Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon can still bring the heat when he gets the call, but the veteran All-Star hasn’t been seeing many save situations this season. Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Jonathan Papelbon is the greatest closer in Boston Red Sox history and they still need him. Too bad he pitches for Philadelphia because the Phillies can’t find enough for him to do.

By finding themselves with so few save situations the Phillies are making their once-upon-a-time high-profile free agent signing irrelevant. Papelbon, who as of Sunday had 270 career saves and seemed likely to steadily keep moving past 300, the first-level of milestone for relievers, is becoming a forgotten man.

And it’s not because he’s playing poorly. Papelbon is pitching just as effectively as always. Effectiveness for Papelbon is defined as being very, very good. He is a five-time All-Star and the 6-foot-4, 225-pound thrower has had impeccable control and impressive heat as he has blown away hitters with regularity over his nine-year career.

This season the Phillies are just kind of muddling along. Not so very long ago they had a solid hot streak going and that included going into Boston and unleashing Papelbon on his old Red Sox teammates for the first time since he jumped to the National League for a four-year, $50 million contract. Papelbon, a prominent and popular member of Boston’s 2007 World Series championship team, was welcomed back with very respectable enthusiasm by Fenway Park fans.

Some of them probably still get on You Tube periodically to watch Papelbon celebrate on the field doing a jig to Michael Flatley music following one of the high points of the Sox’s second championship run of the 2000s.

Better he was still inhabiting the BoSox bullpen. Papelbon, 32, became a free agent after the 2011 season and the Phillies made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. At the time it seemed as if he was the missing piece needed for Philadelphia to pluck another World Series crown. Instead, the Phillies fell apart and became the biggest disappointment in the NL. Coincidentally, the Red Sox did, too.

Boston has been searching for a new closer from the moment Papelbon left. They picked up Mark Melancon and he was horrible for them. Then they traded him to the Pirates in a deal for Joel Hanrahan, an All-Star, who is out for the season. The Red Sox also picked up Andrew Bailey last year and he got injured. Right now Bailey is the Boston closer, but doesn’t appear to have the full faith of management. In-between Alfredo Aceves gathered 25 saves last season, but had a 5.36 ERA. This year he has appeared in eight games.

Last season, Papelbon’s first in Philadelphia, he collected 38 saves and finished with a fine 2.44 earned run average. This year, as the season approaches the halfway mark, he is o-0 with 13 saves in 24 games. Papelbon’s ERA is a superb 1.46. The problem is that the Phillies just aren’t finding themselves in very many save situations. Papelbon could probably write the great American novel in his free time sitting around the bullpen.

Papelbon can’t save games that are long lost or blowouts the other way. There is no place for him on the field unless circumstances invite him in. The Phillies do not look like contenders. Maybe they will finish over .500 and maybe they won’t get back over .500. The Red Sox may not win the American League East Division, but at the moment they are leading it, and seem to have the goods to qualify for the playoffs.

The irony is that if the Red Sox had Papelbon back anchoring the bullpen they would have a much better chance to capture the division and ensure a spot in the playoffs.

Will Middlebrooks has returned to the Boston lineup quicker than originally expected, which should be a good thing for the Red Sox offense. (Image Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Prior to their game Monday at Tampa Bay, the Boston Red Sox elected to recall third baseman Will Middlebrooks from Triple-A Pawtucket. Infielder Pedro Ciriaco was designated for assignment in order to clear room on their active roster, according to The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham.

Middlebrooks seemingly returns to the Boston lineup ahead of schedule if you’ve listened at all to any of the talk in and around the city in recent days. The third baseman has struggled mightily at the plate on the season before landing on the disabled list with back spasms, prompting the team to dictate that he might need to spend some time back in the minors in order to “figure things out” before he’d return to the team. Middlebrooks appeared in just five games with Pawtucket – hitting .294/.429/.647 with a pair of homers in just 21 PA – before yesterday’s decision to bring him back to the Major Leagues. He’s hit just .201/.234/.408 in 185 PA on the year with the Red Sox and while the team has managed to climb to the top of the American League standings, there has to be hope that Middlebrooks can turn his season around and start contributing more at the plate.

As for Ciriaco, the move to DFA him doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. He’s out of options and cannot simply be sent down to the minor leagues, but more importantly he’s lost his place as the team’s utility infielder thanks largely to the emergence of Jose Iglesias. Ciriaco has seen time at nearly every position on the diamond since joining the Sox prior to the 2012 season on a minor league deal. He surprised many last season, hitting .293/.315/.390 in 272 PA and had some key hits throughout the year (particularly against the New York Yankees – against whom he hit .415/.436/.566 in 56 PA). This year he hasn’t been able to replicate that success, however, as he’s struggled to a .216/.293/.353 line in 58 PA.

