June 30. It was the jumping off point. The beginning of a 10-game road trip. The before and after of this year's trade deadline.
Checking in 10 games later, the Red Sox have been forced to take a big gulp and offer up their best Kevin Bacon. "Remain calm. All is well."
After the most back-breaking loss of the season -- the 9-8 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays which was punctuated by George Springer's eighth-inning three-run homer -- it was Garrett Richards who played the role of Chip Diller.
"It's been pretty terrible," said the Sox starting pitcher, whose team carried a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning. "The good thing is tonight the offense showed up and guys were raking balls all over the place, so that's a positive. We're just looking forward to the off day tomorrow and just kind of getting off the road and starting fresh when we come back Tuesday. We're still a good ballclub. Yeah, we're discouraged, but there's no faith lost. We know what we have. We know the lineup we have. We know our pitching staff. We know what we're bringing to the table. The first half wasn't a joke. We're just trying to get back on the same page and get rolling again. Every time I feel like goes through this at some point during the season. It's unfortunate it's happening right now, but this is a good ballclub. You shouldn't sleep on this team."
Richards added, "We're super positive. We're going through a rough stretch right now, but we fully believe we're going to win this thing. There's not any lost faith here. We've had a bad road trip. It's one road trip. There's a lot of games left to play. We still have our foot on the gas. Nobody's letting up. It's a little frustrating right now, but every team goes through this at some point during the year. We're not down. We know what we have in the clubhouse and we know what we've done so far. A little discouragement, a little frustration, but for the most part we're on to the next game and every game we feel like we're still going to win. This team's not discouraged. We know what we have in the clubhouse. We're talented. We know how to win games, and we've proven that."
Fair enough.
It's fine to turn the page. At this point in the baseball season, with the Red Sox still sitting in second-place and owning one of the two Wild Card spots, that's exactly what they should be doing.
But that doesn't mean Alex Cora's club shouldn't take a good, hard look at this 2-8 road trip, in which it finished with a run differential of negative-24, and take stock of its lot in life.
So, let's do exactly that ...
- The Red Sox are at least an arm short when it comes to high-leverage relievers. Probably more after the latest news that Hirokazu Sawamura was forced to leave Sunday with elbow tightness.
The fact of the matter is that there was no pitcher Cora felt comfortable with to even warm up in the eighth inning while Adam Ottavino was diving into his longest outing of the season. Ultimately, Matt Barnes was that guy, with the mandate that he be asked to get more than three outs after pitching the day before.
Garrett Whitlock could have been the guy, but he wasn't available. Austin Davis was likely unavailable to face any lefties after throwing a combined 65 pitches Thursday and Friday. Yacksel Rios. Hansel Robles. Phillips Valdez. Nope. Not even some light tossing as a fail-safe.
It was another trade deadline dose or reality, with Robles the one acquisition that the Red Sox believed might be part of such a solution. That idea has taken a turn for the worse.
The good news is that Ryan Brasier seems close to a minor-league rehab assignment and can be part of the solution. The bad is that, all things considered, that will still leave Cora with some uncomfortable decisions.
- Blown saves happen. So do late-inning home runs. Matt Barnes has experienced that before, and he will experience it again.
Should it have been ultra-frustrating that the Sox closer walked the Blue Jays No. 9 hitter, allowing for Springer's heroics? Yup. Was it somewhat baffling that Barnes chose to throw the Jays' leadoff hitter a fastball when that's the pitch he feasts on? Certainly.
His thought process: "So yesterday, I threw a bunch of really good curveballs to him and he chased down with me. The 0-0 curveball he put a decent swing on it, I knew he fouled it off but it looked like he was somewhat on time with that pitch. I fell behind 2-1 and threw a good fastball 2-1 that he swung and missed with. Just paying off the at-bat yesterday and how he took that swing, in my mind, i didn't think he thought i was coming back with another fastball. I thought for sure he would sit on a breaking ball and it leaked in the middle. It just leaked in the middle and he put a good swing on it. Just trying to execute the fastball away there to him. Given the at-bats yesterday and how that played out today i didn't think he’d be sitting on a fastball."
That, however, isn't the primary issue.
The fastball that Barnes threw to Springer wouldn't have been touched a few months ago. It simply hasn't been the put-away pitch we saw in April, May and June. The dominance has seemingly been tempered a bit. It's not that the closer has been bad -- totaling a 3.48 ERA and .176 batting average against since the beginning of July. But it does seem like the much-talked-about closing-partner-in-crime trade deadline acquisition that never happened was a miss for this team.
- The starting rotation seems like it might be finally trending toward defining itself after the outings from Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck. Those two, combined with Nathan Eovaldi, the good version of Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale, seems like an equation that can work. Maybe the inclusion of Martin Perez and Garrett Richards into the bullpen solves the aforementioned late-inning relief-pitching dilemma. Maybe.
- The great news for the Red Sox is that their go-to guys -- J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers -- finally showed signs of life Sunday. And prior to going on paternity leave, Alex Verdugo had become the Sox' most impactful hitter the previous few days. But to make the whole equation work Hunter Renfroe needs to become the threat was in May and June.
The protection for the Big 3 has seemingly become pull-happy once again, with the production this month (5-for-30) -- which follows up a .205 July -- serving as a prime example.
- The Red Sox need to entertain the idea of Yairo Muñoz, he of the 30-game hitting streak with Triple-A Worcester. The uneasiness that comes with bench options Marwin Gonzalez, Jonathan Arauz, and Bobby Dalbec/Franchy Cordero did not help matters. Yes, Muñoz needs to be put not he 40-man roster. But with the Christian Arroyo's return still seemingly a bit away, at this point it would seem to be an exercise worth undertaking.
- Kevin Plawecki needs to start getting the majority of playing time at catcher. Perhaps it's just a hot streak that has resulted in the righty hitter totaling a .313 batting average (.340 with runners on base). So be it. Christian Vazquez simply hasn't distinguished himself - offensively or defensively - to the point of keeping Plawecki on the bench.
- It would sure be comforting to Cora and Co. to actually see their team's big trade deadline acquisition on the field doing something in this time of need. As was first reported by The Athletic, Kyle Schwarber's return from a hamstring injury has been slowed down due to a tight groin.
"He was sore over the weekend. Nothing serious," Cora said. "He worked with Carlos (Febles) throughout. He'll work out tomorrow again. A little bit of soreness in his left groin, but nothing serious. He's still progressing, feeling better."
While Schwarber may very well end up being the best deadline bat acquired, the Rays were one game in back of the Red Sox when Nelson Cruz was acquired. Monday they sit four games up, with their new designated hitter having hit four homers during his 13 games.
It has been painful for these Red Sox. Now we will see if it's just a mere flesh wound.
