The Boston Red Sox season can be summed up by A, E, I, O, U: Away games, Errors, Injuries, Over-achievers, and Under-achievers.
Everyone loves grammar, so this Boston Red Sox analysis will utilize the five vowels of the English language. A is for Away games because the Boston Red Sox season started far from Boston. E is for Errors because the Sox defense has more holes than a chain link fence. I stands for Injuries because two players are out for the season, and others have been banged up already. O refers to Over-achievers because I like good news as much as the next guy. But U is for Under-Achievers because even though I am an optimist at heart, I tend to be a pessimist in print. Lastly, we’ll throw in Y as an honorary vowel: Y for Y not write like this.
Away Games
Seattle, Oakland, then Anaheim. Ten games, all about as far from Boston as you can get in Major League Baseball. Fortunately, Boston made the most of their West Coast Swing, going 7-3. This became especially noteworthy when they started their home stand in Fenway by going 0-4 in their first four games. Granted, I don’t know how anyone associated with the Sox was able to function on April 9, after the emotional pre-game ceremonies. Going 2-6 on a home stand is not a winning formula.
Anyways, these two things could point to a concerning trend. As ownership focuses more on the Fenway experience and less on the product on the field, the types of fans at games could be changing. In the past, Fenway was sold out every game, with some of the most ruthless fans in all of professional sports. Family friendly sometimes, but always hostile to opponents. I’m not saying we as fans must inappropriately terrorize foes, but opposing teams need to know this is our house, the Red Sox are our people, and this is our town.
Hearing an Er(ror)-ful
Consider yourself warned, these statistics on errors are not an error. They are accurate and they are concerning. Through 20 games after Thursday, the Sox have 18 errors. These errors have been especially costly too. The 26 unearned runs this season are the most in baseball. It looked like this problem had been put to rest, but then SS Trevor Story got hurt and everything began to snowball. Losing one player is not a strong defense for their defense this year. It might be time to call up Gold Glove winning former 2B Dustin Pedroia to whip these guys into shape.
The eighth inning versus the Cleveland Guardians on April 15 is a prime example of their problems. With two outs in the inning, 3B Jose Ramirez ripped a solid hit. OF Wilyer Abreu rifled the ball from right to try and get out of the inning. In his haste, the throw was offline, and another run sneaked in as the Sox cleaned up at second. The players are keenly aware that their defense has been subpar. Instead of sticking to the basics, players are trying to play beyond their capabilities. This has led to Little League shenanigans, instead of hero plays. On defense and baseball in general, it pays to KISS- Keep It Simple Sox.
Injuries
One month into the season and there are two players out for the season. Starting pitcher Lucas Giolito was lost during Spring Training due to UCL surgery. Trevor Story had shoulder surgery ending his season, which is a recurring theme for him. These two combine to be over $42 million for zero starts and 31 at bats. Giolito’s injury is amongst the plague of injuries hitting pitchers in today’s game. The debate over the source of this problem is continuing to get more heated. Some argue the pitch clock is the cause. More likely the emphasis on velocity and spin rate from Little League to the Majors is the actual cause.
SP Nick Pivetta was placed on the 15-day IL and 3B Rafael Devers has missed six games with a shoulder issue. On April 16, he left with a knee injury. Injuries are inevitable in a 162-game season. A Devers-OF Tyler O’Neill collision has put O’Neill on the shelf with eight stitches and into concussion protocol. The problem for the Sox is there are not great options to turn to if their primary players are hurt. Boston’s depth is shallower than the famed dirty water of the Charles River. Based on this I have a couple requests for local legend, Tom Brady. One, do not come out of retirement, please. Two, bring your anti-aging avocado ice cream and training to Boston to keep these guys healthy.
Over-Achievers
With just over 10% of the Red Sox season complete, it is too soon to read into any of these over or under achievers. I just couldn’t really think of anything else for O or U in baseball. Outs, outfielders, umpires, and unearned runs are all too dull or already covered.
With that said, the top of this list must go to OF Jarren Duran. He flashed some star power last season then hurt his toe. This year he has been a highly effective leadoff man. Duran’s speed allows him to stretch singles into doubles or to quickly steal second. Fellow outfielder, Tyler O’Neill, has been as advertised as well. O’Neill has bashed seven home runs already. Health is the only concern with both, based on previous seasons. C Reese McGuire also deserves credit for responding this year with 8 RBIs after being told in the offseason he could do more.
The unearned runs have hurt all pitchers, but in spite of that, some pitchers have gone above and beyond so far. Speaking of pitching, here is Rob Gronkowski’s immaculate first pitch from Patriots’ Day. SPs Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford are feasting on opposing lineups so far. Crawford’s 0.42 ERA will not last and the real test for him will be how he performs at the end of the season. An offseason emphasis on lower body strength is paying dividends so far for him. Houck has 28 strikeouts in four starts. I guess his name should be spelt, HoucKKKKKKKKKK, for his ten-strikeout performance versus the A’s on April Fools’ Day. He certainly made a plethora of fools out of the A’s. Wednesday night was even better, and he threw a complete-game shutout in under two hours.
Under-Achievers
The easy answers here would be Giolito and Story, but this will be healthy players who have more to give. 3B Bobby Dalbec has been heartbreakingly bad so far. With the Devers injury, Bobby D had a chance to earn more playing time going forward. Instead his grade is worse than a D. Bad Luck Bobby is 0-19 this year and 0-33 going back to last season. Granted, expectations were not that high to begin with, but this hurts to watch. Devers has not been living up to his standards either. His substandard play lately might be tied to the shoulder issues.
This next one is totally unfair to say, but after last season RP Chris Martin set the bar extremely high. After giving up 6 earned runs in 51.1 innings all last year, Martin gave up four runs in one inning this year. Again, likely to be a one-off of bad luck, but this is more a reflection of how dominant Martin is. Ideally, this will be the only time to mention him here, so I will help him out and keep him humble. Lastly, DH Masataka Yoshida might be in the running for least effective designated hitter in baseball so far. Yoshida’s 5-year, $90 million contract is a prime example of the Sox’s misallocation of funds. A .215 average and .292 slugging are not numbers that scream DH. Deplorable hitter maybe, not designated hitter.
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