Pitching coach Juan Nieves was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
The Red Sox are 29th in team ERA (4.86) and starters ERA (5.54) and 25th in walks and hits per inning pitched, or WHIP, at 1.392.
The team also announced right-handed reliever Edward Mujica has been designated for assignment. Signed to a two-year, $9.5 million contract in 2013, Mujica has a 4.61 ERA in 11 games this season after posting a 3.90 ERA in 60 innings in 2014, failing to hold onto the setup role the Red Sox had envisioned for the veteran.
Nieves was open in spring training about the Red Sox not having a true ace of the pitching staff without Jon Lester, who was traded in 2014. He said Feb. 20 his hope was certain pitchers would pitch like No. 1 starters on certain days. To date, that has not happened.
With a challenging road trip ahead after going 3-7 on the recent homestand, the Red Sox are likely trying to find a spark.
Nieves, a former big-league pitcher, joined the Red Sox prior to the 2013 season in which Boston won the World Series.
Lack of clutch hits hurts Red Sox
BOSTON — Dustin Pedroia was defiant.
After Red Sox’s game Wednesday night, a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in which Boston went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position for a second consecutive night, Pedroia was asked if he is concerned about the team’s failures in the clutch.
“Yeah, it’s 28 games or 29 games. Over 162, that (stuff) will change,” the second baseman said. “You guys look at one-game seasons. We look at 162. Guys that are (garbage) right now with runners in scoring position, that (stuff) will change. Fact.”
It is also a fact, however, that an inability to produce with runners in scoring position was a season-long epidemic for the Red Sox last year and precisely why general manager Ben Cherington prioritized the signings of left fielder Hanley Ramirez and third baseman Pablo Sandoval over finding a No. 1 starter to lead the pitching staff.
The Red Sox have been without Ramirez for the past three games after he sprained his left shoulder while crashing into a wall in foul territory. However, their offense should be deep enough to withstand that loss, at least for a few games.
Instead, they left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and stranded two more runners in the ninth Wednesday night. They are 4-for-45 with runners in scoring position over the past six games, with Pedroia (1-for-11) standing as one of the biggest offenders throughout the season.
Pedroia isn’t alone, though. Designated hitter David Ortiz has one homer in 14 games at Fenway Park, none on a just-completed homestand in which the Red Sox went 3-6 and fell into last place in the AL East. First baseman Mike Napoli, meanwhile, is batting .167 with only two home runs.
“I mean, everyone wants to do good here,” Napoli said. “We’re not going out there trying to not get it done. Maybe we just need to back off a little bit and stop trying so hard. I don’t know. It’s right there in front of us. We’re seeing it. We’re living it. We’ve had people in here who have been successful in those situations. It’s 30 games in, but we need to start getting the guy in.”