COMMENTARY

When Red Sox analytics guru Brian Bannister started his role as an assistant to pitching coach Carl Willis just about a month ago, Boston ranked 11th out of 15 American League teams with its 4.48 team ERA.

Today, the Red Sox rank…well, 10th, with a 4.33 ERA.

Suppose Bannister isn’t a miracle worker after all then.

Presumed ace David Price hasn’t won since the All-Star break, with a 4.10 ERA over that span. The lefty gave up four earned runs over seven innings before Red Sox newcomer Fernando Abad coughed up a three-run home run to Robinson Cano in the Mariners’ 5-4 comeback win in Seattle Tuesday night. Knuckleballer Steven Wright has watched his magic carpet ride come to an abrupt halt, with a 5.40 ERA since the break. All-Star Drew Pomeranz hasn’t looked like one since, possessing the worst ERA among the starters — 7.53.


Baseball America ranked the top 50 prospects traded before Monday’s Major League Baseball non-waiver trading deadline. Anderson Espinoza, who went to San Diego in the deal for Pomeranz, was slotted No. 1. Sweet.

But this pitching purgatory may not be as it seems. Over the past 30 days, the Red Sox pitching staff has produced a 3.81 ERA, seventh-best in the AL. That’s less than a half-run off the pace of the best team over that same period, the Toronto Blue Jays at 3.35. According to FanGraphs, the 3.7 WAR is the second-best over the last 30 days to the Houston Astros (4.4), as is Boston’s 3.55 FIP.

The 4.07 ERA turned in by Red Sox starters is also seventh-best in the AL along with the best WAR (3.8), while the Boston bullpen has a 3.19 ERA, fifth-best in the league.

Praise Brian Bannister?

Maybe it’s too soon to make specific note of Bannister’s presence with the team, but some individual cases already suggest his positive impact. At the very least, he makes you wonder just what Willis and manager John Farrell have done with their supposed pitching expertise.

Take Edurado Rodrioguez, who, second to Rick Porcello, has become the team’s most dependable starter over the last month. After starting the season 1-3 with an 8.59 ERA, the lefty has rebounded from his late-June demotion to Triple-A. Over 24 innings, he has a 2.63 ERA with 21 strikeouts and eight walks. He’s holding opponents to a .247 batting average, significantly down from the .315 over his first six starts. Maybe that’s a product of his knee being fully-healed. Maybe it’s his effort in not tipping his pitches. Or maybe Bannister’s observations helped fix whatever was mechanically thwarting Rodriguez.


We already know that’s the case with Clay Buchholz, of all people. Buchholz got the win in Sunday’s dramatic win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with three innings of scoreless work, proving some semblance of work during this lost season. After the game, Buchholz admitted that he had done some work with his release point after talking with Bannister, who noticed on film that his delivery had changed since a healthy Buchholz was mowing down the opposition in 2013.

“It had just become second nature at some point trying to prevent myself from hurting whenever I was throwing,” Buchholz said. “My release point has dropped a lot since 2013, and 2013 was when I was at my best.”

David Price had Dustin Pedroia. Clay Buchholz has Brian Bannister.

“Early, he was trying to manufacture sink, and sometimes that turns into horizontal run and it’s not as valuable. So for him, it’s just trying to get some true tilt,” Bannister said. “His secondary pitches suffered a little bit because of that. He’s now getting that true depth and getting the swing-and-miss on his secondary. That’s the Clay we’re used to seeing when he’s pitching well.”

It’s also a Clay that seemed long gone.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski hired Bannister as the team’s director of pitching analysis and development last year, and his role as the foundation of analyzing the club’s pitchers expanded last month to pre-game uniformed personnel. Under his tutelage and study of analytics, veteran Rich Hill, who brought a career 4.72 ERA to Boston last season, focused more on his curveball, and turned in a 1.55 ERA over four starts for the Red Sox last September. He was one of the most-sought after pitchers at the trading deadline this year after going 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA for the Oakland Athletics, who dealt him and Josh Reddick to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a trio of respected prospects.


It’s too early to claim he did the same with Buchholz, but with Wright struggling in the rotation, should we be surprised to see him re-claim his starting spot down the stretch?

And if he does, then why is Carl Willis still here?

“We thought it would be the best way to make it work in cohesion with Carl,” Dombrowski said upon the announcement that Bannister would be hands-on with the coaching staff. “It’s not that we’re unhappy. But we’re looking for any way to make ourselves better.”

Maybe they did, but it should only underline the unhappiness they should have with Willis and Farrell.

Now, what can he do for Pomeranz?

Red Sox in the Hall of Fame