Uniform thinking should help staff
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
The Red Sox still have not pulled off a trade to bolster their pitching and cannot say if they will.
But they did make a change in uniformed personnel that they hope patches the team’s glaring pitching flaws.
In moving Brian Bannister, the director of pitching analysis and development, out of the front office and into a uniform before games for the remainder of the season, the Red Sox hope to give pitching coach Carl Willis needed assistance.
Bannister, an ex-big league pitcher, specializes in communicating statistical data clearly and effectively. Rather than have his work and insight be filtered through Willis, the team decided to have Bannister on hand in person to convey his messages.
“(Bannister) has worked closely with supplying information to John Farrell and Carl Willis throughout the season,” said president Dave Dombrowski. “Now that the draft is over, his responsibilities on that end of it are done, of course. We thought it would be that much more helpful to put him in uniform. The players in today’s game really want the type of information that he supplies — statistical, analytical, arm angles — they want to see these type of things.”
Dombrowski said not to read into Bannister’s arrival as an indictment on the job Willis is doing.
“It’s not that we’re unhappy, but we’re looking for any way to make ourselves better,” said Dombrowski. “And I don’t mean to say, by any means, that you don’t try to get better from a talent perspective also, which we will continue to try to do, but there’s a lot of work to be done. And we think it maybe gives us a little bit of an edge and will help us improve.”
Dombrowski pointed out that “our pitching has scuffled at times,” but he could not commit to declaring if the problems can be solved internally.
“We’ll see, I’m not sure I’m ready to answer that question, we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I thought a couple of guys would perform better than they have. They haven’t, so far. Never give up hope. Keep working on them. I think there are still some capabilities there, but we haven’t done it so far, collectively. I’m not telling you secrets. Our fourth and fifth starters’ earned run averages are over 7.00 collectively. Well, that’s not good enough to win if that continues.
“Can it come from within? Yes. Can it come from outside? Yes. Can it come from a combination? Yes. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to keep trying to make everything work.”
Because of MLB limits on coaching personnel, Bannister cannot be in the dugout or clubhouse during games.
Always on call
Dombrowski addressed the current state of trade talks.
“We’re aggressive, we talk every day now, this is a time period where a lot of things happen, calls are increased,” he said. “You get into July, it’s amazing how much calls increase. They’ll continue to increase more so after the All-Star break, and they’ll pick up even more around the trading deadline. It doesn’t mean you’re going to do something, but I can say we’re aggressive talking. Between (general manager) Mike Hazen and myself, we might talk to 10 clubs today. That’s a lot.
“A lot of it’s just checking in at times, too. I think we have a pulse of what people are doing, but there are still some clubs on that proverbial ‘not-sure-what-we’re-going”
Dombrowski said Major League Baseball did not allow him to comment on the trouble the Red Sox got into last week on their international signings.
Vazquez to Triple A
The Red Sox optioned catcher Christian Vazquez to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for catcher Ryan Hanigan, who was activated off the disabled list. Farrell said because red-hot hitting Sandy Leon would be “scooped up in a heartbeat,” Vazquez was sent down to get him on track as he fights back to full health after missing all of last year due to Tommy John surgery. The team saw signs of him scuffling both offensively and at the plate.
“Let’s face it, any player that misses a full season, it’s challenging the following year,” said Farrell. “It’s almost acceptable for a pitcher going through Tommy John that there’s going to be ups and downs with arm strength, with performance. In this case, it’s really no different. But we’re also not at a point of wanting to cut ties with anyone.
“From an organizational standpoint, we’re a foul tip away from needing another catcher. If you eliminate one through a roster move, you’re probably risking an overexposure for that position.”
Farrell said Leon will catch, on average three out of five games, with Hanigan getting the other two. Hanigan will catch knuckleballer Steven Wright tonight. Leon appeared to hurt his left arm with a hard-contact swipe tag in the sixth inning of last night’s 7-2 loss to the Rangers, but stayed in the game.
Vazquez hit .226 with a .278 on-base percentage in his 164 at-bats with the big club.
“He started to lunge quite a bit,” said Farrell. “Some of the work he and (assistant hitting coach) Victor ( Rodriguez) and (hitting coach) Chili ( Davis) have done to get him to let the ball track a little bit deeper, it became a little bit of a two-piece swing where he’d get out on his front side a little bit early and he wasn’t staying behind his swing.”
Price doubles up
David Price joined Pedro Martinez (seven times) and Jon Lester (twice) as the only Red Sox pitchers with at least six double-digit strikeout games in the last 20 seasons.
His 130 strikeouts this season are third-most ever by a Sox lefty before the All-Star break. He has 1,502 strikeouts, with No. 1,500 coming against Ian Desmond in the fifth inning.
Price lowered his ERA to 4.64 but allowed his 16th home run of the season in his 18th start. His career high for homers allowed came in 2014 when he was tagged for 25 in 34 starts.