Another loss has the Red Sox and Alex Cora grasping for hope
The Boston Red Sox have been absolutely dismal this season, especially at home. With another loss in the books the team as grasping to their playoff hopes.
As we head into tonight’s clash with the Twins it’s hard to be anything but pessimistic. With how this season has played out it just feels like one gut punch followed by another. Last night’s loss was another blow to an already depressing season as the Red Sox couldn’t capitalize on a late comeback.
So with that, all said where do we go from here? Boston is stuck in Wild Card purgatory at 5.5 games back. We’ve heard all season from the Red Sox that the key to them turning things around was simply playing better. Well, no duh. But with another tally in the loss column thanks to the poor pitching of Rick Porcello, it feels like the air is coming out of the balloon.
Oakland and Tampa don’t seem to be slowing down whatsoever and that means bad news for Boston. Even when the A’s and Rays lose, the Red Sox can’t seem to get out of their own way to make up the ground. Boston does have a four-game stand in Tampa at the end of the season which could allow them to sneak into the postseason or it’ll be the final nail in the 2019 coffin.
As I write this, Boston has just a 5.0% chance of making the playoffs per Fangraphs. Compared to the Rays (75.3%), Indians (61.2%), and A’s (58.6%), it may as be at zero. Now don’t get my frustrating confused with giving up. I’ll be waving that Red Sox flag until the very last out but that doesn’t mean I have to be excited or thrilled with how this year has gone.
The Red Sox haven’t given up on this year just yet either and Alex Cora is doing his best to keep his team in every game. Cora spoke yesterday and made it pretty clear what the message is throughout the Boston clubhouse.
"“You control two things: The way you play and the Rays, because we play four games,” Cora said. “You don’t control the Indians and you don’t control the A’s. Although we started controlling the Indians when we beat them two of three. That’s all we can do. Just keep playing baseball, winning games and make that series count in September. Hopefully, by that time we’ve already passed one of the other two teams.”"
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AC is spot on with his outlook on the final four weeks of the season. There’s nothing the Red Sox can do about the Athletics or Indians since they’re off the calendar for 2019. Those four games against Tampa, however, can be a hell of a spark for this lineup. If the Sox are still within striking distance and go down to Tampa and take the series, they may just fall into October. Like Cora said, hopefully, they’ll be higher in the standings by the time that series happens to alleviate some stress.
We may as well be in the postseason as the remainder of the year is win or go home. Every loss that gets added to the record brings Boston closer to that golf course while everyone is dancing in October. With just a few short weeks left in the year, it really does feel like this team is just grasping to any drops of hope they have left.
"“I can map it out and I can give you a lot of reasons that we can do this,” he said. “But obviously over the course of this season, I’ve tried to give you guys reasons to believe in us and it hasn’t happened on the field. We’ve just got to take care of today.”"
Once again, Cora is honest and vulnerable with what he’s saying and he’s not wrong. All season it’s been about trustin the process and things will turn around, but they haven’t and don’t feel like they will. He’s also correct in that they have to focus on each individual day and each individual game, they can’t look at the entire month of September at once.
Next. The Red Sox blame game is about to begin. dark
There are still two games left against Minnesota before the Yankees come to Fenway. This week will either be a rallying cry for the Red Sox or the death knell. This team is beyond talented and in several categories has outclassed the squad of last year. For some reason that hasn’t translated on the field. With just four weeks left to make a final playoff push, they have just enough time to remind just how good they can be.