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A.J. Pierzynski's struggles a symbol of woe
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Singling out one player for blame in this season to nowhere is patently unfair, but we’re going to do so anyway.
This is all A.J. Pierzynski’s fault. Every last stinking bit of it.
That’s an overstatement, of course, but Pierzynski symbolizes much of what’s wrong with the defending World Series champs — with three examples from last night’s disheartening 1-0 loss to the Rays shining a spotlight.
Before we get to them, though, let’s just acknowledge that on-field failures are an acceptable part of the game. But a year after the Red Sox came to redefine personal accountability en route to a title, Pierzynski compounded his mistakes by refusing to acknowledge them.
That’s not how the Red Sox carried themselves last year, and it’s certainly not how they won, but it has quickly become part of the new normal in 2014 — and Pierzynski is the poster boy.
Consider the ninth inning last night. Pierzynski led off with a single after narrowly missing a home run. Manager John Farrell opened himself up to a gigantic second guess by not pinch running for his plodding catcher.
Shane Victorino, however, delivered a very good sacrifice bunt toward third, where charging Gold Glover Evan Longoria fielded it just shy of a third hop and rifled a throw to second.
He had all day, because Pierzynski wasn’t near the picture. The catcher inexplicably decelerated as he approached the bag, and then didn’t even slide. Had the throw gotten away, Pierzynski would’ve been tagged out somewhere in short left field.
“I don’t know why he didn’t slide,” Farrell said.
Pierzynski insisted he got a good jump and secondary lead. Replays suggested otherwise. He also appallingly put some of the blame on Victorino, who ended up tweaking his right hamstring busting it up the line.
“Vic made a good bunt,” Pierzynski said, “but it wasn’t perfect.”
Pierzynski, who often exudes an air of indifference that his defenders insist misrepresents his actual effort level, didn’t look like a guy trying particularly hard.
“I was just going to stop when I hit the base,” Pierzynski said. “If I slide or not, I’m out either way. People can (say) whatever, but at the end of the day, I’m out if I slide or not.”
There was more. With Desmond Jennings on first in the bottom of the ninth as the winning run and everyone in the ballpark expecting him to run, the Red Sox perfectly timed a pitchout with Burke Badenhop on the mound, but Pierzynski’s high throw didn’t have enough steam. Jennings scored one batter later to win the game.
“We did everything right,” Pierzynski said. “He made a good pitchout. I made a good throw, and he was safe. There’s nothing you can do in that situation. Sometimes guys can just fly.”
Badenhop blamed his high pitchout for leaving Pierzynski in a less-than-optimal throwing position. Pierzynski agreed that, “it was a little high,” but at least added, “It’s not Burke’s fault at all.”
The Red Sox have issues all over the field, and their starting catcher is one of them. Pierzynski arrived with a reputation as one of the most disliked players in baseball, and in retrospect, it probably should’ve been a red flag that you didn’t hear much of the cliche about how you only hate him until he’s on your team, a la Rodney Harrison. Teammates seem to have sworn at Pierzynski as much as they’ve sworn by him over the years.
The pitching staff clearly has its issues with him, whether it’s the way he jerkily frames the ball, his propensity for missing pitches that are practically in the strike zone, or his occasional habit of dropping the transfer on stolen base attempts.
Farrell has already acknowledged Jon Lester’s strong rapport with backup David Ross, and veteran right-hander Jake Peavy — a former teammate of Pierzynski’s in Chicago — has been effusive in his praise of Ross as well. The tension between catcher and staff is obvious.
And so we’re left with a player who doesn’t feel like a good fit on the field or in the clubhouse, unless the year is 2001, and the clubhouse includes Carl Everett, Mike Lansing and Jose Offerman.
General manager Ben Cherington has faced his share of challenges this season, but figuring out how much longer to stick with Pierzynski might be the biggest of all.
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