The Boston Red Sox caught fire in May and June to propel themselves back into the American League playoff race. But ever since the calendar flipped to July, they have gone ice cold, and they are at risk of letting all their hard work go to waste.
A big reason for their struggles is a lack of health. Their rotation has done a splendid job of holding things together for awhile, but Nick Pivetta is the only starter who opened the season on the roster that is not on the injured list currently. Help is on the way, but pitching staff as a whole is beginning to fall apart.
The other issue is the lineup has once again gone cold. Big hits have been missing for the past few weeks now, and it’s clear that their reliance on their top hitters is beginning to hurt them. They need other guys to come through and pick them up, but right now, no one is delivering when they have the opportunity to do so.
There have been some unexpected contributors who have helped Alex Cora and the coaching staff, but it’s time to get rid of some dead weight in the lineup. There are some guys who are cold as ice at the plate, yet still get playing time over guys who are vastly outproducing them. So with that in mind, let’s look at two players that need to get dropped from the Boston Red Sox lineup immediately.
Boston Red Sox player who needs to get dropped from lineup No. 2: Jackie Bradley Jr.
Jackie Bradley Jr.‘s most recent contribution to the team came as a pitcher to save the bullpen from having to waste another arm in a blowout on Friday night. It may be harsh, but that’s pretty much the biggest contribution Bradley can make to this team right now.
We knew coming into the season that Bradley is a weak hitter who makes up for it with his defensive play, but it’s coming to the point where Cora cannot justify playing him on an everyday basis anymore. Through 74 games, Bradley is hitting just .211 with one home run and 25 RBIs. He’s yet to make an error in the outfield, but he’s hitting so poorly that it doesn’t matter.
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It would be one thing if the Sox didn’t have anyone else to play in Bradley’s spot, but they do. Both Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran have been far more productive than Bradley during their limited stints in the majors so far. Both are hitting above .300 at the plate while playing capable defense, and Cora has already begun to play them over Bradley more as the lineup has gone cold.
Things are really going to come to a head once Kike Hernandez comes off the injured list. Cora has largely been piecing together his lineups lately, which has made it somewhat necessary to keep Bradley in the lineup at times. But once Hernandez returns, it would be hard to send Refsnyder or Duran back to Worcester based on how well they have played, along with how poorly Bradley has played.
It’s not as if Bradley holds any trade value at this point considering he’s about to get played off the major-league roster by two minor league callups. The front office may be forced to just cut Bradley outright in a similar manner as they did with Hansel Robles recently. Bradley’s days with the Sox are most likely nearing their end, and Cora would be wise to cut his playing time as soon as he can.
Boston Red Sox player who needs to get dropped from lineup No. 1: Bobby Dalbec
This always felt like a make-or-break year for Bobby Dalbec, and so far, his prospects of sticking around on Boston’s roster don’t seem good. With the trade deadline approaching, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a potential replacement for Dalbec be brought in as the Sox try to make a playoff push.
Dalbec used a strong second half in 2021 to earn himself a spot on the roster this season, but so far he has looked lost all season long. He only got his batting average above .200 midway through June, and even that doesn’t paint the full picture of how bad Dalbec has been. He has just six home runs so far, and drove in just his 20th run of the season last night against the New York Yankees.
The Sox weren’t counting on Dalbec to hit for average, but every now and then he’s got to hit one out of the park, or at least drive in a few runs, but his lack of run production has been astonishing. He’s getting outplayed by Franchy Cordero, who didn’t even start the season in the majors and is playing out of positon just to get at-bats on a nightly basis.
Dalbec just turned 27 at the end of June, and he appears no closer to figuring things out than he did when he was promoted back in 2020. He rarely gets on base, strikes out a ton, and hasn’t hit home runs, which has been his calling card early on in his career.
Similar to Bradley, Boston doesn’t have a ton of options with Dalbec. Cora is going to have to get him out of the lineup at some point, because he’s basically fielding an eight-man lineup when he pencils in Dalbec. If you can trade him, you may as well, becasue sooner or later, there won’t be a spot on the roster for Bobby Dalbec. It’s only a matter of time.