#AskSpector: Can the Red Sox rotation be fixed, and how?

Jesse Spector

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#AskSpector: Can the Red Sox rotation be fixed, and how? image

It's time once again for the #AskSpector Tweetbag, where you go onto Twitter, send questions with the #AskSpector hashtag (or respond to calls for questions) and see the answers here. That's how it works, that's how you send questions for next time, easy-peasy, let's get this thing going!

 

 

Through one month of baseball, the Red Sox have one starter with an ERA under 5.00, and it's Joe Kelly at 4.94. This is not something that one person -- not Scott Kazmir (and it's not like he's going to be on the trade market until the A's are really out of it), not someone from Triple-A and not even Cole Hamels -- can fix. It has to come from within, because if you're just adding one guy, you've still got a rotation that's 80% problems.

There are reasons to believe a turnaround is possible. Clay Buchholz's FIP is 2.67 and he's struck out 11.9 batters per nine innings -- the current BABIP against him is .403, which is ludicrous. Kelly is working with a 1.099 WHIP. Rick Porcello has given up 1.7 homers per nine innings this year, when his career rate is 1.0, and he's been around long enough that his track record should matter. Justin Masterson and Wade Miley, OK, there's nothing really encouraging there, but they can presumably pitch better.

The Red Sox don't need to have a great rotation, the way that they score runs. They need borderline competence. Adding a quality pitcher from outside would help, but it's ultimately up to those who are there already to get their acts together. Boston is 12-10 despite having gotten pretty much nothing out of its starters. If the rotation can be better than terrible, which is what is to be expected from this group, the division title is there for the taking.

 

 

Pretty much everything is wrong for Cleveland. They're 12th in the American League in scoring, 11th in team ERA and tied for 12th in defensive runs saved. It's easier to ask what's going right, because the answer is much shorter: Trevor Bauer and Michael Brantley. For the Indians to win the Central, it's going to take a huge turnaround in all facets of the game, and even then, winning head-to-head games against the Tigers and Royals will be crucial. I did not have the Indians as a playoff team to begin with, so given how badly they've stumbled out of the box, I really don't see it happening now.

 

 

Go back in time and prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, fit his feet into size-4 shoes, hit a three-run homer with nobody on base, juggle 12 chainsaws while riding a velociraptor, make me watch Mayweather-Pacquiao.

 

 

My favorite player as a kid was Willie Randolph, along with Jesse Orosco. Other favorites along the way have been Paul O'Neill, Mariano Rivera, and Jamey Carroll. The one good story I can think to tell is that when I went to Fenway Park for the first time, in 1998, I wore my Randolph jersey to the second game I went to in the Yankees-Red Sox series. He was a coach with the Yankees then. Nobody in Boston gave me any grief about wearing a pinstriped jersey, which is quite different from how it would be today. I went down to the dugout during batting practice, and Randolph came over and signed the jersey. That was great. Also, there was the time in 2004 that the Expos played the Marlins in Chicago because of Hurricane Ivan, and I went to Comiskey with a bedsheet and a marker to roll as the Jamey Carroll Fan Club. That was a fun and weird day.

 

 

Go over to Beltran's Fangraphs page and scroll down to the part marked "Pitch Values." See that "-2.01" on the 2015 line for wFB/C? That's the part that tells you that Beltran isn't hitting fastballs, at all. Like, worse than Tuffy Gosewisch. Derek Jeter was at -0.95 last year. Now, it doesn't necessarily mean that Beltran won't make adjustments and get better as the season goes on, but oh boy has he looked terrible for the first month of the season. Sometimes everything goes in a hurry. The Yankees saw this with Alfonso Soriano last year. The problem in New York is that Beltran isn't just signed through this season, but next season as well.

 

 

Bartolo Colon is not meant to be understood. He is meant to be enjoyed. May he continue his joyous participation in Major League Baseball for years to come.

 

 

I think so. I wrote about it in March. As for the when, I think it's possible for the next CBA, but if not then, I would not be surprised to see it in the subsequent CBA.

 

 

I do not. Amending the Constitution is unnecessary for such a matter, as by my interpretation it could be legislated by Congress as a matter of interstate commerce.

@bkabak, who has a protected account, and whose question therefore cannot be an embedded tweeet, asks: "I have a paper cut. Should I get Tommy John surgery?"

I am not a medical doctor. Neither is New York Daily News columnist John Harper, nor is New York Post columnist Kevin Kernan, though both seem to believe that they know what is best for Masahiro Tanaka -- and that the answer for his forearm strain and wrist tendinitis is Tommy John surgery. There's this thing about Tommy John surgery, though, which is that it's surgery. Like, they cut open your arm and replace the ulnar collateral ligament in your elbow with a tendon from elsewhere in the body. Recovery for a major league pitcher takes a year or more, and even though many pitchers have been very successful in their comebacks, there is no guarantee that the highly-invasive procedure will work out for the best. Surgery is a big deal, and you don't just skip to it because you might eventually need it -- it's a last resort. So, even though I'm not a medical doctor, I would advise that you first try some ointment and maybe a band-aid for your paper cut before you head to Alabama to visit Dr. James Andrews.

