Kuzul

As the final two months of the season wind down, the Boston Red Sox will be faced with a couple of very interesting decisions when it comes to Jon Lester as they continue their push for the playoffs.

First, if the Red Sox make the playoffs, should Lester get a start? Secondly, will the Red Sox pick up Lester’s $13 million option for the 2014-15 season?

Dealing with the first question, Lester’s odd season for the Red Sox continued after being the losing pitcher Thursday night with another shaky performance in a 5-1 loss (ESPN game recap). It has been that type of season for Lester, his first season under new manager John Farrell.

Right now, Lester is the No. 4 starter on this pitching staff behind Jake Peavy, John Lackey and Felix Doubront. If Clay Buchholz returns to the rotation, then Lester should be bumped from the rotation come playoff time. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham has news of Buchholz making progress in rehabbing his right shoulder.

Going back to the start of this season, it looked like Farrell and new pitching coach Juan Nieves had been able to get Lester back in his groove, with the lefty off to a 6-0 start this season. It was the type of performance that made me think that the Red Sox might look at extending Lester at the All Star break.

Since that 6-0 start, Lester has been a decidedly mediocre 4-7. At a time when the Red Sox needed him to be the staff ace, he has been just another guy. With the injuries to Buchholz, Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan, Boston really needed Lester to become the ace of the staff again.

Instead, Lester has settled back into being an inconsistent No. 3 starter, not at all what the Red Sox need right now. The scary part about Lester’s 2013 numbers is that they are very similar to his numbers from 2012, the worst season of Lester’s career.

For a pitcher with a 95-55 career record, it is hard to look at him anymore as a potential ace of a pitching staff when he has only been 19-21 the past two seasons. The ace label seems to sit with Buchholz when he is healthy enough to pitch. It is also easy to understand that the Red Sox may have had some of the same concerns this offseason when Lester’s name was first mentioned in trade rumors.

For whatever reason, Lester hasn’t been the same pitcher he was through the 2011-12 season and he may never be that pitcher again. It begs the question: will the Red Sox seriously consider declining Lester’s 2014 contract option for $13 million?

It sounds silly on the surface, but the Red Sox might decide having Lester making $13 million as a No. 4 starter isn’t the best investment moving forward, especially with all of the young starting pitching coming through the system.

The 29-year-old Lester should be in the prime of his career right now, yet he looks like he might be showing signs of serious decline. For a supposed ace pitcher, Lester has given the Red Sox only 11 quality starts out of his 24 outings.

It is simply not good enough. The Red Sox will be in a dogfight in the American League East for the remainder of the season. For the Red Sox to make the playoffs, Lester will need to improve his overall performance.

Lester used to be the considered the ace of the staff, now the question is simply whether Lester can ever resemble that pitcher again for Boston.

Information used from Baseball Reference, ESPN, Peter Abraham/Boston Globe

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David Ortiz has authored some of the greatest hits in Red Sox history and holds the team’s single-season home run record of 54.

Still, Big Papi has never performed at a level closer to that of former Boston slugger Ted Williams than he is doing right now.

Including his home run in Friday night’s 7-3 win over the Astros—his second straight game with a homer—Ortiz is batting .500 (11-for-22) with an OPS of nearly 1.500 since returning from a heel injury that sidelined him most of spring training and the first 16 games of this season.

While most hitters return from major injuries looking rusty at the plate, Papi looks hotter than ever.

It is a trick that the Hall of Famer Williams, acknowledged by many to be baseball’s greatest all-time hitter, performed often during his career.

Injuries, military service, and a few self-imposed “retirements” often kept Ted away from spring training and/or early-season action, but he always seemed to return in top form to the amazement of fans and fellow players alike.

In 1941, for instance, a bad ankle hobbled The Splendid Splinter for a month during the end of spring training and the early season, but he singled as a pinch-hitter in the home opener and batted .462 in his first eight games back en route to a .406 season as the last .400 hitter in big league history.

After a Triple Crown season in 1942 (.356, 37, 137), Ted missed all of 1943-45 while serving as a Navy pilot during World War II. He didn’t skip a beat, however, coming back in 1946 to hit .342 with 38 homers.

Williams served his country yet again as a Marine fighter pilot during the Korean War, and missed most of the 1952 and ’53 seasons. Unlike most big leaguers, he rarely touched a baseball during his absence, yet returned to Boston’s lineup late in 1953 and hit an incredible .407 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI in just 37 games.

On the first day of spring training in 1954, Williams broke his collarbone—an injury that kept him on the shelf for all of the exhibition season and the first month of the regular campaign. Once again, however, he showed he needed no warming up by hitting .455 in his first 10 games back for Boston.

Even when Ted decided he’d quit baseball and start fishing full-time after the 1954 season, and then sat out all of spring training and April in ’55 before a pricey divorce changed his mind, it didn’t matter. He merely hit .414 with six homers and five doubles in his first 53 at-bats when he came back.

So while Ortiz, who also missed all but one of the last 73 games of the 2012, may be doing something astounding, it is not unprecedented in Red Sox history.

Just ask the really old-timers at Fenway Park.

