The Boston Red Sox are seeing their postseason hopes slipping through their fingers with each loss. They need a wake-up call and they need it now.
Wow. That’s all I can say in relation to the 2019 Red Sox. I said the same thing when it came to the 2018 squad but oh how a difference a year can make. The same word is being used and yet the connotation is so vastly different. There are only 48 games left in the season and you’d think there were 148 with the lack of energy we’re seeing nightly.
During the early portions of the season, we attributed the misfortunes to “championship hangover.” A very real thing that can hinder a team from reaching similar heights in the following year. But as time went on it became much more difficult to defend the type of play we were seeing from the Red Sox.
So what’s the difference? What has changed so dramatically from last year to this one that has Boston so off-kilter? Many will point to the pitching and that’s a fair assessment. But except for Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly, this is pretty much the same staff from 2018. Is it the offense? I can’t say that it is considering they lead the majors in damn near every major offensive category there is.
So then what?
Red Sox Nation is scratching their heads and I can guarantee the organization is doing so tenfold. The last seven games have been an embarrassment and that needs to be felt throughout the club. Getting swept in back-to-back series by the Rays and Yankees have all but put the final nail in the coffin of 2019. As I said earlier though, the Red Sox still have 48 games to salvage this season.
The AL East is pretty much signed, sealed, and delivered at this point. I can’t see the Yankees releasing the chokehold they have on the top spot anytime soon. There’s still a small glimmer of hope for the Wild Card as that gap is just 6.5 games.
We all thought this stretch of the schedule that would give the Red Sox 14-games to make some noise was a Godsend, it turned out to be an albatross around the neck instead. Boston has a break coming up, no not any days off, but a stretch of weaker squads to hopefully beat on. Fenway Park will host the Royal and Angels in the next seven days. If the Sox are going to wake up, this is the time to do it.
Getting swept in the embarrassing fashion that Boston just did should stoke the fire and get the engines moving. Now’s the time for the Red Sox to get pissed and go into Hulk Smash mode. After the upcoming KC and LAA duels, they get a chance to knock down Cleveland.
The Indians sit atop the WC standings and with the right motivation can be knocked off their perch. This is that time for Boston, beat down on the weaker teams to get the energy flowing then take down Cleveland.
There’s still plenty of time on the calendar and I know that sounds so naive and unrealistic but there is. 48 games is a serious amount of time and it gives just enough hope for both the club and Red Sox Nation that something can be done.
We heard about the team meeting between games on Saturday, well that didn’t do a damn lick of good. But now the Sox have been punched in the mouth again, knocked down again, and it’s time to get back up.
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Everyone is counting the Red Sox out and many have already written off this season and rightfully so. I have a feeling that this past week will be the exact type of bulletin board material that Boston is needing. They were the darlings of baseball last season with their dominant run, and now they need to show that it wasn’t just a blip on the radar and that they’re here to win.
Remember the Colorado Rockies from 2007? Of course, you do! Granted, they’re remembered more for getting swept by a buzzsaw Red Sox club but how they got to the World Series is just as important. In the middle of September, they were 76-72 and had no hopes of the postseason. They would then win 14 of their final 15 before defeating the Padres in a playoff game to get to the postseason.
It can be done and this Red Sox team as more than talented enough to pull off such a comeback. The woe is me behavior needs to end and this past week needs to be a rallying cry for Boston. Read the headlines, watch the talking head shows, summon every damn ghost of Fenway Park and fire up the engines. There are 48 games left to write your story Boston, it’s up to you to dictate how it’s remembered.