Monday Morning Brushback: Put Up or Shut Up

The Red Sox week in review dives into the trade deadline haul, managing the pitching work load, and Wilyer Abreu.

It’s nice to get back into the winning ways, isn’t it?

After a trio of tough sets post-All-Star break and pre-trade deadline, the Red Sox were able to get back on the saddle this past week. A pair of rubber game victories were enough to clinch series wins against the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. The bats have come alive again—an encouraging sign to be sure. It turns out those losses at the hands of the Daaaaahdjurz and the Jankees didn’t sink the ship, as previously feared.

The club sits two and a half games back of the final Wild Card spot in the American League— a slot currently occupied by the Kansas City Royals, who will be hosting the Sox for a three game series starting tonight.

This set in KC represents, perhaps, the biggest series of the 2024 Sox season to date. Just as we all predicted prior to Opening Day. It’s the start of a stretch that could truly define how this campaign is remembered. Strong showings against teams such as the Royals alongside Houston (twice over) and Baltimore will go a long way towards determining whether or not we’re watching the Sox play meaningful ball in October.

Whether or not the Sox qualify for the postseason, I think we can all agree that proper strides have been made by the organization this season. The opportunity to contend for what Rob Manfred affectionately calls that big piece of metal is not out of reach. A new era of Boston baseball is on the horizon.

But you know as well as I do that we aren’t here rooting just for strides to be made — we’re here rooting for results. It’s all well and good to point to the organizational depth and youth, along with the positives we’ve experienced this year, and say that things are looking up. Talk does become cheap, though, and the chance to be in the mix for a pennant is in front of the club as we live and breathe.

Long story short: it’s time to either put up or shut up. This could be fun, folks.

It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.

Our New Pals

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Say hello to a new group of players, Sox fans!

While none of the transactions carried out by Boston leading up to last week’s trade deadline constitute a “splash” in my very arbitrary definition (hell, no team in MLB really made a capital-H HUGE move this month), the big club did get some help—notably to the pitching staff, which was in desperate need for reinforcements.

Very quickly—speed dating style—because our own writers here at OTM were on the ball in getting to the nitty gritty of the trades made by Craig Breslow and the front office: I thought this was a fine deadline.

I would’ve liked an extra right handed bat to be brought in to supplement the offense, but the glaring issue stemming from the pitching staff was addressed in some capacity. Plus, I don’t feel like the future of the franchise was mortgaged; Nick Yorke could’ve been a solid producer in Boston, but the team can’t have 33 middle infielders on the 26-man roster.

Quinn Priester? Rocky start to his career in Pittsburgh, and I’m not sure if he’ll slot into the MLB rotation/arm barn soon, but he’s a controllable pitcher with the ability to keep the ball on the ground (that’ll play at Fenway) who might have his full potential unlocked by the machinations of Andrew Bailey’s pitching lab.

Lucas Sims? Don’t love the walks he issues, but I like his swing-and-miss stuff and his ability to retire hitters by way of the K.

Luis Garcia? He isn’t the Astros pitcher of the same name, which I suppose is a check against him, and I was a bit confused when a 38-year-old reliever from the Angels came at the expense of four prospects (who may have been packing their bags in a few months anyways due to the Rule 5 draft), but he also has solid ground ball-inducing stuff and can miss some bats in his own right.

Danny Jansen? He’s a better option as a second catcher than what was available previously, and he’s already made a play that was cool as hell.

James Paxton? Sure, let him eat some innings, why not?

…I suppose that summary of the deadline wasn’t all that quick, huh?

Point is: I think Breslow and Co. were able to properly walk the fine line of giving this current crop of players a boost that they’ll need to remain competitive in 2024 while not shooting themselves in the foot for 2025 and beyond.

Acquiring some extra pitching help was especially pivotal, considering our next point in this week’s Brushback…

The Limit Does Not Exist…Or Does It?

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

I wouldn’t want this section of the blog to take away from the fact that the emergence of both Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford have been obvious highlights for the Red Sox this season. Kutter’s resume has, by and large, been impressive. Houck’s All-Star selection was more than well deserved.

