Boston Red Sox: 3 things the team needs to do to break their slump
Boston Red Sox slump buster No. 1: Start hitting with runners in scoring position
While the Sox rotation has taken it’s fair share of heat, the lineup hasn’t. That should change. To put it bluntly, Boston’s lineup has been downright atrocious during this slump, and proved that point by wasting a phenomenal outing from Nick Pivetta earlier this afternoon.
Over Boston’s previous two series against Tampa Bay and Detroit, they only managed to go 6-41 with runners in scoring position. Those numbers have only gotten worse during this series with Toronto.
Let’s again look at yesterday’s 12-4 loss to Toronto. Prior to Eovaldi’s meltdown, Boston had the bases loaded in the top of the fifth with two outs, and sent Martinez to the plate. Martinez tamely popped out to first to end the threat. They loaded them again in the seventh, only to have Hunter Renfroe pop out to shortstop rather than first base.
Even in today’s game, the Sox were gifted a call when Alex Verdugo wasn’t ruled out at first after he failed to touch the first base bag. Xander Bogaerts had runners on the corners with two outs, yet ended up fouling out to end the threat. Moments later the Sox would lose again.
If Boston’s lineup can’t drive in runs, they are going to continue to lose games. They were constantly mashing through teams earlier this season, but have gone ice cold as of late. Maybe the only guy hitting well right now is Renfroe, and that’s a big maybe.
Next. Red Sox management drops the ball again. dark
If Boston wants to win more games, they have to capitalize on these chances like they were doing earlier in the season. The three pop outs mentioned earlier paint the picture of a lineup trying to do too much when all they need to do is get on base. The players are undoubtedly feeling the pressure here, so it makes sense that they are overcomplicating things at the plate.
Boston has struggled with runners in scoring position for most of the season, but the fix to this problem is applicable to all situations. They need to stop overcomplicating things at the plate; not every at bat is going to lead to a home run, but it’s starting to feel like these guys think it’s home run or bust at this point. Focusing on getting back on base and generating some runs will help this team win more games. It’s what helped them get to this spot in the first place, isn’t it?