BOS VS PIT Series Recap: The Sox Limp Into A Sweep!
The Boston Red Sox have swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three game series.
While there are positives to take away from this series, the narrative of the Red Sox 2024 season remains unchanged. For example, in my last blog, I made a point to highlight the horrendous lineup fielded by the Sox in the final game of the Cleveland series. What I failed to realize, was that the lineup would get far worse before it could get better.
It is safe to say that the lineup was in a bad place coming into the series, with Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill still dealing with the fallout from their outfield collision. However, the situation would only compound itself when Triston Casas went down with a rib injury.
Before I start breaking down the Red Sox performance, I’d first like to establish how AWFUL the Pittsburgh Pirates are. Coming into this series, all I heard about was how this is the best iteration of the Pirates we have seen in years. One player in particular, Oneil Cruz, is someone who baseball fans are nationally OBSESSED with. In this series, he went 0-9 at the plate with two walks and 0 RBIs. Cruz also had a couple really awkward looking mistakes in the series, including a dropped pop fly in game three that cost the Pirates a run. The Red Sox shortstop, Ceddanne Rafaela (who cannot hit), went 2-12 with a home run and 3 RBIs. After this series, I am officially OUT on Oneil Cruz going forward.
Oneil Cruz: 0-9, 2 BB, 0 RBI, E
DEFENSE:
Of the two teams that played baseball in Pittsburgh this weekend, the Red Sox were the superior team. The Pirates played a very sloppy series, which by comparison, made the Red Sox skate away without ridicule.
This series was the best that the Sox have looked defensively since they lost Trevor Story, and the reason why is SO obvious…
In this series, David Hamilton was FINALLY dropped from the lineup (thank goodness). That guy was a complete liability. I have nothing against him as a person, and I wish him all the best, but he is not good enough to play in the majors. I hope he gets there, but he isn’t ready yet. I have a few more thoughts. They are as follows….
Positives:
David Hamilton is FINALLY GONE (insert celebratory horns and music*).
Ceddanne Rafaela is a clear upgrade at shortstop.
Wilyer Abreu might make some plays look more difficult than they need to, but has a great glove and an a ROCKET attached to his arm.
Bobby Dalbec might not be able to hit (at all), but he is a very capable defensive player at third and first.
Enmanuel Valdez is turning it around (defensively). I have RIPPED Valdez for his defense previously, but he is SIGNIFICANTLY improving.
Jarren Duran did not make any mistakes in center field.
Wilyer Abreu: 7-12, 3 BB, 4 RBI, HR
Negatives:
Ceddanne Rafaela is far more natural at second base and in the outfield.
The loss of Casas at 1st will hurt the defense at the position.
STARTING PITCHING:
I am only counting two true starters in this series. Bello and Crawford were both FANTASTIC, and this staff continues to show the genius of new pitching coach Andrew Bailey. With that said, having another bullpen game is incredibly frustrating. Here are some additional thoughts…
Positives:
Bello had arguably his best outing of the season so far (6.0 IP allowing one hit).
All the Red Sox diehards who predicted a breakout season from Kutter Crawford have been looking very smart. (6.0 IP allowing one earned run).
Make it stand out
Brayan Bello: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
Negatives:
Bullpen games suck to watch, and I have a feeling that we will see a lot more of them throughout the season.
Josh Winckowski is NOT a starter.
THE PEN:
The Red Sox bullpen did it’s job in this series. I have a few minor gripes, but mostly positives for the Red Sox bullpen in this series. The bullpen allowed only two runs over the three games, and my thoughts include the following…..
Positives:
Although Winckowski got the “start”, he is still a reliever. He looked pretty decent today during his 4 inning appearance.
Booser is a fantastic story, and he wasn’t terrible.
Chase Anderson pitched 4 innings, allowing no runs.
Clean and efficient appearances from Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin.
Weissert doesn’t suck.
Slaten gets his first career win. He continues to be un-hittable.
Negatives:
Joely Rodriguez DOES suck. I never want to watch him play baseball ever again.
Make it stand out
Joely Rodriguez: 0.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 HR
I just wish that the team was not so reliant on bullpen starts. This could have been prevented so easily. Relying on Pivetta and Whitlock as starters, and having no depth, is a recipe for disaster. They needed (and still need) to add more arms to this staff.
AT THE PLATE:
With a lineup headlined by Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran, it is safe to say that very few casual fans tuned in for Sunday’s game. Those of us with nothing better to do with our weekends were subject to a pleasant surprise. The Red Sox (with arguably the worst lineup I have ever seen) cruised past Pittsburgh to complete the sweep. With a lineup missing so many key components, the offensive production in this series was miraculous. Overall, my positive and negative takeaways from the series are as follows….
Positives:
Jarren Duran continues to be an agent of chaos.
Wilyer Abreu is one of the team’s more reliable bats.
Connor Wong and Reese McGuire have been very underrated.
Ceddanne Rafaela outproduced Oneil Cruz.
Rob Refsnyder seems to be healthy and caught up to speed (having missed spring training).
Masataka Yoshida showed some life.
Negatives:
Enmanuel Valdez continues to struggle at the plate.
Bobby Dalbec should start looking into getting his real-estate license.
Pablo Reyes is beginning to look like the player that was dealt by the Oakland A’s in exchange for cash.
