Bleacher Report - Articles by Mike Guetti

Not a Lot To Like About Current Red Sox

Mike Guetti — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:34:03 -0400

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of Brad Penny. Come to think of it, that applies to Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield, too. Though they are radically different pitchers, they are the same in one awful, rotten sense: They throw it and pray—pray they hit the strike zone.

As a matter of fact, there is much NOT to like about this year's Red Sox team. Although Nick Green would be a decent backup, he's no Alex Cora! Neither Green nor Julio Lugo can field or throw better than most high school shortstops.

That's a problem.

And, for all of the wonderful accomplishments of the bullpen—and they are a terrific group—they don't get into the game soon enough on most nights. And that's on Everybody's Most Wonderful Manager, "Tito" Francona. Sure, he's a steady hand, and yeah, he sticks with slumping players —come to think of it, that's the problem.

He stays too long with his starting pitchers. How about using that terrific bullpen, Terry? And, until David Ortiz relearns how to hit the ball to left field, he should be benched. He's hitting .185 for goodness sakes! All of a sudden, he's got warning-track power—and everyone seems to think that he's on the cusp of hitting .300 again! It's not happening until he starts hitting the ball to left field, which is where many of his hits used to go.

How about a little urgency, Tito? Games matter just as much now as they do in August and September.

And I like Jason Varitek. But, for a guy who is supposed to be the Supreme Intelligence behind the plate, he sure does call a funny game sometimes. With two strikes, he can't call for hard stuff just off the knob of the bat? It's only the most difficult pitch to hit. Jamming a hitter so that he can't extend his arms is one of basic tenets of the game.

And why would you ever ask your young pitcher (Jon Lester, in this case) to throw a ball down and in to a left-handed hitter (Joe Mauer, in this case, and one of the best hitters in the game), and not expect it to disappear over the right field fence?

That's just silly, Jason. Unless the pitch is going to be several inches off the plate and ankle-high, there is never a reason to throw a pitch where left-handed hitters like it best.

And there is never any reason to stand up behind the plate and put the glove at head-level. Stay down like a catcher and put the glove up. Do you think fans will applaud you for being clever when you stand up? How about giving the umpire a shot at calling the pitch without blocking his view?

And, finally, keep your helmet on after you hit a home run. Either that, or take it off when you hit into a double play. We appreciate it when you do something good—we don't need to see that crew-cut.

When Daisuke Matsuzaka Pitches, Everyone Gets Tired

Mike Guetti — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:31:08 -0400

I can understand the Red Sox blaming Dice-K Matsuzaka's poor pitching on "arm fatigue." Due to eye fatigue, mental fatigue, and emotional fatigue, I had switched off the TV about halfway through his lone inning of work Tuesday night.

But that's not new for me: I can't stand to watch him pitch. Or Tim Wakefield, either, for that matter.

I call them "anti-pitchers" since neither has any idea where the pitch is going and rarely hits the catcher's target.

Wakefield, you can forgive, since his knuckler can break any which way and is effective for that reason. The hitter doesn't know where the ball is going to end up, and neither does the catcher or even the umpire.

That's how knuckleballers survive, and that's why hitters, catchers, umpires, and purist fans like me all hate them.

But there is no excuse for the way Dice-K pitches. Or rather, there is just one: He overthrows his fastball and cannot control it.

Could this problem be fixed? Sure, and easily, too: Put a little more rhythm in his windup and deduct a mile or two from his effort. Bingo, problem solved.

It's doubtful that he'll ever go for that, though, even if his coaches point it out to him. He's always "pitched backwards," as his catcher, Jason Varitek, once said.

The idea has been that he does so on purpose, but I don't think that's correct. He pitches "backwards" because he can't hit the catcher's target with the most basic pitch in the game.

Yes, he was 18-3 last year, doing his death-defying, high-wire act inning after inning, throwing 100-plus pitches over five innings game after game.

But if Dice-K's first two starts this season are any indication, major league hitters are starting to think a little "backwards," too.

And this is going to be a much bigger problem for Dice-K than just a little "arm fatigue." After seeing him for two seasons, opposing teams know that when he has to throw a strike he will invariably throw something off-speed.

This season, the hitters are ready.

Let's see: When a pitcher no longer has a reliable fastball...hey, maybe Wakefield will teach Dice-K the knuckleball?

