After entering the 2025 regular season with a buzz the franchise has not had in quite some time, the Red Sox (9-10) have floundered throughout most of their first month of baseball.
With the team suffering their worst loss of the season on Monday - a 16-1 loss in Tampa - they were in desperate need of a bounce-back game on Tuesday to avoid losing their third consecutive series.
That’s exactly what they got, beating the Rays 7-4 on the strength of a monster day at the plate from third baseman Alex Bregman.
On Wednesday, manager Alex Cora talked about his team’s Jekyll and Hyde nature to start the season during his weekly appearance on WEEI Afternoons.
“They know that we have a good baseball team, and they know that we haven’t played to our standards, right?” Cora said of his team, sitting one game below .500 heading into their 20th game of 2025. “It’s not about wins and losses, it’s about how you play on a nightly basis.
“You’ve got to be consistent, and we’ve been consistently bad, to be honest with you. I think, you know, defensively we have struggled. Offensively, it’s been up and down. And the pitching has been inconsistent, like I said. So it’s one of those that you want to finish the road trip the right way, regardless of the result. You know, I’ve been saying all along - since day one in spring training, if we play consistent and we do the that we’re supposed to do, we’re gonna win a lot of ballgames. And right now, we’re around .500 because we haven’t done that.”
To look at the glass half-full, the Red Sox can take solace in the fact that the rest of the American League has gotten off to a bit of a sluggish start as well:
AL East:
1. New York Yankees (10-7)
2. Toronto Blue Jays (10-8)
3. Boston Red Sox (9-10)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (8-9)
5. Baltimore Orioles (6-10)
AL Wild Card:
1. Los Angeles Angels (9-7)
2. Detroit Tigers (10-8)
3. Toronto Blue Jays (10-8)
______________________
4. Boston Red Sox (9-10)
T-5. Seattle Mariners (8-9)
T-5. Tampa Bay Rays (8-9)
Cora admitted that he’s not blind to this, and that it has helped him feel “OK” about where his team currently sits amongst its peers.
“Probably a lot of people in the division feel that way too, right?” said Cora. “Like, nobody has played great baseball. And you know, it’s still early, obviously. But we’ve been in tough situations early in the season. Like, at one point, remember the Rays - they won like 13 in a row [to start the 2023 season], and right away they had a six or seven game lead. The Yankees have done that a few times. We did it in ’18.
“So for how inconsistent we’ve been, I feel OK that nobody in the division has taken off.”
So should fans still be excited for this team? Was the buzz felt around Fenway Park during their home opening series against the Cardinals warranted?
Cora made it clear Wednesday that he remains confident in his team’s ability to make a run in 2025.
“I think the last few years, we’ve been trying to motivate the group and say, ‘Hey, we’re a playoff team, and we have to make it,’” said Cora. “But obviously, that wasn’t the reality of where we were as an organization. We were trying to win as many games as possible, but [were] developing players. I think we did a good job [last season] until the trading deadline, right? We were fighting until there, and then it didn’t happen.
“This year, we have a solid baseball team. And we know we’re capable of playing meaningful games in September and October, but at the same time you have to take care of the pillars of the game, right? You have to catch the ball, and you have to pitch. If you do that consistently through 162, good things are gonna happen.”
If the Red Sox are going to play more consistent baseball moving forward, it can’t just be through better pitching and defense. They’re also going to have to figure out their inconsistent bats, which are currently leading the American League in strikeouts per game (10.00, just .53 behind the Rockies for the worst in all of baseball).
Cora believes better hitting is on the way, insinuating that the strikeouts may just be something the team is going to have to navigate moving forward.
“Offensively, we live in an era that is very hard to hit,” said Cora. “Obviously we don’t like the strikeouts, but maybe that’s part of our DNA. But also in our DNA - I think we’re gonna drive the ball out of the ballpark at one point. We haven’t done that yet. I think it’s gonna come, and we’re much better at controlling the strike zone.
“But I mean, it’s not pressure, it’s the reality of who we are. We made some moves in the offseason to get to this point. Now it’s a matter of just keep working, try to get better each and every day. Like [Red Sox pitching coach] Andrew Bailey always says, ‘The main event is the main event.’ It’s at 7:05, 4:30, 1:30, right? Try to win the main event. You win it, you turn the page. You lose it, you turn the page. And if we do that consistently, we’re going to be fine.”
Sox will try to win their series in Tampa with Sean Newcomb (0-2, 4.97 ERA) on the mound Wednesday night, with Zack Littell (0-3, 6.88 ERA) getting the start for the Rays. First pitch at George Steinbrenner Field is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.
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