AL East Round Up: Report Card Edition: Pitching

Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

We are one month into the season. The teacher in me is itching for summer. Now might be as good a time as any to incorporate my “teacher skills” into my work here at Jays Journal. This week’s AL East Round Up will provide a grade for each team’s performance over the first 4 weeks of the 2014 season. I’ll continue with this each month and provide a year end report card too! I’m going to warn you: I’ve been told I’m a generous marker. Let’s see if that holds true.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ve broken down each team into 4 parts: I covered Offense, Defense in a already today and this post will assess the Starters and Bullpen. I’ll be marking on a letter grade system. I’ll provide you with a justification as well. And, for all of you in the teaching loop, there is no set rubric or scoring guide being used. I’m going with my gut, my whimsy, my delusions. Since I’m the one writing, you’ll just have to accept that. As Adam Sandler said in the Wedding Singer: “I have the microphone, so you will listen to everything I have to say!” Having said that, feel free to leave your comments below. I never have a problem arguing grades.

Here we go!

Standings:

NY Yankees 14-10
Baltimore Orioles 12-11 1.5 GB
Boston Red Sox 12-13 2.5 GB
Tamp Bay Rays 11-13 3 GB
Toronto Blue Jays 11-13 3GB

*NOTE: All stats from BaseballReference.com*

Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees

The Yankee are stuck in first place 4 weeks in. They’ve been able to attain a good grip as the best of a mediocre group. While everyone else is playing .500 ball (or so) the Yankees are doing just a bit better. And, at the end of the day, teams need only finish first in their division to make the playoffs. It doesn’t need to be pretty. It can be as ugly as pine tar all over your bat, helmet, gloves, hand, neck…

Starting Pitching– B  
Hmmm…this is a sticky topic. The starters have been up and down. Their ERA sits at 4.46, which is too high. C.C Sabathia is not the bear he once was, but is managing to put up good a K/BB ratio. He’s 3-2 with an ERA of 4.78. Hiroki Kuroda is doing worse. His 5.28 ERA has got to come down for the Yankees to have a chance. The offense will pick up some slack, but it can’t be expected to pick THAT much. Ivan Nova needs Tommy John surgery. That puts a hole in the rotation. Michael Pineda is…umm….stuck riding the pine (tar) for 10 games, which is really only one start. This whole situation baffles me. He is seen with pine tar on his glove hand. Then, the next time he goes out against the same Red Sox team, he puts it on the one spot that everyone will see- his neck! The Yankees say they talked to him after the first time, but in English. How hard is it to get across that pine tar is a no-no? Anyway, that’s enough of that. Masahiro Tanaka has been pretty much the only bright spot in the rotation. So far, he’s been worth every (well, almost) penny the Yankees spent. He’s 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA and has struck out 35, while walking only 2! TWO! How do you say “dominant” in Japanese? Still, the Yankees are going to need more than one fifth of their rotation to compete.

Bullpen– B-
When grading the bullpen, it is hard because their results can be skewed by poor starting pitching. But, we’ll try anyway. How can any team replace Mariano Rivera? Honestly. By putting David Robertson in his spot. Except that didn’t go well. He went to the DL. Shawn Kelly did a nice job filling in for the guy filling in for Mo. He picked up 4 saves and struck out 11. Now that Robertson is set to come back, perhaps he can provide some stability to a bullpen that has had to work an awful lot. The Yankee starters have been averaging less than 6 innings per start. So, like a lot of teams (see Blue Jays) the bullpen has had to work more than is ideal. The Yankees have 13 pitchers with at least 1/3 of an inning worked in 2014.

Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles

For me, the Orioles are the biggest surprise in the AL East. There is no way I expected them to be in 2nd place. I’ll be even more surprised if they continue to be within striking distance in August and September. They’ve ridden a solid offense that is only going to get better once they all click together. Their defense has been great. If (that’s a big “if”) their pitching can turn around and keep them in games, they’ll have no trouble challenging for the title.

Starting Pitching-  C+
Chris Tillman and Wei-Yin Chen are 3-1. Aaaand, that’s about all the good news. Ubaldo Jimenez, Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez have a combined 2 wins between them. Jimenez has none! Jays fans- please stop giggling now. The starters have only managed to average roughly 5 1/3 innings. This seems to be a theme in the AL East. It is hard to stay in a game when you’re averaging a WHIP of 1.48. The O’s starters have given up about 10.2 hits per 9 innings. This wouldn’t be so bad if they were actually pitching 9 innings. But, they’re not.  They are also averaging 7.12 K/9. On the surface this looks good, but it also runs up your pitch count. Which makes you have to leave the game sooner.

