Red Sox CF Mike Cameron

Despite the fact that the Boston Red Sox seem to be dropping like flies, they remain just 2 games behind the hated Yankees for first place in the American League East.  After today’s game at the Giants, the Red Sox head home to face the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles.  They will be happy to get out of San Francisco alive at this point. 

In what can be described simply as a freak injury, second baseman Dustin Pedroia could be lost for up to two months after breaking his foot when he fouled a ball off of it in Friday night’s game.  Pedroia is an irreplaceable piece of both the offensive and defensive picture, and will be sorely missed.  Hopefully the Sox can tread water with Bill Hall at second, who has been below average at best as an outfielder.  Here’s to hoping he doesn’t butcher too many double-play balls in the next few weeks.

Clay Buchholz suffered a scare in yesterday’s game, in which he pilled up lame running the bases.  Thankfully it turned out to be just a hyperextension of the knee, and Buchholz should be good to go for his next start, which should be Saturday at home vs. the Orioles.

Elsewhere in the Red Sox infirmary, there is a one Jacoby Ellsbury, who is still apparently not close to resuming baseball activities in the wake of what must be the most horrific rib injury ever suffered by a professional athlete.  

Ellsbury broke his ribs the first week of the season after colliding with third baseman Arian Beltre.  He made an attempt at a comeback about a month ago but went back on the DL after just 3 games.  Maybe we’ll see him sometime before 2012, get well Jacoby.  Good thing you didn’t use your 4.3 40-yd dash time to make a play as a wide receiver, because things such as hangnails are generally not seen as serious injuries in the NFL.

On the other side of the spectrum, Mike Cameron continues to gut his way (no pun intended) through an abdominal tear, playing just about every other game.  Cameron put his body on the line, making a spectacular catch in the 8^th inning yesterday to save extra bases on a shot from Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval.  Cameron also supplied the offense, smashing a 3-run bomb.

In the face of adversity, the Red sox have managed to find ways to win.  They have had a great month of June, going 16-8, helping to circumvent their slow start.  Hopefully, the impending return of Josh Beckett and the continued success of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz will help them stay afloat until Pedroia’s return.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz

With last night’s 2-0 win at the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox continued their hot streak.  Over the last 12 games, the Red Sox have gone on an 8-4 run against some of the best teams in Major League Baseball.  Despite losing their series at Detroit May 14-16, they have split a two game set at the New York Yankees, beat the Minnesota Twins in a two-game sweep, taken 2 of 33 from the defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies, and now taken two of the first 3 at Tampa, which at point this season has looked unbeatable. 

With that being stated, the Red Sox are still 6.5 games in back of Tampa, but are only 3 games behind the Yankees in the loss column for the early Wild Card lead.  Despite all the inconsistency that has plagued the club up until this point, the ship seems to be righting itself, as David Ortiz has awaken from a comatose April to post a .359 batting average, 8 home runs and 21 RBI in the month of May. 

If the Red Sox can stay consistent, they can fatten up their record in the next two weeks, as they face Kansas City and Oakland at Fenway and travel to Baltimore and Cleveland.  All of these teams currently have losing records except for Oakland, who currently stand at .500 with a 23-23 record.  The Sox need to take advantage of this part of the schedule to make serious headway in the division.   

Ortiz’ resurgence combined with the apparent ascension of Clay Buchholz as well as Jon Lester shaking off his perennial early-season struggles have been the prime reason for the marked improvement.  They continue to hit the ball well, as they are second in the AL in home runs behind the surprising Toronto Blue Jays, who have belted 79.

They should be able to move out 4^th place in the division and past the Blue Jays, whose free swinging ways will surely catch up to them.  Although they are smashing the ball out of the park at an alarming rate, one would believe that their offensive success will eventually tail off.  They are hitting .243 as a team, and their on-base Percentage of .309 is currently the worst in the American League.

The Blue Jays have changed their ways over the last year or so, exchanging their old philosophy of working pitch counts for one of “see the ball, hit the ball” for lack of a better term.  Of all the AL East teams, they have played the least divisional games, and have faced a much weaker chedule than the Sox. Yanks and Rays up until this point. 

With Mike Cameron now healthy and active, the defense should dramatically improve in the outfield.  Although Jeremy Hermida has been an adequate replacement at the plate, his defense has been atrocious at times.  The jury is still out on exactly what Jacoby Ellsbury’s condition is, so we may see more of the Hermida/Darnell McDonald/Bill Hall pupu platter in the outfield than was to be expected at this point.

The Red Sox seem to be getting healthy and hot just at the right time.  Their series wins over the Twins, Phillies, and Rays should boost the confidence of a club that was struggling mightily just a month ago.  It may not be such a long hot summer after all.

Outside of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, the starting pitching has been awful

In 39 games played, the pitching rotation has just 18 Quality Starts (6 IP, 3 or less ER) to their credit.  John Lackey has been disappointing thus far, as his strikeout rate (5.58/9 IP) and his strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.48) have been the worst of his career to this point.  In his last 2 starts, he has allowed 11 earned runs in 13 innings, causing his ERA to jump a full run to 4.86.  Not exactly what you’re looking for in your highest paid player.  Josh Beckett has allowed a staggering 52 hits in just 41 innings with a pitiful 7.46 ERA, and Daisuke Matsuzaka is his usual disappointing self, as he has made past the 5^th inning just twice in 4 starts, once of which was against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Offense has been better than expected despite injuries

The Red Sox are 2^nd in the A.L. with 54 HR, and 3^rd in runs scored with 203.  J.D. Drew has been the most productive hitter with 26 RBI, and Adrian Beltre is an unlikely candidate to be leading the team in hitting with a .312 average.  Even David Ortiz is showing signs of life lately with 6 HR in May.  Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis have been their consistent selves. Victor Martinez was moved down to 5^th in the lineup and hit 2 HR last night. Marco Scutaro has been a good leadoff hitter, with a .363 OBP.  Jason Varitek has been good when he’s been asked to spell Martinez.    One would think that Beltre will come back to earth, as his patience at the plate has not been great (8 walks in 149 Plate Appearances), but the offense in general should improve once Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron Return. 

The middle relief has been horrible, but the late inning relief has been solid

Since the starting rotation is rarely going deep into games, the bullpen continues to be tax heavily, which mean that Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez are pitching much more than they should.  Each is sporting an ERA over 6.00, and are both possible candidates to be released at some point should there be more of the same.  Addtionally, left-handed hitters are hitting .346 off “lefty-specialist” Scott Schoenweis.  Things usually don’t bode well for pitchers who are paid to get 1 out a game and can’t do it.  The back end of the bullpen has been solid however, as Daniel Bard has been great, striking out 26 batters in 20 innings.  Despite last night’s rough outing, Jonanthan Papelbon has been good, converting 9 of 10 save opportunities.

So what needs to happen for this team to succeed?  If the starting pitching can come around and get into the 6^th and 7^th innings consistently, the Red Sox can improve.  Once the offense is healthy, they will score more runs, and Ellsbury’s speed will make them more diverse of a threat.   Hopefully by the time these things happen, the Red Sox won’t be 15 games out of first.