Abraham suggests that there could be a good chance that Ciricao clears waivers, allowing the Sox to send him down to Triple-A. He’s just 27 years old, not yet arbitration eligible, and offers up some certain value with his defensive versatility so it remains to be seen whether or not another team will put in a claim.

On a wall inside Fenway Park the Boston Red Sox display historical logos under the grandstands to honor past generations of the team. Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON–Fenway Park is into its 101st season of operation as home of the Boston American League team and I have been a visitor going back 53 years. I made my latest pilgrimage Saturday night and the Red Sox and the weather gods combined to make it as pleasurable an experience as ever.

The temperature was around 70 degrees on a balmy night 24 hours after a brutal rainstorm struck the Boston area and the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2. Pitcher Clay Buchholz kept up his magical 2013 performance, upping his record to 9-0.

When I was a kid growing up in the Boston area the Red Sox did not always provide so much to cheer about. Until the 1967 Impossible Dream season the words Boston and pennant contender never overlapped in the same paragraph. However, the bleacher tickets were $1 when I first attended. Saturday, my old friend Paul, who has been a Sox fan as long as I have, and I, sat in right-field seats near the Pesky Pole. They cost $47 apiece.

The walls are still green, the entrance ways are old, and there is no mistaking that you are at any ball yard not named Fenway Park. It is one of the shrines of the sport and what is sacrificed in certain modern atmosphere is more than compensated for in nostalgic, traditional, historic atmosphere.

Boston management has worked hard to improve and modernize the park built in 1912. The concessions menu definitely has modern prices. There are huge videoboards in the outfield that provide an abundance of information. I have been in a lot of Major League parks over the years, but the most recent upgrading of the Fenway videoboard is the only one that I have ever seen that gives the fans the information of what pitch was thrown. I always look for the velocity number in a park, but in Boston the number of mph the last pitch traveled not only is easier to spot than in most places the word “fastball,” “curveball,” or “cutter” show up next to the mph.

I am not one of those fans who covets a foul ball and think that the scrum that often follows a foul swat is dangerous to health and sanity. However, one foul blast to right probably put me in the picture on TV for a few seconds, desiring it or not. A David Ortiz foul shot came down from the sky like a chunk of a busted-up meteor homing in on us. The ball landed about two feet to my right where a stout fellow in the row in front of us stuck out his cap trying to spear it. The ball hit his hand, bounced back a row away from us, ricocheting off a guy trying to catch it while balancing his beer, and then bounded back another two rows.

The good news is that the ball ended up in the hands of a youngster, about five years old. The usher closest to us came hustling over to see if anyone was injured. The guy in front of us sloughed it off. The guy with the beer said he was fine. I informed the Fenway employee that the second guy didn’t get hit, only his beer. The Fenway guy clutched his chest and said, “He was injured.” Suitable reverence for spilled beer.

Ortiz smacked a two-run homer over our heads and out of play, Boston managed 13 hits, and everyone sang Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” to remind ourselves how lucky we were to be within Fenway’s confines.

I’m not sure if my seat was 47 times better than the old bleacher spot, but the current Red Sox may be 47 times better than the say, the 1963 Red Sox. A half century ago Fenway was a place they played baseball. Now it’s a location, a destination, as well as a baseball team’s home field. As aging adults in an aging stadium Paul and I were more conscious of it being a privilege to be among the 36,518 fans at the game. But being there was just as much fun.

Clay Buchholz is set to step back on the mound of the Sox this weekend and will take the hill on Sunday against New York. (Image Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

When the Boston Red Sox agreed to skip his start on Monday – after the right-hander woke up feeling stiffness where his shoulder and collarbone interconnect – the belief was that Clay Buchholz would be ready to pitch by the end of the week. Initially he was slated to start Friday’s game, the series opener at New York, but lingering soreness in his shoulder on Wednesday led directly to that plan being scrapped. However, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com, Buchholz reported no problems during a bullpen session on Thursday and John Farrell has confirmed that he’ll start on Sunday.

Buchholz is 7-0 with a 1.73 ERA over 72.2 IP on the year, easily one of the best performances we’ve seen across by baseball over the first two months of the season. The extra rest may ultimately prove beneficial as he tries to reach 30 starts and 200.0 IP for the first time in his career.

