Is Boston Red Sox' Jake Bennett Beginning to Hit 'Rookie Wall'?
The rookie left-hander has struggled over the last month. Is he hitting a wall?
Video Transcript
What's up everyone?
Zach Coe here for Roundtable.
After the Red Sox fell to the Pirates eight to four in Friday's series opener from PNC Park, as rookie left-hander Jake Bennett got roughed up by a Pirates offense that ranked in the bottom 10 in baseball in weighted runs created plus in the month of August, allowing four runs on five hits, lasting only four innings, marking his fifth consecutive rough start.
And the 25-year-old rookie is beginning to show signs of hitting a rookie wall as he works his way through his first big league season.
Bennett, of course, came back up to the Red Sox rotation when Bryan Bello was optioned to Triple-A, and through his first seven starts, he looked to be not only among the best rookie pitchers in baseball, but among the best pitchers in baseball, period.
Bennett allowed only nine earned runs on forty-seven hits and forty-three and a third innings, featuring pinpoint control, striking out 34 while walking only five.
In that time, he ranked in the top 10 among all qualified starters in ERA, walks per nine, and F4.
However, in those five starts since then, he has struggled pretty mightily.
He's allowed 17 earned runs across 27 innings, good for a 567 ERA, and his control has started to falter a little bit as he's issued eight walks in 27 innings.
Of course, the heavy workload of both Bennett and Peyton Tully was a concern from Craig Breslow ahead of the August 3rd trade deadline.
Both of those guys have already surpassed their career highs in innings pitched.
However, as we know, the deadline came and went, and the Red Sox didn't add any reinforcements to that rotation, so it's likely gonna be on Tully and Bennett to find a way to grind through this full hundred and sixty-two game season.
And for Bennett, it's already appearing like he's hitting a bit of a wall.
So there's not much depth behind them in Triple-A Worcester, so we'll see how the Red Sox manage things
