Injuries and the Unpredictability of a Baseball Season
Predictability? Every season begins unpredictably. And this season has thrown some wicked breaking balls at fans paying close attention. Notice the injuries?
Last season through 19 games, the Boston Red Sox were 17-2, 7.5 games ahead of the 9-9 New York Yankees. The battle lines were clearly drawn. The upstart in the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays, were already 6-13, 11 games behind Boston.
Coming into this season some expectations have already proven true. More and more home runs. Strikeouts. Walks. Long games. And injuries. A lot of injuries.
Dustin Pedroia
Dustin Pedroia, who missed all of last season, is attempting a comeback this season. But as was clear last evening against the Yankees, and the game before, Pedroia’s not fully back yet. And that’s a shame.
He’s been such a force on the field for Boston. And now his whole life is up in the air. His knee is so delicate he can’t touch the earth with the same confidence he took for granted before his operation. It’s as if the gravity that gripped him so tightly and allowed him to take liberties with physics can no longer balance his talent with the balletic movements he once executed so flawlessly throughout his career. Which is why it’s difficult to see his shadow on the field.
He’s no longer the player he once was, and may never be again. And this season, Boston misses his fire, his dogged love of the game and his ability to get on top of a fastball and drive it out of the ballpark.
They miss Pedroia as a difference maker. As a champion. And every baseball fan should miss his once in a generation talent. The spark plug that could, and did for a long time. And now is a shell of his former dangerous self.
Without Pedroia’s fire (and with Mookie Betts mired in an inexplicable slump) the American League East has turned upside down. Through 19 games, the Tampa Bay Rays were 14-4, the New York Yankees 8-9, and the Boston Red Sox 6-13.
That’s a negative 11 game swing for the Boston Red Sox from last season after 19 games. The Yankees, at 8-9, were a half-game off their 9-9 opening last year, while the Tampa Bay Rays were 8.5 games better. And if Boston is not careful this Easter weekend when they play three games in Tampa Bay, they could be 9.5 or 10 games behind Tampa Bay before May. Which, by itself, would be a shocking and completely unexpected course of events.
Boston Shocks Boston, and the Yankees
Wednesday night Boston played a crisp game against the Yankees that they would have won last season, leading 3-1 after six innings. Nathan Eovaldi pitched his best game of the season. The Yankees only scratched out one run against him in six quality innings.
Dustin Pedroia had to exit the game in the second inning after yet another feeble at-bat, lifting a gentle, harmless fly ball to right field. His knee barking at the pale moon in the changing sky, yet again.
But unlike recent years, Boston’s pitching is off kilter this season. And Wednesday night it was Brandon Workman who loaded the bases with one out in the Yankee half of the seventh inning. Ryan Brasier was called into a difficult situation by his manager, Alex Cora. Brasier threw two tough sliders and got ahead of Brett Gardner 0-2 before blazing a fastball down Broadway. A nanosecond later Gardner turned on that fastball and rocketed a low line drive into the right-field stands. By then, Pedroia was long gone from the game. And a secure 3-1 lead was a 5-3 deficit. Six outs later Boston had its 13th loss of the season and a firmer grip on last place in the AL East.
Last season Boston would not lose their 13th game until mid-May after their 41st game of the season. Their record was 28-13. Quite a difference.
However this unpredictable season continues, let’s root for Dustin Pedroia to find his old greatness sometime during this season. It has been a treat over the years to admire his diminutive self attack the baseball with such aplomb.
And another hope, a thrilling three-way pennant race in the AL East that goes down to the wire with one of the three teams missing the postseason.
Now that would be a fitting end to an unpredictable baseball season.
