USA Today Sports
One of the key concerns for the Boston Red Sox going into this season was the fact that they don’t have a true ace. They do have several No. 2 or 3 quality starters, but it was unknown how that would work out. Now we know through the first three weeks it’s not working out well at all.
Collectively, the team’s starting rotation has an ERA of 6.03. As most people could guess, that’s good enough for dead last in all of baseball. Across the board, their top four starters just aren’t cutting it this season. Here’s a look at how abysmal they’ve been this year:
Clay Buchholz: 1-3, 5.76 ERA, 25 IP
Wade Miley: 1-2, 8.62 ERA, 15.2 IP
Rick Porcello: 1-2, 6.48 ERA, 25 IP
Justin Masterson: 2-0, 5.16 ERA, 22.2 IP
When none of your starters have an ERA below 5.00, it’s pretty clear there’s a problem. The crazy thing is that the Red Sox have an 11-10 overall record even with these horrible starting pitching performances.
Even the bullpen hasn’t been great; they have a cumulative 4.13 ERA. So the lineup is carrying Boston right now as they somehow find themselves right in the thick of things in the AL East.
However, if starters keep getting knocked out of games early, the bullpen is going to start getting overworked. In fact, the bullpen has already pitched 80.2 innings this season compared to the 112 by the rotation. With more stress on their arms, the bullpen is going to start breaking down.
There will be a trickle-down effect in the rotation if they can’t turn it around soon. Their poor play will trickle into the bullpen, and at that point it won’t matter what the offense does.
