Game one reaction: Is Alex Cora really committed to his word? 8th inning problems and Bogaerts

The Red Sox are on pace to go 0-162 right now. It’s almost statistically impossible to lose 162 games, especially with David Price on the mound today, but here things are. The Red Sox are in last place in the AL East and are on pace to lose 162 games.

I hope that was enough to get most fans riled up about the infancy of the season and how ridiculous it is to make those type of comments after game one. Now onto the real analysis.

Yesterday’s 2018 opening day loss felt just as bad as 2003’s opening day loss to the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The year that Theo Epstein said “we don’t need a closer, we’ll go with the best available arm for the situation.” Pedro Martinez cruised through the seventh inning and when things were given to the bullpen, the whole project fell apart, letting up five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning at the mercy of Chad Fox throwing a fastball to Carl Crawford, who took it yard for the win. That game was actually decided by the same final score, 6-4.

Outside of just pure fandom hatred following yesterday’s loss, there are several talking points though I think are real concerns moving forward. First and foremost, who will be trusted in the eighth inning? It’s easy to ridicule Joe Kelly, the initial culprit of the bullpen’s meltdown. But Carson Smith wasn’t much better. The two combined for 49 pitches, three hits, six runs and four walks. Absolutely abysmal. After the extended usage of the two, one would expect both Kelly and Smith to not be used today. Taking that one step farther, say Kelly and Smith cannot be trusted in that situation at all going forward too. So, in the event that the Red Sox are up anywhere from one to three runs going into the eighth inning today, who do they throw? Does Barnes move into that role? Heath Hembree? The next time the Red Sox are in line for a save opportunity, it will be very telling of who manager Alex Cora brings in for the eighth inning. If neither Kelly or Smith come in, they’ve effectively lost the trust of Cora in that situation, and as far as the season goes, the Red Sox are in trouble if they have no one that can take on the eighth inning.

Also, it’s fair to point out if Cora’s bullpen usage of “using the best guy in the right situation,” was just lip service or not. When Kelly imploded, the highest leverage situation was right when Smith entered the game. All offseason, Cora talked about using closer Craig Kimbrel for situations outside of the ninth inning. He wanted to use Kimbrel in the highest leverage situation and if that meant it’s the seventh inning with guys on base, then so be it. Cora had the opportunity to prove that yesterday and elected for Smith instead. He explained it by saying,

“I’m not going to put him in that spot right now. We feel he’s ready, but I don’t think it’s fair for him to come into a situation. It’s not a clean inning. It’s something that we mapped out, we talked about it and we stuck to it. We decided he’s not coming in, as of now.”

Pair that with how Kimbrel talked about how he only wanted to come in the ninth inning and it seems as if Cora will not actually pull the trigger on using Kimbrel in the highest leverage situation. It sounds like Kimbrel told him no. Pay attention to what Cora said here too "We feel he's ready." So is there a problem between how Cora wants to use Kimbrel and Kimbrel's unwillingness to do so? The rest of what Cora said is player protection. He's taking the edge off of everything else he said. I understand too, it's not usual for a team to use their closer for more than three outs in the opening parts of the schedule, especially on opening day. I guess it’s best to wait 15 days and see how Cora uses the bullpen before we can fully commit to an answer or not, but if Cora was really into highest leverage situation possible, yesterday was his first chance to prove it.

Another note too, Xander Bogaerts looked as if he set the tone for the season during yesterday’s game. He hit too long doubles, going 3-4 at the plate with his only out being another long ball to the outfield. (Video here)
Bogaerts expressed that he feels he will be better this season, that he will continue to get better and that last year was a down year. If yesterday’s game was any indicator, I’m excited to watch Bogaerts this season. After yesterday’s game, I’m feeling Bogaerts might turn in a .300-30-100 season this year after seeing what he did yesterday. A sure sign of what’s to come.

As for today, I think David Price shows semblance of his former dominant self. Even after all the complaints from Red Sox fans and troubles Price has gone through, in his worst season, he still pitched over 200 innings, struck out over 200 batters and won 17 games. I think Price still has it in him and I think he shows some of it today.

Should UMass hire Rick Pitino?

Rick Pitino

Alas. It was only a matter of time that Rick Pitino, a man that loves the game of basketball, declare that he wants to coach again and will do so at any level of college or professional basketball.

Pitino’s program at Louisville did some regrettable things, such as illegally paying players and hosting parties that consisted of strippers. And because it’s Pitino’s program, he deserves every bit of the blame. Whether he was the person that handed out the money or his people that he put in charge of recruiting handed out the money, it ultimately doesn’t matter.

But does Pitino deserve a second chance? Pitino still knows how to run a program, winning 629 total career games as a coach, maintains a .732 winning percentage, and led Boston University to it’s first NCAA tournament birth in 24 years back in 1978, Providence College to the final four in the 80s and won a National Title with Kentucky. He consistently turned in positive seasons at Louisville when it comes to the team’s record (some wins have been vacated from Pitino’s record too). He knows how to find talent, coaching Patrick Ewing and Antoine Walker, while drafting Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce during his time with the Boston Celtics. Essentially, Pitino knows how to turn around college programs.

So, why doesn’t UMass give Pitino a chance? He played for the college and has ties to the area in the fact that he coached at BU and not so far away Providence College. The team has been failing ever since the John Calipari days and has no real dedication to Matt McCall, who was the team’s second choice at coach after Pat Kelsey accepted the job and then turned it down. The team didn’t have any success under McCall, who went 13-20 this season.

What Pitino could bring to the table as well is connections to alumni. With college sports, the real dedicated fans are the alumni. They’re the ones that will follow no matter what, unlike the average fan, who stops paying attention when things go sour. Alumni will get randy at the fact that they can meet him at events, take a quick picture, and watch a former player and superstar coach, at the helm the team. In return, I can see a lot of alumni donating to the school because of all the fun they had at these alumni events meeting Rick Pitino. Isn’t that what it’s all about for a college, getting people to donate to the school?

If I were at the helm of UMass, I’m sure as hell calling Pitino’s people. It’s a perfect fit, a desperate coach with a track record of turning around college programs and a team that has done nothing but go down athletically in the last 20 years.