The Red Sox are on a slippery slope. They have lost 13 of their last 21 games after their eight game winning streak. What has gone wrong and how do they fix it?
What’s Gone Wrong
The Red Sox have had three things go wrong over their season; offensive droughts, relief pitching, and being clutch in the later innings.
First, the Red Sox go through offensive droughts. In the past few series, the Sox will have one game where they score a ton of runs, and then two where they struggle.
Second, the Sox’s relief pitching blow games. After getting his 400th save, Kenley Jansen proceeded to blow two saves, one of which came after a gem of a game by Chris Sale. Jansen is not the only problem, as pitchers like Josh Winckowski, Joely Rodriguez, and other relievers have blown games as well.
Finally, the Red Sox seem like they cannot show up in the clutch. In the second game of the last series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Sox scored five runs in the ninth inning, but couldn’t get that extra run to send it into extra innings. Another unwelcomed stat for the Red Sox is they have not overcome a ninth inning deficit since the second game of the season.
What Needs to go Right?
Knowing the Red Sox are on a slippery slope, there is two things they need to go right; more consistent hitting, and better relief pitching.
The first thing that needs to start going right is the Sox need to hit for consistency. Currently, their offensive is pretty much either strike out or swing for the fences. Hitters who exemplify this are Rafael Devers, who is hitting in the .240s, but has 13 homeruns, and Triston Casas, the rookie first basemen who is hitting under .200, but has six homeruns.
The problem with this is, in the clutch when consistent hitting is needed, these types of hitters are trying to swing for the fence, being the hero. They need to hit more consistently first, load the bases, and then try and be the hero. This will solve their offensive droughts, and their clutch problem.
Second, the Red Sox relief pitching need to set up overall. There is not just one thing they need to fix, they just need to be better. They come into games usually with little to no runs allowed by the starters, and they only have to focus for one inning. They cannot lose their cool when they give up a hit or a run, just get the first strike and pitch around that.
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Featured Image courtesy of Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
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