When the Boston Red Sox traded away Kevin Youkilis for Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge, it was obvious the key piece in the deal for the local nine was Stewart. He’s also the only player left as Lillibridge was designated for assignment a month and then traded a month after the original trade.
The hope for Stewart was that he’d develop into a starter to complement what the Red Sox had. They sent him to Triple-A to build up his pitch count and decided on Tuesday that he could probably help the Red Sox out with Franklin Morales going to the DL.
Stewart got his first start last night and well it didn’t turn out like everyone hoped. He was tagged for nine runs in three innings as the Red Sox fell to the Angels 10-3 on Wednesday night.
Things were so bad for Stewart by the time the first four batters had taken their hacks, it was 4-0.
- Mike Trout singles
- Torii Hunter doubles in Trout from first, 1-0
- Albert Pujols singles in Hunter, Pujols goes to second on throw, 2-0
- Kendrys Morales hits two-run homer, 4-0
And it didn’t get any better for him.
Hunter knocked in Erick Aybar in the 2nd inning after Aybar had left off the inning with a double that made it 5-0. The onslaught continued in the 3rd.
Morales led off with a double and then it looked like Stewart would pitch himself out of trouble as he retired the next two hitters on groundouts. But Alberto Callaspo doubled in Morales and then he scored on an Aybar double. Rhode Island native Chris Iannetta finished off the offensive drubbing for Stewart with a two-run blast of his own.
Stewart has pitched in the big leagues before with the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox. It sure didn’t look like it one bit last night.
He was severely overmatched as his fastball looked like a batting practice fastball that the Angels hitters took advantage of to the tune of 10 hits.
What I don’t understand is why Bobby Valentine left him in the game. When he gave up all those runs in the 1st, no one came out to talk to him. Same thing in the 3rd inning.
Look, we all know this team isn’t going anywhere this season. I get that. But you have a guy making his organizational big league debut and you leave him out there to get shellacked. How is that going to help Stewart’s confidence going forward. Yes, Valentine doesn’t know much about him but couldn’t he or pitching coach Randy Niemann gone out there and talked to the young righty.
It is one start and you have to hope it was an aberration for Stewart. Although I suspect he might not get a second start for a bit as Daniel Bard is with the team. Bard isn’t there to start but he’s supposed to be activated before tonight’s game so it makes sense to send him back down especially since they just sent Clayton Mortensen down to make room for him.
Given how the pitching has been going lately, you can’t send down Junichi Tazawa since he’s needed when the starters fail. So the likely choice would be Stewart who could help the PawSox out in their final push for an International League playoff spot.
Welcome to the final month and a week of Red Sox baseball. Buckle up folks, it’s going to be a LONG and bumpy ride.
We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Stewart gets hit hard in Sox loss [boston globe]
Bard ready to start over in the bullpen [boston globe]
Epstein’s clean getaway irks owners [boston globe]
Journeyman Zach Stewart rocked in Red Sox debut [boston globe]
Sox defense never rests [boston globe]
This Top 10 not worth any replays [boston globe]
Daniel Bard back in the bigs [boston globe]
Stewart historically bad in latest Sox loss [rob bradford – weei.com]
Dustin Pedroia clears the air while declaring the best is yet to come [rob bradford – weei.com]
Case closed: Alfredo Aceves no longer Red Sox’ closer [clubhouse insider]
Stewart shelled in debut, Red Sox fall to Angels, 10-3 [csn new england]
Bard rejoins Sox, will be activated soon [espn boston]
Stewart rocked in Sox debut as Angels roll [espn boston]
Stewart gets a return trip to Pawtucket [extra bases]
Red Sox’ Season Now Survival of the Fittest as Youngsters and Prospects Experience Growing Pains [nesn.com]
Aviles in limbo as Iglesias gets more playing time [redsox.com]
Hill, Atchison could be part of September mix [redsox.com]
Passing on Joe Mauer a good sign for Sox [touching all the bases]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN Los Angeles, LA Daily News, LA Times and Orange County Register websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother Monkey With a Halo.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
photo credit: ap photo
