After every series, we'll take stock of how each individual and group performance affects their overall value.
Lineup
Jacoby Ellsbury: After a huge game 1 (4-for-5, 2 RBI), Ellsbury went 2-for-9 the rest of the series. It was still better than his performances in the recent past.
Scott Podsednik: I don't know what happened to him. He was a sure thing for every series and then it was a sudden drop in production.
Dustin Pedroia: The most productive batter in the lineup and the only one keeping it consistent. Plus, his wife had a baby. I guess that's a plus.
James Loney: Not that good, not that bad. It could be worse. At least he has a great glove and he has bailed out his share of bad throws.
Cody Ross: The strikeouts are a killer for him. Sure, one of those was very questionable, but the other 5 in the series were not.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia: One very good game and one of his usual. That 3-for-3 night on Wednesday with the 9th inning homer was the best he have seen Salty in a long time.
Pedro Ciriaco: For someone who is supposed to be a Yankee killer, he didn't do much killing. 2-for-3 in game 1 was great, then it went downhill. Don't forget about the error on the grounder.
Mike Aviles: Mike got a hit in each game and did very little to impress at the plate. He did get some negative attention, contributing an error in the field.
Daniel Nava: Nava had a pair of hits in his 2 starts in the series, a single and a double that lead to a run. Nothing spectacular.
Jose Iglesias: The usual crap at the plate and an unusual error in game 2. Jose is not making a good case for himself as short stop of the future.
The Bench: We saw very little from Lavarnway and he contributed nothing. Other than Kalish's 1 hit, we didn't see anything from the bench and recent September call-ups.
Starting Pitching
Believe it or not, starting pitching looked better in this series that of recent memory. Lester's 7 walks is baffling, especially since the Red Sox won. Cook got his 10th loss of the season, but still looked better than his last outing. Doubront did everything he could to give the Sox a chance to win the series, but was let down by the offense.
Bullpen
Aside from Aceves' outing on Wednesday, the bullpen pitched very well. If you take Aceves' outing out of the stat line, the 'pen only gave up 3 hits in the series. Big improvement.
Managing
I am not sure if Bobby knows how to work this lineup so he can get some production. He obviously has much less to work with since the beginning of the season, and it has been clear the season is lost. The Aceves situation was another message that he has no respect from anyone in the clubhouse. I'm ready for the change.
Overall
They didn't get swept!
