Over their last five games, the Red Sox have drawn just four walks while going 1-4.
It marks only the fourth time since 1994, and the fifth since 1981, that Boston has had four or fewer walks in a five-game span.
Through seven games in June, the Red Sox have drawn a league-low nine walks. They are the only team in baseball with fewer than 10 walks this month.
So what is driving the lack of free passes, and what does it say about the offense right now?
Interim Manager Chad Tracy joined WEEI’s Rich and Ken with Ted Johnson to try to explain.
“It’s a fine line, right? You don’t want hitters going up there looking to walk. Then you get very passive in the zone, and you are taking strikes that you should hit. But, that being said, walks do help create innings.” Oftentimes, with us, we’re literally in spots on any given night, we’re looking for one inning. One inning that can change the game because we play in such close games. So, that’s part of it,” he said.
“And if you are expanding outside the zone, it’s going to be hard to walk. It’s that simple. So that is something we’re constantly focused on. For us, our chase rate, how much we’re chasing outside the zone, when we have spurts we’re not doing that, we get some walks, and you guys know, those things show up, and you look up, and here comes a bases-loaded inning, and there’s another one, and you are giving yourself big opportunities to score.”
Of course, walks alone won’t solve an offense that has been held to two runs or fewer in four of its seven June games. The Red Sox have scored an American League-worst 22 runs this month, six fewer than the next closest clubs, the Rangers and Rays, at 28.
Eventually, Boston will need more than traffic on the bases to break through.
“When you create the bases-loaded opportunity, or the first and second, no-outs, at some point, you are going to need the big hit. That still has to come,” said Tracy. “It’s not a one-sided issue like, we walked more, that’s great! Like, no, you’ve still got to get the ball in the gap, and have somebody hit a three-run double. That’s all part of baseball.”
You can listen to the full interview with Tracy below for more on what’s behind the Red Sox’s struggles and how they can start turning the offense around.
