“It is what it is. We haven’t been great.” That was the bleak assessment Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave on his team’s offensive play so far in August following a frustrating 6-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
Boston’s offense mustered just four hits on the night, which marks their fewest in a game since June 29, which was a 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins. Nationals’ starter MacKenzie Gore tossed 6 ⅓ innings of one-hit baseball for the Nats before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
Aside from a two-run home run off the bat of the red-hot Pablo Reyes, the Red Sox offense was completely lifeless on Wednesday night.
The Red Sox have shown they can be among the most dangerous offensive units in Major League Baseball. The issue has been the consistency. After leading the majors in batting average in July, the Red Sox have cooled off significantly in August. Through 14 games in August, the Red Sox are batting just .236 with a .293 on-base percentage, a significant drop off from their .284 average and .340 on-base percentage in July.
The Red Sox pitching staff is certainly capable of competing, especially with the returns of Chris Sale and Tanner Houck, but if the Red Sox are going to have any chance of sneaking into the Wild Card, the offense needs to wake up, and they need to do so fast.
It starts with their big bats. Though Pablo Reyes has been an incredible story as he has made his case as an everyday player, he can’t be Boston’s top offensive threat. It’s up to guys like Rafael Devers and Trevor Story to pick up the slack for the offense.
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The Red Sox will have a good opportunity to break out of their offensive slump in the series finale with the Nationals on Thursday, as the Nats turn to Patrick Corbin. The 34-year-old lefty has struggled for the Nats this year, posting a 7-11 record with a 4.85 ERA.