It’s time for some real talk.
Sifting through all the chaos, controversy and conundrums, the Red Sox have been handed an opportunity that doesn’t come around all that often. They find themselves in the second quarter of the Major League Baseball season with an elite pitching staff. That is the part of the plan that has actually taken root.
Since the final day of Alex Cora and a big chunk of the Sox’s coaching staff, this team’s starting pitchers have managed a 2.76 ERA over 17 games (and that’s not including Brayan Bello’s last 13 1/3 innings of relief in which he has allowed just two runs).
Going back to that April 25 jumping off point, only teams in baseball have a better ERA than the Red Sox, the Rays, who have gone 11-3 over that time, and the Brewers (11-5).
Thanks to Ranger Suarez, the trend continued Thursday night with 5 1/3 shutout innings.
Unfortunately for Chad Tracy and Co., another trend also continued: The Sox wasted the to-die-for dynamic, this time via a 3-1 loss to the Phillies, having gone 1-5-1 in their series at home.
For the sixth time in that 17-game stretch, the Red Sox starting pitcher didn’t get a single run from their offense while in the game. Predictably, the club is now 0-6 when such a dynamic unfolds. For the season, there have been 13 games in which the Red Sox starting pitcher hasn’t been afforded a single run before exiting (9 of them coming at Fenway Park).
So, why do all these facts, figures, and statistics matter? Because it paints the picture we should be talking about. The one that shows how uniquely good the Red Sox have it, while still letting the Good Times Express truck on. by.
The Sox are 18-25, the third-worst record in MLB. But they are also still just three games out of a Wild Card spot. Opportunity is knocking. They just aren’t coming to the door to answer.
Right now, Craig Breslow is leaning on the time-honored tradition of riding out May on the back of hope. Trevor Story. Caleb Durbin. Jarren Duran. None has an OPS better than .547. All were supposed to be key pieces of this offensive puzzle. Remember, to start the year Story and Duran were the No. 2 and 3 hitters in the lineup. That was the projection. That was the plan. Then came the pivot to moving up Durbin to the second spot for a bit. That was Plan B.
Very, very few of these plans, when it comes to making this run-prevention blueprint, have worked. That’s why it would behoove Breslow to crumple up what he thought might happen, and unseal the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency approach.
Find different bodies with different skill sets who can achieve different results.
It has been 16 games with this new group of hitting leadership. During that time, the Red Sox have totaled a .668 OPS and 49 runs. In the 16 games prior to the Bloodbath in Baltimore, the OPS .665 with 73 runs scored. The starter's ERA during that time was also 5.06. In other words, while the pitching has gotten to the place where you can talk about postseason viability, the same can’t be said about the offense.
The first fix didn’t work; let's try something else.
Trades can be made. Moves can be made. None of it will be comfortable. All of it sure seems necessary.