Boston enters the three game series in New York with a two game lead in the AL East. Jon Lester opposes CC Sabathia on Friday. Felix Doubront and Phil Hughes pitch on Saturday. Buchholz will square off against Hiroki Kuroda in Sunday night’s game.

Clay Buchholz has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball this season, but some irritation in his right shoulder will keep him from making his scheduled start on Monday. (Image Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

Irritation in his right shoulder will keep Clay Buchholz from making his scheduled start on Monday for the Boston Red Sox, according to a report from Rob Bradford at WEEI.com. Alfredo Aceves will take the hill for the Sox against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Buchholz has been among the game’s top starting pitchers this season. He’s 7-0 with a league leading 1.73 ERA through 10 starts (72.2 IP). The right-hander has overmatched just about ever opponent he’s faced on the year and has thrown at least 6.0 innings in each outing. During his normal bullpen session on Saturday he began to feel some tightness in his shoulder, just around the AC joint. It would seem that the decision to skip his start Monday was his and not that of the team’s. From what he told Bradford, he believes that stiffness is the result of sleeping awkwardly upon returning home from the team’s latest road trip:

Trip that night, woke up the next morning and woke up laying on my right side which I usually don’t, I usually sleep on my back. I had the little daughter in bed with us, so. Woke up and didn’t feel quite right, came over here and threw and played catch and it was alright. The more I threw the less I felt it.

Being as early in the season as it is I want to make sure I’m 100 percent every time I go out there rather than 80-85 percent, risk having this be something that’s going to linger. I just want to cut it right now and hopefully a couple more days, two three days I’ll be back where I was at.

It seems as though this may just be an effort to get some extra rest in an effort to prevent any further injury, as Buchholz could start later in the week for Boston. There are no indications that he could be in danger of heading to the disabled list.

Aceves may seem like an unusual choice to start in place, but he’s already on the team’s active roster and may be the most logical choice given the pre-existing options. He made three starts for the Sox early this season, posting an 8.10 ERA over 13.2 IP before being optioned to Triple-A. Boston recalled him on Friday and inserted him into the bullpen.

New York Yankees (27-16 overall, 4-3 last week)

The Yankees will gladly welcome back Granderson (Photo: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports)

The Yankees had eight scheduled games this week because of a doubleheader that was serving as make-up games against the Cleveland Indians. Luckily, only seven of those games were played as Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays was rained out, ironically. The Yankees came into this week only a game up on the Baltimore Orioles, and it stayed that way to end the week. The club traded shutouts with the Indians to start the week, lost their series to the Seattle Mariners, 2-1, but did take both games against the Blue Jays in the weekend series.

The game I wanted to showcase was the beatdown the Mariners put on the Bronx Bombers, 12-2 back on Wednesday. Phil Hughes started the game and recorded only two outs while giving up six hits, seven runs (all earned), two walks, and surrendering one home run. Sadly, Brett Marshall was the sacrificial lamb in his Major League debut, going 5.2 innings giving up nine hits, five runs (all earned), five walks, and two home runs.

• Analysis:

The team did see the return of Curtis Granderson to the lineup, and manager Joe Girardi isn’t just slotting him into his regular center field position. Instead, Granderson has seen time in both left and right field, while the team takes advantage of Brett Gardner‘s defense. General manager Brian Cashman made a few moves this week to help bolster the middle infield. Alberto Gonzalez was designated for assignment after the Yankees acquired Reid Brignac from the Rockies. Meanwhile, earlier in the week, infielder Chris Nelson was also designated for assignment when the club called up 3B/2B David Adams. The team is beginning to get some of their injured starters back, so it’ll be interesting to see how Girardi manages the lineup in the coming weeks.

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Boston Red Sox (27-17 overall, 5-1 last week)

After a week in which the club went 2-5, the Red Sox turned it around on their most recent road trip. First the club made a stop down in Tampa to take on their division foes the Tampa Bay Rays and took two of three. They outscored the Rays 16-10 in the series, and Jon Lester won the battle of the southpaw aces when he defeated reigning Cy Young Award winner, David Price, 12-2. Lester went seven strong innings giving up eight hits and two runs (both earned). Meanwhile, the Sox continued their great week by sweeping the Minnesota Twins in the weekend series. The game to pick out of this three-game set is the final one, where John Lackey pitched six innings while only surrendering one hit and one run, while striking out five.

• Analysis

Our friends at BoSox Injection said it best by saying the key difference between last year’s Red Sox and the current team is resolve. It’s difficult to argue that point because injuries piled up for last year’s team and when they started to head south record-wise, they couldn’t seem to recover. However, this year’s team has seen two of their best bullpen arms (Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan) go down with injuries, as well as David Ortiz and Shane Victorino on the DL for an extended period of time. They have fought through it each time and are now only a half game out of first place. Their starting pitching continues to pace this club.

