Can the flyover fix this? Probably not. But …
While Opening Day pomp and circumstance will only go so far when it comes to the Red Sox’s season doing an about-face, there are legitimate avenues to start turning this thing around. As difficult as it is to remember, this is a team projected to have the second-best odds to win the American League East.
There is a path to putting this 1-5 start in the rearview mirror. That doesn’t mean the Red Sox will take it, but it’s there.
So, how do they start going down the right road? Some suggestions …
1. FINDING THE BEST VERSION OF THEMSELVES
When Garrett Crochet stood in front of the media after Wednesday’s 6-4 loss and called the team’s predicament “embarrassing,” it was spot-on. While he shifted to his own corner of the world, everyone else immediately started screaming about the inadequacies of others. And there are plenty of inadequacies to go around.
The reasons for the likes of the A’s and White Sox to start 1-5 haven’t really led to too many double-takes. They are two teams with the worst starting pitching ERAs in baseball, while owning the fifth- and sixth-lowest payrolls, respectively, in MLB. The Red Sox? That’s another story. When you have your chief baseball officer stating over and over in the offseason that the club’s singular goal was to be a World Series team, such performances are not what was on anybody’s bingo card.
Other than the two catchers, there is only one hitter with a batting average of better than .226., with the two (Trevor Story), three (Jarren Duran), and four (WIllson Contreras) hitting a combined .149.
The Red Sox, a team that was trying to prioritize more contact with the additions of Contreras and Caleb Durbin, own the sixth-most strikeouts. Contreras, Duran, and Durbin are all owning a swing-and-miss percentage nearly double their career averages.
And perhaps it is Durbin who represents the out-of-nowhere downturn the most, failing to get a hit in his first 18 at-bats this season, while hitting it into the ground 70 percent of the time.
Then there is the pitching. The Red Sox starters own the fifth-worst ERA of all MLB rotations through six games, having given up the third-most home runs. It would be unreasonable to make judgments on the likes of Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Brayan Bello off of one start, but all three fall into the group that is non-negotiable when it comes to making this work.
2. FIGURING OUT WHO THEY ARE
Every year, the best-laid plans are put in place after spring training, and every year, unexpected adjustments are needed. In 2019, it seemed like a good idea to flip-flop Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts in the batting order. It wasn’t. Last year, who could have seen the momentum derived from parting ways with Rafael Devers coming?
Alex Cora needs to find the right rhythms of this roster, which is easier said than done.
The embarrassment of riches outfield hasn’t exactly been free of issues. It has become clear that Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony are cementing themselves as everyday potential All-Stars. But while Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Masa Yoshida all have their merits, the rotation of the three hasn’t bubbled up the desired results.
Duran has gotten the most plate appearances (23), with Rafaela not too far behind at 20, and Yoshida getting 14, with each showing some signs of productivity. For Duran, it came on Opening Day, along with leading off on Wednesday with a hit. Rafaela has a home run. And while Yoshida is still looking for his first hit, he has walked six times.
But none of the performances represent the kind of difference-making images Cora and Co. could really use when trying to fit this square peg of a roster construction into a round hole.
Then there is second base. How much is Cora willing to ride out the potential ups and downs of Marcelo Mayer, who has one hit since his two-hit performance in the opener, remains to be seen. And while he is implementing other options, can a hot hand (such as Cora’s existence in April 2007) be uncovered? So far, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hasn’t been able to establish that existence.
3. WINNING IS THE BEST MEDICINE.
Last year, the Red Sox responded to their 1-4 start with a five-game win streak. And while there was a bit of a ytreading water vibe until mid-June, they did win just enough to hang in the conversation before making their pre-All-Star break run.
The Yankees are 5-1. The Red Sox are four games out of first place before even playing a game at Fenway Park.That is this team’s early-April reality. But the deeper holes have been dug out from before.
They just can’t wait too much longer. It’s time to start shoveling.
