And then Yankee fans turned around, and the Red Sox were 12.5 out.
Seems like only a week ago, the Red Sox were 5.5 games out as the Yankees clung onto first place with a .500 record. But as the Yanks have gotten hot — winning 8 of 10, unbeknownst to most Yankee fans — the Red Sox have gotten ice cold, losing 9 of 10. The Red Sox are now 12.5 games out in last place in the AL East.
Red Sox Were Built to be Contenders
It’s not like this is a rebuild year for the Red Sox. They were built to be contenders — Rick Porcello was added to the starting pitching staff, and two excellent hitters were added to the lineup: Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.
Porcello has been a bust — current record 5-10 5.51
Sandoval has been a major disapointment — after looking tough in early season games vs the Yanks, he is now 7 homers, 30 RBI, .255 with a horrid .295 OBP.
Hanley Ramirez has done his part — 19 46 .265 but with a poor .311 OBP
Hitting Highlights
The Red Sox have gotten excellent hitting from shortstop Xander Bogaerts (3 47 .310 .340 — leads AL shortstops in batting average) and Dustin Pedroia is Dustin Pedroia (9 34 .287 with a .348 OBP)
But David Ortiz looks like he is 39 and not taking PED’s (17 47 .235) and the pitching has been poor.
Pitching Poor
Clay Buchholz (7-7 3.26 and ace of staff) was put on the DL last week with reports that he had been taking injections to relieve pain in his elbow; not a good story for Red Sox fans. Wade Miley (8-8 4.33) sports the same .500 record he has consistently put up in Arizona (lifetime 46-43).
Yankee Fan Primer — the Red Sox GM is Named…
Most Yankee fans couldn’t tell you who the current Red Sox GM is, even though he — Ben Cherington — won the MLB Executive of the Year award for 2013 when he put together the Red Sox team that won the World Series. Theo Epstein is in Chicago where the Cubs are 51-46, 11.5 games out. But the Red Sox were 71-91 last year and time is no doubt ticking on Ben Cherington’s tenure. Did he really think Rick Porcello was going to be an answer? Yankee fans could’ve told you he was the easiest mark in Detroit’s starting rotation.
Disclaimer: this is a shoot-from-the-hip report of a Yankee fan on the current Red Sox situation. I do not own any stock in the Red Sox, nor do I root for them to win, although the people of Boston are good people and great sports fans.
Note: If there were a Red section on Yankee.Blue, this article would be put in that section. Funny that Republicans and Democrats are labeled by the colors Red and Blue too.
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