Boston Red Sox
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Halfway, Sox get what they need to lead
08:59 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 10, 2007
All-Star pitcher Josh Beckett, with a 12-2 record, has become the Red Sox’ ace, as the team had hoped.
The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach
It’s not the exact midpoint of the 2007 baseball season. That date passed a week or so ago for the Boston Red Sox, when they played their 81st game.
But with the All-Star break upon us, it’s time to reflect on the figurative first half of the year, a portion of the schedule that was so successful for Boston that the organization is being represented by six players in tonight’s All-Star Game in San Francisco.
The Red Sox enter the break featuring the best record in baseball. At 53-34, Boston’s winning percentage of .609 has earned the Red Sox a whopping 10-game lead in the American League East. Indeed, Boston is the only team over .500 in the division.
The amazing part of the Sox’ first-half success is the manner it was achieved. There was no long string of dramatic, this-has-to-be-the-year late-inning heroics.
The staple of this team has been consistently outstanding starting pitching and air-tight relief in the eighth and ninth innings. Little wonder that the Sox’ Josh Beckett (12-2) was a candidate for tonight’s starting nod while the A.L. bullpen will include Hideki Okajima (0.83 earned-run average) and Jonathan Papelbon (20 saves in 21 chances).
And while no team can play .609 ball without offensive contributions, the Red Sox have not been carried by any one player in the lineup. This has not been about jumping on the broad powerful shoulders of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and everyone else going along for the ride.
Timing has been everything for the offense. While several players may have been in slumps, there are always two or three hitters who have been hot, able to pick up the slack when others tail off. So while Ortiz has been consistent as a hitter if not a slugger, and Manny’s reputation has been more impressive than his performance, they both are All-Stars along with third baseman Mike Lowell, who, along with first baseman Kevin Youkilis, was so consistently productive when the Sox needed someone to fill an offensive void.
The Sox have been in first place for all but 10 days this season, assuming the top spot to stay on April 18, when they beat Toronto, 4-1. The high-water mark has been 22 games over .500, accomplished twice, on June 22 (47-25) and June 24 (48-26). Their lead peaked at 12 games, on July 5.
Not that the entire first half has been smooth sailing. There have been some storm clouds, especially recently. Since going 36-16 in April and May, the Red Sox have had a mediocre record of 17-18. They limped into the break by losing three straight in Detroit, plunging them to 5-8 over their last 13 games.
The Sox had scored four runs or less 22 times in the last 32 games, 15 times managing two or fewer runs across the plate 15 times. Yet the Sox were 16-16 over that stretch, a testament to the pitching.
The good thing for Boston, though, is that their challengers in the A.L. East have been no better. At the end of May, the Red Sox’ lead was 10½ games. They have lost only one-half game off that lead despite a sub-.500 mark in June and July.
And now, a little more specifically, the good, the bad and the surprises from the first half of the 2007 season.
•Josh Beckett
The Red Sox were hoping they had obtained a young ace when they dispatched Hanley Ramirez and Anibel Sanchez to the Marlins for the right-hander before the 2006 season. Beckett, though, was hard-headed, throwing fastball after fastball and serving up gopher balls at a dizzying pace.
The final total was 36, more than twice his previous high, and while Beckett went 16-11, his disappointing earned-run average of 5.01 said more about how he had pitched than his record.
To Beckett’s credit, and to the credit of pitching coach John Farrell, he has become more of a pitcher this season than a thrower, mixing in his breaking stuff and off-speed stuff to great effect. Beckett won his first nine decisions, and, outside of the avulsion on the middle finger of his right hand that sent him to the disabled list, he has been an ace. His ERA is 3.44 and he has allowed up only four homers.
•Daisuke Matsuzaka
The Red Sox invested $103 million in the right-hander from Japan, counting posting fees and salary, and Dice-K, after a settling-in period, has been everything Boston officials were hoping he would be.
The right-hander is unflappable on the mound, able to limit damage when his control suddenly and mystifyingly deserts him. The ugly outing in Detroit two days ago was his first sub-par performance in more than a month. He’s 10-6 with a 3.84 ERA, giving the Sox two aces.
•Jonathan Papelbon
The Sox have to be thrilled that the right-hander begged to go back to the closer’s role this spring when team officials seemed intent on putting him in the rotation, the better to monitor his shoulder, which had tired in 2006, sending him to the sidelines for the final month.
Papelbon, teaming with Okajima, has made sure that the solid work of the starters has not been frittered away. The right-hander has 20 saves in 21 opportunities and a 1.93 ERA.
•Kevin Youkilis
He may not look like a classic hitter and he’s not the most graceful runner, but Youkilis has made himself into a tough out at the plate who grinds at-bats and expects nothing but the best from himself in each plate appearance.
Youkilis’ 23-game hitting streak from May 5-June 2 was major factor in the team’s 18-8 record over that stretch. Included in his streak was a team-record-tying nine consecutive multiple-hit games. He had 6 homers, 13 doubles and 21 RBI during his streak, which raised his average from .280 to .353. He’s hitting .328 at the break.
•Hideki Okajima
The Red Sox insist they did not sign Okajima just to be a cultural help to Matsuzaka as he adjusted to pitching in this country. They insist they signed him because they thought he could help the team’s shaky, work-in-progress bullpen situation this spring.
