This week at BP Boston I wrote about an often overlooked aspect of a team’s offense: baserunning. Simply put the Red Sox have been a bad baserunning team so far this season. At the behest of third base coach Brian Butterfield, the team has adopted an aggressive approach to the run game that has them trying to take the extra base as often as they can. That strategy is fine, but it needs to be executed intelligently and the Red Sox are not doing so. They have run into the most outs on the bases in baseball, which has cost them a great deal in run expectancy. I recognize this team is no longer the slugging juggernaut offense it has been in recent history, and going station-to-station and waiting for the three-run homer could be problematic, but running into outs as often as they are isn’t helping. Being a strong baserunning team can enhance an offense, but it is not going take an average group and make it outstanding. I think they need to turn down the aggression a little bit.
Head to BP Boston to read more about the Red Sox’s performance on the bases: The Cost of an Extra Base.
I was excited to find this work get a mention in Alex Speier’s 108 Stitches Newsletter. As I have noted in previous posts, Speier is an excellent Red Sox beat writer for The Boston Globe, so it is nice to have his recognition. Here is what he wrote about my article:
AT WHAT COST, THIS AGGRESSION? Chris Teeter of Baseball Prospectus examines the Red Sox’ aggressive baserunning in the context of their overall offense to try to determine whether the extra bases gained and outs lost have been a boon or impediment to the Red Sox.