With the Red Sox off on Monday, they have finished the April part of their schedule. As it stands right now, the Red Sox are 16-8 and have the best record in baseball. They currently lead the AL East by 4 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.
So now let’s take a look at the Red Sox review for April as written by Steve. Steve is a loyal reader and frequent commenter here at SOX & Dawgs.
Red Sox Review
Well the first month of the 2007 season is in the bag and the Sox stand at 16-8. I’m going to take a little whirl through the roster including the manager and give each player a quick review of how things are at this point in the season.
Manager Terry Francona: In all the years I have been following the Red Sox, and it dates back to 1973 when my parents took my brother and I to our first game at Fenway, Francona is the best manager this team has had. He has a great philosophy, lets the players play and one thing is never too big to overcome. This has continued this year his fourth as the skipper. He always seems to know when to give a guy a break, when to get someone else into the line up, which pitcher to bring in etc.
Grade: A
Starting Nine:
Shortstop Julio Lugo: Better defensively than I imagined. Good bat, not as good a lead off man as Johnny Damon but then not many are. Great speed, has 8 steals good for second in the league.
Grade: B+
First Baseman Kevin Youkilis: Better than average defensively can also play third and left field. Very patient at the plate good 2 hole hitter as he can control what he does with a bat. Plays a position where I would like to see better power numbers out of a corner infielder.
Grade: B
Designated Hitter David Ortiz: If it wasn’t for the April Alex Rodriguez is having everyone would be talking about David. Hit his 7th HR of the year today, has 23 RBI and is hitting nearly .300. Potential MVP candidate. Tough out for lefties and righties, comes up big when the team needs it.
Grade: A
Left Fielder Manny Ramirez: Uh where do you start? With the .200 BA? The 3 HRS? the 11 RBI? The weird base running errors? The flip he’s developed when throwing the ball in from the outfield with runners on? The only thing Manny has been doing better than average at this season is fielding. He looks more aggressive going after balls and making catches. And on the flip side even though his base running skills at times leave a lot to be desired he does seem to be running ground balls out so that’s a plus. Manny always a fan favorite and one of my favorites is in a funk at the plate. He needs to beat down a pitching staff and fairly soon.
Grade: D
Right Fielder J.D. Drew: This guy seems to be a legit five tool player. Hits for power, hits for average, fields, throws and runs. Folks there aren’t many five tool guys in the game today. Years ago they were in abundance. Roberto Clemente, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle all come to mind. J.D.’s signing was vilified by Sox fans so much so I’m surprised he didn’t call Theo up and beg to be released before he even reported. But so far he has been as advertised, and has been healthy. For most of the month he was the team’s best player but has run into a 1 for 22 skid lately.
Grade: B+
Third Baseman Mike Lowell: At the plate Lowell has been a pleasant surprise again this year with a great start. He already has 20 RBI. In the field though he has had a tough time with 8 errors. He had 6 all of last season. One game he had 3 errors, 2 in one inning and in another he had a two error game. But in fairness to Lowell about half of the errors have been on tough in between hops on back handed plays and could have been scored either way. I don’t think the error skid will continue but right now it is a concern.
Grade: B-
Catcher/team captain Jason Varitek: Very very slow start at the plate, heating up lately. After having offensive drop off since he signed his last contract he needs to hit at least .260 on the year and right now I don’t think he’ll have a problem doing that. But Tek’s contribution is to the pitching staff and with some new additions to the club he is as valuable as ever.
Grade: C
Center Fielder Coco Crisp: Another slow start by a guy who the Sox need at the bottom of the order to produce and get on. Great speed, can steal bases, can run down a lot in the outfield. Average arm, but gets to a lot of balls that others may not. Has started to warm up at the plate and is looking better.
Grade: C-
Second Baseman Dustin Pedroia: The rookie after a quick start in KC has really fallen off at the plate. At one point was something like 1 for 20 but has had a few hits in the last week. The Sox need the guys above him to get their averages up so Pedroia can stay on the field. If the bottom third isn’t hitting it will be Pedroia who loses his spot or at the very least ends up in a platoon situation with Alex Cora. In the field has been steady but I expected a bit more at the plate to justify letting Mark Loretta go to free agency.
Grade: D
The Bench:
Catcher Doug Mirabelli: Plays once every five days to catch Tim Wakefield. Has hit this year after not hitting last year and his defense especially catching a knuckleball pitcher has been and remains very good.
Grade: B
Infielder Alex Cora: Could start at second or short for some teams. Very solid defensively, average at the plate with little or no power although he has a HR. His biggest contribution is what he brings when he plays. He does all the little things right and does all the little things to help his team win.