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Baltimore Orioles (23-20 overall, 0-5 last week)

Rough week for a pitcher who has been dominant since the O’s got out of the cellar last year (Photo: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports)

It was a rough week to be an Orioles fan. If you had to pin it on something, it would be the pitching staff, most notably the bullpen. Closer Jim Johnson had his worst week in recent memory in which he blew a one-run lead against the San Diego Padres with two outs in the ninth. Then, against the Rays with a two-run cushion, he gave up five runs on three hits and blew another save opportunity. It was truly tough to watch, and O’s fans have to be holding their collective breaths knowing a big part of closing is confidence, after being shellacked twice in as many tries, one can make a case that Johnson might see more regression before he turns it around.

Not all is lost though, third baseman Manny Machado is still raking. He had another good week, hitting .304/.304/.565 including four doubles and one triple in 23 plate appearances.

• Analysis:

Weeks like this happen to every team. It just goes to show how precious the back of the bullpen can be, they can either lose it or keep teams in games and this week they just couldn’t keep it together. Perhaps the most alarming story out of O’s camp is that this five-game losing streak all came at Camden Yards where they now hold a losing record (9-11) They’re even being outscored, 102-96, at home. All that said, the O’s are still a young team, and young clubs are prone to bouts of inconsistency. We could just as likely see them go on a 6-0 tear next week as we are another 0-fer.

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Tampa Bay Rays (23-20 overall, 4-2 last week)

The Rays are still a full four games out of first, but they have gained three games on the division leaders since May 1st. This past week they took four games against division foes, which included a sweep of the Orioles. The Red Sox ended the Rays six-game win streak earlier in the week, and ended up losing back-to-back games. Young upstart, Matt Moore is pitching out of his gourd in the early going this season and he pitched another good one this week. He gave up five hits and one run against the Orioles, while striking out only three against one walk in seven innings. Those numbers have pushed his totals to 8-0 with a 2.29 ERA (4.19 FIP).

On the hitting side, Matt Joyce had a good week batting .300/.364/.700 including two home runs, two doubles, and eight runs batted in 22 plate appearances.

• Analysis:

The old adage is, if the Rays are going anywhere, it’ll be because of their pitching. Ironically, the Rays bats are second in baseball in wRC+ (112) trailing only the Cleveland Indians. Meanwhile, their pitching is 22nd in FIP (4.19) and has generally disappointed in the early going. To make matters worse, their ace, David Price, is now on the disabled list with triceps issues. Luckily, the club is stocked with young fresh (and good) arms in the minors and have since called up Jake Odorizzi, whom they acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the James Shields trade.

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Toronto Blue Jays (17-26 overall, 2-2 last week)

Because of how the schedule worked out, and how Mother Nature intervened, the Blue Jays only played four games this week. First they invited the reigning World Champions, the San Francisco Giants, to the Rogers Centre for a two-game series, winning both with their bats. The Jays pulverized Giant pitching to the tune of 21 runs, while only giving up nine. It seems as though Jose Bautista has gotten his groove back, he’s hit .306/.422/.583 over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, his partner-in-crime Edwin Encarnacion has one-upped him hitting .343/.444/.657 over that same span.

However, for as much firepower they displayed against the Giants they looked punchless in the rain-shortened weekend series against the Yankees. They scored only two runs while giving up 12, and looked like much of what we’ve seen so far from the Jays this season. Consistency has evaded the team to the north this year.

• Analysis:

It seems for every step forward the club makes, they take a step back. The momentum the bats they gained in the series against the Giants were just as quickly washed away against the Yankees, which is why they are in last place in the East and a full 10 games out. It’s difficult to win when your run differential is -45 and your pitching ranks 29th in both ERA (4.81) and FIP (4.69). The Jays are also in the middle of the pack in hitting, placing 18th in wRC+ (94), which is tied with the Yankees. If the Jays want to shoot for the division, or even one of the Wild Card spots, they need to play like they did earlier in the week, rather than the latter half.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs

Second-year Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Moore has been overpowering hitters all season this year and he is off to a 7-0 start. Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

This could be a year of the pitcher. There are so many starters off to a fast start that candidates for the All-Star team are as thick as mosquitoes at a swamp. If they all keep it up there could be more 20-game winners in one year than there have been in ages.

They won’t, of course, because baseball hardly ever plays out on a smooth path. Yet there are a remarkable number of guys who have simply owned opposing batting orders since the beginning of April.