Don Mattingly, Mike Scioscia Off-Base on Manny Ramirez

Mike Guetti — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:22:18 -0500

Though Boston Red Sox fans might have a difficult time swallowing the idea, Manny Ramirez would be welcome in many dugouts, according to statements by some prominent baseball people.

He's the ultimate pro, according to recent comments by L.A. Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly. And the Angels of Anaheim's manager Mike Scioscia stated a month or so ago that Manny would fit right in with his group, and even be a definite plus.

Well, maybe in the seventh game of the World Series, with the winning run on second and Manny at the plate. Yeah, he would fit right in there, since he is the best right-handed hitter in many, many years.

But these guys forget that Manny likes to take some time off during the regular season, and will fake an injury so that he can turn his back on his teammates for a few days. And they forget that, if pressed into service, Manny will stand there and take three down the middle and then go sit down. Is that what they mean by taking one for the team?

And they forget that he doesn't like to go full speed all of the time, even if he could get his team a run by beating out potential double-play grounder.

And they forget that he will strike one of his teammates in the dugout because Manny doesn't like the guy getting upset after making an out. Imagine: Manny doesn't like somebody else's attitude because the guy cares too much!

And they forget that Manny will knock around some old guy who's only job is to solve problems for the players.

Yeah, so you say, it's all OK, because Manny can hit (except when he doesn't feel like it) and he's good in the club house (unless somebody makes him mad because he's not being catered to) and he's a terrific teammate (except when he's loafing or pushing one his teammates around).

That's all a given with Manny, of course. But what I wonder is: How can the media give him a free pass on all of this? He quit on the Red Sox and forced his way out of town, bagging the last two option years (totaling $40 million!) of his contract.

Aren't there some ethics here that were trampled? If it's not immoral to force your employer to dissolve your contract—by behavior that was termed "malingering" when I was in the army—then what is it?

Mattingly and Scosia have years of experience playing and coaching in the majors. How can they see Manny as Old Reliable?

Bard Not The Catcher For Wakefield's Pitches

Mike Guetti — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:09:25 -0500

Unless Josh Bard has learned to catch a knuckle ball since his basic one-nighter with the Boston Red Sox in 2007, then his current stay is going to be poorly received, too.

Many catchers in the majors have poor mechanics behind the plate—failing to drop to their knees on pitches headed for the dirt or failing to move their feet right or left when a pitch is off the plate (study the Yankees Jorge Posada, for example).

But Bard was practically in a class by himself.

He blinked every time batters swung—and sometimes when they didn't. A lot of catchers do that, of course, but Bard went a step further, actually flinching as the batter swung.

Want more? Well, don't yell at me, Red Sox fans, because I bleed red, too. But here's the reason Bard had such difficulty with the knuckler: He stabbed his glove forward and snapped it shut as the ball approached.

That may work when the pitch has movement that can be predicted like a fastball or a slider, but it won't do the job when the pitch is likely to go any which way.

So, unless the Red Sox are still in the market for someone to catch Wakefield, 2009 is going to be a long year—and will feel about that long each time he's on the mound, as Bard runs to the backstop to retrieve yet another pitch.

Control Matters for Boston's Dice-K, Clay Buchholz, and Manny Delcarmen

Mike Guetti — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:21:02 -0500

What do Red Sox pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, and Manny Delcarmen have in common?

They don't have much rhythm.

I don't mean on the dance floor, but on the pitching mound. In the cases of starting pitchers, Dice-K and Buchholz, that means they have to pitch backwards, using their off speed pitches when they need to throw a strike. In the case of reliever Delcarmen, it means he walks too many people.

Red Sox fans will remember a game Buchholz pitched in Tampa Bay early in the year. He had a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, but gave up a hit to the Rays' catcher Dioner Navarro. Then, with Akinori Iwamura at the plate, Buchholz did what he always does when the heat's on, which is throw his changeup. And Iwamura was waiting for it, knew it was coming, and hit it a long way over the fence.

That was the beginning of the end for Buchholz, as teams realized that he couldn't throw his fastball for a strike. And, he won't until he learns to have some rhythm in his delivery. If he's relaxed, and backed off a mile or two in his effort, his control would improve markedly.

Dice-K is more of the same, but Dice-K has more pitches and more experience than Buchholz, so he is more successful. Given his slow motion snake dance that he calls a windup, it's a wonder he ever throws a strike. He has no rhythm at all to his preliminary windup and then he hurls every ounce of himself at the plate in about as wild a finish as possible.

