http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/b...1/few-things-red-sox-fans-might-not-want-hear
THE RED SOX HAVE A CATCHING PROBLEM
Tim Wakefield was partly correct when he blamed the nine Texas stolen bases on his approach to the plate. The fact that the Rangers tied a club record with eight stolen bases even before the game was an hour and a half old suggests there was plenty of blame to go around.
But even before coming into Tuesday, the Red Sox had surrendered more stolen bases than any team in baseball, and Wakefield had been on the mound for just one of them.
Now the Red Sox have allowed 31 of 32 runners to succeed on attempts of stolen bases (poor Robinson Cano), and at the heart of that issue is the other part of the battery.
The knock on Victor Martinez from his days of catching in Cleveland was that his throws weren't accurate. But some suggested the more he got behind the plate the better the execution would be. A new problem
now, with the steals piling up, appears to be Martinez' confidence.
Some throws are on target, others aren't, but it also hasn't gone unnoticed that even tosses back to the pitcher have gone astray more than one should expect. While Martinez loves to work on his craft, and enjoys the intricacies of being a backstop, such trends are leading the Red Sox down a path they can no longer afford.
The problem for the Red Sox is there is not a clear-cut solution.
You need Martinez' bat in the lineup. He is one of the few middle-of-the-order options on a team that isn't currently dripping with run producers. But first base is occupied by your other meat-of-the-order slugger, Kevin Youkilis, and there is already a long line for at-bats in the designated hitter role. And if you wanted to go that route, giving Martinez more time at DH, there remains the problems in upgrading the catching defense.
Jason Varitek has also been run on at will this season, having allowed eight steals in as many attempts. And if the Sox wanted to try and implement their best defensive catching prospect, Mark Wagner, into the equation they better start getting offensive production from a lot more places than they are now. In Triple-A, Wagner has been nothing more than mediocre with the bat.
STOPPING THE STEALS
Before the game Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein attempted to debunk a myth that surmised his team didn't care about the opposition running wild against the Sox.
“Some have speculated that we don’t care about [stolen bases], that we just want to always want to make the pitch and don’t worry about the baserunner,” said Epstein. “That’s not true. I almost wish that were true. We care about it. We definitely recognize the importance of stopping the running game and thus far we haven’t been able to do it. it was an emphasis throughout spring training and thus far we haven’t got the results. We need to continue to work at every aspect of it and it’s multi-dimensional. We need to do what we need to do to improve because we’re giving the opposition an unnecessary advantage right now in that area.”
Believe me, when the Rangers were stealing five bases in the third inning, the folks in the Red Sox' dugout cared. And for good reason.
Our man Alex Speier attempted to decipher exactly how much the stolen bases have affected the results of the Red Sox' games thus far. His conclusion (which can be read here):
A review of each of the 31 steals against the Sox reveals that the steals have played a direct role in either eight or nine runs*, depending on whether Rangers outfielder Julio Borbon would have been able to score from second on a single to left at Fenway on Tuesday, or whether he only scored because he had swiped third.
Of those runs, exactly two have played a direct role in the outcome of the game:
–In the Sox’ fourth game of the season, Willie Bloomquist stole second with two outs in the eighth inning, then crossed the plate with the winning run on a single in Kansas City’s 4-3 victory.
–In the Sox’ 10th game of the season, Carl Crawford stole second against Josh Beckett with two outs in the third inning. He then scored on a high chopper of a single that glanced off of third baseman Adrian Beltre. That was the only run the Rays would score in the first nine innings, resulting in a 1-1 tie through nine innings that the Rays went on to win, 3-1, in 12 innings.
That's two losses in 14 games. And if McDonald doesn't get all legendary, you can probably make that three.
So how does it stop? Fixing the aforementioned conundrum is one step, as is continuing to work on the basics that had become a priority for the Sox starting on Day 1 at spring training.
Francona is trying to make the most of what he has, as his team's major league-high six pitchouts would suggest. But considering five of the pitchouts have come on the first pitch, that would offer a reminder that it is a road not preferred to be taken by the pitching staff.
