Boston Red Sox: 5 Players Who Need to Cowboy Up in 2012

While the Boston Red Sox were spending September suffering through the worst regular season collapse in baseball history, Red Sox Nation found itself asking a very simple question:

How is this happening?

Good question. A depleted and ineffective pitching staff certainly played a big roll in the collapse, as did sagging play from some of the Sox's brightest stars.

But let's not kid ourselves. The collapse was a team-wide effort. When the going got tough, the Sox chickened out.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe penned a great column on Wednesday pointing out that this is exactly what needs to change under new manager Bobby Valentine. Thankfully, Valentine agrees, and he stressed that he aims to get all his players "hardened" for the regular season.

I presume this goes for every player on the roster, but there are five players in particular that Bobby V needs to worry about. Let's count 'em down.

5. Daniel Bard

Statistically, Daniel Bard had a great season in 2011. He pitched 73 innings, posting a 3.33 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He was one of the most valuable relievers in the American League.

But those who were paying attention saw Bard absolutely collapse when the calendar turned to September. He posted an ERA over 10.00 in the season's final month, allowing a grand total of 13 earned runs. When the Sox needed Bard to be dominant, he wasn't.

The Sox haven't come out and said this, but you have to figure that Bard's September flub is the main reason they're not trusting him to be their replacement for Jonathan Papelbon. If Bard can't even handle the eighth, then surely he can't handle the ninth.

If you haven't already heard, the Sox are planning on trying Bard out as a starter instead. Given the team's lack of additions to the rotation, they may need him to be a starter. 

Whether Bard is used as a starter or a reliever, the Sox are going to need him to at least be consistent. For him, that means bearing down in crucial games and in crucial moments.

4. Adrian Gonzalez

I actually feel a little bad including Adrian Gonzalez on this list. He was one of the only consistent players the Sox had in 2011, and he's a total class act.

But just like Bard and seemingly everyone else on the team, Gonzalez just couldn't cut it late in the season. That would have been bad enough, but his excuse was pretty lame.

"We play too many night games on getaway days and get into places at 4 in the morning," Gonzalez said, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. "This has been my toughest season physically because of that. We play a lot of night games on Sunday for television and that those things take a lot out of you."

You could see where Gonzalez was coming from, but you really can't come out and blame ESPN for your own sag in production. Even if that is the case, it's best not to say anything.

Here's hoping Gonzalez learned his lesson. Playing on the Red Sox means playing in a lot of primetime games, and they will take their toll.

Gonzalez and the rest of the Red Sox will have to deal with it.

3. Jon Lester

We've all heard the beer and chicken stories, so I won't bother repeating the gory details here.

However, perhaps the most troubling aspect of the beer and chicken stories is the way in which Jon Lester went along with the crowd. He got lazy, and the results spoke for themselves.

After being dominant for much of the season, Lester fell apart in September. His ERA jumped up to 5.40, and he let opponents hit .282 off him. They hit .193 off Lester in August.

When he's on, Lester is one of the very best pitchers not just in the American League, but in all of baseball. Their pitching looks like it's going to be pretty thin in 2012, so it is absolutely imperative for Lester to be the Sox's ace.

For him to live up to that expectation, Lester will need to remain focused, but he's also going to need to want to be Boston's ace. 

2. Josh Beckett

If you believe the stories, Josh Beckett was the ringleader of the beer and chicken excursions.

Yeah, it was all his fault. For shame.

The true shame is that the stories about Beckett have overshadowed what was a pretty impressive bounceback season in 2011. Sox fans were looking for him to rebound from an awful 2010 campaign, but they weren't looking for a 2.89 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. That would have been asking for too much.

But just like Lester, Beckett was nowhere to be found when the Sox were in the midst of their September collapse. His ERA in September was over 5.00, but you could see Beckett start to break down in August when he gave up seven home runs. He gave up five more in September, and it was apparent that his dominance was long gone.

It is commonly speculated that Beckett got out of shape as the season went along, and it's hard to argue the point. He did seem to balloon a little bit, and it got to the point where every inning was a struggle.

Nobody's going to argue that Beckett is a tough guy, but the Sox need him to be a tough guy 24 hours a day and seven days a week. If he can do that, the Sox will have two legit aces.

1. Carl Crawford

Credit where credit is due, Carl Crawford never made any excuses for his awful 2011 season. He wore it.

It wasn't hard to discern what was wrong with Crawford in 2011. He was trying to do too much, especially at the plate. He swung at a lot of bad pitches, and he was never able to get out of the habit.

Crawford has never been a very disciplined hitter, of course, but before 2011 he was a guy with weird Vladimir Guerrero-esque confidence at the plate. He could hit any pitch.

In 2011, Crawford tried to hit every pitch. That resulted in a .255 average and a .289 on-base percentage. He was one of the most useless hitters in the American League, and that's not an exaggeration.

In 2012, Crawford needs to forget about the money he's making and just be his regular self. His regular self is as tough as nails, and that's the Carl Crawford the Sox are going to need.