The Boston Red Sox have had a nightmare start to their season but with a return to Fenway Park on the horizon, they just need to survive the rocky seas.
We can all be honest and admit this season has been a complete and utter nightmare. With just mere flashes of brilliance, there have been long spells of darkness clouding the 2019 Red Sox. But never fear Red Sox Nation for there is a beacon hope in the form of Fenway Park on the horizon. Just what this team needs, their own beds, home cooking, family, and the city that gives them their spark.
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In 2018 it honestly didn’t matter if the Sox were on the road or at home as their records were nearly identical, 57-24 at home to 51-30 on the road. But with the team now carrying around a catastrophic 2-8 record they desperately need to get back to Fenway Park. Starting the season with an 11-game road trip was as close to handicapping the team as you could get. Seriously, we’re talking Nancy Kerrigan taking a golf club to the knee bad.
The real test of this team will kick in once they’re back in Boston and have Red Sox Nation firmly cheering and in some cases probably jeering them. Boston is known to be one of the hardest regions to play in as the fans will love you one day and hate you the next depending on your performances, ask Bill Buckner.
The only members of the squad who are playing with any quality right now are J.D. Martinez and Blake Swihart. Everyone else will have a spark here or a flash there but nothing consistent. And it’s in every facet of the game that the ship seems to be in rough waters. The pitching is a shadow of what it should be, the bats are as cold as a Summer Ale fresh from the tap, and the defense is something nobody should envy. But there is still hope and it comes in the form of a 37.2-foot tall green wall in left field.
The ship has sprung a leak but she isn’t ready to capsize just yet. As the team returns to Boston this week like a vessel returning to port, they’ll begin to work on repairs. I believe in my heart of hearts that this homestand will be exactly what this team needs to break out of this disastrous slump. I also feel that some adversity is exactly what the Red Sox need after the highs they felt in 2018. It will bring them together on the field and off as they search for the solution to their woes.
Fenway Park is a magical place and anyone who’s ever been there can tell you so. And a little bit of magic could be exactly what the 2019 Red Sox need after this road trip. The Green Monster will play the biggest assist in helping the Sox get back on track as I can see guys wanting to light it up and get some frustration out of their system. Having Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, and Jackie Bradley Jr. back in an outfield they could roam with their eyes closed should end the defensive miscommunications.
With things working themselves out at the plate and in the field the pitching will eventually find it’s course. The team could still be dealing with the change of lead catcher from Sandy Leon to Christian Vazquez. But time will iron out those wrinkles and coming back to Fenway Park will only aid in that evolution. Boston can’t drag their feet while at home though as they soon go right back on the road. After some time to rest and recover in the Boston Harbor, the foreign seas that are the rest of the league may not seem so dangerous.
I have zero doubt that Alex Cora will do what he needs to in order to get his ship and crew plotting the right course to the endgame of the World Series. The Red Sox may be 2-8 as I write this but I look for a much-needed stay at Fenway to bring that record closer to level. Only time will truly tell if this crew has what it takes to navigate the waters of Major League Baseball once again to find their treasure of the Commissioner’s Trophy.