Honor roll
With your remarkably deep, resilient, and enjoyable Boston Red Sox sitting at the exact midpoint (49-32) of the season tonight, I couldn't resist the urge to become probably the 47th Boston sportswriter in the last three days to throw together a midseason report card.
I hope you will forgive me for this cliched sin, and I'll aim to expound on some of the comments over the weekend.
And with that half-hearted mea culpa, the grades are in, so let's get to it . . .
THE LINEUP*
(* - They've never actually used this particular lineup this season, but it seems like the ideal order if/when everyone is healthy at the same time. So there.)
Jacoby Ellsbury, OPS+ 95: In Red Sox center fielders' parlance, he's Johnny Damon with Otis Nixon's legs, and he's going to be a cornerstone here for the next decade. I still can't believe a Red Sox player is on pace for 68 stolen bases. That's usually their team total. B
Dustin Pedroia, OPS+ 98: The .334 on-base percentage isn't as high as it should be, but for the most part he's avoided the sophomore slump, and he's a hot-weather hitter who probably has his best days of the season ahead. B-
David Ortiz, OPS+ 119: The Sox have survived just fine without him so far, but man, it's just not nearly as much fun. B-
Manny Ramirez, OPS+ 134: Can't get around on the mid-90s heat like he used to, but makes up for it by being well prepared and a tremendous bad-ball hitter. We aren't heading into the last half-season of the Manny Experience, are we? Theo will pick up his option . . . right? B+
J.D. Drew, OPS+ 157: So that's the fascination. With Papi out of the lineup, his spot-on imitation of Fred Lynn '79 couldn't have come at a better time. A
Mike Lowell, OPS+ 122: He has to be one of the most successful salary dumps in baseball history, doesn't he? Didn't get his first RBI until the 34th game, now has 41. His calm professionalism has come to epitomize this team. A-
Kevin Youkilis, OPS+ 138: Incredibly versatile, incredibly valuable, and at times, incredibly annoying. A
Jason Varitek, OPS+ 83: I'm not a 'Tek apologist, but even I realize he's an asset to the team even when he's not hitting, especially when you consider few catchers do these days. C
Julio Lugo, OPS+ 90: Can't spell fielding without an F
ROTATION
Josh Beckett, ERA+ 115: Started sluggishly due to the back injury in spring training, but he's lowered his ERA nearly a run over his last seven starts, and I have no doubt that given the chance, he will seize the October stage again. B-
Jon Lester, ERA+ 138: John Farrell reportedly fought to keep him out of any potential deal for Johan Santana. Now we're seeing why. As far as I'm concerned, he's the No. 2 starter until further notice. A-
(By the way, can you imagine how different this season would be had the Ellsbury, Lester, Masterson, and Lowrie for Santana rumor actually come to fruition? Not that there was ever confirmation that Theo even considered it for a nanosecond, but still . . . what a haul that would have been for the Twins.)
