Boston Red Sox: 10 Reasons Why Run Prevention Turned into Run Scoring
At the start of the 2010 season many of us thought that the Red Sox were going to make a transition from a run producing machine into a more run prevention machine. It was widely thought that some players such as Ortiz, Youk, and even Lowell were beginning to lose a step at their age, and a better defense was the perfect elixir for what the team was speculatively facing.
Well, it’s August now, and things couldn’t be any more different.
The Red Sox are currently ranked ninth in the AL in Runs Allowed and twentieth in all of baseball, but they are second only to the Yankees in runs scored in both the AL and MLB. They are also second in home runs and RBI, yet seventh in fielding (AL).
Some things never change, eh?
So what gives, right? What happened to the team everyone thought was going to be a better defensive team in 2010 than offensive?
Here are my top ten reasons why the Red Sox stayed the course of a run producing machine instead of the run prevention unit the team speculated to be.
10. Marco Scutaro
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Scutaro was brought over from Toronto in the offseason with many Red Sox fans not necessarily in agreement with the move. But Scutaro has shown himself to be a fine addition to the team in more ways than one.
Scutaro ranks second on the team in runs scored, behind Kevin Youkilis, and has been a source of added runs from day one, something he was very good at in Toronto as well.
But in addition to his runs scoring contribution, this is a guy who has also turned 44 double plays (ranked third on the team) and has a fielding percent of 1.000. It’s important simply because the more Scutaro keeps the opposition off the field, the more the Red Sox are at the plate.
9. Adrian Beltre
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Beltre was another player brought in for his glove and bat, but it has been all wood since day one. Beltre ranks third among the team in runs scored (59), but it’s the other ranks that are far more important.
Beltre ranks first on the team in RBI, hits, doubles, and batting average while ranking second in home runs.
If you take away the homers for a second, the other categories are nothing but run scoring opportunities, basically relegating Beltre as one of the best set-up batters the Red Sox have had in a long time.
If you can set the table with runners in scoring position, you have nothing but chances every time you are at bat, which is precisely what the Red Sox do.
8. Schedule Opportunities
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I am not one for ever claiming that schedule alone is the reason for success, but if you dig deep enough, one comes to this conclusion: If you face inferior pitchers, you better damn sure take advantage of every chance you have to score runs.
The Red Sox have decimated the teams that they should haveteams who have inferior pitching staffs as a whole.
- 3-0 against the 30th-ranked Diamondbacks.
- 7-0 against the 22nd-ranked Angels.
- 3-0 against the 14th-ranked Dodgers
- 7-2 against the 17th-ranked Blue Jays
- 4-3 against the 27th-ranked Royals
But it doesn't stop there. The Red Sox also made good on outslugging teams like the Philadelphia Phillies’ vaunted pitching staff 39-17 in six matchups, and despite a losing effort, nearly matched the Colorado Rockies 20-21 in three matchups…and we all know who pitches for them.
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7. Consistency
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In a two-prong attack, having both sides of the coin flipped in your favor is a good thing. It allows you to manage situations better, dictate the flow of the game, and have near total control.
We talked about players on this team that create run scored opportunities, but what about consistency in that production?
The Red Sox are one of the most efficient and consistent teams in the majors when it comes to run scoring, but at the same time rather inconsistent in runs allowed per inning.
If you are playing the Red Sox, you might want to be aware that this is a team that crams runs down your throat for six innings straight, a model of consistency. The Red Sox have a total of 61 runs scored or better (ranging up to 78) each inning for the first six this season combined.
There is a massive dropoff once the seventh to the ninth comes along, as the Red Sox average just fewer than 55 in each of those innings.
In runs allowed, the team suffers the most between the fourth and fifth (67) and the eighth and ninth (56).
6. Pitching
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While some may disagree (primarily the intrepid Red Sox fans who are quite possibly the most loyal fans of all), it is the pitching staff that has actually done a better job than most may think.
The Boston pitching staff runs with a 66-49 record with a 4.49 ERA which, at first glance, is a bittersweet stat line. The ERA suggests that the Red Sox could cut down on their walks allowed (which could be a contributing factor to their runs allowed…hmmm), but the record shows that the team pretty much gets the job done.
But it’s their strikeout stat that is key here.
The Red Sox are third in the AL with 803 strikeouts, which shows that if the runners can’t consistently get on base, then, once again, there is more of an opportunity for the hometown nine to get plate appearances.
