PITCHING WOES CONTINUE TO BOTHER BOSTON
2012 RED SOX RECAP
BOSTON - WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PROMISING FANTASY FREE-AGENT DRAFT DURING THE RE-ORGANIZATION OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IN 2010 HAS NEVER MATERIALIZED FOR THE RED SOX.
PITCHING SEEMS TO BE AT THE ROOT OF THREE STRAIGHT MISSES TO GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS.
"THEIR STARTERS HAVE BEEN FAR FROM CONSISTENT, GIVING UP TOO MANY THREE- AND FOUR-RUN OUTBURSTS TO BREAK UP CLOSE ENCOUNTERS," SAID AN AL ADVANCE SCOUT. "BOSTON HAS HAD EXCELLENT LONG RELIEVERS, SOME TOUGH SET UP MEN AND STRONG CLOSERS, YET THEY DROP FAR TOO MANY ONE-RUN BALLGAMES."
LAST SEASON, LONG RELIEVER BRYON RAGLAND WAS OUTSTANDING, PICKING UP 10 WINS AGAINST JUST ONE LOSS, THAT COMING IN SEPTEMBER.
"RAGLAND REGRESSED THIS SEASON, AND BY THE TIME HE SORTED THINGS OUT IN HE MINORS, SHANE KELLEY HAD TAKEN HIS SPOT, EVENTUALLY BECOMING A SET-UP MAN AT THE END OF THE SEASON," THE SCOUT NOTED.
THE RED SOX WOULD STUMBLE TO A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH IN THE AL EAST AT 71-91, BUT HOPES REMAIN THE TEAM CAN TURN THINGS AROUND IN 2013.
"ANDREW McCUTCHEN (.324, 26, 75) IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 PLAYERS IN MLB," THE SCOUT SAID. "THEY USED HIM PLENTY AT DH INSTEAD OF CENTERFIELD, ALLOWING HIM TO STAY HEALTHY."
McCUTCHEN STILL WON A GOLD GLOVE IN CENTERFIELD, LED THE LEAGUE IN TRIPLES WITH 16 AND HITS WITH 209, WHILE HIS 48 DOUBLES WERE SECOND-BEST IN THE AL, HIS .568 SLUGGING PERCENTAGE WAS THIRD AND HIS BATTING AVERAGE WAS FOURTH BEST.
"AND ALL THAT WAS PRIMARILY FREOM THE LEADOFF SPOT," THE SCOUT NOTED. "IN 2011, HE HIT ANYWHERE FROM FIRST TO FIFTH. IF THE RED SOX CAN PICK UP A PROTYPICAL TABLE-SETTER TO HIT FIRST, THEY CAN DROP McCUTCHEN (.371 ON-BASE PERCENTAGE) DOWN TO THE THIRD OR FOURTH SPOT, ALTHOUGH HE'S COMING OFF A 42-STEAL SEASON."
CATHER MATT WIETERS, ACQUIRED IN A TRADE, POSTED A .369 ON-BASE PERCENTAGE, BUT PROBABLY WOULDN'T HIT LEADOFF, THE SCOUT SAID.
McCUTCHEN COULD HAVE RUN UP EVEN BETTER STATS WITH AN IMPROVED AVERAGE ABOVE HIS .234 WITH RISP.
THE SCOUT WILL HELP WITH THE FOLLOWING 2012 POSITIONAL RECAP AND A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2013 SEASON.
CATCHER
WIETERS HIT .298 WITH 27 HRs AND 74 RBIs.
"HE'LL BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ORDER ALMOST EVERYDAY NEXT SEASON," THE SCOUT SAID.
JASON JARAMILLO HAD TAKEN HOLD OF THE NO. 1 CATCHING SPOT, BUT WAS INJURED AND THE TRADE FOR WIETERS WENT DOWN WHEN JARAMILLO WAS DISABLED. HE HIT .296 OVER 77 GAMES. ENRIQUE BENIQUEZ, ONCE A TOP PROSPECT, AND MATT KINCAID, JUST 21 NEXT SEASON, OFFER COVER.
"KINCAID'S GOT POTENTIAL WITH HIS BAT AND SPEED, BUT HE MAY HAVE TO FIND HIS OPPORTUNITY ELSEWHERE," THE SCOUT SAID.
FIRST BASE
WHEN THE SWOON BEGAN FOR BOSTON, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO TRADE PRINCE FIELDER, WHO THE RED SOX DIDN'T EXPECT TO RESIGN.
"WELL, $16 MILLION IS PLENTY OF CASH, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, FIELDER'S LONG BEEN A BIG RUN-PRODUCER WITH PLENTY OF POWER (41 HOMERS COMBINED WITH BOSTON AND PITTSBURGH."
STANTON WELLS MADE THE MOST OF A CHANCE HE GOT AT FIRST AND DH, BUT TORE HIS CALF TWO DAYS AFTER FIELDER WAS DEALT.
"THAT WAS A SHAME, BUT ALSO A BLESSING IN DISGUISE," THE SCOUT SAID. "BECAUSE, IF WELLS STAYS HEALTHY AND KEEPS HITTING, THEY DON'T MAKE THE TRADE FOR (ENOCH) KYLE."