Daisuke Matsuzaka, ERA+ 125: The numbers in the Dice-K sequel are lovely, other than the 41 walks in 65 innings. I have to admit, though, I thought he'd be more fun to watch pitch. B
Tim Wakefield, ERA+ 111: His ERA+ from 2003 on: 114, 100, 109, 103, 100. It staggers me that a knuckleballer could be so consistent from season to season, and don't look now, but he appears to be about to go on one of his four-week hot streaks. B
Justin Masterson, ERA+ 126: Love the Eck-like motion, don't like that he looks like a bald Dane Cook. B-
RELIEVERS
Jonathan Papelbon, ERA+ 208: Yup, the Sox's resident Fab Morvan has blown four saves this year, one more than last year. You will not see beads of sweat forming on my forehead when he comes into a game. There are closers having better years, but there's no one I'd trust more. A-
Manny Delcarmen, ERA+ 128: After a Slocumb-like start to the season, he's been exactly what we hoped he'd be lately, a power-armed bridge to Papelbon. Now let's see him do it in the biggest moments, because he was a little too wide-eyed last postseason. B-
Hideki Okajima, ERA+ 144: It was natural to expect him to slip a little bit after being lights-out in '07, but this is getting alarming. C+
Craig Hansen, ERA+ 88: Million-dollar arm, and the head may be worth more than 10 cents after all. C+
David Aardsma, ERA+ 171: It's a luxury to have a middle reliever who can come in and get a strikeout, and his command of his sizzling fastball seems to be improving. Theo might have a real find here. B
Mike Timlin, ERA+ 61: For the fourth straight year, I'm going to implore him to retire. For the fourth straight year, he's going to ignore my request. D-
Javier Lopez, ERA+ 176: I always cringe when he comes into a game, but I'll give him his due. More often than not, he does the job. B-
PROSPECTS, SUSPECTS, CONVICTS, EXPATRIATES, AND ASSORTED OTHER DOPES
Alex Cora, OPS+ 94: Still an adequate utility guy, but gets way too much praise from Remy for his baseball instincts. He makes a lot of dumb mistakes. C-
Jed Lowrie, OPS+ 113: He'll never be a big-league shortstop, but he held his own at the plate during his early-season cameo, and he's probably a better player than Cora now. C+
Brandon Moss, OPS+ 74: He's struggling (.226), but I'm telling you, he can hit. I still think he'll have a better career than David Murphy, and possibly even Trot Nixon. C-
Coco Crisp, OPS+ 95: Though he'd surely cringe at the designation, he's been the ideal fourth outfielder, and he's even been hitting the ball with some authority lately. I'm glad he's still here. C+
Sean Casey, OPS+ 132: Owns the ugliest lefty swing in the game, has the footspeed of Chien-Ming Wang in a walking boot, and yet he's hitting .362. There's something to be said for good karma. B
Kevin Cash, OPS+ 73: Has been splendid defensively as Wake's personal caddy, and even dipped into someone's old stash of chicken parm and went deep the other night. B
Bartolo Colon, ERA+ 105: With four wins in six starts, he's already exceeded many expectations, and the Sox were shrewd to give him a few weeks off with a minor injury. Here's hoping he's spending it on the StairMaster, not at Sbarro. B-
Clay Buchholz, ERA+ 78: The rare young pitcher who has better command of his breaking stuff than his fastball, he'll be a factor this season before it's through. C-
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Chad,
This may have been done to death elsewhere, but I'll still take your take over that of CHB and his ilk any day.
I think Lugo deserves a D (his at the plate production is consistent with what I'd expect from a non-Bill Mueller number 9 hitter; I'd give him a C for offense and an F for defense, although his range is greater than Cora's).
Thanks for your consistently high quality.
You know Chad, I think you missed the memo on Lowrie. Everyone, from Callis to Keith Law to Goldstein thinks Lowrie can be a ML SS now.
Oh and you were way too nice on Timlin and a little harsh on Delcarmen (flat out dominant describes his past month).
Otherwise I loved it. Good
A B- for Masterson? For someone who we didn't think would get much of a look at the big league level at the start of the year, I would say he has performed a little better than a B- level.
For the record, I did not go to one of those grade-inflation schools like Harvard.
Dead on with most of your choices, Chad. Like you, I am ECSTATIC that the Santana trade never took place, especially not for the package you mentioned, which was probably what it would have taken.
Just picky points, but I thought Crisp deserved a bit more credit. He has not been an ego issue, as some predicted. He has been the consummate pro, and has produced quite nicely in his role, while also continuing his great defense. I would have given him a solid B. Masterson, too, I thought deserved perhaps a B+, if not an A-. The kid is a AA callup who has done quite a bit more than could reasonably have been expected. Solid starter who is going to be a tough choice to send back down if everyone gets healthy. Buckholtz and Colon will be back, but how do you send Masterson down after what he has accomplished?
Cash and Colon have been steals, IMO. I am also thrilled that Coco wasn't dealt. I love our OF rotation, and the depth has been very important. Add to that the option to basically have 3 CF's roaming the OF when Manny DH's and we have the fastest OF in MLB at times. Good moves for Theo.
Keep up the good work. Love your columns!
Chad....
