Bogaerts leads steal movement
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Xander Bogaerts is flying. He’s a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts this season after promising to run more following the retirement of David Ortiz, who typically would be intentionally walked last year if Bogaerts stole second base in front of him.
“Gone,” Bogaerts said of his presence on the bases. “I’m gone.”
He had just 13 steals in 17 tries last year, and despite his success this season, he feels he hasn’t reached his full potential.
“No, it’s not the best I’ve felt stealing bases, but trusting (coach) Ruben Amaro over there at first base, he does a lot of studying,” Bogaerts said. “I trust him. And you better know when you go, if you don’t get a jump, go back. He does a lot of video stuff. Credit to him for establishing that trust with the baserunners.”
After the Red Sox attempted five stolen bases Sunday (and were successful on four) for just the third time in John Farrell’s tenure as manager, and the pressure they put on the Oakland A’s defense resulted in multiple extra bases via throwing mistakes, how realistic is it they will keep running?
“If there are opportunities to do so,” Farrell said. “The one thing you don’t want to do is give away outs on the basepaths. And while we pride ourselves on being aggressive, we haven’t been as successful as you would like. So we’ve got to be a little bit more fine-tuned with the opportunities we can take advantage of.”
The Sox were a below-average running team entering Sunday with a 68.9 percent success rate (20-of-29). Anything below 75 percent often is considered a failure given it’s costing a team more runs than it’s gaining.
But that number isn’t telling the whole story.
Hanley Ramirez isn’t exactly the speedy runner he once was, and yet he’s taken off twice, getting thrown out both times. Pablo Sandoval and Marco Hernandez both have been thrown out trying to steal. Dustin Pedroia, another player whose fastest days are behind him, is 1-for-3, as is Chris Young.
As for the Red Sox’ fastest runners, Bogaerts is 7-for-7, Mookie Betts is 6-for-7, Andrew Benintendi is 5-for-6 and Jackie Bradley Jr. is 2-for-2.
Even catcher Christian Vazquez has shown some wheels, going 2-for-2 this season. He insisted he’s going to steal 10 bases this year. “Write it down,” he said. With the Red Sox not hitting homers, why not keep running?
After they face the Texas Rangers, who are fifth in the majors stopping 38.5 percent of attempted basestealers, to open the homestand, the Sox should run freely on their next two opponents, the Seattle Mariners (24th at 23.3 percent) and Chicago White Sox (27th at 21.7).
As far as American League East opponents, the Baltimore Orioles (seventh, 35.5) are the only team that’s been efficient at preventing steals, while the first-place New York Yankees (29th, 18.2), Tampa Bay Rays (last, 16.7) and Toronto Blue Jays (21st, 24.1) have been among the worst in the game.
Signs of life
One reason the Sox have had to find other ways to score is the lack of a middle-of-the-order threat.
Mitch Moreland is heating up, as is Ramirez after an ice-cold stretch. He entered the weekend just 7-for34 (.206) with 11 strikeouts, six walks and zero extra-base hits in his previous 11 games, but he was 5-for-8 with a double and a home run in the final two games against the A’s, showing signs of straightening out his swing instead of swinging for the left field fence every time up.
“Hanley’s always been best when he stays in the middle of the field,” Farrell said. “When he gets real pull-conscious, that’s when — and Hanley’s no different than any other hitter — you’re probably going to become a little bit more susceptible to breaking pitches. At times, we’ve seen that. And I’m not singling out Hanley, just in general, that’s what you see.”
Kelly fired up
Joe Kelly’s velocity has returned. He touched 100 mph in a perfect eighth inning Friday against the A’s, striking out two. He had maxed out at 94 in his previous game against the Cardinals but told CSNNE.com it was intentional, an attempt to mix it up against his former teammates in St. Louis.
Kelly has a 1.74 ERA with 13 strikeouts and nine walks in 202⁄ innings this season.
Regardless of his velocity, he’s “still making the pitches as needed,” Farrell said. “Thought he’s used his breaking ball to set up his fastball a little more regularly. So whatever velocity he has on a given day, he’s probably allowed it play up a little bit more. He still does a very good job given he’s gone through a little bit of a time that a lot of relievers go through where they might not be completely 100 percent.”