It’s crowded at the top. And no one has gotten off to a better start than Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore. Moore is a southpaw who turns 24 in a month and after an 11-11 rookie year has begun 2013 witha  7-0 record accompanied by a 2.44 earned run average.

Nice job, but he is not leading the pack by much. The Boston Red Sox alone have two starters breathing on Moore’s shoulder as potential major winners this season. Clay Buchholz, who has a 1.78 ERA, and Jon Lester, 2.72, are each 6-0.

Over in the National League, Arizona’s Patrick Corbin is also 6-0 with a 1.52 earned run average. Corbin, who has slightly less experience than Moore, will turn 24 in two months. He’s another southpaw simply overpowering hitters in the early season.

Lined up behind Corbin is another young hurler, Matt Harvey, who made 10 appearances for the New York Mets last year. Harvey is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA. He turned 24 in March.

It’s kind of difficult to imagine the sport being inundated with an entire crop of Walter Johnsons all at once, but those are just the starting pitchers who are undefeated. There are a whole bunch more off to starts that nearly equal that group. There are so many it’s a wonder any position player can get on base.

Jordan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals, who is supposed to only be the third-best starter in his team’s rotation, is 7-1 with a 1.69 earned run average. Yu Darvish, the second-year hurler from Japan now gracing the Texas Rangers mound, is 7-1 with a 2.97 ERA. Lance Lynn of the Cardinals is 6-1, 2.88.

The Seattle Mariners are getting pretty good mileage out of another Japanese pitcher, Hisashi Iwakuma, who is 5-1 with a 1.84 ERA. Jake Peavey, a veteran who has been battling injuries for the last couple of seasons, is showing that you don’t have to be 24 to be a star. Peavey stands at 5-1 and 2.96. Yet a third Japanese pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, is 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA for the New York Yankees.

And that’s still not all. Three pitchers whose earned run averages are even better than the others have somehow managed to lose a couple of games. St. Louis’ Shelby Miller is 5-2 with a 1.40 ERA. The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw is 4-2 with a 1.40 ERA. And The King, Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, is 5-2 with a 1.53 ERA.

All of this represents a snapshot of the moment because a week from now they could all be slumping. Hitters may have figured out their deliveries and tendencies. Not every one of these pitchers are young, but a majority are. Skipping Kuroda (38) and Iwakuma (32), who essentially had almost complete careers before coming to the United States, Peavey, at 31, is the only other pitcher in this entire group over 30.

Including those previously noted birthdays, we’ve got Harvey, Corbin and Moore all at 24, Miller the youngest at 22, Kershaw at 25, Lynn and Darvish at 26, Hernandez and Zimmerman at 27, Buchholz at 28, and Lester at 29.

They could be symbolic of a new crop of young, tremendous pitchers that baseball fans will be cheering on for years to come.

Already under the knife to repair a torn flexor tendon, Joel Hanrahan also underwent Tommy John Surgery this afternoon. (Image Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)

Joel Hanrahan underwent surgery this afternoon to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right arm and more damage was discovered than originally expected. The right-hander wound up undergoing Tommy John Surgery as well, according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Hanrahan will miss at least the next 12 to 15 months, putting a return at the earliest of mid-2014.

Hanrahan produced mediocre results in limited action for the Boston Red Sox this year. In just 7.1 IP he’d allow 8 runs (9.82 ERA) on 10 hits, walking 6. He’d earn the save in three of his first four outings on the year, but things would seemingly fall apart after. Needless to say, it wasn’t the results that Boston thought they were bringing in when they acquired him over the winter from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s unclear just how severe the concerns were, but there has been some recent speculation that the team knew of some health issues Hanrahan was dealing with before the trade was completed. Buster Olney recently suggested that these issues were part of the reason why the Pirates had such a hard time finding substantial offers for the now 31 year old.

He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Pittsburgh shipped Hanrahan (and Brock Holt) to Boston in late December for Stolmy Pimental, Ivan De Jesus, Mark Melancon, and Jerry Sands. Pimental has garnered much of the early attention of the group, going 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA through his first eight starts at Double-A. He’s looked like an improved pitcher with the Pirates organization, though it is his third season at the level which could be a factor. De Jesus is hitting .326/.381/.467 in 105 PA at Triple-A, while Sands has struggled to a .150/.282/.183 mark in 143 PA. Sands, who’d hit nearly 30 HR each of the past two years at the level, has yet to go deep. Melancon has quietly justified the deal completely for the Pirates. In 21 appearances out of the team’s bullpen he’s posted a 0.43 ERA, 0.714 WHIP, 0.4 BB/9, and 9.4 K/9 in 21.0 IP.

