Sitting at 16-29 right now on the year for the Red Sox is definitely not what the Boston team wanted to see. However, that is where the Red Sox are currently sitting and on a shortened season with only 15 or so games left for Boston the Red Sox would have to win out the rest of the year and hope the rest of the American League East loses. With that being the case, the Red Sox could actually see this as a season that was played, but it is a season that was wasted. So what went wrong with the Red Sox this year that is costing them so much?
Sep 15, 2020; Miami, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Yairo Munoz (60), center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (19) and right fielder Christian Arroyo (39) celebrate after defeating the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Red Sox Offense
The offense for the Red Sox team has not been the root cause of the problem. In fact, the Red Sox hitters have made it into an interesting game and series on the season. Boston has ended up getting a team batting average of .263 which is actually pretty good. The Red Sox have even shown good power on the year with a total of 62 homers and 203 runners brought home on the season.
With this much offensive production it is very easy to see that the offense is not the cause. So that only leaves a couple of other issues that could be the problem for the Red Sox. The main factor is the Red Sox are able to score quite a few points and that will definitely help the Red Sox out in getting some impressive wins on the year.
Sep 15, 2020; Miami, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez (7) and relief pitcher Matt Barnes (32) celebrates after defeating the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Red Sox Pitching
This is a telling position in seeing how poorly the team is doing this year. The pitching for the Red Sox is dismal on the year. When the team ERA leader, Martin Perez, has a 4.40 ERA it is definitely a major issue. Perez is also the leader for the Red Sox with 2 wins as well. The strikeout leader is Nathan Eovaldi who has only ended up with only 33 K’s on the year.
As a team the Red Sox pitching has been so dismal that it has a team ERA of 6.10 on the year. When it comes to the team strikeouts the Red Sox are not a dominating team either with only 381 strikeouts and the walks is almost at the same level with a total of 195 walks. Now, the long ball actually is not a major issue for the Red Sox with only 77 home runs given up on the year. So it really comes down to just bad pitches being made and leaving the ball over the plate way too much on the year.
The Red Sox had a lot of hype coming to the season and most of that hype has fallen flat. Look for those issues to continue to be an issue for Boston heading into the remainder of the season. The Red Sox offense has been playing good and actually could even be considered above average. With the pitching the Red Sox need some major help. Granted, it will not be this year for the Red Sox to get the help, but the help could come in the offseason and that will definitely be what is needed if Boston wants to be competitive next year and return to the top of MLB Picks again.