Last Saturday night, I was watching the Celtics-Magic game with my brothers, when, suddenly, we learned that Daisuke Matsuzaka had a “No-No” going into the 7th inning vs. the Phillies.
We watched Dice-K lose the no-hitter with two outs in the 8th inning, but, for me, this moment – of Dice-K pitching brilliantly against one of the best-hitting lineups in baseball – was one of the highlights of this still-early 2010 season. Finally, something positive and unexpected was happening to this boring Red Sox team. It has been part of a very good stretch for the Sox in which they’ve split with the NY Yankees, taken two from the Minnesota Twins, took two of three from the Phillies, and, last night, won the first of three from the Tampa Bay Rays. Before this, the Sox have fared poorly against better teams and performed best vs. the worst teams.
I’ve often defended Matsuzaka the past few years, but, before this last outing, even I was getting fed up with some of his tendencies — his “nibbling” on the corners rather than challenging hitters; taking too much time on the mound, and, being so inconsistent with his fastball velocity and location. Sometimes this year, particularly, Dice-K’s fastball has been surprisingly lousy: He’s thrown many at 89 or 90 mph with no movemement and down the middle that have been belted by any decent hitters. I was wondering if Dice-K was hurt. How could his fastball regress after pitching so little last season, when he took most of the season to strengthen his arm and get into better shape?
Well, I got enough glimpses of his Saturday gem to know his fastball was better. I saw one that reached 94 mph on the gun, but, I assume many others did too. (Did they?)
Matsuzaka hasn’t been the only source of good news for the Sox. Clay Buchholz has pitched very well and is showing a few signs of maturity on the mound. I’m referring to progress at getting out of jams, and, simply keeping his confidence despite setbacks on the mound. Buchholz displayed more tenacity last night as he worked around jams against the Rays, whose lineup is very relentless. In addition, Buchholz seems to be making slow progress at not letting baserunners bother him. In the past, his performance has suffered when pitching out of the stretch and he has an extremely compulsive habit of throwing over to first when a runner is on base. Last night, Buchholz got another big win for the team. He’s thrown a slider much more in the past few games. Who knows? This slider – combined with his fantastic changeup, outstanding curve (which he should throw much more!) and his fastball – could turn him into an ace.
Beyond this, the team’s hitting has picked up some. David Ortiz appears to be back swinging the bat well. He’s hit a slew of HRs in the past two weeks and has his “swagger” back. Victor Martinez has shown signs of life after a lengthy slump. JD Drew awoke from his slumber to get a string of hits — but, I’m still not sure he won’t regress back into mediocrity soon.
Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are living up to expectations: They’re the best, most consistent hitters on the team. They’re playing well in the field too.
Jacoby Ellsbury is back from his injury, and, clearly is not himself at the plate yet. Will he help the team in the leadoff spot? I think so, but I thought Marco Scutaro had been half-decent in his absence. Jeremy Hermida has supplied a bunch of big, clutch hits so far; in fact, he’s probably won several games singlehandedly, so, he appears to have the potential to help even more in the future.
For some reeason, John Lackey has not pitched that well for several starts. I’m not sure what his problem is, but, his fastball seems to lack its normal zip, to me. It’s as if Lackey is tired, even though he’s got no reason to be tired. I hope he does not have an underlying ailment of injury. This is worth keeping an eye on.
The other major development affecting Red Sox Nation positively? The Yankees are struggling a bit. The Bombers have showed their mortality lately, losing a few games to the Rays and the Mets. They’re battling injuries to a few key players. Jorge Posada will be out for a while. Nick Johnson will be out for a while. Andy Petttite’s elbow was bothering him. Plus, Joba Chamberlain has been shaky in the setup role. He looked horrible against the Sox and allowed them to comeback and win that recent game.
Though it’s very early, it appears the Red Sox’ best chance may, in fact, be to edge out the Yankees rather than catch the Rays, who seem too talented to struggle for a long time.
Once again, GM Theo Epstein will have some very tough decisions to make as the trading deadline approaches. Will the team be in the race enough to influence Theo to make an important deal or two? Or, will he prefer to gut it out and accept the strong possibility the team may not make the wild card this year.
At least, in the past two weeks, the Red Sox have shown signs of life. Before that, I thought they might be irrelevant by the trading deadline.
