Boston Red Sox: Monumental changes not needed at this time
The baseball season is creeping towards the all-star break and the Boston Red Sox continue to get better each month.
Long ago, way back in the 2016 season, the Boston Red Sox were smashing every ball in sight. Rick Porcello was dealing, more than a handful of Boston players were all-star worthy, and all seemed bright in Red Sox land.
Their record at that time: 38-29.
Flash forward to the present day. The Red Sox are hitting–in spurts–but nowhere near last season’s blistering pace. Porcello is struggling, though has been picked up by a dominant Chris Sale. Realistically only three players from Boston could make the all-star game and Red Sox nation is calling for firings and showing great dismay in the team.
Their record as of this writing: 38-29.
Boy, what a difference a season makes.
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Logan Jakubajtys noted this trend in his piece about Boston having a chance to play for a first-place tie in the AL East, but to re-iterate: If one was to judge by social media mentions, one would think Boston is a middling team playing under .500 in a weak division.
The AL East isn’t what it was five years ago, but the division isn’t weak. The New York Yankees have arrived a year early, by most estimations. And when healthy, the Toronto Blue Jays will likely be a threat.
Three basemen problems aside, the Red Sox have been building momentum with each passing week. They took the first game against the AL’s top team in the Houston Astros and look to continue to stay hot in June.
Avoiding a June swoon (so far)
A 9-6 record in June doesn’t exactly scream domination. Winning six of their last eight and playing above .500 ball every month does.
At the plate, the Red Sox have been on a slow and steady incline. The lineup, for the most part, has been hitting better, though they still seem to have trouble driving in runs.
Two players who have really found their stride in June are Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr.
Betts is hitting .306 while scoring 12 runs. He has seven doubles, three home runs, and continues to put his arm on display for runners who dare to run on him.
Bradley, meanwhile, has continued to improve on his solid May. In June, the outfielder is hitting .340 while putting up an OPS of .992.
Rookie Andrew Benintendi has put a May slump behind him. Finding his stroke again, Benintendi has 39 runs batted in this season, including a walk-off against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Now, if all of them–including the fourth ‘B’ Xander Bogaerts–can start showing up in the same game, Boston’s pitchers might start get more run support than they know what to do with.
Pitchers buoyed by a dominant bullpen
The tale of Sale and the starting pitchers was chronicled last week. The past seven days followed a similar path, with Porcello struggling, Drew Pomeranz and David Price both good and bad, and Sale dominating once again (this time a hard-luck 1-0 loss).
Overlooked has been the dominance of the bullpen. Leading that charge is Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly.
Kimbrel continues to own the ninth inning. He has 19 saves and has a “pretty okay” ERA of 0.88. Kimbrel’s K/9 innings rate sits at 17.02 and he has struck out 58 while issuing only five walks.
Outside of lighting up radar guns, Kelly has also been strong with a 1.24 ERA. He has walked 14 and allowed 19 hits, but generally finds ways to get out of jams.
One pitcher who hasn’t been mentioned is Robby Scott. Scott has a 1.65 ERA in 27 appearances. Combining with Kimbrel and Kelly, the three have thrown 76 innings, striking out 92 and allowing 35 hits.
Overall, the bullpen is 13-5 in 2017 with an ERA of 2.80.
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Things could be a lot worse in Boston. The Red Sox started slow in April, but have turned things around. There have been a few missed opportunities for wins along the way, yes, but the Sox are in a good spot.
Monumental changes in Boston are not needed. As long they keep stringing together winning streaks of three or four games, they are going to be more than fine come October.