These Last Two Series Have Defined The 2019 Red Sox
Let’s just call it like it is at this point. The 2019 Red Sox are incredibly mediocre. One minute, they look like last season and on the verge of making a run in the American League. Then the next minute, they look like they want nothing to do with the playoffs. The Red Sox took 3 out of 4 this past weekend from the New York Yankees. Then after last night, they were swept at home by the Tampa Bay Rays. With these two series completed, here are a few thoughts on how to define the 2019 Boston Red Sox.
They Still Can Hit
The fact that the Red Sox are in 3rd place is preposterous pic.twitter.com/dAi4f67Xza
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) August 2, 2019
Just take a look at those numbers for a second. The Red Sox lead the MLB in batting average and total RBI’s on the season. So they are getting guys on base and knocking them in, for the most part. Yet, they can’t win as many baseball games as we’d like them to, right now. Guys like Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts seem to hit every single night. So, the offense is not a problem by any means.
The Pitching STINKS
Based on the demographic above, yes; the Red Sox are striking out a lot of batters. But make no mistake about it, this entire pitching staff has STUNK! In their last six games, they have given up 42 runs. That’s SEVEN runs a game the pitching staff is giving up. SEVEN!! You can’t expect the offense to bail you out every single night. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello have had below average seasons. David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez have been fine. Andrew Cashner? Forget it, that was a bad deal. Don’t even get me started on that bullpen either. We all know how bad that has been this year. The point is that this pitching staff has been the downfall of the Red Sox. No consistent starting pitching, no consistent relief roles, no certified closer; what did you expect to happen?
In Conclusion
This Red Sox team is mediocre and going nowhere this season. They had a chance to improve themselves at the deadline. They didn’t do it. They had a chance to improve themselves this off-season. Besides a few re-signings, they didn’t do it. We should have seen this coming, but we were so caught up in the 2018 team that we didn’t care. We were riding high on everything working last season, and we didn’t realize the flaws the Red Sox would have this season. Unless something gets fixed and quickly, this is what we’re stuck with fans. Mediocrity. Can we start this season over?
-Alan Nahigian (@BigAl2793)