Last year, the Red Sox’ season ended after Matt Garza two-hit them over seven innings in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Their flailing underscored an unavoidable imperative about the postseason: The first team to win 11 games must conquer elite pitching from the first round until the World Series.
There are no back-of-the-rotation innings-eaters, no spot starters culled from the minors. In the playoffs, with each at-bat carrying a heightened intensity, batters need to come through against the toughest pitchers in the sport.
“At some point, you’ve got to hit quality pitches,’’ Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan said. “And you’ve got to do some thing with them.’’
This year, more often than not, the Red Sox didn’t. Against the top 15 American League pitchers in ERA+ (ERA adjusted by ballparks), the Sox hit .220 with a .266 on-base percentage and a .327 slugging percentage. The league average against those pitchers was .248, .292, and .387.
The Red Sox have elite starters in Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, but their postseason foes have proved capable of handling aces. The Angels batted .275 with a .726 OPS against the top 15. The Yankees hit .271 with a staggering .779 OPS against the top 15 pitchers in the AL, which is a testament to how good their offense is this season. The Twins hit .258 with a .734 OPS.
The league average in OPS this year against all pitchers was .763. So the Yankees were better against the top 15 pitchers in the league, on average, than every team was against every pitcher. Their homer-friendly ballpark gives them an advantage, but the OPS is still astounding.
When Sox general manager Theo Epstein assembles his team, performance against frontline starters is a minor factor. He would argue this season is either not a large enough sample size or an exception to the norm.