 

 

The sooner, the better. What I really hope is that when the Yankees are in Boston this weekend, A-Rod hits his 660th home run and the Red Sox go right at their rivals with a big jumbotron message: "CONGRATULATIONS TO ALEX RODRIGUEZ ON YOUR *MILESTONE* 660TH HOME RUN!" Why not try to stick it to your oldest foe in their fight against a player they don't want to pay an extra $6 million to?

 

 

Neither, really. I think the Twins will be bad and not very interesting this year.

 

 

Same answer that I've had for more than a year now: Address the fact that the pitching staff is not up to snuff for a real contender.

 

 

I don't think it will happen unless and until someone in the current starting rotation in New York gets hurt, or if they decide to trade Dillon Gee.

 

 

No. Why would I? It's going largely the way I predicted it would.

 

 

Your love for a player who hit 30 homers last year and is off to a .325/.427/.488 start for the Mets is understandable. That said, I feel unqualified to use this particular three-letter term to describe him or anyone else, or anything else, as I am 34 years old. I am comfortable with the fact that I don't use the slang of the kids these days. I always felt stupid when I said something was "phat" or "dope" anyway, so I don't need a whole new level of feeling stupid.

 

 

Tommy "Pickles" Medica.

 

 

It doesn't feel like anything. It's been there for a couple of years now. It's just a little check mark. No big deal.

 

 

Their two best pitchers, by about a thousand miles, are hurt. That will take the wind out of the sails of any team. The Shin-Soo Choo signing has turned out ot be an outright disaster. Adrian Beltre looks like he's aged about 100 years in the blink of an eye. They don't have enough other good players. The result is a team that loses 14 of 21 games.

 

 

I do not have insomnia. I do have a seven-week-old son, which has changed my sleep patterns somewhat, but not nearly as much as it has for my wife.

 

 

I think the Astros are for real, but that they'll eventually get passed in the American League West by teams that are better built to win in 2015.

 

 

It's fun to watch. I like watching pitchers play their mental game and physically execute a plan. I like watching hitters smash home runs. I like watching fielders make spectacular plays. I like that the game is segmented into defined plays, by the pitches, that make it easy to follow. I like the little intricacies. I like that old saying that every time you go to a baseball game, you will see something you've never seen before. It's not 100 percent true, but even in a game where you think you've seen everything, you never really have. I like that it's basically the same game that my grandfather grew up watching and playing, which is not true of pretty much any other sport. I like a day out at the ballpark. It all adds up to something I really love.

 

 

Definitely the Expos. I never went to a Whalers game, and my only affinity to them was for their logo and uniforms, then years later for the Brass Bonanza.

 

 

It's pretty obvious that the Dodgers thought highly of him when they gave him a four-year, $28 million contract. Guerrero is 11-for- 26 this year after going 1-for-13 last year in the majors. I don't know what to think. You're free to be excited about a baseball player, though. That's a fun feeling. This is supposed to be fun.

 

 

I'm sticking with the notion of the Canadiens riding Carey Price all the way, so, no.

 

 

Of course, especially this time of year. Being at hockey playoff games is one of my favorite things. I also very much enjoy watching them on television, and covering baseball is a lot of fun. I have no complaints.

 

 

I cannot confirm that hockey is better. I also won't say that baseball is better. I enjoy both very much, and both have their strengths and weaknesses. I don't think it's necessary to say that one is better than the other, anyway. You can like what you like, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

 

 

Country Breakfast is Billy Butler's nickname, so presumably in the situation you are describing, he hit himself. Ouch!

 

 

Apple pie Blizzard.

 

 

This isn't even close. Rita's is nice. I went there in Baltimore last year and had a strawberry/vanilla gelati that was delightful as I walked around the Inner Harbor. The Oreo Blizzard has Oreos. Do you know how good Oreos are? Because, if you're asking this question, I'm not sure that you've had Oreos. They're great. Go get some.

 

 

No, I think it's a cute gimmick, and as a customer, I am happy to know that the ice cream is well packed into that Blizzard cup so I'm not getting short-changed on valuable dessert.

 

 

I'm just rooting for Sunderland to get a couple of wins and once again avoid relegation. If that doesn't happen, I'll deal with the consequences. Some Championship matches already are televised here, though, on beIN Sports.

 

 

I don't know that I really am, but I try to be nice to people.

 

 

I'm ready to be told why I'm all wrong, and I will only go with solo rappers here (sorry, Wu-Tang) but... Biggie, LL Cool J (just for Milky Cereal, one of my favorite songs of all time), Rick Ross, 2Pac, Nas.

 

 

In most cases, a funeral. Life continues for the living, the living reproduce and eventually die themselves, and life continues for the future generations right on through to the eventual extinction of humanity, followed eons later by the destruction of Earth as the sun's own life expires.

 

 

Probably. Heck, I still want one of the blue jerseys with the eagle that the Capitals used to wear, in the Jagr era.

 

 

No, because there is no such thing as the Masterson Trophy to get rid of.

 

 

I don't have one, because nothing truly works. I generally try to drink some water, but there is no cause and effect between anything I've ever done and hiccups ending. They just end on their own eventually. I had the hiccups the other day, and after about three hiccups, they just stopped. No reason at all.

Jesse Spector