With the All-Star Game in the rear view mirror, most clubs will now turn their attention to the next big event on the baseball calendar. That event is of course the July 31st non-waiver trading deadline. With the implementation of the second Wild Card, more teams than ever before are hanging on to hope for longer and longer. Still, most know before that day if they’ll be buyers or sellers going forward. One team that may not know their organizational identity by that juncture is the Boston Red Sox. Just two years removed from a World Series championship, the Red Sox are in total limbo.
The 2015 Red Sox have found many ways to severely underachieve. The starting pitching is public enemy number one. Freshly minted right hander Rick Porcello has nearly a half a run lead on his closest competitor (New York’s own money pit C.C. Sabathia) for worst ERA among qualifying AL starters. Clay Buchholz has finally seemed to stabilize himself as the team’s ace. However, Sox fans are always waiting for that shoe to drop and see Clay on the sidelines for a month and change. The rest of the rotation has struggled for consistency as well. Joe Kelly, supposed possessor of the team’s best stuff, is rotting in the minors. Wade Miley is an innings eater who can’t get past the sixth. Justin Masterson is a mop up guy on his best day currently. Even the shining light of Eduardo Rodriguez has been mildly dimmed by two absolute poundings at the hands of division rivals Baltimore and Toronto this past month.
The bullpen has been better. Koji Uehara isn’t the otherworldly performer he was his first couple years in Boston, but he is still one of the top ninth inning guys in the AL. Junichi Tazawa continues to take the ball more often than he should though he’s having his best season as a full time Sox reliever. The rest of the crew is a mish-mash of serviceable arms that know their role and do their best to fulfill it. The Achilles Heel of this unit though is the base on balls. They are middle of the road in that category among MLB pens (14th with 97 BB) but the timing of the walks is what kills them more often than not. It is rare to get consecutive clean innings from the bullpen and that can overly frustrate the manager, their teammates, and the fans.
It would be irresponsible to not bring up the lineup in regards to the Red Sox’ current state of affairs. Mike Napoli is nearly an instant out. Pablo Sandoval is not as bad, but is pretty close with the added caveat of significantly declining defense. A constant stream of injuries have Sox faithful pulling their hair out when it comes to Rusney Castillo, Shane Victorino, and Hanley Ramirez. We may be seeing the dying embers of Big Papi’s career. On the other hand, Dustin Pedroia is finally 100% and playing like his old MVP self again. Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts laid qualified claims to joining Brock Holt on the AL All-Star Team.
There is a lot of good and bad here. The bad is currently outweighing that good as the Sox sit in last place. That last place standing is a bit of a mirage though as they are just 6.5 games out of the division lead and 6 out of the second Wild Card spot. The AL East is a warzone and has become the most unpredictable in the sport. That is what puts GM Ben Cherington in such a tough predicament. His team is woefully underperforming and is frighteningly overpaid. The thing is though could he move the right pieces in a couple weeks time and make another run at the postseason. He could just as easily pull the old “Dodger dump” that he did with Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett and hope that he can give take another swing at the free agency pinata.
The next several weeks will be vital to which switch Cherington pulls. Any semblance of a prolonged losing streak should mean curtains for the Kung Fu Panda and the HanRambulance. It may cost a couple of younger guys to do so, but it will allow him more freedom to attack the market again with David Price, Johnny Cueto, and Zack Greinke set to become free agents in 2016. However, if the Sox continue their upward swing, they have won 10 out of their last 15, a late season surge isn’t completely unfathomable. Limbo is fun when you are on a cruise ship. It isn’t as pleasant when you are determining the future of your franchise.