Xander Bogaerts opens up about Rafael Devers
ANAHEIM - It has now been one week.
Seven days have passed since one of the most momentous trades in Red Sox history was made, with Rafael Devers being dealt to the San Francisco Giants. What has transpired are 168 hours of analysis and theorizing.
The images and whispers left behind from these last few days will stick around for a while. The press conferences. The Aroldis Chapman strikeout. The home run. The postgame TV press conference. The David Ortiz vitriol. The Saturday night get-together with Devers and some of his former teammates. And, finally, the designated hitter's postgame smiles after his new team got the better of this old team.
That drama is done. Now the real stuff begins.
To truly put Devers in their rearview mirror, the Red Sox need to win, and they simply can't have days like Sunday's 9-5 defeat at the hands of the Giants in San Francisco.
Sure, if it wasn't for a few key errors in the last two games, the Red Sox might have already drowned out any Devers debate. But, as has been the case for much of this season, the Red Sox spun the wheel of inconsistency and landed on another unforgiving aspect of their reality - less-than-palatable defense.
"We’ve got to play better defense," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after his team allowed five unearned runs in a single game for the third time this season. "The whole weekend was kind of sloppy in that department."
As the Red Sox head to Southern California, they haven't been able to prove that this Devers-free existence is going to be manageable.
Sure, there were signs. The Red Sox still played a lot of good baseball in winning half of these last six games while still existing just 1/2 game out of a Wild Card spot.
But in this results business, the last two games have undeniably put a dent in the momentum the Red Sox had been carrying through Friday, thanks to 10 wins in their last 12 games. And while it might seem unfair to pass judgment based on a couple of close games, this is the Sox's new lot in life.
It is a race against time to prove that the move a week ago was the right one, and this is a team worth investing in. If they don't prove themselves and land in mid-to-late July, piling up the kind of losses we just witnessed, then you can better believe thou who shall not be named (Devers) will be named plenty.
Since flying across the country without their star slugger, the Red Sox have offered the blueprint of how this can work. During the six games, no team in baseball had better relief pitching, with the Sox relievers giving up just two earned runs in 19 2/3 innings. Except for a Walker Buehler dud and a bad one from Hunter Dobbins (who is now on the injured list, with Richard Fitts taking his place), the starters still suggested they could be part of the solution.
Wilyer Abreu game back and went 4-for-9 over the weekend, while Ceddanne Rafaela (1.000 OPS) and Rob Refnsyder (.875 OPS) did their part in carrying the load over the past six games. And while Roman Anthony managed just three hits in 19 at-bats, he is still offering hints he belongs with a team-high six walks while getting a hit in his only at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
But the list of positives is still too thin for proof that this was the proper path to take.
It has been just six games, and the Red Sox have gone up against two of the best pitching staffs in the majors, but scoring the third-fewest runs (19) over this road trip isn't what the doctor ordered in this Dever-less lineup. Trevor Story (.190), Abraham Toro (.174), Jarren Duran (.167), David Hamilton (.125), Carlos Narvaez (.125) and Marcelo Mayer (.118) have to do better.
The Red Sox - the only team in baseball with a batting average under .200 since the Devers trade (.194) - has to do better.
Getting Alex Bregman back will help, as will escaping the nonstop wave of next-level arms in Seattle and San Francisco. But, as was evident the last two games, this team's room for error until the front office can define its trade deadline intentions will be thinner than ever.
This is the world the Red Sox have chosen. After one week, we still don't have a clear vision as to whether it was the right one.