Notice that spit from Ceddanne Rafaela in this picture?
That represents the fans' expectations so far this season. They feel spat on, and rightfully so. Even though it has just been the first two series of a long, 162-game campaign, the Red Sox were expected to be, at least, competitive in their games. This recent series against the Houston Astros early on shows what they need to improve on.
It's not the pitching, and it's not the defensive woes. It's the strikeout numbers.
Yes, the defensive and pitching woes are concerning, especially with Garrett Crochet's 5-earned-run outing against the Astros and Trevor Story's head-scratching error that Houston ended up scoring on in the first inning. But the offense has been shut down.
In their 202 at-bats, they've struck out 62 times. Roman Anthony and Trevor Story have led the team in that category, with Anthony striking out 11 times and Story striking out 13 times. The only two people who haven't struck out over five times in over five games are notably Wilyer Abreu, who's batting .417 with three home runs, 10 hits, and six RBIs in 18 at-bats, and, funny enough, Ceddanne Rafaela. Everybody else has struggled.
With runners in scoring position, it's been worse, mainly because it has a greater impact on the outcome of the game.
The Red Sox, as a team, have 15 strikeouts in that sense, and are batting .171 (7-41) in that scenario. More specifically, with RISP and two outs in the inning, they're batting .192 (5-26) with nine strikeouts.
Boston's Batting Woes Call for Action from Front Office
So everyone's wondering how this can be fixed. Here's the solution:
They need another reliable bat. Losing Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers has hurt them in this case over the past year.
At the beginning of the season, it was said that the Red Sox would be one of the more 'polarizing teams' this year, and so far, that's been proven true. There are too many boom or bust players in that lineup, offensively speaking. The organization was hoping on the likes of Anthony, Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Willson Contreras to be their power sources this year, and only Abreu has achieved that aspiration.
There needs to be a trade at some point down the line. Triston Casas is too far gone down the injury abyss, and acquisitions Contreras and Caleb Durbin have only had three hits this season combined.
Spoiler: All three have come from Contreras.
Caleb Durbin is another story entirely. He's on a 2025 Rafael Devers and 2019 Chris Davis hitless streak right now. Currently, he is 0-18 this year and is hoping to snap out of it in the upcoming series against the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park on Friday afternoon.
But yet again, this is six games into the new season. The team normally takes a few weeks before they gain form. With a young team, consistency will be the issue.
For their sakes, let's hope they finally hit their stride soon. If not, they need to buy a bat as soon as possible.