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Fastball speed: Rookie Daniel Bard ranked second among all pitchers (with a minimum of 500 fastballs thrown) with an average heater of 97.19 mph. Only Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton threw more fastballs at a higher average speed. When Bard got ahead in the count, he was almost impossible to hit, holding opposing batters to a .098 average in pitcher's counts.

Youk's strengths and great weakness: Kevin Youkilis had a terrific season hitting against fastballs and curveballs, ranking 14th in the league with a .355 batting average against fastballs and third by hitting .371 against curveballs. However, he struggled against sliders, ranking fifth-to-last in the league with a .124 average against that pitch.

First impressions: Youkilis, known for his patience at the plate, had great success when swinging at the first pitch, ranking fourth among all hitters with a .500 first-pitch average. He also led the American League in pitches seen per plate appearance at 4.43.

Pedroia hard to fan: While he did not enjoy quite the same success he did last season, Dustin Pedroia managed to lower his strikeout rate from a year ago. He finished second in the AL with a swing-and-miss percentage of 7.44, just behind Blue Jays shortstop Marco Scutaro.

Buchholz on when he's off: The emergence of Clay Buchholz down the stretch provided a big boost to the Red Sox's rotation. Buchholz's success was largely because of his offspeed offerings. Buchholz's 13.51-mph average difference between his changeup and his fastball ranked second among MLB starters, behind only Oakland's Dallas Braden. Opposing hitters went just 4-for-32 against Buchholz's curveball, which had an average vertical drop of 9.06 inches, good for third best in the AL.

Papelbon great with RISP: Jonathan Papelbon was not quite as stingy as he has been in years past in terms of keeping runners off the basepaths, but you wouldn't know it from looking at his ERA. His WHIP of 1.15 was the highest in his four years as a closer, but his ERA of 1.88 was right in line with his career numbers. A large part of why Papelbon's ERA remained so low was his success with runners in scoring position. Opponents hit just .123 (10 for 81) with runners in scoring position against Papelbon, fourth best among all MLB pitchers. None of the three pitchers ahead of Papelbon faced as many batters with RISP.

Lester's fastball his strength: Jon Lester took a big step forward this season for the Red Sox, raising his strikeout rate from 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings to a whopping 10.0. In doing so, he became the first Red Sox pitcher who qualified for the ERA title since Pedro Martinez in 2002 with a strikeout rate that high. A large part of Lester's success was because of his fastball, as he recorded 133 strikeouts with the pitch, tied for second best in baseball behind Justin Verlander. Lester also induced 391 swinging strikes, seventh best in MLB.