New York Yankees (23-13 overall, 5-1 last week)

Wells continues to exceed expectations (Image: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports)

The Yankees continue to fight through injuries on their way to the top spot in the AL East. They faced the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field earlier in the week and scored only six runs in the three-game set, while being shutout in one of them. The Yanks haven’t had much luck at Coors, but they scratched out two of three behind some great pitching from Hiroki Kuroda (tough-luck loser in the first game), David Phelps, and CC Sabathia/Adam Warren.

In the second series of the week, the Yankees swept the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte got back on track after a few poor starts each, and Kuroda pitched another gem and was rewarded with a win. Meanwhile, Vernon Wells, who had previously been lost at the plate for the better half of two weeks, collected six hits (two home runs) in 21 plate appearances (.286 batting average).

• Analysis:

Coming into the season the Yankees needed to rely on their veteran-laden pitching staff to carry them until their power came back. With Curtis Granderson currently on a rehab assignment in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the club will be glad to have him back. The question becomes, which one of Ichiro Suzuki or Wells takes a seat? The pitching staff has done their job for the most part, and the scrap heap free agent pick ups have exceeded expectations in order to help navigate through the early season injury disaster.

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Baltimore Orioles (23-15 overall, 4-2 last week)

The O’s were second the AL East last week, and they haven’t moved this week. Their consistency is indicative of how the culture has changed in Baltimore under manager Buck Showalter. They took both series’ this week facing both the the Royals and Minnesota Twins. Against the former, they were outscored 12-11, but won two of three. Meanwhile, Tommy Hunter pitched very well out of the ‘pen for the O’s this week by collecting two wins and striking out four hitters in 3.2 innings of work.

The bats came to life in the Twins series as the O’s plated 20 runs en route to another series win. Third baseman, Manny Machado, continues to rake in his first full season by collecting nine hits in 16 at-bats (.563 batting average), which included two RBI and three runs scored. The kid has a solid .331/.370/.521 slash line this season. The bats exploded in the first game against the Twins when the O’s spotted them six runs before they clawed their way back into the game and eventually won it in extras, 8-6.

• Analysis:

While hitters carried the team in the second series of the week, it was the pitchers who kept the team in their first series. Speaking of pitchers, FanSided’s own Randy Buchman of Birds Watcher opined that the O’s have stockpiled a ton of pitchers lately under GM Dan Duquette, which has helped after injuries to some of their starters. Again, the O’s are following the same formula they did last year, pitching keeps them in the game, and the batters get timely hits. They are a pesky bunch of youngsters, and as long as Showalter and Duquette are running the show, the club will always contend.

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Boston Red Sox (22-16 overall, 2-5 last week)

It was a rough week for the Red Sox as they lost a four-game series to the Twins and a three-game series to division rivals Toronto Blue Jays. Perhaps the worst part was both series’ were at Fenway. Twice last week their pitching staff gave up more than 10 runs, which is the exact opposite of how Boston won their games earlier in the year. Overall, in their last ten games they’ve gone 2-8 and have lost their slim lead in the AL East.

After an excellent April in which Ryan Dempster held opponents to a paltry .187/.279/.364 slash line against him in 122 plate appearances, he has regressed toward the mean. Last month he allowed four homers, but in May, he’s already given up five, including three in yesterday’s game against the Blue Jays.

• Analysis

The Red Sox were hit with an injury bug this month. First, Andrew Bailey goes down with a bicep injury that’ll likely keep him out until sometime this week, maybe a little longer. Meanwhile, closer Joel Hanrahan is out for the season after it was found he needs his flexor tendon repaired, which he might opt to have Tommy John surgery if there’s damage to the UCL as well. Finally, outfielder Shane Victorino (.308/.370/.393, 108 wRC+) crashed awkwardly into the right field fence at Fenway and injured his ribs; his status going forward is unknown. Good teams find a way around injuries, and last year the Red Sox buckled when player after player went down. However, this is a different team under manager John Farrell, one where pitching is paramount to their success, not hitting. Losing two of your best bullpen arms in successive weeks is very tough to overcome.

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Longoria continues his hot hitting this season (Image: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Tampa Bay Rays (19-18 overall, 5-2 last week)

Don’t look now, but the Rays just might be making their yearly push to the top. After a disappointing April in which they went 12-14, they’ve started May with a 7-4 record. Saying that, they rattled off five wins against below-average teams in the Blue Jays and the San Diego Padres this week. Only one starter earned a win (Matt Moore), as many of their wins came from runs scoring in the 7th inning or later. Against the Padres on Saturday they were down 6-5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Evan Longoria launched a two-run home run into the left center field seats at the Trop. All in all last week, they scored 44 runs and surrendered 34 in seven games, which is a shade below giving up five runs per contest.

