Red Sox fastball struggles have fast become a problem
Making his major league debut on Thursday, Eduardo Rodriguez threw 105 pitches against the Texas Rangers. He threw 72 fastballs, averaging 93.4 mph, and reaching a peak of 96.3. Texas was 3-for-18 (.167) with two walks and four whiffs, and struggled against the breath of fresh air in the Sox rotation.
The Rangers looked like the Red Sox have looked so frequently against the fastball this season.
’’You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.’’ – Ted Williams
Overall, major league batters are hitting .252 this season. The Sox are hitting .242.
Overall, major league batters are hitting .266 against fastballs this season. The Sox are hitting .242.
That’s no typo.
While everyone else is hitting 14 points higher, the Sox are hitting the same. As a team, their batting average ranks 22nd in the majors and against fastballs they rank 27th.
•The Indians’ Jason Kipnis leads the majors hitting .464 against fastballs (he’s hitting .345 overall).
•Xander Bogaerts leads the Sox hitting .324 against fastballs; he’s hitting .268 overall.
•Dustin Pedroia, who is hitting .298 this season, is hitting .317 against fastballs.
•Overall against fastballs, Pablo Sandoval is hitting .270, but that doesn’t tell much of the story. The Panda is hitting .366 when the fastball comes from a righty, but .091 when it’s thrown by a lefty.
Let’s expand that righty/lefty discussion for a moment
Overall, major league batters are hitting .251 vs. righties this season. The Sox are hitting .253.
Overall, major league batters are hitting .266 vs. righties’ fastballs this season. The Sox are hitting .258.
Sandoval isn’t the only Sox doing well on righties’ fastballs
•Brock Holt is hitting .378
•Dustin Pedroia – .348
•Xander Bogaerts – .346
Struggling against righties fastballs are:
•Daniel Nava – .133
•Mike Napoli – .164
•Blake Swihart – .200
•Mookie Betts – .231
Overall, major league batters are hitting .254 vs. lefties this season. The Sox are hitting .213 (the worst in the AL; only the Brewers at .199 are worse in baseball).
Overall, major league batters are hitting .268 vs. lefties’ fastballs this season. The Sox are hitting .205 (the worst in the AL; only the Brewers at .189 are worse in baseball).
•Shane Victorino is hitting .500
•Xander Bogaerts is hitting .273
•Mike Napoli is hitting .259
It gets much worse from there:
•Hanley Ramirez is hitting .217
•Blake Swihart is hitting .182
•Mookie Betts is hitting .148
•And sadly, Sandoval’s .091 isn’t the worst as David Ortiz is hitting .054 (just .245 against righties’ fastballs)
“Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster.’’ – Joe Adcock
Big Papi is only 1/3 of the overall problem facing the heart (3-4-5 batters in the lineup) of the Sox order.
Overall, MLB 3-4-5 batters are hitting .266 this season. The Sox are hitting .239.
Overall, MLB 3-4-5 batters are hitting .280 against fastballs this season. The Sox are hitting .217; only the Astros batters at .196 are lower.
And that tells us so much. If there is any one pitch that has been the cause of the disappointing offensive production from the Sox sluggers this season, it has been the fastball.
And if you are wondering why the Sox are 3-22 when trailing at the start of the 7th inning, the Sox are hitting .258 against starters (.248 against their fastball) and .211 against relievers (.233 against their fastball).
One last stat that shows how the Sox batters are being overpowered by fastballs: On pitches 94-plus mph, the league is hitting is hitting .246, but Boston is hitting just .212.
Do not think the opposition has not exploited this weakness: no team has seen as many fastballs as the Sox who have faced 4,099 fastballs or 55.7 percent of all the pitches they’ve seen.
The Sox’ fastball struggles have fast become a major problem.
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