With expectations high for the Boston Red Sox moving forward, there are obviously things they need to improve in order to make a deep postseason run.
The Boston Red Sox own the best record in baseball. Their lineup can hurt you top to bottom and they have three Cy Young caliber pitchers at the head of their rotation. Managed by first-year manager Alex Cora, this team has a different feel in years past.
Now, it wouldn’t be Boston media if we didn’t find things to critique, even when things are going as great as they are for this team. With early exits in each of the last two postseasons, there are means for concern for this team. Here are three potential flaws of this team headed down the stretch.
1 – The Bullpen is weak.
The bullpen is probably the team’s biggest weakness.
Dave Dombrowski didn’t make any moves at the deadline to help his team’s kryptonite. There were plenty of relief arms available at the end of July and the Boston Red Sox couldn’t land a single one.
Of course, you can always move an arm from the rotation to the bullpen. Boston just moved Drew Pomeranz into the bullpen and it wouldn’t be surprising if they move someone else once it gets closer to the Postseason.
Come October, the bullpen ultimately is going to be what determines how long they play.
Since the All-Star break, the bullpen has allowed 6 home runs and the bullpen ERA is 87.36 in 53.1 innings pitched. This is not good. Closer Craig Kimbrel carries a 7.11 ERA in a measly 6.1 innings of work.
Kimbrel is supposed to be a shutdown reliever who we can bring in when we need to end the game. The bullpen is most likely going to be pitching the most important outs of the game come playoff time. The Boston Red Sox relief pitching still has some time to work out the kinks and get ready for what we all hope to be a deep postseason run.
2 – Base running needs some work.
At the beginning of the season, the base running was the biggest concern for the Boston Red Sox. Time and time again Rafael Devers would run into outs, or Andrew Benintendi would blow past the stop sign at third base and end up getting thrown out at home.
There’s no question that this team has speed, but how you use that speed is crucial, especially in October. You can’t be making mistakes in the most important part of the year.
Lately, there haven’t been as many baserunning blunders as there were early on in the season. This is a good sign for the Sox. Cora must have said something to the team, and it has seemed to work out for the better. We can only hope that the players stay smart on the base paths in what are going to be the most important games of the season.
3 – Lack of Postseason experience can come back to hurt them.
In 2016 the Boston Red Sox were swept in the ALDS by the eventual league champion Cleveland Indians. Last year, in 2017, the Red Sox lost the ALDS in 4 games to the eventual World Series Champion Houston Astros. That is a total of 7 games played in the last two postseasons. For the core of this team, that is very minimal postseason experience to build off of.
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There are only two players still with the team since the 2013 championship year. Dustin Pedroia is one and the other is shortstop Xander Bogearts.
Pedroia is not coming back so that just leaves Xander as the only member on the active roster that was with this team in 2013. Let’s not forget that the Red Sox let Hanley Ramirez go earlier this season. Hanley carried a .380 lifetime batting average in the postseason. He could’ve been a huge anchor in your lineup, especially given his postseason history.
The Boston Red Sox don’t have David Ortiz anymore so they will need someone to deliver the clutch hits.
The lack of experience carries over to the rotation as well.
Ace Chris Sale’s only appearance in October was last year in the ALDS. He did not do well, allowing 9 earned runs in 9.2 innings spread out over 2 games. David Price’s career numbers aren’t good either. Price carries a 5.03 ERA in 73.1 innings. Price has started 9 games and only has won 1. He has another win but that was achieved in a relief appearance. Rick Porcello is another member of this staff that has lackluster numbers in October. His record is 0-3 in 11 games, with a 5.47 ERA in 24.2 innings. The rest of the pitching staff does not have any experience out of those who played with the Red Sox over the last two years.
There is nothing quite like postseason baseball. The Red Sox should have home field throughout the playoffs, at least in the ALDS. This is a much better team at home and it always helps to have the Fenway faithful cheering you on. The Boston Red Sox are currently World Series favorites in Vegas. Those are high expectations to live up to, let’s hope the Sox can do just that.