Hitting or Pitching?

[Maxbialystock]

Age-old question with a simple answer: you really need both.

 

But, if you can only have one, shouldn't it be pitching? Some say that's 75% of the game.

 

The Boston Red Sox however have done remarkably well--not just this year, but in other years--when their hitting has been way better than their pitching. Right now the Sox ERA is 12th best in the AL, but they still have 33 wins, 2d most in the AL. Of course, the hitting could come back to earth. Or maybe the pitching will actually become respectable.

[Kimmi]

I always prefer a team with strong pitching and weak/mediocre hitting to one with strong hitting and weak/mediocre pitching.

 

That said, a rotation of Wright, Price, Porcello, ERod, and whoever should be good enough to keep this team in most of the games with the way this offense can hit. And they have, for the most part.

 

As Dojji said in another thread, it's really only been one bad turn in through the rotation.

[Maxbialystock]

I always prefer a team with strong pitching and weak/mediocre hitting to one with strong hitting and weak/mediocre pitching.

 

That said, a rotation of Wright, Price, Porcello, ERod, and whoever should be good enough to keep this team in most of the games with the way this offense can hit. And they have, for the most part.

 

As Dojji said in another thread, it's really only been one bad turn in through the rotation.

 

That 12th best ERA is based on 57 games, which is a heckuva lot more than going thru the rotation one time.

[bowman]

It sure is. Don't kid yourself, this rotation won't cut it. If our eye is on the prize this year, it's going to cost us at least one or two impact prospects to bring in a difference maker. No John Lesters under every tree ???/

[a700hitter]

That 12th best ERA is based on 57 games, which is a heckuva lot more than going thru the rotation one time.

The pitching is not and has not been good, and it has not been just one bad turn through the rotation. I agree.

[mvp 78]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a Sox team where the pitching was great and the offense sucked.

[Slasher9]

Pitching = parades.

Pitching errytime.

[Maxbialystock]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a Sox team where the pitching was great and the offense sucked.

 

Nor have I.

[Maxbialystock]

Pitching = parades.

Pitching errytime.

 

I think you mean pitching everytime. I said something like that in the OP when I said some believe pitching is 75% of the game. However, the Sox are rarely, if ever, led by really good pitching. The exception might be their really superb pitching in the 2013 playoffs when their ERA was 2.00. Their usual winning formula is topnotch hitting and good but not great pitching.

[SoxnCycles]

Considering there are no readily available "aces" out there to be had, is another #2-#3 starter going to help this team, if Wright is the only starter you can rely on?

[southpaw777]

If were specifically talking about boston then the answer is easy...its pitching...if your the mets its hitting.

It all depends on the team and their needs really.

We need both or it will be a long winter again...

[Hitch]

That 12th best ERA is based on 57 games, which is a heckuva lot more than going thru the rotation one time.

 

Exactly this. It's not one bad trip through the rotation. Our pitching has has been dodgy since the season started.

[illinoisredsox]

Considering there are no readily available "aces" out there to be had, is another #2-#3 starter going to help this team, if Wright is the only starter you can rely on?

 

Price seems to be coming around. His last 5 starts he's pitched 34 1/3, given up 13 runs (12 earned) for an ERA of 3.14 and a WHIP of 1.08. Sox have gone 4-1 in those games (he has not been the pitcher of record in all of them). His ERA has dropped almost 2 points over those 5 starts. I'd say he's gotten back to being somebody you can rely on. He's have a tough match-up Wednesday against Baumgardner.

[Bellhorn04]

Considering there are no readily available "aces" out there to be had, is another #2-#3 starter going to help this team, if Wright is the only starter you can rely on?

 

My answer to this would be based on pure math. Acquiring a good #2 now should add 2-3 wins to our total for the year. The rest depends on a whole lot of variables.

[devildavid]

I think it's about 50/50 between offense and defense over the course of the season. (I don't refer to it as hitting and pitching, but I assume offense and defense means the same thing). In the playoffs, like in other sports, sometimes defense is more important.