Red Sox Halfway Report
Posted on June 27, 2008
Filed Under 2008 Season | Leave a Comment
We officially reached the halfway point in the season the other day with the win over the Diamondbacks. I thought about doing some sort of a report card for performances but I figured why bother when the Globe and the Herald will probably do the same thing anyway. Instead I’ll just give a few of my observations and some information about the team throughout the first half of the year.
- The Red Sox ended the first half with 49 wins. The most wins out of any major league team. If they keep up this pace, they will end the season with 98 wins (that’s 2 more than last year.)
- Their 49 first half wins are more than any other team in baseball but that’s only because they’ve played more games than almost anyone else thanks to the Japan trip.
- The club’s .605 winning percentage is the third-best in the league behind the Cubs (.620) and the Angels (.608).
- Curt Schilling started the season on the DL with a comeback time of mid-summer. He has since had to shut it down for the rest of the season and possibly his career.
- Other starting pitchers to make trips to the disabled list so far this season include Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz and Bartolo Colon.
- Clay Buchholz was struggling so much before his injury (5.53 ERA, with a 2.15 K/BB ratio) that when he was finished rehabbing, they told him to stay down in Pawtucket. In case you forgot, he threw a no-hitter last year.
- Other players to go on the DL this season include: Mike Timlin (twice), Mike Lowell, Alex Cora, Sean Casey, Brandon Moss and David Ortiz.
- That doesn’t even include the injuries that forced the rest of our roster to miss time. A full list of injuries is available at projo.com (link.)
- The untouchable Jonathan Papelbon has already blown more saves (4) in the first half of this year than he did all of last year (3).
- The Red Sox record on the road is an abysmal 18-22 while their home record is an AL best 31-10.
- Julio Lugo already has 16 errors at shortstop in 247 total chances. His .935 fielding percentage is the worst among ALL qualifying SS in the major leagues.
- Jon Lester has emerged into the ace that everyone expected. In addition to tossing a no-hitter, his 3.13 ERA in 103.2 innings leads the staff.
- Boston’s starting pitchers have a combined 3.81 ERA so far in their 81 starts totaling 486.1 innings.
- The bullpen has matched the starters with a combined 3.80 ERA in 234.2 innings.
- JD Drew is third in the AL with a .987 OPS. Kevin Youkilis is 7th with a .913 and Manny Ramirez is 8th with a .895.
All in all I would say this is a pretty good start to the season. Tampa Bay may be breathing down our necks at only half a game behind 1st place but we seem to be in good shape.
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