Are the Boston Red Sox in Trouble?
As of late, things have not been going according to plan for the Boston Red Sox. Signs of a season that will eventually fall short of expectations are obvious and the reality of that occurring seems imminent.
It begins with the pitching staff.
For starters, the starting staff as a whole is shaky. That does not include Chris Sale, who is a lock at the top of the rotation; his 85 strikeouts are far-and-away leading the league and out of his eight starts, he has gone 7+ innings in seven of them. That also does not include Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez; despite some early-season struggles, Porcello is beginning to find his groove and E-Rod has pitched to a 2.80 ERA.
It is the number four and five starters where the success rate drops off of a cliff.
The carousel of Steven Wright, Drew Pomeranz, and Kyle Kendrick has flopped thus far. Before being lost for the season due to cartilage-restoration surgery in his left knee, Wright struggled immensely, pitching to an 8.25 ERA in five starts. Pomeranz has flat out sucked thus far with his 5.29 ERA. Kendrick has only had two starts, however he has given up 12 earned runs over his 8.1 innings of work (12.96 ERA).
With the pitching staff the way it is, the Red Sox have one almost-guaranteed win (Sale), two probable-wins (Porcello and E-Rod), and then two almost-definite losses (whoever John Farrell throws out there to pitch every fourth and fifth day).
The Red Sox, or any team for that matter, can not win this way. Luckily, the Sox are planning on getting David Price back at the end of this month. Price will slot in as the number two starter and should be second-best after Sale. Price is looking for a bounce-back year after last season’s tough first go of it with his new team.
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The other problems facing the Red Sox come with a bat in their hands.
The Red Sox have yet to solve their immense power outage at the plate. They rank 29th in the MLB with 31 home runs. Mookie Betts leads the team in homers with seven. That is nothing compared to what the rest of the league is doing. The New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays are all in the top-15 of the MLB for home runs. To compete with these teams, the Sox have to start mashing.
On the bright side, power should not be a full-season issue for this team. With Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland, and even Jackie Bradley Jr., the power will eventually come around, it’s just a matter of when. Also, the Red Sox rank third in the MLB with a team batting average of .270. At some point, the power will activate and the runs will begin to come through. The Sox rank 15th in the league with 165 runs so this offensive problem should not be a problem for much longer.
The AL East as a whole will also be very tough for the Red Sox. The Yankees seem to be for real, the Orioles have shown that they are not to be taken lightly (it is becoming a rivalry), the Rays are showing they will be a thorn in the side of the Red Sox all year, and the Blue Jays are on the rise, as they have gone 7-3 in their past 10 games.
Next: The Red Sox could fix their power outage with this third basemen.
It is not time for the Red Sox to hit the panic button. There is too much potential with the roster they have. Once Price comes back and once the offense finds its stride, this team should soar to the top of the AL East.
It’s just a matter of when.