The Red Sox have slid out of our Power Rankings
We can talk about the future. We can talk about injuries. We can talk about adversity. We can talk about what might have been.
But the facts are the facts. For a third season in a row the Red Sox stumbled in the make-or-break month of August, this time heading into September having gone just 13-15 thanks to Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Astros.
In 2021, the Red Sox were fortunate to still sit 16 games over .500 and one game up over Oakland for the final Wild Card spot thanks to the cushion garnered heading into August. But that 12-16 month did them no favors, wiping out the comfort of a 5 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card race.
Last season, the Red Sox went 12-16 again in August, burying any hopes they had of competing for postseason viability.
This time around? They were warned. Heading into August the Sox were one game in the loss column in back of Toronto, two behind Houston and a pair of games up on Seattle. The Mariners now sit 7 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox.
With the Sox' postseason hopes now seemingly in the rearview mirror it's time to echo the same message from each of the last three seasons: Whatever was done at the trade deadline to prepare for what was waiting in August didn't take.
The primary shortcoming was obvious, with a bullpen ending up throwing just 4 2/3 fewer innings than the starters throughout August. Fittingly, the month was punctuated with the Red Sox starter (Kutter Crawford) lasting just 2 2/3 innings, giving up six runs while putting the hosts in a hole they couldn't dig out from.
After the sweep in the Bronx, with the runner officially meeting the road in games at Houston, against Mookie and the Dodgers and the be-all, end-all series back at Fenway vs. the Astros the Red Sox went 3-7. During that stretch their pitchers totaled a 6.07 ERA, with a starter getting into the sixth inning just once.
"I mean, we knew we had a tough challenge ahead of us, and losing all those games, it’s kind of a kick in the gut," Crawford said. Yup.
“We didn’t pitch. That’s the bottom line. I think since New York, the starters have been grinding through it, and we’re not getting deep enough and we’ve been paying the price the last 10 days," Alex Cora added. Yup.
However the Red Sox landed in this spot - 6 1/2 games out of the Wild Card race (which is 1 1/2 games different that at this time last year) - it was a result of taking the wrong path ... again.
And to make matters worse, they were forced to look across the way at a team that ultimately seemed to do it the right way, the Astros. That was the team that made the moves. That was the team that just swept you. That was the team can definitively declare what the Red Sox can't.
"This team, we’re built to win championships and to go deep in the playoffs," said Houston closer Ryan Pressly.
Must be nice.