web site:
"The Red Sox' policy on retiring uniform numbers is based on the following criteria:
Election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame
At least 10 years played with the Red Sox
Finish his career with the club"
Boggs did not finish his career with the club. He's in the Red Sox HoF, just not in the retired numbers section. I for one never want to see his number retired. The Yanks can retire his humber and parade it around on a horse if they want.
(Fisk did not finish with Boston, but I think back when his number was retired the rule was "10 years with the club." And of course they famously made an exception for Pesky, since he's not in the MLB HoF.)
ReplyDeletere Fisk: I guess the excuse was that he was working for the Red Sox when they retired his number.
ReplyDeleteLester and Beckett bitch alot hope he goes see them as well , I hate it when managers always pick on the rookies..
ReplyDelete