By: Harold Klapper
A “slow start” is a term that manager Alex Cora has used to describe the first 19 games of the 2019 season for the Boston Red Sox. Atrocious would be a more fitting word. The Red Sox are 6-13 and are currently in last place of the AL East, behind awful clubs such as the Orioles and the Blue Jays. In fact, the Red Sox have the second worst record out of all the teams in the American League. This type of start could be expected from a club that is tanking, but for a team that is coming off a 108 win season and a World Series title, this start has been completely unpredictable. The near .333 win percentage can be understood by looking at both the starting pitching and the inconsistency of the lineup.
The ERA for the Red Sox in innings one to 6 in 2019 is 6.79, the worst in baseball. This is surprising as the Red Sox were considered to have one of the best, if not the best, starting rotation. A player that one must look at when analyzing the whole rotations poor performance is Chris Sale. Chris Sale recently signed a five year, 145 million dollar extension with the Red Sox and has since not had one good outing. Sale has had an 8.50 ERA, a WHIP of 1.556, and has given up 17 runs in 18 innings pitched. In response to questions about his performance Sale tells reporters that his pitching has been “flat out embarrassing”. Along with Chris Sale, Rick Porcello has been struggling thus far. In his contract year, Porcello has had an ERA of 11.12, a WHIP of 3.00, and has gotten knocked around in all of his starts. The most surprising factor with Porcello, however, is the number of walks he has given up. Before the season began Porcello was known as a contact pitcher who didn’t give up walks and pounded the strike zone. This was reflected in his 2018 BB9 which was 2.3. In the 11 years Porcello has been pitching in the MLB his BB9 has never been higher than 2.7, until 2019. This season Porcello has had an astonishingly high BB9 at 9.5 which is indicative of his lack of control in his first 3 starts. With all the pitchers working through early difficulties, the starting pitching has been one of the largest factors in the 6-13 start for the Boston Red Sox.
The lack of a good starting rotation has not been aided by the lineup. Most of the players are in slumps and are not producing as well as they should. A good example of this trend is the reigning AL MVP, RF Mookie Betts. Betts is currently batting a .212 average and has a meager .394 SLG compared to last season when he led in both in average and in SLG. Betts has taken “full ownership” of his bad play and told the media that he is not “doing anything well right now”. Although these comments give us a glimpse into his leadership they, more importantly, display the recent struggles that he has had. But, Mookie Betts is just one of the nine players in the lineup. If one was to look closer at all nine batters, all except Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez are playing up to their potential. If the Red Sox want to get out of their 2019 slump, seven out of the nine players in their lineup need to play better, which is easier said than done.
A question that many are asking is whether people should be concerned about the future of the Red Sox. Some even wonder if the club will make the playoffs this year. These statements are valid simply by looking at how they have performed thus far, but it’s entirely possible for them to turn it all around. After all, it’s only been 19 games out of the 162 game schedule. Having said that, if the same pattern of pitching terribly and batting below expectations continues into late May, some of these concerns might gain a little traction. Until then, we can only see how the Red Sox perform and judge them game by game.
Will the Red Sox finally be able to sale their ship these next few weeks?
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