Mazza makes a bit of history
Sox have used record-tying 11 starting pitchers in first 22 games
What happens when an understaffed rotation is paired with one bad elbow, one troubling case of the coronavirus and a front office that has little incentive to win in 2020?
Might as well keep a bookmark in the history pages for this 2020 Red Sox team, which continues to break its own records for inadequacy.
Sunday night, they recalled Chris Mazza from their training site in Pawtucket, sending down Dylan Covey to make room on the roster. Mazza was sent to the mound at Yankee Stadium for his first career big league start.
In doing so, he became the 11th pitcher to start a game for the Red Sox this season, tying the record for most starters used in the first 22 games of an MLB season, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Only the 1958 Indians (7776) and the 1952 Red Sox (7678) could match the 2020 Sox, who have used a crew that now includes Mazza, Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez, Ryan Weber, Zack Godley, Austin Brice, Josh Osich, Colten
Brewer, Ryan Brasier, Matt Hall and Kyle Hart.
Mazza, 30, was acquired in the same way most of the Sox’ pitchers this year have been acquired, as a castoff from another team. The 30year-old was waived by the Mets after posting a 5.51 ERA last year.
His claim to fame is that he’s a third cousin of Dom DiMaggio and Joe DiMaggio. But he’s unlikely to save a pitching staff that’s beyond repair.
The Sox are still scoring runs — averaging 5.0 per game while hitting .296 during their current six-game losing streak — but they’ve allowed a remarkable 10.5 runs per game (an ERA of 9.52) during that span while opponents are hitting .357 with 13 homers off them.
With a 6-15 record to start the year, the Sox have the most losses through 21 games since the 1996 Sox, who started 5-16 and finished 85-77 overall.
Manager Ron Roenicke seems about as confused as anyone right now.
“I don’t know, I’m looking for direction here,” he said. “These things you go through, and I wish I had an answer for it, but I think certainly the biggest thing is knowing the players still believe we’re behind them and we know that means a lot to them and how they react to all this.”
The only hope for the pitching staff is the pending returns of Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez, who are each recovering from the coronavirus.
Taylor is likely to join the club Monday or Tuesday.
Devers trying to keep positive
Rafael Devers has been part of the problem.
With a .578 OPS, he’s got the lowest OPS on the team besides Andrew Benintendi, who has been hurt, and TzuWei Lin, a backup.
“As you all know, I’m just an aggressive hitter,” Devers said before Sunday’s game. “That’s something even last year, I was swinging at things outside the zone a lot too and the only difference was I was actually getting hits. That doesn’t change the approach that I have now. I’m still doing the same exact things that I’ve been doing last season and even the years before.”
Well, not really. His strikeout rate has almost doubled from 17% to 30% while he’s swinging at the wrong pitches. His swing rate on pitches outside the zone has gone from 38% in 2019 to 41% this season, while his swing rate on strikes has plummeted from 75% to 69%.
“This is something that I’ve struggled with from time to time in my career, even in the minor leagues,” Devers said. “But I’m always able to get past that because I just have a positive mindset when I go into these things. I know I’m going to snap out of the funk and I just continue to just work on my swing and do everything I can to improve every single day. I feel great. Right now, the ball is just not falling.”
To make matters worse, he’s failing on defense, too. He’s made seven errors in 19 games. He made three errors on Thursday.
“It’s a part of the game,” he said. “Obviously I made those errors, but it’s something it’s bound to happen because it’s a part of baseball. It’s something that I continue to work on just as much as I focus on my hitting.”
Yanks’ dominance ruining the rivalry
The Yankees have been beating up on the Red Sox in such a way that the rivalry no longer has any intensity.
The Sox are 0-5 against the Yanks while being outscored 40-18 this year. They went 5-14 against the Yankees last year.
“It’s just a part of the game,” Devers said. “Obviously we wish we could win more games, especially against the Yankees, but that’s just a part of baseball. We haven’t, I think, not won a series yet, but that’s something that we’re going to continue to have a positive mindset, everyone in the entire clubhouse, trying to right this ship right now. Even though it’s a short season, we’re not completely out of it yet.”
FanGraphs gives the Red Sox a 13% chance to make the postseason, even with the expanded field this year.
The Yankees have a 99% chance, even with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and others battling injuries.
“Well that’s what they did last year too,” Roenicke said. “I can remember the beginning of the season all their injuries they had and they kept winning all the time so it shows they have a lot of depth in their organization.”
Jose Peraza was out of the lineup Sunday with a sore knee while Jonathan Arauz got the start at second base.
Xander Bogaerts made his 57th career start at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, passing J.J. Hardy for most starts by a visiting shortstop in the stadium’s 11-year history.