The truth is that Okajima has been the surprise of baseball. The left-hander lets go of his pitches when he’s looking at the ground, and he has been unhittable, at least since Kansas City’s John Buck took him deep on his very first big-league pitch.
Okajima’s off-speed pitches have allowed to him to get out both right- and left-handed hitters, a huge comfort to manager Terry Francona, who hasn’t had to use him as a situational lefty. Okajima has thrived in all roles. He has four saves in five chances, permitting Francona to rest Papelbon when he feels the need. Okajima is 1-0 with a microscopic 0.83 ERA and was voted into the All-Star Game via the Internet as the final player added to the roster.
•Dustin Pedroia
On May 1, Pedroia was buried in the No. 9 spot in the batting order, was hitting a mere .172 (10-for-58) and was, in effect, being platooned with Alex Cora. Was a trip to Pawtucket far behind?
But Francona remained patient with the confident Pedroia. And now Pedroia has established himself as the Sox’ No. 2 hitter and a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year honors. Pedroia has batted .364 (67-for-184) since his May Day bottoming-out, with 18 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers and 23 RBI.
And the second baseman’s defense has been nothing short of sensational. He committed highway robbery on two Tigers during last weekend’s series.
•Julian Tavarez
Okay, so he wasn’t exactly a candidate for the All-Star squad. But Tavarez, the No. 5 starter, seemingly was always one start away from being replaced by Jon Lester in the rotation, but for the most part, the right-hander has been able to keep the Sox in games.
And isn’t that the most you can expect from a No. 5 starter?
Tavarez, until he got blasted by Detroit last Friday night, had allowed three earned runs or less in six consecutive starts. Overall he is 5-7 with a 4.97. Not great, but he’s still in the rotation, which has to constitute a surprise in itself.
•Julio Lugo
No one expected Lugo to make Sox fans forget Alex Gonzalez defensively. And he hasn’t.
But after Boston signed him to a four-year, $36-million free-agent contract, it wasn’t too much to expect he would be the catalyst at the top of the order the Red Sox were seeking, was it?
Apparently, it might have been. Lugo suffered through an 0-for-33 drought and spent a lot of time on the bench, replaced by Cora. Lugo, dropped from first to last in the batting order, did go 3-for-3 on Sunday, lifting his average closer to the Mendoza Line, at .197, so maybe he still could be the catalyst the Sox thought he would be.
•J.D. Drew
Another pricey offseason acquisition — five years, $70 million. Drew has been a flop.
He has been healthy enough, which was one issue after he signed. But he hasn’t hit for average, he hasn’t hit for power and he hasn’t been very productive in the No. 5 hole.
He has 33 RBI — 7 in one June 8 game in Arizona. He has 6 home runs — 2 in that June 8 game. He’s batting .258 overall and only .228 with runners in scoring position. He has fanned 54 times.
•Wily Mo Pena
Francona said in spring training he was hoping to find 400 at-bats for Pena. The question after the first 87 games is: Why would he want to do that?
Pena has had 120 at-bats, and has struck out in exactly 41 percent of them, amounting to 49 whiffs, many of them ending with the big guy gazing mesmerized at fastballs and breaking balls over the heart of the plate.
He’s one of those guys of whom you say, “Yeah, but when he gets hold of one …” Sure, he can hit the ball a mile, as he did in Baltimore, helping the Sox win a game. But for the most part, he hasn’t been much help offensively, and everyone knows he’s defensively challenged.
•Coco Crisp
At this stage, it’s hard to call Crisp a disappointment, now that he has raised his level of play.
He has played an outstanding defensive center field, growing more comfortable in the position with each game, making highlight-reel catches routinely, even if his arm is reminiscent of Johnny Damon’s.
Until the last month or so, Crisp has been a major disappointment at the plate. But he ended the first half by hitting in 17 of his last 19 games, raising his average from .221 to .265 and reclaiming his spot atop the batting order.
•Home-Run Production
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have not hit home runs with their customary frequency.
Ortiz enters the break with 14, which translates to roughly 28, quite a comedown for the Sox’ designated hitter, who set a club record with 54 homers last season.
He claims they’re pitching him differently. He also may be pulling off the ball. And maybe his right quadriceps has been more of an issue with his power hitting than anyone thinks. But long balls have not been his specialty, especially at home, where he has hit only three and none since April 21.
Ramirez has 11 homers, which translates to 22. He also has only 20 doubles — one fewer than the diminutive Pedroia.
•Singular Achievement
Curt Schilling came within one out of the first no-hitter of his 17-year career.
The right-hander shook off catcher Jason Varitek and threw a first-pitch fastball that Shannon Stewart slammed into right field with two outs in the ninth on June 7 in Oakland, depriving Schilling of baseball immortality.
The ironic part of that performance is that over the first four or five innings, Schilling was not throwing hard — 84-mph fastballs — nor was he locating well. But he was getting outs.
He picked it up later in the game, adding zip to his fastballs and snap to his splitter.
Maybe the extra effort took its toll. Schilling was tagged for 6 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings in his start against Colorado after the near no-hitter, and was chased after 4 1/3 innings (10 hits, 6 runs) in the start after the Rockies’ disaster. He has been on the disabled list since.
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