Saul Wisnia lives less than seven miles from Fenway Park and works 300 yards from Yawkey Way. His latest book, Fenway Park: The Centennial, is available at http://amzn.to/qWjQRS, and his Fenway Reflections can be found at http://saulwisnia.blogspot.com. He can be reached at saulwizz@gmail.com and @saulwizz. 

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In a day marked by emotion and remembrance for the victims and families of the Boston Marathon bombings, David “Big Papi” Ortiz made a memorable return to the lineup this Saturday afternoon when the hometown Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals for their sixth straight win.

As the longest tenured Red Sox player, Ortiz gave a heartfelt speech prior to the game in front of a sellout crowd of over 37,000 fans.  And though his statement was quick, it was clear and directly to the point.  

Not only that, but it included some very colorful language as he described who the city of Boston belonged to (NSFW video can be seen here).

And while his choice of words may not have been the most appropriate thing to say in front of a large group of attendees that surely included its fair share of children, you have to admire his emotion and pride for the city where he has made his home for the past 10 seasons in the majors.

Ortiz knocked in Boston’s first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a single that brought Jacoby Ellsbury in to score and went 2-for-4 on the day with two singles.  

No other Red Sox player had more than one hit.

The Red Sox are now first place in the American League East with an 11-4 record, lead Major League Baseball in opposing batting average (.209), are second in team ERA (2.69), are fourth in WHIP (1.13) and are starting to hit the ball consistently in the early part of the 2013 season.  

And while many were skeptical about how the Red Sox would perform this season, they, like the city of Boston, are proving all wrong and are showing the world just how “strong” and resilient this team and their fans really are.  

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Over the last several years, the famous Red Sox and Yankees rivalry has been said to be dead, or at the very least, diminished. But no matter where the rivalry stands today it remains—and has always been—one of the greatest, longest-standing rivalries in sports.

So when I heard that the Yankees would be playing Sweet Caroline following the third inning of their game Tuesday as a tribute to Boston—their most hated, deeply-seated rival—I was moved.

Of all the amazing stories that have come out of the Boston Marathon tragedy, I was especially touched to see such a compassionate action, however small, come from “the enemy.”

Admittedly, along with many Red Sox fans, I have loosely thrown that term around at the Yankees for years. But suddenly, it seems so horribly wrong.

New York and the Yankees aren’t the enemy. Whoever inflicted such immense pain on the city of Boston, the victims and their families of the Boston Marathon, is the enemy.

If there was ever a time to put aside the rivalry, whether it’s strong or weak, it’s now. What transpired yesterday is so much bigger than baseball. The fact is, it wasn’t just Boston that was attacked. America was attacked and it’s a tragedy that no city knows better than New York.

A gesture as simple as a song is everything coming from them.

Think about picking on your little brother. You might do it all the time. But as soon as a school bully starts to pick on your little brother, that bully has a new problem and its name is You.

Nobody picks on your little brother but you.

Sure, New York and Boston have their differences. But New York and Boston, the Red Sox and Yankees, are still brothers. They come from the same genetic material that makes up the United States of America.

It’s in times like these that we see the bigger picture. As hard as it can be for diehard fans to admit it, it’s a reminder that some things, like life and freedom and justice, truly are more important than sports.

Yet at the same time, sports provide a vein through which we can begin to cope and heal. Like each player wore No. 42 on Monday, each team wears the same colors—red, white and blue—today (at heart).

As a dedicated Yankees hater, I am so grateful and appreciative of the support that the Yankees and the city of New York are, in the words of Neil Diamond, “reachin’ out” to Boston with the playing of Sweet Caroline.

Like New York in 2001, Boston will remain strong through these trying times.

For nobody picks on Boston, unless you’re the New York Yankees.

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Usually there isn’t much hype for the Boston Red Sox’s first game against the Toronto Blue Jays, but with John Farrell making his first appearance in Toronto since he left the Canadian organization, there were plenty of storylines.

Aside from Farrell’s return, it marked the first time the Red Sox would face the recently restocked Blue Jays.

The Red Sox managed to go on the road and get their third win of the season.

Here is my “Three Up, Three Down” for Boston’s first game against the Blue Jays.

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New Red Sox manager John Farrell has his work cut out for him as he tries to pick up the pieces from last year’s horrendous showing under Bobby Valentine. He’s been tasked with patching up the leaking holes that led to the Red Sox’ worst season in nearly 50 years—and then some.

If he can take anything away from his predecessor, it’s a long list of don’ts.

When thinking about all of the things Farrell should approach differently this year than Valentine, the short answer is everything. But here are five crucial lessons to be learned for a guaranteed turnaround in 2013.

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The Boston Red Sox are in the midst of a challenging offseason, as they work to improve on a team that went 69-93 in 2012. Although it may be a tiny blip on baseball’s radar, they made an excellent preliminary move earlier today by signing free agent catcher David Ross.

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that the Red Sox and Ross agreed to a two-year, $6.2 million contract. Rosenthal later indicated on Twitter that Ross is expected to see extended playing time in 2013. This means the team will start to shift away from incumbent catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway, which should be seen as a good thing.

