Red Sox Inching Towards Crisis Mode

If members of the 2015 Boston Red Sox were to take a long, hard look in the mirror, many of them would most likely see fractured, underperforming versions of their former selves. Bleak? Yes. Truthful? Mostly. Dire? Not quite.

In an era of huge team expectations and an off-season of big spending, the Boston Red Sox were penciled in by many to win the American League East or at the very least a wildcard spot. The additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval had the Red Sox earmarked to be a team that scored runs in bunches.

Instead, fans of the Red Sox have been treated to a team that is toiling in last place in the American League East and averaging a meager 3.7 runs per game. This is a team that has five of the most consistent hitters in major league baseball over the past five years. A ranking of 25th overall in runs scored is not enough to compensate for a middling pitching staff.

Player only meetings have not helped. Owner John Henry speaking to the team appeared as if it might help. The Red Sox won two in row but then followed that up with two losses. Even a batting order shakeup has produced minimal results.

One-third of the season is now complete. Those expectations of rising above last years debacle have now been tempered. A crisis is on the horizon, unless the Red Sox find a way to break out of their month long offensive slump.

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Sandoval has been a main culprit as of late. His error allowed the Twins to win Thursday’s game, but that doesn’t even begin to tell half the story. Sandoval is currently mired in a 4-37 slump. If you’re curious, that’s a .085 batting average. On the season, he’s hitting .239 with an OBP of .306.

Ramirez hasn’t been much better. After a torrid April in which he clubbed ten home runs, Ramirez has only hit two since. John Farrell has even batted Ramirez anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the order over the last week in hopes of shaking the slump.

Injuries have certainly played their part. Shane Victorino has only played in 20 games this year due to injuries. Rusney Castillo has battled injuries since spring training and is only hitting .190 since his being called up from the minors. Ramirez and Sandoval have battled ailments over the last month.

The pitching staff, by far the biggest question mark to begin the season, survived a horrendous April (in which the Red Sox were 12-10) and seem to be actually settling into a groove as of late. Rookie Eduardo Rodriguez is 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA and Clay Buchholz is 1-2 over his last four starts. In these outings, he has only allowed four earned runs while striking out 27 in 30+ innings. If only the Red Sox hitting had been awake, he might have been 4-0 in those starts.

Don’t get me wrong. There are brights spots. Dustin Pedroia is hitting .303 and playing like his normal All-Star self. Xander Bogaerts has rebounded from last year and is hitting .298 with three triples. Life can get easier for the Red Sox if the team begins to follow Pedroia’s and Bogaerts’ lead.

All is not lost for the 2015 season for the Red Sox. The A.L. East is having a down year and, despite being 24-31, the Red Sox are only 5.5 games out of first. Fourteen games against A.L. East teams in June will be a telling point of where this season might go. If the pitching stays the course and the bats of the Red Sox awaken, crisis mode can be averted. If not, it’s going to be a long, hot summer in Boston, leaving fans and players alike with only dreams of the run-scoring machine that might have been.

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