I'll be the smartass that defends Lugo a little bit. There's no dedfending his defense (although 10 of his errors came in the first 35 games). But, while his OPS+ is only 90, he leads qualifying AL shortstops in OBP and is 4th in OPS (of 11). And among all major leaguers, its 4th and 11th (of 20).
If you simply hate Lugo, and want to give an an F no matter what he does, its your right. But I've come to expect more from you than the equivalent of the usual (not from you) "I hate Drew because he's a soulless pussy, I dont care what he's hitting" that this particular F reeks of.
Especially comapred to the late Mike Timlin's D-.
With regards to Daisuke's watchability, which I have noticed as well, I believe we became REALLY spoiled by Pedro - his effectiveness to the point of basically playing catch might be a once in a generation thing, if that. There are plenty of excellent pitchers who don't baffle hitters like he did and with his flair - the stats appear to back him up in this regard also.
Some of those ERA+ numbers are quite a surprise. I'm also annoyed with Pedroia's OBP which has really taken a beating from last year. Hopefully we won't mind where it ends up if his bat stays hot with the weather.
On Ellsbury, hey, I love the speed and the defense and the OBP is better than expected but that batting average isn't much. I know he's taken over the leadoff spot but I for one am sick to death of his proclivity to roll over a pitch and ground to second base. You can't outrun a grounder to the right side!
I disagree about Lowrie - he can't be any worse than Lugo on all of the routine plays that Julio muffs, and his bat would be an enormous upgrade over Lugo's limp noodle and empty BA.
Overall its pretty amazing that they're winning at a .650 clip without Papi and that they are only 1 game behind last year's pace despite all of the injuries.
I couldn't agree more about Timlin. It boggles my mind that this front office continue to make the blunder of resigning and playing this has been.
Heard it on the radio yesterday and looked it up. Check out Lugo's stats versus Jeter's this year. Almost identical.
Too many items to comment on, but I'll pick a few and go...
I agree with some others that you're too tough on Lugo. The overall package is an adequate major-league shortstop. All the hate is about his contract, which isn't really his fault. Somebody offers you $36 mill over four years, are you gonna tell them you're only worth 10?
I think the "B" for Varitek is also a triumph of emotion over reason. He's just not hitting -- and he's occupying a relatively high slot in the lineup. He certainly still has value, but if he keeps this up he's a below-average major-league catcher.
And yes, I share the prevailing sentiment: glad as hell we didn't make a Santana trade. Just remember that, and the Gagne disaster, when you start calling for a deadline deal for a setup man.
I can see why they keep Timlin around. A lot of old relievers get a second ()third, fourth) wind just when you think they're completely finished. They've been giving him chances to put it together in relatively low-impact spots, and I think that's a good strategy.
Manny will be elsewhere next year unless he's willing to accept a short contract and/or low money. He'd make a fine DH, but we've got that covered. And he is showing signs of the normal, uninterrupted-by-flaxseed-oil aging process.
Agreed that the grade for 'Tek is too high - I'm changing it to the letter on his jersey. I think I just remember too well what life is like without him.
Lugo's F stands. He just hit into a double play.
Unless Lowrie has worked miracles with his footwork since he was in Portland, he's not playing shortstop every day in the majors for a good team. He's the next Mark Loretta.
Love the Cash comment....The Parm comes out every once in awhile....Dougie!!! Keep up the good work...
How in the world does Papi get a B-? Would he still be getting that if the Sox were in third place now? I love the guy and wish he was in the line-up but his BA although climbing still stinks. His penchant for not always hussling it out has become annoying especially considering he only bats. You call on Youk for being annoying but no one feels more betrayed by the strike calls than Papi. As far as Lugo is concerned, he always plays hard and against the other player grades deserves better than the F you threw his way. I go with everything else although I would probably give Casey an A- or at least a B+. Good article.
I'd personally dock Coco an entire grade for his childish grudge crap with Tampa Bay. What kind of professional behaves in such a way that he and several of his team won't be available to play when they're needed? Especially in an injury-prone season?
If I were Francona, that kid would be behind the woodshed for a long, long time.
This nonsense of "he disrespected me first so I had to go hit him" has no place in Red Sox baseball.