• Analysis

This is how the Rays got to the playoffs in years past, timely hitting in the later innings coupled with great starting pitching. They have a tough road for the rest of the month as they face all AL East competition. They’ll play the Red Sox and Yankees at home, while the series against the Orioles and Blue Jays will be on the road. Longoria continues his dominance at the plate, hitting .333/.403/.610 with nine home runs and 26 RBI. However, outside James Loney‘s .376/.429/.560 slash line, the Rays offense ranks in the middle of the pack in the AL.

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Toronto Blue Jays (15-24 overall, 4-3 last week)

It’s been a rough year for the Jays, but they recorded a winning record against AL East opponents this week against the Rays and Red Sox. Ricky Romero made his second start of the season and he continues his descent by giving up three runs on four hits while recording only one out in his start against the Rays. Not much else to say other than this team has the pieces to make some noise, but they just haven’t put it all together yet, but this week was a positive step in the right direction.

• Analysis

While they still remain 9.5 games back in the division, their bats are beginning to make some headway, especially Jose Bautista‘s. He lifted his average nearly 20 points (from .228 to .246) after going on a tear this week (.318/.407/.727) including two home runs and three doubles. Likewise, Edwin Encarnacion had a good week, hitting .286/.407/.571 with two home runs and six RBI. On the hitting side, these two need to come to life a bit more if the Jays want to make a run at the playoffs. This lineup has the potential to put up some gaudy numbers, it’s the pitching that needs to limit the runs a tad more.

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Food for Thought

• With Grandersoncoming back for the Yankees, who takes seat in the outfield: Wells, Brett Gardner, or Ichiro?
• Are the O’s the same team as the Rays were circa 2008-2011?
• Bad pitching hurt the Red Sox last season, with the new injuries to the back end of the pitching staff, is the club doomed again?
• If a long-term injury to Longoria were to occur, would the Rays season be done for?
• Outside Bautista, who is one player that really needs to get it going for the Jays?

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs. Injury notes courtesy of Baseball Prospectus

Now that introductions are out of the way, let’s get into the meat of this series.

Boston Red Sox (20-11 overall, 2-4 last week)

Buchholz is 6-0 to begin the season and he’s making his case as an early Cy Young Award frontrunner (Image: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)

After rattling off five wins — including a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros — the AL East-leading Red Sox took two of three from their division rival Toronto Blue Jays before being swept by the Texas Rangers to end their road trip.

The offense scored 20 runs against the Jays, while getting two fantastic starts from Clay Buchholz and Ryan Dempster, both of whom went at least six innings. The pitching resurrection is the key component so far for the Red Sox out of the gate and under manager John Farrell, it looks to continue going forward.

However, on the flip side, the club only scored four runs, including being shutout once against the Rangers, while giving up 16. Felix Doubront looked atrocious in his latest start, giving up 12 hits and six earned runs. Our boys over at BoSox Injection opined that this southpaw’s seat might be getting warm. Meanwhile, John Lackey turned in a decent performance (five innings, six hits and three runs), but the offense could only muster one run.

• Analysis:

The Sox welcome the Minnesota Twins and the underwhelming Blue Jays to Fenway Park this week. Jacoby Ellsbury is turning it around recording a .308/.379/.308 slash line over the past week. Meanwhile, David Ortiz is still raking (.316/.381/.789). Dustin Pedroia had an awful week (.160/.222/.160), but with the upcoming homestand, he’ll likely get back on track. The bullpen lost Andrew Bailey for at least the next two weeks to a bicep injury, so Craig Breslow will take his place for the time being.

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Baltimore Orioles (19-13 overall, 4-3 last week)

The O’s came into last week down 3.5 games to the Red Sox, but now are only a game and a half behind. They played their last seven out on the west coast against the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and ultimately took three of four against the latter. They scored 30 runs over that seven-game span while giving up 29. Chris Tillman tossed a gem against the Angels going eight strong while giving up no runs on three hits. Jason Hammel picked up two wins this week to push his record to 5-1.

On the hitting side, the O’s dodged a major bullet after getting good news on Chris Davis. The lefty masher pulled up lame when trying to beat out a groundball against the Angels, but he was back in the starting lineup the next day. The same cannot be said about starter Miguel Gonzalez, who ripped the blister off his thumb and is questionable for this next start.