Grade: A
Infielder/Outfielder Eric Hinske: Hasn’t played much, but has been productive when called upon. Can play both corner infield and outfield positions.
Grade: C
Outfielder Wily Mo Pena: Awful outfielder. Constantly misplays or nearly misplays balls hit to him. Slightly better in center than on the corners. At the plate he is “Pedro Cerrano” from the movie “Major League”. He can not hit a breaking ball to save his life and I can not understand why teams don’t tell their pitchers I don’t care who you are if you throw this guy a fastball you’re out of here. Showed this week in Baltimore how well he can hit a fastball when Chris Ray had no confidence in his curve and threw Wily Mo a heater that traveled about 450 feet into the Boston bullpen for a grand slam that ended up being the winning runs.
Grade: D
See the pitching staff reviews and grades after the jump.
The Pitching Staff:
The Starters:
Curt Schilling: The veteran righty has had two outings were he didn’t look well. Opening day in KC and then the Yankee game at Fenway. But he has had three or four other games where he looks like “Schill”. Still the ace of the staff but he has a rejuvenated Josh Beckett challenging him for that title.
Grade B-
Josh Beckett: He is turning into the pitcher that everyone has imagined he would be. He got rid of the full windup for a more condensed one, moved his foot position on the pitching rubber and has slowed down his delivery to the plate and the changes have made him very intimidating in the early going. He has been keeping the ball down and hitting 95 at times on the gun and the long ball problem he had last year has not surfaced as of yet. Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez said he isn’t the same guy he saw last year. If anyone should know it would be A-Rod.
Grade: A
Daisuke Matsuzaka: The 103 million dollar man from Japan, has been for the most part good. He does seem to run into one inning in each game where he struggles with walks and runs. But what he has shown is the ability to fight through it and shake it off and have solid innings later in the game. No one is really sure how many pitches this guy throws. I’ve heard 6, 8, 9. What he does have is a solid fastball, a great change up, a curve, a cutter, a slider and what looks like a screwball or a back door cut fastball that he turns over to make it break opposite of his other pitches. This year maybe a learning year but over the course of his 6 year contract he is going to remind people of Pedro Martinez in the late 1990’s.
Grade: B
Tim Wakefield: Solid contributor and inning eater. Tim has been awesome this year yielding three runs or less in all his starts including starts on the road in Toronto and New York against division rivals. Seems like he may pitch for ever as now he is in his 40’s and still going strong.
Grade A
Julian Tavarez: Tough luck fifth spot guy has missed a few starts because of weather issues and went 11 days between starts at one point. Hasn’t been able to get past 85 pitches all season. His best action has been early in games when he has held opponents to a batting average around .150 through his first 35 pitches. After that teams are hitting well over .325 off of Tavarez. Expect him to go back to the pen when Jon Lester returns to the rotation after a cancer scare/treatment.
Grade: D
The Bullpen:
Jonathan Papelbon: Perfect in save situations and hasn’t allowed a run yet in April. This year or last year. He is the hammer at the back end that the Red Sox have been looking for since the days of Lee Smith and Jeff Reardon. Has been put into a few tight situations created by others and has pitched great.
Grade: A
Hideki “Darkman” Okajima: I don’t know who found him but give that guy a raise. After giving up a home run to John Buck on his first major league pitch has not yielded a run in over 11 innings of work. Consistently gets out both lefties and righties and has been a very effective bridge to Papelbon. This includes some big outs against the Yankees both in Fenway and in Da’ Bronx.
Grade: A
Mike Timlin: Started season on DL. Has pitched pretty well in his return but you can tell he is trying to work out some bugs after missing a chunk of spring training.
Grade: C+
Jo-el Piniero: Up and down start by Piniero. One outing he looks halfway decent the next time he can’t find the plate. Sox staff doesn’t seem to have much confidence in him. He has to find some consistency and quick because I think he’ll be one of the guys who will be a release candidate when Lester returns.
Grade: D
J.C. Romero: Much like Piniero up and down, inconsistent. He maybe the lucky one and get to stay when Lester returns because he is left handed. Has to show he can get lefties out on a regular basis and if he can get righties out too it’s all the better. Sox staff seems to have limited confidence in him.
Grade D
Brendan Donnelly: Been called on to get some big outs against righties. Gives you something no one else on the staff gives you in that his delivery is very different and he jumps at you. Combine that with a good fastball and he makes it very unsettling to be in the box.
Grade: B-
Kyle Snyder: If Jon Lester wasn’t on the verge of a return you might be seeing Snyder get a start or two as the fifth guy in place of Tavarez. Had a great camp and is probably expected to stay with the team as the long guy. Has no options left and will not make it through waivers as teams are always looking for pitching.
Grade: C
