BOSTONDustin Pedroia may have summed it up.
Were not going to win the World Series if Jonnys not himself, the second baseman said.
Forget the World Series. Or the ALCS. Or a wild card. Or even a game in July against the cellar-dwelling Blue Jays. Make that the formerly cellar-dwelling Jays. With their 15-7 loss to the Jays at Fenway Park Sunday afternoon, the Sox kicked the Jays upstairs, taking up squatters rights in the basement.
Jon Lester has certainly not been himself for most of this season. He made that point clearly, in bold type with an exclamationpoint Sunday afternoon, giving up a career-high 11 runs and four home runs, tying his career-high with five walks, on his way to a record of 5-8 with a 5.46 ERA.
But the same can be said for Josh Beckett. If the two are not themselvesor at least a semblance of what the Red Sox had hoped to see from them this seasonthe team will once again be watching the postseason from the couch in the basement for the third straight season.
Combined, Beckett and Lester are 10-16 with a 5.03 ERA this season. Their first-inning combined ERA is a rotund 8.00. The Sox are a combined 13-23 (.361 winning percentage) in their starts.
The first-inning holes they are continuously leaving for their offense to dig out of are becoming almost insurmountable.
Boston Red Sox
Ive never seen an offense put in such positions as our offense has been put in, battling from the start of the game, said manager Bobby Valentine, after Lesters outing on Sunday. Im proud of them. They keep battling back, keep scratching away, and fighting. But its not fair.
While Beckett and Lester are hardly the only ones responsible for those first-inning deficitsSox pitchers have a combined 7.03 first-inning ERAmuch more was expected out of them than what they have so far delivered.
While they are tied for the staff lead with left-hander Felix Doubront with 10 quality starts, Doubront, who spent spring training fighting for both a spot on the roster and in the rotation, leads the staff with 10 wins.
The questions, then, are why and what can be done about it?
Lester has said its not his mechanics, but when asked what was wrong after his Sunday outing, he replied:
Name it. Everything.
Lester acknowledged that his confidence is shaken.
Its obviously not at the highest its ever been but, I mean, the thing is nobodys going to feel sorry for me, he said.
I want him to get better, Valentine said of Lester. Hes a great pitcher, a great guy, and I feel this as much as he has. I know hes taking it tough.
But Lesters season appears to be heading in the wrong direction. In his last three starts, facing the Yankees, White Sox, and Blue Jays, he is 0-3 pitching a combined 12 13 innings (4 13 innings against the Yankees on July 8 was his longest outing of the three), giving up 21 earned runs for a 15.33 ERA.
Beckett, for his part, has just one win in his last seven outings, going 1-4 with a 5.00 ERA in that span, while the Sox are 1-6 in those games. He has a whopping 10.69 ERA and .343 opponents batting average in the first inning this season.
After his last outing, a loss to the Blue Jays on Friday when he gave up four runs in the first two innings, Valentine expressed optimism,
I thought he had good stuff all night, the manager said. Made a couple of bad pitches in the first couple of innings and there were four runs. But had pretty good stuff Friday night.
Valentine has been asked repeatedly if there is anything physically wrong with Lester. And he has repeatedly said there isnt.
So, if there is nothing physically wrong, the question is What can be done?
Left-hander Franklin Morales was taken out of the rotation earlier on the homestand and sent back to the bullpen. Perhaps he deserves another shot at the rotation. In five starts, Morales posted a record of 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA, with 31 strikeouts compared to just eight walks in 26 13 innings.
Perhaps he should be put back in the rotation with either Lester or Beckett going to the pen.
Perhaps Lester and Beckett should be sent to the minor leagues (a la Daniel Bard) to figure things out. They both still have an option remaining. But, with more than five years of major league service time, neither Beckett nor Lester can be sent to the minors without their permission. That is unlikely to happen.
Perhaps general manager Ben Cherington is working on a trade that will resolve the issues.
Perhaps they will just snap out of it.
There is likely no quick fix, however.
Valentine was in no mood to discuss the situation in the immediate aftermath of his teams latest shellacking. When asked if he had any changes in mind for the rotation, Valentine replied:
This is no time to discuss those things.
Thats fine, for now. But if this team hopes to be going anywhere besides home in October, the topic will have to be addressed soon.