5. Injuries
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When a player gets injured, you hope that the guys stepping in will step up! Guys like Youk and Lowell (to name just two) are hurt. But guys like Ryan Kalish, Bill Hall, and Daniel Nava have stepped up offensively for the Red Sox in a very admirable fashion.
Are you going to take a hit defensively with plug-in players who don’t see a lot of action? Absolutely.
But so long as the offense is there, a team always has a leg up when dealing with the all too familiar injury bug.
Ryan Kalish is running with a team leading .345/.375/.483 batting line. Bill Hall has come in and added some much welcomed power with 13 home runs, while Daniel Nava has come in, albeit at times, and provided a nice .290/.383/.452 batting line.
Again, while you will suffer defensively with new faces on the field, you have to admit that these spotty additions are a huge contribution to the Red Sox penchant for scoring runs.
4. Philosophy
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You can’t talk about what a team accomplishes without recognizing what the skipper preaches every single day.
Terry Francona has always been a guy who preaches baseball first, hands down. He’s not out there telling the guys to swing for the fences, he isn’t a skipper who is known to panic or lose faith in any one player either, but he is a student of the small ball approach, something that utilizes runs scored.
Many people can argue whether or not what Francona teaches is correct, but what you can’t really argue is his philosophy of getting the ball in play, and runners on base and in scoring position. This ensures that every batter who comes up almost always has options when hitting.
If his theories didn’t work, I suppose they wouldn’t be ranked second in all of baseball in runs scored.
3. Consistency Part Two: Score No Matter Where You Are
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The Red Sox have always been a mildly balanced team when it comes to winning and scoring at home, and on the road.
This is a team that always wins when they are ahead, the reason for jumping on teams early…beginning to see a pattern?
This is a team that is just as good at home (34-23) as they are on the road (30-26) which is paramount to not only a team’s ability to stay competitive, but also team moral.
This is also a team that is 20-18 in one-run games, and 18-12 in games that wind up being blowouts. The reason for this being important is simply due to the extra value runs scored have for any one given team.
2. The Value of Small Ball
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If you are a pitcher and facing an array of power hitters, more than likely a simple mixture of fastballs and sliders/cutters is enough to swath away their extraordinary bats.
But if you’re a pitcher who is facing a team that can drive the ball through the gaps, utilize the enigma of the blooper single, or just flat out hit, you had better have a nice cache of pitches to effectively deal with them.
The Red Sox are a hitting team, no matter what anybody says. Cramming fastball after fastball down their throat isn’t going to work.
Trying to befuddle them with a fancy version of a curve or breaking ball isn’t going to work.
Painting the corners with cutters, sliders, or even a decent changeup isn’t going to work.
The only way to beat this team is to have a pitcher who can throw a combination of all these pitches in any one given inning.
Don’t get me wrong, players like Beltre and Ortiz are capable of sending a baseball into orbit, but they are also hitters who can jam your defense with a line drive hit into the outfield.
And when a collective team can do that, not only do you continually have runs scored chances, but you almost always are ahead of a pitcher, even if the hitter is behind the count; a pretty deadly approach and skill set if you ask me.
1. The Fans
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Say what you will about mentioning the addition of fans into a breakdown of why a team is a better run scoring team than a run prevention team, but the fact of the matter is there is a distinct psychology to the game of baseball.
Red Sox fans are incredibly loyal to their team, both in favor and in disagreement.
But the Sox has always thrived on their fanbase, whether they are at home, or halfway around the country in Seattle, and it is that kind of support that drives players each and every day.
It's easy to get lost in a game when you are down five to nothing, but when you have the collective faithful chiming in your ear for nine, you draw upon their belief. You feed on their passion to refuel what you might have lost in the competition.
Suddenly, a losing effort becomes a race to the finish, and nothing is going to stand in your way. This is probably why this team has 31 comeback victories to their credit.
This isn’t a flaky team mired by ill news which turns into sports media fodder, this is a team that has always been built on integrity, a team that has always functioned as a unit, a team that lives and breathes within the every screaming fan whether they are happy or disgruntled.
This is what pro sports calls the intangible factor, a piece of the game that can’t be documented stat wise, but is very much real. If you have two men on, bottom of the ninth, and two outs you better damn believe those fans are the 10th on that roster pushing for that last extra mile to send the hometown nine to the locker with the “W."
This happens everywhere in baseball, but in Boston, it’s just a little bit different; a difference that helps the all too important stat line of runs scored. This is the reason why the team is one of the best in the business, hands down.
I hope you all enjoyed this article, and please feel free to check out my other work here.
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