Published 00:35, August the 7th, 2009
Could defense be the Red Sox’ Achilles’ heel?
Looking at individual stats, it seems four key positions are largely to blame: shortstop, third base, center field and left field. At short, the Sox have improved by axing Julio Lugo, but their defense there — where you want to have great defense — has been merely adequate. Mike Lowell’s surgically repaired hip has cost him more than a step on defense, and he’s now one of the worst defensive third basemen in the majors. In center, Jacoby Ellsbury is not having a good year, despite a few Web gems. And Jason Bay has been absolutely abysmal in left.
Boston’s defense looks slightly better with the addition of Victor Martinez, who is serviceable at first, and Casey Kotchman, whose defense there is genuinely good. Allowing Kevin Youkilis to spend more time at third — where he’s not great, but better than Lowell — will help the team improve overall.
But I can’t go by looks alone. Frankly, it’s a mystery to me why the Yankees have a better defense than Boston, with Derek “Can’t-Go-Left” Jeter installed at short and Robinson “Whoopsy-Daisy!” Cano at second. But they do. And that’s a problem, both for this weekend and — fingers crossed — the playoffs.
All this does explain why the Red Sox have underperformed this season. They have the AL East’s best run differential — runs scored minus runs allowed — yet they’ve struggled to recapture first. Usually, run differential is a good indicator of a team’s quality, even more than their win-loss record. But that starts breaking down if a team has either a fantastic or terrible defense. A team with a great defense (the 2008 Rays) can win a lot of close games and, hence, outperform its run differential. And a team with a crappy defense struggles to live up to expectations, despite scoring runs and preventing them with pitching.
It’s an old saw that pitching and defense win in the playoffs. Through July 31, the Red Sox did not have enough of the latter. Do they now? We’re about to find out.
