On Command (or Lack Thereof)

I hope everyone braced for impact because the Red Sox have come crashing down to earth. Of course they do it at home against a team that plays horrible against just about everyone else, the White Sox. It seems like they lower the team is in the standings, the worse the Red Sox play against them. Irony or poor level of motivation?

One of the things that make this Red Sox team so streaky is the pitching, both starting and relief. The Red Sox staff ranks 9th out of 14 in the league in ERA, has the 4th most walks, and has hit the most batters. Those are not the numbers of a championship-caliber team. The hit batter numbers are disturbing because it just looks unprofessional to plunk your way through an opposing lineup. They're not hitting batters intentionally, rather they can't control where the ball goes when it comes out of their hand. Same with all the walks. Nothing like handing out free bases like they're candy on Halloween. Pitchers need to make hitters EARN their way on base. Why do the Red Sox pitchers struggle so much with command? I wish I knew. This happened under Farrell and it's happening under Young, so I don't think it has much to do with the pitching coach. I would say it's the Dice-K effect, but it wouldn't be fair to blame all the pitchers' command issues on one guy. However, it seems his style is rubbing off on his fellow moundsmen, whether they notice it or want to admit it or not. All pitchers struggle with command at some point, but the Red Sox staff's numbers show they do it more often than most of the other teams in the league.

While I understand that it was impossible to keep up the hot streak they had going last week, it's disappointing to see them regress all the way back to the way they were playing in early April, and against a team they should be able to beat easily. It's as if they are collectively suffering from Bipolar Disorder. The way they swing wildly from playing awesome baseball to playing a kind of ball that would make little-leaguers cringe makes it anyone's guess where they'll be at season's end. Like the saying goes, it could go either way.