JBJ extended his hitting streak, Shaw homered in a park not named Fenway, and…well, that’s about it.
Top Play (WPA)
In a rare twist, this was earned by someone on the losing team. Travis Shaw uncorked a wall-scraper to right field that made Paulo Orlando struggle mightily against the padding. The dinger, courtesy of the Mayor of Ding Dong City, was worth .199 WPA, and kept the Red Sox in the game for the next few innings. Shaw had himself a pretty good game, going 3-for-4 with that homer and two singles. He was one of the bright spots for the Red Sox today, who didn’t seem like their offensive juggernaut selves.
Bottom Play (WPA)
There weren’t too many true negative WPA plays, but Jackie Bradley groundout to end the top of the 4th inning was the worst play. It came out to be a -.055 WPA, which doesn’t exactly blow away the pack. JBJ grounded out with men on first and second against a really shaky Yordano Ventura, which might be the reason why it got the lowest score. Other than that, it wasn’t a bad play, just something that batters do from time to time. There were very few truly awful plays in WPA’s eyes this time.
Key Moment
Koji’s error in the 8th inning. It was everything you’d hope wouldn’t happen with a pitcher throwing to first base.
Not only did he not grab the ball on the first try, he still hurls an awful throw to first afterwards, pulling both Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia out of position to try and recover it. That’s the stuff nightmares are made of when it comes to pitchers fielding. The Red Sox had a chance in the 8th. Koji, in a weird, unexpected way, couldn’t keep that chance alive.
Trend to Watch
Brock Holt’s early-season implosion. He’s been pretty bad over the last calendar month, generating a .257/.301/.324 line with a .064 ISO over that span. No power, no contact, and his adjusted exit velo has dropped so far, Drew Butera – yes, the very same – has a better adj. exit velocity than he does this year. I’ve wrote about how a starting job could burn the guy out, but a a slump this early is a tad bit scary. Here’s hoping Andrew Benintendi tears it up at Double-A Portland.
Coming Next
A day-night doubleheader! Steven Wright faces off against Ian Kennedy in the day game, while David Price battles Edinson Volquez in the nightcap. So much baseball, so little time!
Photo by Denny Medley/USA Today Sports Images