Baseball is
a game of numbers. There are hundreds of statistical categories in the game,
and any one of those data points can define a team. Normally the stats that are
cited to make a point about how well, or poorly, a given team is doing are home
runs, runs batted in and earned run averages. However, this year, the
statistical category that best accounts for the success of the Red Sox thus far
is unearned runs.
An unearned
run is a run that is not charged to the pitcher. It happens when a player scores
or reaches base on an error or a passed ball. The Red Sox have won several
games thanks to errors in the field. The Sox, who many said would have the best
offense in baseball going into Spring Training, have scored 95 runs so far this
season. That’s the fifth most runs scored by an offense so far this year—not
bad at all. But consider this: opposing teams have committed 26 errors while
playing the Sox, which has led to 23 unearned runs scored by the Boston
offense.
That’s the
most unearned runs of any team in the MLB. By far. And it accounts for more
than 25% of the runs the Red Sox have put on the board this year. The inability
of the Red Sox to score runs on their own has been especially prominent of
late. In fact, the winning run in each of the last three Red Sox wins has been
unearned. And if all of that isn’t enough to convince you that the Red Sox
offense hasn’t lived up to what it should be, I’ll also point out that they
lead the league in walks, with 81.
I don’t
mean to say that you shouldn’t capitalize
on other team’s blunders, because you absolutely should. Forcing errors is part
of the game. However, scoring a quarter of your runs because of errors by the
opposing team is something that any team should worry about. It’s not a winning
strategy in any sport to count on others to fail, giving you the opportunity to
succeed. Right now the team is on pace to cash in on more than 200 unearned
runs, which would be the most by a Major League team since 1955. This is Major
League Baseball that we’re talking about, and the Red Sox shouldn’t expect to
continue getting the uncanny amount of breaks that they’ve gotten from opposing
defenses so far this year. The Red Sox season has been filled with
unpredictability, and in my opinion, this team’s record should be nowhere near
.500 like it currently is.
While the
unearned runs have padded the offense’s struggles, there hasn’t been any sort
of a cushion to hide how atrocious the pitching is. Right now I look up and
down the roster and I see a bunch of pitchers who are unpredictable. This staff
features guys who are capable of putting together quality outings, but are also
in danger of getting rocked on any given day. Take Wade Miley for example. Two
starts ago the lefty tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, but on Sunday in
Baltimore he got rocked as hard as any pitcher in the MLB this year. When he
came off in the third inning, he was probably hoping that most Bostonians were
tuned into the Celtics playoff game against the Cavaliers, and not to the Red
Sox game, because he looked like a Little League pitcher going up against the
Orioles that day. Over the 2.1 innings that he pitched, he allowed six earned
runs on five hits and two walks. Six runs over two innings? That’s just
embarrassing.
When the
Sox turned to their bullpen, it didn’t get much better. In fact it got even
worse. Heath Hembree allowed six earned runs over his just 1.1 innings of work.
No reliever went more than two innings, leading to an 18-7 Red Sox loss at
Camden Yards in Baltimore.
There were
also some other controversies surrounding the Red Sox trip to Baltimore over
the weekend. It all started back in Boston last Sunday when Red Sox DH David
Ortiz was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in his team’s rain-shortened
7-1 win over the Birds. It seemed pretty harmless to most of Red Sox nation,
and it’s not like we’ve never seen Ortiz get hot with an umpire before.
However, for some reason, Orioles broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim
Palmer took exception, and even though he didn’t make the trip to Boston, went
to Twitter to criticize the beloved slugger.
“FINALLY Ortiz gets tossed #disrespectful,” he tweeted out.
Palmer
later expanded on his criticism of Big Papi, telling ESPN.com’s Gordon Edes in
an email that “(Ortiz is) entitled
to do it any way he wants, but when he throws his whole team under the bus, all
the fans who came out to Fenway Park, it’s kind of like a puppy -–
unconditional love -– but at the end of the day, if the puppy doesn’t do
the right things, you need to housebreak him.”
Palmer also said that Ortiz should
apologize for his actions. While he has every right to criticize Ortiz, he is
dead wrong in what he said, and, it is hypocritical of him to go after Ortiz so
harshly. Based on what he said, it seems as though Palmer wants all baseball
players to act like perfect angels. However, I don’t see him putting up fits
when Orioles players act excessively. Manny Machado acted out several times by
throwing equipment around in Baltimore’s series against the Red Sox this
weekend, and though Palmer denounced the Oriole third baseman’s actions, he
didn’t put up any big stink about them like he did with Ortiz. And as Hall of
Famer and NESN Red Sox analyst Jim Rice pointed out on the Red Sox postgame
show, Palmer was no role model as a player. “Who cried more than Jim Palmer?”
Rice asked. “I mean, come on. Lets be honest…You cry just as good as anyone
else, so quit complaining, and let the guys go out and play.”