Last season Saltalamacchia and Lavarnway combined to hit a paltry .204 and threw out only 16.3 percent of attempted stolen bases. This type of production is unacceptable, especially given the kind of expectations the Red Sox have as a team every year. While Ross is far from a star he represents a significant upgrade at catcher.

Ross came to the majors as purely a glove man, but has continually improved with his bat during his 11-year MLB career. He had a combined total of 577 at bats while playing with the Atlanta Braves over the past four seasons. He hit .268 during that time, with 24 home runs and 94 RBI, making him an intriguing option for extended playing time in Boston.  

The most welcome aspect of Ross’ game is his defense. He has a career .992 fielding percentage and has been an effective weapon in preventing stolen bases, throwing out 39 percent of runners, which according to BaseballReference places him fifth among all active catchers.

The Red Sox enter 2013 with as many question marks surrounding their pitching staff as any other team in baseball. With a combination of veterans returning from injury and/or struggles (Jon Lester, Andrew Bailey and John Lackey) and young developing arms (Rubby De La Rosa, Felix Dubront and Allen Webster), a confident and experienced catcher is a necessity to coax the best results.

Ross comes to Boston with a wealth of experience in working with young pitchers. He was with Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto in Cincinnati, and helped develop the likes of Tommy Hanson, Craig Kimbrel, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, among others, in Atlanta.

Perhaps some of Kris Medlen’s amazing 2012 season, where he went 10-1 with a 1.57 ERA, can be attributed to Ross. In the 13 games where he had Ross as a battery mate last season, Medlen struck out 49 batters in 44.1 innings and allowed a microscopic 0.81 ERA. By comparison, he struck out 71 in 93.2 innings and had a 1.92 ERA when caught by anyone else.

Ross is no stranger to stressful situations or Boston itself. He will be 36 next year and even spent eight games with the Red Sox at the end of the 2008 season after being released by the Reds. The return of his calming influence will be a welcome addition to a team so accustomed to controversy and strife of late.

Nobody will mistake Ross as a star, or even a long-term solution at catcher for the Red Sox. What he will bring is quiet consistency; something that has been recently in short supply in Boston.

Statistics via BaseballReference

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This article by Beth Healy at Boston.com isn’t good news.

Healy‘s article details that principal Boston Red Sox‘ owner John Henry “has shut down his investment firm in Florida after a period of poor performance.”

In Healy‘s report it states about the firm: “its assets have declined from more than $2.5 billion to less than $100 million.”

Wow. That doesn’t bode well for people like me that were expecting an interesting winter of Hot Stove action.

This story immediately lends credence to the report from Charlie Gasparino at the Fox Business website that the Boston Red Sox are potentially for sale.

And it also puts into question the Red Sox trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer where the Red Sox traded Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto in order to remove over $262 million from their payroll.

At the time, the trade was viewed as a chance for Boston to reset its roster and get out from underneath the contracts of Crawford and Beckett and a team that wasn’t winning.

Now? Maybe the Red Sox saw this coming and knew they couldn’t afford a $175 million dollar payroll anymore. Maybe the Red Sox have spread themselves too thin between all of their investments.

Maybe it was simply a salary dump that was hidden inside all of the Bobby Valentine drama.

The biggest concern is whether this will impact the Red Sox’ ability to put a competitive team on the field next season.

Will they spend for free-agents and assume larger contracts from other teams as had been anticipated this offseason? Will they be able to climb out of the cellar next season?

We’ll find out if they are in the mix to sign players like Mike Napoli, Hiroki Kuroda and Torii Hunter.

If the Red Sox end up being bystanders this offseason, we’ll know that the financial problems are more than Red Sox’ ownership has let on.

If that happens, all of the goodwill that started with firing Bobby Valentine, hiring John Farrell, resigning David Ortiz and the generally pro-active approach of general manager Ben Cherington will go by the wayside.

Its enough to put a chill on all of the Hot Stove talk.

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As the Boston Red Sox now sit at home for the third consecutive postseason, it feels like decades ago since the storied franchise was one of baseball’s elite teams.

While remaining relatively competitive since the 2009 campaign, it is evident that the Red Sox have lost their way since their last World Series triumph. Finishing last place in the AL East for the first time since 1992, the Boston Red Sox must now endure a rebuilding process that is several seasons in the making.

Following the collapse of September 2011 and the departure of Red Sox staples Theo Epstein and Terry Francona, a decade of dominance came to a disappointing conclusion.

Pitching was nowhere near the level it once was, and Boston was primarily focused on “feeding the monster” as opposed to making smart baseball decisions. As a result, Ben Cherington took the reins as the new general manager, and Bobby Valentine was hired as the new skipper.

Although Boston was never expected to be a true competitor in 2012, it was nearly impossible to believe the team would finish in last place. Plagued by injuries, struggling with inconsistency and facing a “toxic” clubhouse, Boston suffered and had one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

There is no question this will be a very busy offseason for Cherington, as the rebuilding process is now under way.

It will be intriguing to not only see how the team rebuilds on the field, but off the field as well. The following slides are my suggestions as to how the Red Sox can once again see relative success in the near future.

All stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com

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