Following a 5-4 loss Saturday night to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Boston Red Sox continue their World Series hangover dropping to 2-8 on the season.
The good news is that the Boston Red Sox are getting one of their West Coast trips out of the way early. The bad news is that they can’t seem to find a way to win a game.
With lackluster starting pitching, offense that has disappeared for innings at a time and shabby defense, the defending World Series champions have staggered to a 2-8 start to the season which has left fans with a nauseated headache of concern.
The concern is not whether this team will get its act together, but whether the team will turn back into the team they were last season before it’s too late this season.
Saturday night’s walk-off loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks encapsulated all that has gone wrong for the Red Sox during this opening West Coast trip. David Price gave up four runs in the second inning before settling down and 2018 American League Most Valuable Player Mookie Betts allowed a bloop single to land in front of him that contributed to the four-run second inning for the Diamondbacks.
On a play he feels he should’ve made, Betts took responsibility for not being aggressive enough in the field.
"“Here, the gaps and everything are so big, you have to play a couple of steps deeper,” Betts said, via MLB.com. “I take responsibility for that. I have to come up with that somehow.”"
If the Boston Red Sox had gotten off to a better start, perhaps that one play or missed play wouldn’t be as magnified as it is. The team did bounce back to tie the game before losing the game in the ninth. Some positive takeaways is that Price did bounce back to finish his start strongly and Betts later showed off his arm by delivering a game-saving throw in the ninth.
In all, it is just another way the 2019 Red Sox have found a way to lose a game and something needs to change fast. Here are three things they are saying following their latest defeat.
Cora keeps it positive
The starting pitching has been the most part abysmal, the baserunning has been suspect and the offense has been playing peek-a-boo so far this season, yet Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is keeping it positive.
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Following a World Series championship, Cora knows how good his team is and also knows the 2-8 record to begin the season is more due to his team not playing good baseball.
In adding Saturday night’s 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks as the latest way his team has found a way to lose a game, Cora refuses to give in to the notion that the Red Sox are a frustrated bunch right now.
"“There’s no frustration, we just keep grinding,” Cora said following the game. “We’ll show up [Sunday] and hopefully, we’ll have a happy flight. Go home and see the family on Monday and hang out with the kids and all of that and put everything in perspective and move forward.”"
It is that positive outlook that fueled the team’s World Series run in 2018. The difference is that last season they got off to a winning start. It’s a lot harder to get behind the positivity when the losses keep rolling, but perhaps some home cooking is exactly the recipe the Boston Red Sox need to end their hunger for more wins.
Price believes home is where the wins are
The schedule makers sure played a trick on the Boston Red Sox by beginning their 2019 season with a West Coast trip.
Still, this team should’ve been prepared and more competitive. Still, the starting pitching should’ve at least showed up for their starts. With that being said, David Price has been the best of the five starting pitchers despite being winless himself.
The lefty did have his typical bad inning in the second but bounced back and kept his team in the game. As far as the frustration goes, Price kept it real after the all. While Cora won’t admit to the frustration, the veteran pitcher didn’t hold back about taking another loss to start the season.
"“It’s frustrating,” David Price said, via MassLive. “Everybody in here is frustrated. We’ve been through a lot together, this group of guys over the last two and three years. So we’ll be OK. I think everybody in here understands that. We’ve just gotta take it one game at a time like we did last year when we won 108 games and 119 on the season and (were) World Series champions. We just need to get back home. Our fans will remind us of how good we are.”"
Price went on to say that he does think fans at Fenway will still cheer the team, as they should. The last time they saw their beloved team was in Game 2 of the World Series. Despite the early season struggles, it will be the first time the fans get to celebrate the champions.
It is those cheers, along with receiving their World Series rings that David Price believes will get the ball rolling with this team as it will remind them as to how good they are.
More positivity from Cora
Despite a starting rotation that is 0-7 and still searching for someone to pick up a first win. Despite losing a couple of games they should’ve won, Alex Cora still sees that his team has some great energy, even after another disappointing loss.
"“We didn’t win today but the energy was good,” The Boston Red Sox manager said. “They grinded out at-bats. They play good defense. They played to the last pitch. We’ve got to find ways to win ballgames.”"
Like David Price mentioned, that energy will be sparked when the team returns to Fenway Park and things start bouncing their way.
What they need is the starters to finally show up and playing better defense behind those pitchers. With players like Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi in the lineup, the offense will do its thing.
Right now, they just need a spark to bring everything together. If they just continue to play the baseball that catapulted them to a World Series championship, the wins will come. But, in no way can the 2019 version of the Boston Red Sox just show up to any ballpark and expect to win just because they won in 2018.
In other words, they need to rediscover their identity. At least they are saying the right things. Now, it’s time to show up on the field.