THE RED SOX HAVE A CATCHING PROBLEM
Tim Wakefield was partly correct when he blamed the nine Texas stolen bases on his approach to the plate. The fact that the Rangers tied a club record with eight stolen bases even before the game was an hour and a half old suggests there was plenty of blame to go around.
But even before coming into Tuesday, the Red Sox had surrendered more stolen bases than any team in baseball, and Wakefield had been on the mound for just one of them.
Now the Red Sox have allowed 31 of 32 runners to succeed on attempts of stolen bases (poor Robinson Cano), and at the heart of that issue is the other part of the battery.
The knock on Victor Martinez from his days of catching in Cleveland was that his throws weren't accurate. But some suggested the more he got behind the plate the better the execution would be. A new problem
now, with the steals piling up, appears to be Martinez' confidence.
Some throws are on target, others aren't, but it also hasn't gone unnoticed that even tosses back to the pitcher have gone astray more than one should expect. While Martinez loves to work on his craft, and enjoys the intricacies of being a backstop, such trends are leading the Red Sox down a path they can no longer afford.
The problem for the Red Sox is there is not a clear-cut solution.
You need Martinez' bat in the lineup. He is one of the few middle-of-the-order options on a team that isn't currently dripping with run producers. But first base is occupied by your other meat-of-the-order slugger, Kevin Youkilis, and there is already a long line for at-bats in the designated hitter role. And if you wanted to go that route, giving Martinez more time at DH, there remains the problems in upgrading the catching defense.
Jason Varitek has also been run on at will this season, having allowed eight steals in as many attempts. And if the Sox wanted to try and implement their best defensive catching prospect, Mark Wagner, into the equation they better start getting offensive production from a lot more places than they are now. In Triple-A, Wagner has been nothing more than mediocre with the bat.
STOPPING THE STEALS
Before the game Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein attempted to debunk a myth that surmised his team didn't care about the opposition running wild against the Sox.
“Some have speculated that we don’t care about [stolen bases], that we just want to always want to make the pitch and don’t worry about the baserunner,” said Epstein. “That’s not true. I almost wish that were true. We care about it. We definitely recognize the importance of stopping the running game and thus far we haven’t been able to do it. it was an emphasis throughout spring training and thus far we haven’t got the results. We need to continue to work at every aspect of it and it’s multi-dimensional. We need to do what we need to do to improve because we’re giving the opposition an unnecessary advantage right now in that area.”
Believe me, when the Rangers were stealing five bases in the third inning, the folks in the Red Sox' dugout cared. And for good reason.
Our man Alex Speier attempted to decipher exactly how much the stolen bases have affected the results of the Red Sox' games thus far. His conclusion (which can be read here):
A review of each of the 31 steals against the Sox reveals that the steals have played a direct role in either eight or nine runs*, depending on whether Rangers outfielder Julio Borbon would have been able to score from second on a single to left at Fenway on Tuesday, or whether he only scored because he had swiped third.
Of those runs, exactly two have played a direct role in the outcome of the game:
–In the Sox’ fourth game of the season, Willie Bloomquist stole second with two outs in the eighth inning, then crossed the plate with the winning run on a single in Kansas City’s 4-3 victory.
–In the Sox’ 10th game of the season, Carl Crawford stole second against Josh Beckett with two outs in the third inning. He then scored on a high chopper of a single that glanced off of third baseman Adrian Beltre. That was the only run the Rays would score in the first nine innings, resulting in a 1-1 tie through nine innings that the Rays went on to win, 3-1, in 12 innings.
That's two losses in 14 games. And if McDonald doesn't get all legendary, you can probably make that three.
So how does it stop? Fixing the aforementioned conundrum is one step, as is continuing to work on the basics that had become a priority for the Sox starting on Day 1 at spring training.
Francona is trying to make the most of what he has, as his team's major league-high six pitchouts would suggest. But considering five of the pitchouts have come on the first pitch, that would offer a reminder that it is a road not preferred to be taken by the pitching staff.
