The road to the end of the season is getting shorter, a timely return that could help the Red Sox going forward and a look at other shaky starts that will hopefully provide optimism on Yoan Moncada’s future in Boston. Here’s a look back at the week:
It’s always shocking when the last 20 baseball games of the season come around. The number 162 looks so daunting when the schedule first comes out. And then it’s September. And before you know it, October comes and goes and someone wins the World Series and poof, we are talking about the Winter Meetings again.
In recent history, the Boston Red Sox have put together some rather forgettable finishes. Looking at the final 20 games in each of the last five seasons, the Red Sox have managed to post a winning record just twice – in 2015 and 2013. In the last 10 years, Boston has averaged a .505 winning percentage over its final 20 games, winning just two American League East pennants in that time. The Red Sox’s best finish was 13-7 in 2013 and their worst was a 5-15 showing in 2011.
Boston has 19 games left on its 2016 regular-season schedule, all against teams in the AL East. The Red Sox have mustered a 31-26 record against teams in their own division. Unfortunately, in this pennant race, a .500 record will probably not get the job done.
Boston will need to continue its recent hot stretch, take advantage of the 10 games it’ll play at Fenway Park before season’s end and finally kibosh the New York Yankees’ postseason dreams once and for all. After so many years of suffering at the hands of the Evil Empire, the momentum that would be created from a late-season series win over the red-hot Yankees, which could possibly end their long-shot bid at a postseason berth, could be enough to propel the Red Sox to a division title.
After stealing a series from Toronto over the weekend, the week ahead looks like the most important of the season for the Red Sox. The week started off with a 12-2 thumping of the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, but you know what they say, “It’s not about how you start, it’s all about how you finish.”
After an injury that certainly looked worse than it turned out to be, all signs are pointing to Andrew Benintendi coming off the disabled list early this week, likely giving him at least 15 games to gear up for the postseason. Manager John Farrell said before Monday’s game that 15-18 games is “a hell of a lot more” than Benintendi was expected to play when he initially left a game in Tampa Bay on Aug. 24 with a knee injury.
The Red Sox rookie outfielder hit .324 in 21 games with Boston this season, including six doubles, a triple and a home run. Boston was 12-9 with Benintendi on the field and turned in a 10-3 mark once he became the everyday left fielder on Aug. 11.
After a slightly aggravating start to Yoan Moncada’s career, which includes a streak of nine straight strikeouts that could still be extended, it will be refreshing to get Benintendi back to say the least.
After another successful rehab workout Monday, Benintendi told reporters, “Health-wise, I feel 100 percent. I honestly couldn’t tell you which leg it is if I didn’t know.”
Much like the Yankees are being sparked by the stunning start to Gary Sanchez’s career, the promise Benintendi showed pre-injury leads many to believe he could lift the Red Sox in a similar way. This late in the season, with a division title still on the table and an ever-so-slight lead in hand, Boston should take any type of momentum swing it can get.
Speaking of Moncada, it’s looking more and more like he just wasn’t ready for the big leagues. Before he was called up, many acknowledged the strikeout totals he put up in the minor leagues. (He went down on strikes 124 times in 491 minor-league plate appearances this season before being called up).
But no one expected the immediate transition to be so painful to watch. Optimistically, plenty of great players have seen their careers start undesirably. Knowing what Moncada is expected to do in the future, it’s hard to write him off. And nobody should be doing that just yet.
Here’s a look at some other unfortunate starts to give you a little spark of optimism:
Roberto Clemente: Making his MLB debut at age 20, the future Hall of Famer hit a career-low .255 with a career-worst .284 on-base percentage in 1955. Clemente’s rookie season ended with a 10-for-51 skid over the final 17 games for a .196 batting average. The outfielder ended his career 17 years later with a .317 career batting average.
Carlton Fisk: The Red Sox legend went 0-for-12 with five strikeouts in his first four games of professional baseball, which stretched from 1969-71. In 1972, the Hall of Fame catcher won Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in the MVP voting after hitting .293 with 22 home runs and 61 RBI. His nine triples proved to be a career high for the Charlestown native.
Cal Ripken Jr.: The Iron Man didn’t look so invincible at age 20. In his first 41 games, Ripken collected just 12 hits in 99 at-bats for a .121 batting average. He finished the 1982 season with a .264 average, 28 home runs and 93 RBI and went on to win Rookie of the Year, a prelude to the rest of his 21-year, Hall of Fame career.
Alex Bregman: For a more recent example, you can look at the Houston Astros rookie. The LSU product collected just one hit in his first 32 professional at-bats for a .031 average this season. The No. 2 pick in 2015, who plays third base, shortstop and outfield, posted 10 strikeouts in his first eight games. Since then, the 22-year-old is hitting .322 with eight home runs and 32 RBI.
Moncada won’t get much of a chance for redemption this season as the Sox are locked in a playoff race and aren’t going to waste any time developing a rookie over the final month of the season. But it’s important to let the 21-year-old open next season with a clean slate. There’s a reason why Moncada was given a $31.5 million signing bonus, and it wasn’t so he could set a record for strikeouts in consecutive plate appearances – which is 12, by the way.
(Michelle Berthiaume can be reached at 369-3338, mberthiaume@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @MonitorMichelle.)