• Analysis:

Baltimore just seems like those pesky Tampa Bay Rays teams of the late 2000’s, they always seem to stick around. They are getting some great production from their starters, while boasting one of the better bullpens in the league. Their best hitters (Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Nate McLouth, and Davis) are tearing the cover off the ball. It’s really more of the same from a club that overachieved in 2012, and it’s a recipe that has followed Buck Showalter wherever he’s managed.

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New York Yankees (18-12 overall, 3-3 last week)

While the O’s gained a game on the Yankees, the Bombers gained a game on the Red Sox. The team continues to deal with injuries as Kevin Youkilis will be out for until at least mid-May, Francisco Cervelli was put on the 60-Day DL and will be out until late-June, while Eduardo Nunez and David Robertson are battling nagging ailments that have kept them day-today.

But alas, the team took two of three from the Astros and lost two of three to the Oakland A’s. In the former, the Yankees were embarrassed by the lowly Astros in the first game as Andy Pettitte was touched for seven runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings. Pettitte didn’t fare better in his next start as he labored through five innings giving up three runs, but it was the bullpen who couldn’t hold on late. Meanwhile, Phil Hughes continues to shine as he turned in a beautiful performance against the A’s going eight innings, giving up four hits and no runs while striking out nine A’s on the way to a win.

• Analysis:

The Yankees have struck gold in the early going with Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner providing much of the offense, power-wise. Ichiro Suzuki is beginning to turn it around at the dish after a very slow start. Reinforcements are on the way in the form of Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixiera, both of whom are due back some time later this month, along with the ever-fragile Youkilis, which will definitely make the lineup more dangerous.

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Tampa Bay Rays (14-16 overall, 2-3 last week)

Rays fans, he’s your entire offense. (Image: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

The Rays faced an old friend in James Shields when they opposed the Royals at Kauffman Stadium this past week. It didn’t end well for the Rays, who only plated two runs in a 8-2 loss. The team has struggled to hit throughout the year so far with Evan Longoria doing most of the heavy lifting (.301/.370/.522, 146 wRC+). However, it’s the players around him like Yunel Escobar (.174/.237/.279) and Desmond Jennings (.237/.305/.412) who are just not getting it done.

Saying that though, the offense wasn’t the problem last week as the Rays posted at least seven runs in three of their five games, winning two of those matchups. On the flip side, it was the pitching that uncharacteristically gave up a ton of runs. In those same five matchups, the Rays gave up at least eight runs in three of them. It was a weird flip-flop for the team this week.

• Analysis:

Many counted out the Rays, including myself, when they struggled early on last year. Remember, pitching is king and the Rays have a wealth of it. Manager Joe Maddon is known for rallying the troops at the 11th hour, and while being 5.5 games out of first in the AL East isn’t the end of the world the team needs to get back to its proven formula — great pitching with timely hitting — in order to keep up.

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Toronto Blue Jays (11-21 overall, 2-5 last week)

I’ll do my best not to pile on the Blue Jays as they get enough of it. However, it’s difficult not to be astounded by how poorly they’ve jelled, and there seems to be absolutely no answer for immediate short-term help. They lost starter Josh Johnson to a tricep injury and he’ll likely be out until mid-May, while Ricky Romero is questionable for his start on Wednesday against the Rays.

The team, as a whole this past week, looked lost. Before yesterday’s blowout of the Mariners (10-2), the Blue Jays scored a paltry three runs in four games (!!) with one being a shutout. To be fair, they had opportunities to win two of those games by just couldn’t muster any offense.

• Analysis:

One has to wonder at this point, how much of a leash does John Gibbons have? He was given a roster stocked with good hitters and a good starting staff, replete with the the reigning NL Cy Young winner in RA Dickey. Many pundits thought the Blue Jays would run away with the division, but as history has shown us, putting the most superstars on the field doesn’t guarantee wins. The Jays are currently almost 10 games out of the division in early May, they will need to go on a tear over the next five months to climb back in it, but at this rate they might become sellers at the deadline.

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It’s a little late in the day to publish this as today’s games are rolling, but we’ll have this up and going in the morning on Monday’s going forward. In the meantime, let us know how you feel about the AL East so far.

Questions:

• Can the Red Sox’ pitching hold up?
• Can the cardiac kids in Baltimore continue their pesky ways?
• Will the reinforcements in the Evil Empire put the Yankees over the top?
• Can the Rays find a good offense-pitching balance?
• Will the Blue Jays find “it” and turn their season around?

Let us know!

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs