Red Hot Red Sox

by Hal Bent

The Boston Red Sox have stormed out the gate so far this spring (as of 4/20 at 10:00AM) with an impressive 11-4 start built largely upon the backs of impressive starting pitching through the first 15 games of the young season.  Thinking that the Red Sox start is attributable to good pitching and then seeing the results in front of you on your computer screen are staggering.  Other than an injured John Lackey (who was pitching probably his best game ever in a Boston uniform) all starters have gone at least 5 innings in each start without giving up more than 3 runs. More impressive than that, the starters have averaged more than a strikeout per inning, with 98 punch-outs in the first 89 innings pitched (9.9 strikeouts per game, a fantastic rate).  Also impressive, these games were against the AL East (other than the three last games versus Cleveland), all strong teams. Check the chart below:

Game Date	Pitcher	Opponent	GS	CG	GF	W	L	Sv	Sho	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	HBP	BK	WP
04/01/2013	Jon Lester	At NYA	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	5	2	2	0	2	7	0	0	2
04/03/2013	Clay Buchholz	At NYA	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	6	1	1	1	2	4	0	0	0
04/04/2013	Ryan Dempster	At NYA	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	5	3	3	1	4	8	0	0	0
04/05/2013	Felix Doubront	At TOR	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	9	3	3	1	0	6	0	0	1
04/06/2013	John Lackey	At TOR	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	4 1/3	5	2	2	1	1	8	0	0	0
04/07/2013	Jon Lester	At TOR	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	5	0	0	0	0	6	1	0	0
04/08/2013	Clay Buchholz	Vs. BAL	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	3	0	0	0	4	8	0	0	0
04/10/2013	Ryan Dempster	Vs. BAL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3	3	1	1	2	7	0	0	1
04/11/2013	Alfredo Aceves	Vs. BAL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6	2	2	1	3	4	0	0	0
04/13/2013	Jon Lester	Vs. TBA	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	5	1	1	0	1	5	0	0	1
04/14/2013	Clay Buchholz	Vs. TBA	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	2	0	0	0	4	11	0	0	0
04/15/2013	Ryan Dempster	Vs. TBA	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	2	1	1	1	2	10	0	0	1
04/16/2013	Felix Doubront	At CLE	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	4	2	2	0	4	7	0	0	0
04/17/2013	Alfredo Aceves	At CLE	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	7	3	3	2	3	2	0	0	0
04/18/2013	Jon Lester	At CLE	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	4	2	2	0	1	5	0	0	0
Totals	15 Games		15	0	0	8	2	0	0	89 1/3	71	25	23	9	33	98	1	0	6

ERA	Win Pct.	K per 9	BB per 9	HR per 9	K/BB
2.32	.800	9.9	3.3	.91	2.97

Statistics courtesy of my friends at: http://www.baseballmusings.com

Of course, this Red Sox team was built around depth in the bullpen.  The pitching has been lights-out (for the most part) with the bullpen looking extremely tough even with closer Joel Hanrahan on the disabled list. With Andrew Bailey moving to closer and long-reliever Alfredo Aceves moving into the rotation, the Red Sox pitching staff has barely missed a beat.

Check out these stats from the mighty Boston bullpen compared to their surprisingly effective starting pitchers:

Pitcher Type	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	HBP	K	SH	SF	GDP	CI	BA	OBA	Slug%
Starter	329	71	14	0	9	23	33	0	1	98	0	2	7	0	.216	.288	.340
Reliever	159	31	6	1	7	16	17	1	1	51	0	0	4	0	.195	.277	.377

With these type of statistics, this is the real reason for the Red Sox coming out and having an impressive April in 2013. 

Overall	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	HBP	K	SH	SF	GDP	CI	BA	OBA	Slug%
Total	488	102	20	1	16	39	50	1	2	149	0	2	11	0	.209	.284	.352

The Red Sox are already surprising most observers who put them down as unble to compete until the infusion of youth would arrive in the majors in 2015 or so.  Instead, an offense full of grinders and dirt dogs like Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava, Johnny Gomes, and with the return of David Ortiz and a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury, this team suddenly looks built (if they remain healthy) to grind out enough wins to remain in contention in the American League East this season and put   the nightmare of 2012 and Bobby Valentine in the past.