Varitek's Absence Puts Strain on Pitchers

August 21, 2006 | The New York Times | By Jack Curry

 

BOSTON, Aug. 20 — Jason Varitek donned his Red Sox uniform Sunday, but it was only a tease for a team that misses him. Varitek pulled it on because the Red Sox took a team photograph at Fenway Park. Afterward, Varitek went back to the trainer’s room.

Because Varitek is recuperating from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, he cannot be the valuable catcher the Red Sox desperately need. Because he is not expected to return until sometime around Sept. 1, he does not even look at each game’s starting lineup.

As the Red Sox wait for Varitek to come back, their pitching staff is floundering without his guidance. The Red Sox allowed 39 runs in losing the first three games of this series to the Yankees, a pummeling that has bruised Boston — the team and the city.

“We’re an imperfect team, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win,” General Manager Theo Epstein said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t get better and play much better baseball and get hot.”

Varitek’s absence has been detrimental to the entire pitching staff, but especially to the younger arms the Red Sox have injected into their pursuit of the postseason. Before Varitek was placed on the disabled list, the Red Sox were 63-41 and their pitchers had a combined earned run average of 4.65. That was one of the highest E.R.A.’s in the American League. Still, since then, the Red Sox were 6-12 with a 6.30 E.R.A. going into Sunday night’s game.

When one A.L. talent evaluator who has scouted the Yankees and the Red Sox extensively this season was asked why Boston had fizzled recently, he said: “Varitek, Varitek, Varitek. No Varitek. That’s huge for them.”

Varitek is so crucial to the Red Sox that he basically runs their scouting meetings before each series. Most teams have a coach disseminate the scouting information and review it with the pitchers and catchers, but Varitek embraces that role for Boston.

Manager Terry Francona has called Varitek indispensable, so he repeated that description when it was used in a question about his injured catcher.

“Indispensable is a really good word,” Francona said. “I’ve said in the last two and a half years that he’s indispensable, and we like that feeling. That’s why he’s got the ‘C’ on his jersey. When you lose him, you have to change your adjectives, and it’s not easy to do that. He really is that important to our team.”

Larry Lucchino, the team’s chief executive, called Varitek “the rock on which the church is built,” while Epstein called him “an extra coach out there on the field.” But the Red Sox quickly added that they could not blame Varitek’s injury for their slump.

“He’s a huge part of this team, but you can’t use that as a crutch if you want to win,” Epstein said.

In closer Jonathan Papelbon, relievers Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen and starter Jon Lester, the Red Sox have four rookies on their 12-man staff. Any team counting on four rookie pitchers is taking a risk, but that risk increases if the team is trying to contend, as the Red Sox are.

When Varitek signaled for a pitch, Francona said, young players like Hansen and Delcarmen “threw the pitch with commitment.” With Javy López, who is a below-average defensive catcher, Francona acknowledged that “there’s some unfamiliarity there, so there might not be the same amount of confidence.” He added, “We still have to find a way around it.”

Epstein said that once the Red Sox determined that they would rely on younger players this season, they expected some “ups and downs.” But he noted that the Red Sox’ goal was to insulate the roster with players who would enable them to cover their inconsistencies. Boston has not done that.

Epstein said the possibility of the Red Sox acquiring an impact pitcher was “very, very unlikely.” Although Epstein said he spoke to the Seattle Mariners about Jamie Moyer, who was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, he said the Red Sox were focused on strengthening their bullpen.

The Red Sox finally added a left-handed reliever when they recalled Javier López from Class AAA Pawtucket on Sunday. López, who has been in the major leagues with the Red Sox, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, had a 6.35 E.R.A. in nine games at Pawtucket.

Francona said Varitek, who will join the Red Sox in Seattle next weekend to continue his rehabilitation, might need to test his knee in the minor leagues before being activated. In addition to Varitek, the Red Sox are also hoping to get pitcher Tim Wakefield and right fielder Trot Nixon back. Both are on the disabled list, too.

“If we don’t play better now,” Epstein said, “we run the risk of that being irrelevant.”