How can all these people defend Julio? He's H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. I would have given him an F-MINUS. He leads the League, not the American League, all of Major League Baseball in errors. Without looking it up, although he is one of the fastest players on the team, he probably has hit into more double plays than anyone other than Manny. I can guarantee he leads the team with 162 mental mistakes. He still doesn't know how to run the bases correctly. Every time he rounds third, he always looks at the outfield for 2 seconds instead of first checking the third base coach, then picking up the on-deck batter as he is hitting the home plate for a " stay up/slide sign. This always annoys me, it slows you down. It's like downshifting from 4th gear to third. The only thing he consistently does well is grab his jock. He definitely leads the lead in successful jock grabs. I have to give credit where credit is due.
One other comment: Brandon Moss will be better than David Murphy? D.M. is on pace for 104 RBI , 20 dingers and 46 doubles. Nice year. I am going to hold you to that statement!
Lugo: 18 RBIs, 16 errors. I should have given him an F-.
I'm not defending Lugo, but I don't think he's capital-H horrible either. When you take the whole package together, you get approximately an average shortstop. I'm not sayin' he's worth 9 mill a season, and I will never understand Theo's infatuation with him. But he's not terrible. Maddening yes, but terrible no.
Just for laughs, I just checked over the current stats of AL shortstops. Lugo's right in the middle of the pack. There are seven starting shortstops who are clearly worse than Lugo: Bobby Crosby, Yuniesky Betancourt, Freddie Bynum, Brendan Harris, Tony Pena Jr., Juan Uribe, and Jason Bartlett.
There are four who are about equivalent to Lugo: David Eckstein, Orlando Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, and Edgar Renteria. (Peralta has better power, but worse BA and OBA; Cabrera certainly has an edge on defense, but at the plate he's a dead ringer for Lugo.)
The other two: Jeter and Michael Young. Their 2008 stats are about equal to Lugo's, but they are clearly better over the course of their careers. And that's it. Shortstop is a position of weakness in the League right now, and Lugo is right in the middle of the pack.
"By the way, can you imagine how different this season would be had the Ellsbury, Lester, Masterson, and Lowrie for Santana rumor actually come to fruition? Not that there was ever confirmation that Theo even considered it for a nanosecond, but still . . . what a haul that would have been for the Twins."
Chad -
Just about everytime I see Lester & Masterson pitch, and Ellsbury change a game with his glove, bat or feet, I have the exact same thought (haven't seen enough of Lowrie yet, but from the limited sample study, it appears he's yet another stud waiting to make Fenway his home for a long time).
A couple of random thoughts -
Lugo - I'm not ready to write him off completely yet. His defense has improved the past couple of weeks, he rarely gives an at-bat away, and the Red Sox did win a WS with him. Still, that contract....
Pitching - I'm intrigued by a Sox pitching staff full of young arms that can all throw well into the 90's, and yet still insist on nibbling. Watching Aardsma, Hansen and Delcarmen Saturday night against Houston was almost painful. Yes, I know Hansen's breaking stuff is filthy, but when you throw 97, could you just challenge a guy?
JD Drew - Yes, so this IS what the fascination was all about. I just hope that when he inevitably cools off a bit, the fans will realize that his demeanor is the same.
Julio Lugo stinks. He's got a total S-A-L-A-M-I bat. Other than the range, how can Lowrie be any worse? Play Lowrie 7 innings, insert Cora for defensive purposes.
How did Coco Crisp ever hit 16 HRs in a season?
Don't worry about Mike Timlin. In October, Mike Timlin gets the big outs. He has ice water running in his veins.
Varitek is playing ok. However, I'd be hard pressed to give a 36 year old catcher with declining offensive #'s, a hefty extension.
The league has caught up to Okajima.
I take it Chad's not much of a fan of Dane Cook.
Loved the Casey description. If dating choices came into play, wouldn't you say Bucholz would be given an A+? Not sure if you had taken that into account or not...just sayin'..
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Irreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and lifelong and incurable sports nut. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is. You can e-mail him at chadfinn4@yahoo.com.
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