Yet I think now is the time we need to have a conversation about their work load, and the possibility that the number of innings they’ve thrown might be working against them. I’m not worried, per se (I think that’s how that phrase is spelt? Any grammar heads out there that can confirm this?), about either of them — but it’s something to keep in mind as we head into the dog days of summer.

Houck’s already logged more innings this year (134) than in any other season of his career (his previous career high came last year, where he threw 106 frames). If he’s on track to start, say, 8-to-10 more games this year, then you’re looking at around 180 to 190 innings on the year — which is no small number in 2024. In his three starts following the All-Star Game, Houck has coughed up 13 earned runs in 17 innings to balloon his ERA to an ungodly 3.09. The horror.

It’s a similar deal for Crawford, whose 127.2 innings in 2024 is already right around the amount of work he had in 2023 (his 129.1 frames last year is his career high). In his 15 innings following the break for the Mid-Summer Classic, Crawford has surrendered 12 home runs. That number would be concerning enough if that was simply earned runs, folks.

So what gives? Why the huge drop-off as of late? Could it be that the amount of innings thrown by both Houck and Crawford is starting to catch up to them?

Well, to quote legendary poster Trill Ballins: it hard to say. Not to take the coward’s way out and decline to definitively answer the question that I raised, but I don’t see any clear signs that their work load is beginning to take its toll. Maybe it is, I’m not sure, but if it is: it’s not obvious.

Houck’s velocity and movement haven’t been piss poor as of late and he’s still doing a good job of keeping the ball in the yard this year—his 0.5 HR/9 leads the way in the AL, and I don’t notice anything in his profile that would change that general trend. He’s always done a good job of limiting homers. He’s been out-performing his xERA (a 3.09 ERA, as I mentioned before, compared to a 3.96 xERA), but pitchers can live that way if they have the nasty stuff that Houck offers. Maybe he was due for a few bad starts and won’t keep his ERA below the 3.00 line consistently—big fuckin’ deal.

Kutter’s recipe for success this year has involved pounding the strike zone and—prior to these past few starts—limiting hard contact. He’s gotten burnt a few times in a row now, sure, but he’s still hitting his spots (he’s only issued one walk in those three starts post-ASG) and his hard hit rate is still in the 69th (nice) percentile in spite of his recent outings. Sometimes you get punched in the face when you attack the strike zone—that still shouldn’t stop someone like Crawford from doing what they do best on the mound: being aggressive.

The concerns about Houck and Crawford’s work loads are valid. However, I’m not ready just yet to put all of their recent woes on the fact that they’ve been throwing more to this point of the season than they ever have before. For better or for worse—because the Red Sox will have to depend on these two if they want to make any noise in the fall—we’re going to find out if these additional innings hurt their abilities.

A Salute to Wilyer

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

I love Wilyer Abreu, man. He’s a legit professional hitter and should be a part of this team for a long time. His three homers over the weekend helped lift Boston to the series dub, adding the latest chapter to his impressive rookie season.

It’s worth noting that his first career multi-homer game came while he was carrying a heavy heart. After his first home run of the day, he was visibly upset in the Sox dugout. The news of his grandmother’s passing then followed.

The loss of a grandparent is the loss of someone who can’t be replaced in your life. I lost my Nana earlier this year — I couldn’t imagine getting up the next day to work, to perform any duties as if the world wasn’t turned upside down. It was clear watching Abreu on Sunday that she must have meant a lot to him.

While the circumstances were obviously heartbreaking, it was heartwarming to not only see Wilyer excel at his craft in her honor but to also see the players, staff, and fans of the Red Sox rallying around our right fielder during what is undoubtedly a hard time for him and his loved ones.

We’re all with you, Wilyer!

Song of the Week: “Banquet” by Bloc Party

I know it’s a pretty acclaimed album, but I still don’t think we talk about how good of an album Silent Alarm is. Good record, good band.

Until next time, friends! Go Sox.