Ray’s Ramblings: Red Sox Trends & Pitching

Tyler Anderson of the Rockies posted another strong effort Thursday as he held the Mets to one run over six innings. The lefty didn’t walk a batter while striking out five. That leaves him with a 1.67 BB/9 rate and a 4.60 K/BB ratio. There’s also a 2.50 GB/FB ratio. All of that is very likeable. Still… Coors Field.

Peter Bourjos has been placed on the DL with a right shoulder sprain. That opens up a roster spot and in steps… Aaron Altherr. Seems likely that he will be given the chance to play on a daily basis after a .341/.481/.463 slash line over 13 games on his rehab assignment (he was out with a wrist issue). For more on Altherr and his outlook see this report from last week.

Carlos Estevez improved his season save total to 11 Thursday to improve to 11-for-12 this year at closing out games. He’s racked up 43 punchouts in 38.1 innings, but the 3.99 walk rate per nine is not a number that he’ll be able to hold on to if he wants to continue to have success in the 9^th inning.

Jeurys Familia blew a second straight save chance Thursday as he walked two, allowed two hits and permitted two runs. This comes on the heels of him converting 52-straight save chances. All those saves have hidden a couple of facts from the masses. (1) His WHIP was 1.00 last year. This year it’s a league average 1.30. (2) Last season he struck out 9.92 batters per nine innings. This year the mark is down to 9.06. (3) Last season his walk rate was 2.19 per nine. This year the mark is up to 4.07. That’s nearly double folks. (4) It impossible for him to continue along with the big fly staying in the yard. He hasn’t allowed a homer in 50 outings this season. Addison Reed needs to be rostered in most leagues. This season he’s actually pitched better than Familia with an 11.10 K/9, 1.66 BB/9, 1.85 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. That’s elite level stuff.

Josh Hamilton is due more than $28 million next year.

Am I the only one who missed that there is a 39-game hitting streak currently in progress? Yeah, right? Francisco Mejia, of the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats is doing just that as he attempts to become just the 16^th minor leaguer to reach 40-games with a hit streak. During the run Mejia has hit .385 with eight homers and 38 RBI. By the way, the record minor league hit streak is 69 games by Joe Wilhoit. For every streak of 40-games click on this link.

On Twitter @DanielKobrossi asked me “what's the deal with Robbie Ray? The guy is a K machine but always gets bombed. Love the Ks but is a ratio killer.” Ray went out Thursday and allowed five runs and a homer over 5.2 innings. He only walked two but he struck out 11. That’s 143 punchouts in 115 innings for the lefty. Plenty of issues. Ray has a 3.52 BB/9 rate which is way worse than the league average. He has a 1.17 HR/9 mark, worse than the league average. He makes mistakes and gets blasted. The .362 BABIP should come down, just logical, but he also owns a .340 mark for his career through more than 270 innings. He allows a 23 percent line drive rate for his career. He’s also the owner of the 13th higher hard hit ball rate in the majors. Batters simply square up his pitches and consistently hit the ball very hard.

This Dog Hates Getting The Middle Finger.

CONCERN WITH THE RED SOX?

The Red Sox play 41 of their final 63 games on the road this season. Only once since baseball went to a 162 game schedule in 1961 has a team played that many games on the road over their final 63 contests (the 1991 Expos). The Red Sox are 21-19 on the road this season leading to the third best road winning percentage in the American League. That’s good. Two-thirds of the games the rest of the way are on the road for the Sox. Who on this amazing club of talent struggles on the road? Here you go.

Mookie Betts has been rather ordinary on the road this season. I know, but a .270/.323/.466 slash line doesn’t stand out. Betts has hit .059 points higher with .035 more OBP points and a .116 point gain in SLG at Fenway. That’s a pretty darn substantial difference across the board.

David Ortiz has a strong .906 OPS on the road while hitting .281. Strong numbers, but light years from his work at home (.353 and 1.179).

Hanley Ramirez has a .273/.356/.424 slash line leading to a .781 OPS. Solid, but not great.

Travis Shaw – oops. Not only has he not hit lefties anywhere all season long (.608 OPS), but he’s been almost as bad on road as well where his OPS is .658, a mere .231 points below the rate at Fenway.

David Price has a 4.77 ERA and 1.43 WHIP on the road.

Over 20.1 innings on the road this season Eduardo Rodriguez has a 7.08 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. 

THE LAST 30 DAYS