Red Sox Need to Repair the Mound for 2016

October 13, 2015

BOSTON - APRIL 14: Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz reacts after walking the Rays' Sam Fuld, not pictured, on a close pitch to lead off the sixth inning. The Boston Red Sox hosted the Tampa Bay Rays in a regular season MLB game at Fenway Park. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

By Maria Santora 10/13/15
It seems to be unanimous. The Sox need an ace if they want to be remotely competitive next season.

Back in February manager John Farrell said the Sox did not have any number one pitchers.

For that very reason, the Sox’s bullpen was not nearly as effective as it needed to be. The team’s ERA at the end of the season, a 4.31, was in the bottom six for worst team ERA’s in the MLB. They also gave up 1,486 hits, which is in the bottom five for most hits given up in the MLB.

Interim manager Torey Lovullo added, “It’s always a nice luxury to have an ace but I firmly believe that if you get a few number twos, you can be just as good.”

This years stats disprove that theory.

Fans agree that the performance on the mound was Boston’s Achilles heel.

Lew Miller, a Red Sox fan, said, “They needed the Ace that they didn’t get. They overused the bullpen and made the bullpen less effective.”

Clay Buchholz, a pitcher for the Sox, is a prime example of players being overused. In 16 starts (18 total games played) he pitched 113 innings. This includes his start against Houston in July in which he pitched a full game.

“I prepare to pitch nine innings every time I go out,” Buchholz said. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but as far as stamina and how my body feels, I’m probably in the best shape of my life.”

Continuously pitching 7-9 innings each start eventually took a toll on his body. And led to his departure from the mound on July 10 with elbow stiffness. Buchholz was unable to return for the remainder of the season.

With injuries and no true ace, fans are hoping they grab some pitchers in the offseason.

Fan Jared Nash said, “I would say they need to go out and find a number one pitcher. If we’re going to compete every year, we saw Toronto go out and get their ace and other people in the AL went out and got their aces, like Texas. But we didn’t do anything. We’re still relying on our old pitchers and if we’re going to compete we got to have someone in that number one rotation.”

Fans hope that the new staff in the Sox’s front office will make the changes needed to compete next season.