Boston Red Sox: 3 areas to strengthen as season progresses
As the MLB season pushes towards it’s halfway point, the Boston Red Sox have continued their revenge tour, proving they are one of the best teams in the league day in and day out.
They are in the midst of a mightily important series with the Tampa Bay Rays, with the first game ending in an extra innings victory for Boston, extending their lead a top the AL East to 1.5 games for the time being.
Every team, regardless of whether they are winning or losing, has areas that need to be fixed as the season goes on. And despite the Sox continued excellence this season, there are a couple of holes this team has that need to be addressed if they intend on making a deep playoff run come this fall.
Lets take a look at three of those issues, including what can be done to fix them before they potentially become detrimental to this team.
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No. 3: Boston Red Sox starting pitching depth
It’s been abundantly clear to anyone who pays attention to the MLB that the Boston Red Sox starting rotation has exceeded expectations so far this season. Without a true ace, they have rallied together to form one of the most consistent starting rotations in the league this season.
Only Nathan Eovaldi has an ERA below four, but you can count on each starting pitcher to go out and deliver a solid outing to keep the team in the game.
And while that continues to be true, it’s clear their effectiveness as a whole is beginning to wane. Over the past couple of weeks, the starting pitchers have really been getting hit hard. In the last 13 games Boston has played, their starting pitcher has given up at least four runs in nine of those games. Thankfully the the Sox lineup has been able to show up to bail them out for the most part, but you probably shouldn’t expect to win a lot of games when your starting pitchers are constantly giving up that many runs.
A regression of sorts was expected, as guys like Nick Pivetta and Martin Perez were clearly exceeding expectations, and are clearly dropping towards the norm. Boston’s starting pitching has been a big part of their success so far this season, so it’s important to get their pitching back on track.
Luckily, it seems more and more likely that Chris Sale will be making his return shortly, which could be the key for this team down the stretch of the season. Sale recently joked to the media that he wasn’t sure there would be a spot for him in the rotation when he returns, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that there is only one possible guy to get bounced from the rotation.
That would be Eduardo Rodriguez. After starting out the season with five wins in his first six starts, Rodriguez has been just downright awful since. His ERA has ballooned from a respectable 3.82 at the beginning of May to an ugly 6.07 as we reach the end of June.
At this rate, it’s clear the Red Sox can’t continue to turn to Rodriguez if he keeps on giving up this amount of runs. He’s been lucky to be getting bailed out by the lineup, as he still has a 5-4 record despite his inability to go deep into outings recently. Whether it’s waiting for Sale to return, or calling up a guy like Tanner Houck from Worcester, it’s clear Rodriguez can’t be left in the rotation much longer.
That’s why beefing up the starting pitching depth is important. Counting on Sale to be himself right off the bat is wishful thinking. Sale should be back soon, but adding another starter through free agency or trade may not be such a bad idea as we move forward in the season, and it could end up being the difference between a deep playoff run and a short one.