This entry was posted on 7/23/2009 1:23 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
The prickly road trip of slumps and struggles through Toronto and Texas is officially over after a 1-5 performance that included five games where the Boston batters combined for a pathetic six hits or less. There's only one word to truly describe what has transpired since the All-Star Break: Oof. While Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell and David Ortiz have all enjoyed differing levels of success over the last six games in trying to resuscitate a DOA Sox offense, there are other guys wearing Red Stockings that simply aren't doing their jobs at the dish.
The second-half swoon is something of a time-honored tradition for Boston's captain, but Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew are key offensive players that have slowed to a grinding halt amid the Dog Days of July. In fact, Drew took the dreaded 0-for-road trip and was at his frustrating, passive worst over the last week. Jed Lowrie gets a pass because he's just back in the Bigs after the rehab from hell, but the players listed below simply need to pick it up going forward.
If we are to go by John Henry's twitter account, there are no magic solutions coming in the form of Victor Martinez or Adrian Gonzalez (who is not available...please stop the campaign to get him in Boston no matter what), and what we see with the Red Sox lineup is what you get.
One observation with Bay more than the others. He appears to be chasing a lot of balls outside the strike zone and going after the "pitcher's pitch" rather than working for something in his happy zone that he can crush. This has been going on since he torched AL pitching over the first two months. Perhaps it's a sign of a slugger trying to do too much to lift his team out of the July doldrums, or it may even be a bit of a mental block with the dollar signs and contract pressures gaining weight and gravity in his mind. Either way, he's been a .209 hitter with 5 home runs and 23 RBIs in 153 at bats since June 1.
That needs to change or there are going to be more offensive struggles to come in August and September, and perhaps no playoff slot once the Yankees and Rays throttle their second-half kick into gear. One caveat: the Sox are a vastly different offensive team at Fenway Park and on the road (a 24-25 record overall), and that should be noted when looking at the small cross-section of a handful of post-All-Star break road games. It was an Opera of futility, but that's sure to change when they return to Yawkey Way on Friday.
Here a collection of Boston's truly "offensive" numbers since the All-Star break:
Jason Varitek 6 (2-for-17) 2 walks, 5 strikeouts .118/ .211/ .176/ .387
Jason Bay 6 games (2-for-19) 5 walks, 7 strikeouts .105/ .292/ .158/ .450
Nick Green 3 games (1-for-10) no walks, 6 strikeouts .100/ .100/ .400/ .500
J. Ellsbury 4 games (1-for-16) no walks, 4 strikeouts .063/ .063/ .063/ .125
J.D. Drew 6 games (0-for-21) 3 walks, 7 strikeouts .000/ .125/ .000/ .125
