This team is starting off very similar to last year. New year, different faces, same team, same results. What does not give me any hope for this season is that it seems like the Sox are taking the same approach to “fixing” their issues by believing in the players they have on the field will start to turn it around. At least, this is what we can see. I’ll give partial credit in that we can’t see what’s happening behind the scenes outside of the 9 innings each day.
While the team motto from Brooks Boyer’s team may be “Change the Game”, the Front Office maintains a wait-and-see attitude. Didn’t we kick the old-school guy to the curb to bring in some new-school thinking and managing? Let’s try some new shit!
Goal: make the best use of a piece of shit player we have to put up with being on our team.
My proposal: take the cleaver to Clevinger’s days as a starter and move him to the bullpen. And to get ahead of this being just a reaction to yesterday's start, I’ve had this article in-progress since his Baltimore start where he was useless against lefties.
My logic: Our bullpen is trash and has already been rotating people in and out. We need to limit our ineffectiveness against lefties. Why wait for the implosion (as if it hasn’t already happened)?
Counter Argument: “Lynn has been terrible against lefties, too! Why not move him?” It’s true Lynn has been trash against lefties.
Rebuttal: There is some reason to believe Lynn won’t continue to be trash. Lynn is currently rocking a FIP of 7.7 against lefties, but an xFIP of 3.5 suggesting he’s been very unlucky against lefties so far. Clevinger has a FIP of 6.4 and an xFIP of 7.5 suggesting that he’s actually been a bit lucky. Hard to believe, right?
“Okay, but what do you do with the fifth spot in the rotation?”
In walks The Dart with his BDE and all. Martin is hitting 97 in Charlotte and looking goooood. Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m sure you’ll correct me in the comments if I am, but I believe only Kopech and Cease have hit 97 or higher out of the starters. Bring some of that heat back into the rotation! When up last year, Martin did nothing but attack each batter. Aside from his injured last start, Martin seemed competitive in just about every batter he faced. This is something that neither Lynn nor Clevinger have looked against lefties. And when your 2 and 4 starters are just not competitive against lefties, you’re putting the stress test on your offense of likely having to dig out of big holes almost every other game. Hence, not winning a series yet.