Bullpen  C+
The O’s have had to rely on their bullpen for 72.8 innings. That’s an average of roughly 3 2/3 of an inning. While not obscene, it certainly makes for a lot of work for the 8 men who have contributed. In their almost 73 innings of work, they’ve given up 25 walks. Like the starters, they too have not managed to get their work in quickly. We need only look to the closer, Tommy Hunter for evidence. His numbers are middle of the pack for the bullpen. He’s a closer. He’s supposed to come in for an inning and shut things down so everyone can go home. He’s been effective. He has 6 saves so far. No one is questioning that. What is questionable is HOW you go about being effective. In 8.2 innings of work, Hunter has given up 11.4 H/9, 1 HR/9, 1 BB/9, and 6.2 K/9. All of this adds up to a lot more pitches than necessary to get your job done.

Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Red Sox

I have taken great pleasure watching John Ferrell’s squad hanging out in the basement for so long. Although, now I’m not laughing so loudly. Especially since these Red Sox have come in to Toronto and put the Jays in their place. Literally. The Red Sox are starting to come around and we’re seeing them climb the standings. Their offense will eventually live up to its potential. The defense needs to pick up the slack.

Starting Pitching: C+
The Red Sox rotation has been up and down. It hasn’t been reliable OR terrible. It’s been consistently inconsistent. The starters have combined to average a WHIP of 1.497 and an ERA of 4.48. They’re giving up 10.5 hits per 9 innings. They’re only walking 2.98/9 while striking out 8.22/9. So, the hits are what is killing them. This extends innings and rallies. It also puts an added pressure on the offense too. Yet again, there is another team in the AL East whose starters do not stay long in the games. They are averaging roughly 5 2/3 innings per start. Jon Lester has the lowest ERA at 2.67, but he has a losing record. Jake Peavy also has a sub 3 ERA (2.87). Once the warmer months come and pitchers begin to stretch out, the Red Sox should have a rotation that will at the very least, keep them in games. At most, they have the ability to dominate.

Bullpen: B
The bullpen for the Sox is working on a WHIP of 1.68! This is due to them combining to average 7.8 hits/9. When you’re work is limited to an inning or two, this number is too high. Yet, because the starters are not going deep into games, the bullpen has been asked to chip in almost 81 innings. In 25 games, this is an average of 3 2/3 innings. This is not a sustainable pace on a nightly basis. It certainly isn’t a recipe for repeating as champions. Despite their work load, the relievers have combined to only lose 3 games in relief and blow one save. In fact, they’ve managed to win 4 games in relief! They are keeping their team in the game (with 6 holds) until the offense can catch up.

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have started their descent into last place. They are only 3 games out of first, but this may be the point of the season where things start to resemble what the season will look like. Teams will start falling into their places. Hopefully, this is not the case for the Blue Jays, but there just doesn’t seem to be improvement in sight. The pitching has not been effective. The offense has yet to click together. The only saving grace is the defense, but that is not enough.

Starting Pitching-  D
This grade is easy to justify. Outside of Mark Buehrle (4-1), there is not a Jays starter who has more than a single win. Again, Buehrle is the only starter who’s ERA (2.16) is under 3. Let’s remember that because Buehrle is the picture of consistency, that also means he will come back to his normal season levels. The starting staff is averaging just over 5 innings per start. That’s it! It is like the starters think they are still in Spring Training where they do not have to go many innings. Well, sort of, it might seem like that if they weren’t running their pitch counts so high. 80-90 pitches to get to the 5th is not going to help you last in a game. As well, the starters have walked 58 batters and given up 132 hits! Their WHIP sits at 1. 53. The complete inability of 4/5 of the rotation to provide anything resembling quality starts is also hurting the bullpen. Because John Gibbons has to go to the pen earlier, they get tired.

Bullpen- C-
I actually feel bad for the Jays’ bullpen. The starters are not making life easy for them. The bullpen has been asked to pitch almost 86 innings thus far. That just isn’t right. Except, they aren’t making life easy for themselves. They have not been throwing strikes. They’ve allowed 50 walks to start the season. While it is easy to blame the starters and say “The bullpen is just overworked”, it isn’t all that fair. The pen still has to come in and throw strikes. They aren’t. This is exemplified in the 5 Lgr (losses in relief) and 3 BSv (blown saves). This alone shows that if the bullpen had done its job, they Jays could have 8 more wins. 8! Instead of last, they’d be well in first!

There you have it. Agree? Disagree? have your say below!