There is no doubt that with a more conventional windup and a less forceful finish, his control would improve. And, with all of the weapons that he has, he would win 20 games year after year, and also save his manager (and his fans) severe stomach aches.

Like Dice-K and Buchholz, Delcarmen also overthrows, and the formula for him is the same as for the other two. In the case of Del Carmen, however, he also has a good curve ball. And, given that he seems ill-suited for the pressure of late inning relief work, I'd like to see him in the starting rotation, taking the place of Tim Wakefield (who gets my vote to become the long reliever).

One Final Time: The Boston Red Sox Didn't Have To Lose

Mike Guetti — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:41:42 -0500

I'm not buying the idea that the Red Sox went as far as they could go in 2008. I know, I know, you're probably saying, "It's time to let last season go and move on."

Yes, they are a scrappy crew. No true Red Sox fan would trade Pedroia or Youk or Paps for anyone else in baseball. And the comeback from 3-1 down had hearts fluttering all over New England (and even some in New Jersey).

But when management says, "Oh, we just had too much to overcome, with all of the injuries." And "we did the best we could.'' Well, no. The players were terrific, for the most part. But the manager (and maybe the general manager/VP), well...They left a lot to be desired.

Where was Bartolo Colon, Theo? How about Colon to start Game Four instead of Wakefield? Yes, I know he left the team, but did he leave the team because he was told he would only be used in relief for the remainder of the season? He had pitched pretty well in his one start late in the year, after all.

And, Tito, how could you sit your hottest hitter over the last couple of months of the season (that would be Coco Crisp) for the first three games against Tampa Bay? Given the fact that Ellsbury had forgotten how to hit (he had a similar poor streak during the middle of the season when he hit popup after popup), why wasn't Coco in there?

And, another thing, Tito: How could you leave Beckett in until Tampa Bay had scored eight runs in Game Two? Afraid to do that to Josh Beckett, one of the best pitchers ever in the postseason? If he wasn't such a tough guy, if he didn't want to do it so badly, I bet Beckett would have told you he needed to come out of the game a whole lot earlier than he did.

And the hitting coach has to take some of the heat, too. The easiest out on the team (next to Varitek) was Big Papi, who turned into half the hitter he once was because he tried to pull everything. So many of his huge hits over the years—and few have been bigger in Red Sox history, as fans well know—were to left-center.

I bet he didn't hit a ball to the left side of the field in the series against Tampa Bay, maybe not in the entire postseason.

So, yes, I do love my Red Sox. But I don't like excuses, not when they were heavily favored to beat Tampa Bay, DESPITE all of their injuries. A little better managing and a little better planning might have made all of the difference.

Poor Coaching by Red Sox? Or Is Varitek Just Stubborn?

Mike Guetti — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:21:10 -0400

If the Red Sox are going to resign Jason Varitek, they need to deconstruct his left-handed swing.

It's difficult to understand how he could go through an entire season dropping his back shoulder as he takes his bat from perpendicular to nearly horizontal. When he does this, of course, his front shoulder comes up—and his front side flies open as he sweeps the bat through the strike zone. His bat doesn't stay in the strike zone very long, either.

The result, as Boston fans watched and groaned over and over again, was a weak grounder to second or a popup.

This is no way to hit, even for a Little Leaguer. And, once recognized, the problem of sweeping the bat is easy enough to fix. If pitching coach Dave Magadan has not worked with Varitek on this, well, that's hard to understand. If he has and Varitek declines to make the adjustment—well, that's hard to understand, too.

Another problem with Varitek in the playoffs was his defense—three passed balls. One was supposedly because of a mixup in the signals (there was a man on second at the time) but the other two were just lazy attention to technique on the part of Varitek.

Boston's other catcher, Kevin Cash, is no better behind the plate as he rarely attempts to get in front of the pitch when he is catching knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and Wakefield's pitches are difficult even when the catcher reacts properly.

More and more, it seems, catchers at the highest level of professional baseball don't bother to move their feet when a pitch is off the plate. Nor, for that matter, do they drop to their knees when a pitch is in the dirt.

If Varitek is brought back by the Red Sox and plays like he did in 2007, well, that's bad judgment all the way around. And, if he should falter, the prospect of the poor-hitting Kevin Cash in the lineup on a full-time basis doesn't make much sense, either.