Red Sox takeaways: Inconsistency, stealing strikes, and a homecoming

New York Times

4 days ago

With the trade deadline looming next week — and with losses in four of their five games coming out of the break — it would be reasonable to question whether the Boston Red Sox will be buyers. But internally, the team seems confident that it can make a run. That belief stems from parity in the American League playoff picture and an ability to stick in close games, as they have lately.
Advertisement
The Red Sox have shown a frustrating imbalance, alternating between lackluster losses and gritty victories, with Wednesday's 9-8, 11-inning win over the Philadelphia Phillies falling into the latter category.
It was a playoff-like game against a strong opponent and Alex Cora managed like it, sending Aroldis Chapman into the game in the seventh to face the dangerous Kyle Schwarber with one out and one on. Chapman got the job done, but he gave up a game-tying homer the next inning. However, the Red Sox badly needed a win, and they ultimately prevailed.
They battled back from a 5-0 deficit on Romy Gonzalez's grand slam to take a lead, lost it with their closer on the mound in the eighth, went ahead again in the 10th and then did it again for good in the 11th on a Carlos Narvaez homer.
Desperation might be too strong of a word, but Chapman's early entrance highlighted an mistakable sense of urgency.
The Red Sox scuffled entering the trade deadline last season and made middling moves with three pitchers who were quickly injured. The previous year, they were in wild-card contention and didn't add much, as then chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom labeled them underdogs.
Prior to the break, Cora was forthright about why the club has faltered after the break in recent years.
'When teams add and you stay put, other teams get better,' he said. 'It's not that you got worse. It's just that other teams took a step forward, and we haven't done that in a few years here.'
Here are a few takeaways from a tough series in Philly as the Red Sox head home for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday:
The Jekyll-and-Hyde offense that has plagued the Red Sox all season resurfaced after the break. Boston's offense still ranks among league leaders, partly due to 16 games in which the Red Sox have scored 10 or more runs.
Advertisement
Wednesday's six-run outburst in the fifth inning was the fourth time this month the club has scored six or more runs in an inning, tops in the majors.
Still, it's been a struggle for the Red Sox to post consistent numbers throughout the season.
In their first five games out of the break, they scored 10 runs, but six came in Sunday's win in Chicago. They'd scored four runs in their other four games.
The Red Sox have undoubtedly faced tough pitching, particularly in Philadelphia against Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez, but their inability to even put the ball in play hurt them as the strikeout numbers ballooned again.
Through the first two games in Philadelphia, the Red Sox struck out 28 times: 16 in the first game and 12 in the second game. On Wednesday, they struck out 16 more times, albeit over 11 innings. They'd found a way to curb those whiff rates during their 10-game winning streak, but that hasn't been the case lately. They sit in ignominious company with the third-most strikeouts behind the Rockies and Angels.
On Wednesday, they showed what they can do when they have a more patient approach and don't let innings snowball.
The lack of offense has led to more one-run games, something the club battled earlier in the season, too. Their 33 one-run games are tied with Seattle for most in the AL.
It's tempting to suggest a big bat is what the Red Sox need at the deadline, and while they are looking for more help at first base, is one bat the solution? When the lineup goes through tough offensive stretches, it's a team-wide issue. Moreover, the lineup is already crowded as Cora juggles to find a versatile group searching for playing time. Of course, if they add a first baseman, it would seem like they'd move on from Abraham Toro (versus Gonzalez, with whom Toro has split time. Gonzalez mashes left-handed pitching and is a more versatile defender).
Either way, the offensive struggles have hurt the team, and if the Red Sox are pushing for the postseason, they'll face just as many tough pitchers.
Rookie catcher Carlos Narvaez has been among Boston's most valuable players, leading all catchers with 16 Defensive Runs Saved and third with 11 Outs Above Average, while hitting .266 with a .778 OPS over 78 games. He unexpectedly took over as the team's starting catcher when incumbent starting catcher Connor Wong went on the injury list in April after breaking a finger on a catcher's interference call.
Advertisement
The catcher's interference calls have been costly for the Red Sox, and they came into focus again this week in Philadelphia. On Monday night, in a strange play that gave the Phillies a walk-off win in extra innings, home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott ruled Narvaez had interfered with Edmundo Sosa's bat path on a check swing with the bases loaded, forcing in the go-ahead run. It was the first time since 1971 that a game ended in a walk-off on a catcher's interference call.
On Tuesday, Narvaez was docked again on another run-scoring catcher's interference when he stepped in front of the plate before the pitch, attempting to get Bryce Harper trying to steal home.
The more traditional bat-clipping-mitt interferences have been on the rise across the league, but the Red Sox lead the league in such calls with eight, according to Stats Perform, with St. Louis second at five.
Last year, San Diego led the league with nine calls through 162 games.
The increase across the league is due in large part to catchers setting up closer to the plate. That helps catchers frame pitches better — the idea being that there's less movement for a ball to stray out of the zone if it's caught closer to the plate.
'The interferences around the league are way up,' Cora said on WEEI radio Wednesday. 'We're pushing our catchers — not only us — but as an industry, closer to hitters to steal strikes. That's the reality of it.'
In recent years, as teams have searched for every advantage possible, tracking hitter positioning in the box with cameras around the ballpark and with internal data has become a focus.
While Narvaez has been docked four times, he's also among MLB's best pitch framers.
Per Statcast's catcher framing runs, he's tied for fifth league-wide with five. Veteran pitchers on the Red Sox have lauded Narvaez for his presence behind the plate and game-calling skills, but whether the Red Sox adjust his set up to prevent more interference calls remains to be seen.
Advertisement
The Red Sox knew this tough stretch was coming, and it hasn't been any less foreboding upon arrival.
Each of their first three opponents after the break — Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles — lead their respective National League divisions.
The Red Sox dropped two of three in Chicago and Philadelphia. They weren't blown out in those games, but losses are losses.
The Dodgers come to Fenway this weekend, and for as good as they've been this season, they're in the midst of their own struggles, having gone 7-11 in July. They did pull off a walk-off win on Wednesday against the Twins.
Mookie Betts is hitting just .238 on the season and .185 with a .548 OPS in July.
With Brayan Bello, Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler due to start this weekend, the Red Sox need to find a way to use Fenway to their advantage, as their 32-20 home record indicates compared to a 22-29 road record.
Cora said this past week that Alex Bregman should be a full-go, which will likely help the club. Since returning sooner than expected from a severe quad injury, Bregman has played two out of three games in each of the past three series. He was off Wednesday ahead of the team's scheduled off day Thursday, and while he hasn't been running at full speed on the bases, he has said he's felt he can push it if needed.
Though the Red Sox are healthier than last year at this point, their pre-break surge and post-break struggles have been eerily similar to 2024, when they came out of the break with five losses in six road games in Colorado and Los Angeles.
If the Red Sox can capitalize on the Dodgers' scuffles while playing at home, it would help in the days leading up to the trade deadline.