KYLE WAS LEADING THE MINORS WITH 20 HOMERS WHEN BOSTON ACQUIRED HIM.
KYLE WAS IMMEDIATELY INSTALLED AT FIRST BASE, A POSITION THE 6-FOOT-5 KYLE HAD NEVER PLAYED. PERHAPS IN MAKING UP FOR HIS ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR SNUB, WRITERS VOTED KYLE AS THE AL'S GOLD GLOVE WINNER FOR LEFT FIELD.
KYLE WAS ON A PACE FOR HALF HIS HITS GOING FOR EXTRA BASES FOR NEARLY TWO MONTHS BEFORE FINISHING AT .265, 15 AND 50, WITH FOUR TRIPLES AND 16 DOUBLES AMONG HIS 90 HITS, GOOD FOR A .469 SLUGGING PERCENTAGE.
SECOND BASE
A REVOLVING DOOR DOESN'T SPIN MUCH MORE IN A DAY COMPARED TO THE NUMBER OF INFIELDERS THE RED SOX TRIED HERE.
IT TOOK TRADES OF SOME TOP PROSPECTS TO LEAVE A GAP IN THE FIRST PLACE AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THE FINAL QUARTER OF THE SEASON BOSTON FOUND ITS MAN.
DARIO ESTRADA HIT .285 OVER 221 AT-BATS WITH A HALF-DOZEN KNOCKS AND 26 RUNS DRIVEN IN TO LAY CLAIM TO SECOND BASE IN 2013.
SHORTSTOP
STEPHEN DREW HAS EMERGED INTO ONE OF THE BETTER SHORTSOPS IN ALL OF BASEBALL, THE SCOUT SAID.
"HE WAS ONE OF A HANDFUL WITH MORE THAN 400 ASSISTS," THE SCOUT SAID. "HE ALSO BELTED MORE THAN 20 HOMERS FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR."
DREW'S FINAL NUMBERS INCLUDED PLAYING IN ALL BUT 15 GAMES, HITTING .284 WITH 24 HOMERS AND 87 RUNS DRIVEN IN, SECOND ONLY TO RYAN BRAUN'S 105. HE SLAMMED 44 TWO-BAGGERS AND EIGHT TRIPLES TO SLUG .505. HE HIT .291 WTH RISP AND .318 AT FENWAY.
THIRD BASE
AN EARLY-SEASON DEAL BROUGHT TALENTED RODERICK SUTHERLAND OVER FROM SAN DIEGO.
"HE WAS HITTING A TON, KNOCKING IN RUNS AND BLASTING DONGS," THE SCOUT SAID. "HE HAD A DECENT ROOKIE SEASON IN 2011 SO IT WAS QUITE A JUMP, AND HE NEVER COULD MATCH HIS START.
SUTHERLAND, WHO REMINDS MANY BASEBALL OBSERVERS OF A YOUNG ALEX RODRIGUEZ, ALBEIT ONE WHO HITS LEFT-HANDED. SUTHERLAND PROVED SOLID, BUT SHOWED TOO LITTLE OF HIS FAST PADRES START WHIL IN TEXZ.
HE FINISHED AT .260, 17 AND 66. HE WAS HAND-PICKED TO TAKE OVER AT TH13D FRO TERKM
LEFT FIELD
BRAUN IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A VERY MANAGEABLE 7-YEAR DEAL AND COULD BE DEALT FOR PITCHING IF NEEDED.
CENTER FIELD
THERE'S McCUTCHEN HERE AND NOBODY ELSE. HOSEA SPIVEY (.304. 7 AND 40) PARLAYED A STRONG EXHIBITION SEASON INTO THE FOURTH OUTFIELDER ROLE. HE ALSO PROVED AN EXCELLENT PINCH-HITTER.
RIGHT FIELD
AFTER A STRONG 2011 DEBUT, DARIUS OLIVER SIGNED A LONG-TERM DEAL, BUT BATTLED INJURIES IN 2012, PLAYING IN JUST 111 GAMES, FINISHING AT .277, 16 AND 47 WITH 20 STEALS.
"HE HAS STAR POTENTIAL BUT MUST GET STRONGER," THE SCOUT SAID.
STARTING PITCHING
LOOKED MUCH BETTER AFTER DEALING FOR CY YOUNG CANDIDATE ANDY PETTITTE (18-7, 3.58), BUT MUCH OF THAT TIME WAS SPENT WITH A STRONGER TEAM AND THERE'S NO GUARANTEE HE WON'T RETIRE.
VETERAN LEFTY RANDY WOLF WAS THE TEAM'S ACE, POSTING QUALITY STARTS IN 22 OF HIS 33 TRIPS TO THE MOUND, BUT POSTING JUST A 10-11 RECORD.
NICK VOGEL MISSED NINE STARTS BUT STILL WON 11 GAMES AND IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED BOSTON'S NO. 1 STARTER, THE SCOUT SAID. SHANE KELLEY WAS VERY EFFECTIVE IN LONG RELIEF AND TYLER BUCHHOLZ RECORDED 26 HOLDS BUT HIS ERA SKYROCKETED IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON.
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