HOUSTON — Red Sox pitching coach Carl Willis has been through this a time or two.
He understands underperforming pitching staffs. He’s had to turn things around in his career in Cleveland and Seattle and now he has to turn it around in Boston. Juan Nieves, the previous pitching coach, presided over a 2013 World Series championship staff. A year later he was fired and Willis was hired.
So before Red Sox manager John Farrell gets fired, before anything else happens in terms of changing personnel, if the pitching doesn’t improve it’s going to fall on Willis’s shoulders.
There was more spotty pitching Sunday night as Henry Owens allowed 5 hits, 3 runs, and 4 walks in just 3? innings. Owens was taking the injured Joe Kelly’s spot in the rotation and it wasn’t what the Red Sox had hoped for.
Still, Willis fully expects that this staff will turn things around.
He expects David Price to pitch like David Price. He expects the other starters will fulfill their potential and he expects that before long there won’t be the angst about Red Sox pitching that there is right now.
Maybe it’s all wishful thinking for a staff that started Sunday night’s game 26th overall in pitching (4.83 ERA) and seventh overall in walks (68 in 151 innings). They are second overall in strikeouts with 171. Starters ranked 28th with a 5.38 ERA.
“I think the guys have a good attitude,’’ Willis said. “You can go back and look at our games where we’ve struggled and we made a couple of mistakes, if we had a couple of pitches back, a couple of pitches away, it’s a completely different game. Sometimes it’s a mistake that leads to the situation, but in our case usually a mistake within the at-bat.’’
Such was the case with Clay Buchholz on Saturday. Colby Rasmus hit a grand slam.
“Buck wasn’t overly dominant [Saturday], but he was in control of the game,’’ Willis said. “One mistake and it’s four runs. While it’s not what we’re looking for, it’s easier to correct a couple of mistakes then to say we have a huge pitching problem.’’
In the Buchholz case, Christian Vazquez called the pitch. Rasmus is a low fastball hitter — as he showed again Sunday night against Craig Kimbrel. On Saturday, Vazquez called for a low inside fastball after Buchholz had thrown two offspeed pitches that Rasmus swung and missed on.
Willis said “the catcher calls the game, but the pitcher has control of it.’’ Buchholz said after the game he allowed Vazquez to call the pitch.
“The way it works is we meet before the game with the catcher and pitcher and we go over the game plan,’’ Willis explained. “We go over each hitter and their tendencies. As the game progresses, if we see a different approach, we change. The catcher calls the pitches, but the pitcher has control of it.
“When I was in Cleveland we had a young Victor Martinez and he’d look over for help, but we haven’t had that situation here.’’
Did Vazquez make the right call?
“I think he had a couple of options and Rasmus hadn’t looked good on the offspeed,’’ Willis said. “He is a low fastball hitter. He was 3 for 26 against Clay. Clay had front-doored a two-seamer to freeze him earlier in the game. He threw the fastball and he didn’t get the pitch inside enough and it leaked over the plate. The way Rasmus was swinging at the curveball, he could have stayed soft.’’
In that situation it would seem Buchholz, a veteran pitcher, would take charge over the 25-year-old catcher. It is those types of decisions that have cost the Red Sox this season.
Willis doesn’t like to put the onus completely on Price to jump-start the team. It’s only reasonable that if Price had won a couple of his starts, the Red Sox might be in a different position.
“You know what, I think David winning certainly helps, but it’s not fair to put that kind of pressure on David. He’s pitching every five days like our other starters. Pitching can be contagious like hitting, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to lay that on David.’’
How much of it is early-season issues where starters are still ramping up from spring training?
“You see that a lot,’’ Willis said. “For power arm starters, the month of April can be difficult to get to that maximum velocity and that affects their other pitches as well. I don’t think it’s abnormal. I don’t think anyone doesn’t understand we need to perform better. I don’t think anyone in that clubhouse feels we’re that far away. We’re not happy with the walks, that’s an issue. If we eliminate walks and a couple of mistakes, we’re pitching much better.’’
Willis believes the talent is there.
“I think at the end of the day, the end of season, around the corner, I think it’s going to be a very good staff. With David being an ace it allows the other guys to be themselves and not be something they’re not,’’ Willis said.
Willis understands the gig. He understands he’s in Red Sox Nation where everything is scrutinized. He’s not in Cleveland or Seattle, where the fan bases aren’t quite as rabid.
“I’ve been here almost a full calendar year and it’s a great place to work because of fans. You want those expectations from the fans. It’s great motivation. We are all working as hard as we can to get the ship righted,’’ Willis promised.
Yes, Willis was hired to right the ship May 9, 2015, when Sox starters were struggling. He coached three Cy Young winners — CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, and Felix Hernandez.
Willis finds himself in the same spot Nieves was in less than a year ago, even with the cachet of a World Series championship. Willis doesn’t have that cachet. The Sox have finished in last place two straight years, and in one of them, Willis was pitching coach.
So the change he expects probably needs to happen soon. He thinks it will.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.
