Boston Red Sox: In Search of Borrowing a Run or Five
The Boston Red Sox continued their scoring drought with a 3-0 loss on Thursday, leaving their season run total at 78 through 21 games.
April, as said by the poet T.S. Eliot, is the cruelest month. And while he was speaking of death and rebirth, the offense of the Boston Red Sox has had a cruel month in the run-scoring department.
A 3-0 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday marked the third time in the past seven games the Red Sox have been shutout. In fact, over these seven games, Boston has only scored 13 runs.
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Ten of those runs have come in their two victories over that span, leaving a measly three runs scored in five other games.
It appears there is only so much outfielder Andrew Benintendi can do to cement his rising status in the game.
Benintendi and his .329 batting average, .400 OBP, and 11 runs batted in are proof not all is in despair for Red Sox land.
The team is second in the American League in batting average and tied for fourth in on-base percentage. Numbers that normally equate to a good run-scoring average.
Boston’s currently sits at 3.7, a far cry from the nearly five per game they averaged through their first 20 games last season.
Weighing the on-base percentage versus runs plated shows the Red Sox are simply failing to move runners around the bases. Their strikeouts aren’t overly high but grounding into 25 double plays is not helping.
The dearth of runs scored (78, tied for 13th in the AL) can also partially be tied to lack of power. Their 11 home runs place them dead last in the AL, tied with major league leader Eric Thames.
Searching for Power and Production
Home runs stats can be overvalued at times. If a team is near the bottom of the league in home runs but still finding ways to manufacture runs and win games, the stat can be pushed aside.
Unfortunately, the Red Sox aren’t doing either. This leads to a lot of scrutiny being put on the home run number and the lack of David Ortiz.
For what it’s worth, the issue of runs scored runs much deeper than the lack of Ortiz. Duplicating last season’s numbers–with or without Ortiz–was always going to be a challenge.
Boston knew there was going to be a hole in the lineup. Replacing Ortiz’s numbers from last season was going to take a team effort.
Benintendi is doing his part, as his free agent acquisition Mitch Moreland. The first baseman has had a solid start, now hitting .295 and leading the team with 11 doubles.
Pablo Sandoval leads the team with home runs (3). He was expected to help fill the void left by Ortiz. Leading the team in home runs was not on the list of expectations.
Those ideas were directed to Hanley Ramirez, who has only hit one. Ramirez, after a slow start, has picked up four hits in his last three games.
And Mookie Betts, after a MVP-type season in 2016, is still doing what Mookie does. He’s off the stellar pace of last season, but he still has 11 runs batted in and is putting the ball in play.
Of course, none of this matters if the Boston Red Sox don’t start scoring more runs.
Turning the Corner
Even good teams are going to go through stretches like these. And slumps will be had (Sandy Leon: two hits in his last ten games) while others (Christian Vazquez: .478 batting average in eight games) will inexplicably be left on the bench.
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The good news for the Red Sox is the pitching staff is coming around. They are led by Chris Sale–he of the 1.19 ERA, 52 K’s, and a hard-luck 1-2 record–and a strong bullpen.
There is still roughly 88% of the season left to be played. Once the runs start scoring, the Boston Red Sox will again be a force to be reckoned with.