The Boston Red Sox won it all in 2018 but would fail to make a trip to the Fall Classic this season. What moves must they make to return to the big stage?
Just under a year ago the Red Sox were on top of the baseball world. The had just finished a dominant 108-win regular season and were cruising to an 11-3 run in the postseason. It would go down as one of the most exciting seasons in Boston history. From Opening Day until Chris Sale struck out Manny Machado for the final out, there wasn’t a down moment.
Sadly, 2019 wouldn’t bring Red Sox Nation the same level of joy and this season was a downright nightmare. There were moments this past year where it felt like they were going to turn things around and get back on track but nothing ever materialized. Many would speculate on the issues that were plaguing the team but a solution never seemed to present itself.
Both the starting and relief pitching was spotty at best through 2019 as each facet of the art would struggle and strive at different times. The offense that propelled the Sox to the Commissioner’s Trophy didn’t lack this season but they weren’t the savages we were accustomed to seeing in 2018.
To me, these are the areas where the Red Sox need to improve upon if they want to be contenders again in 2020. That may sound pretty obvious but if it was that obvious then why didn’t anything get done during the season to prevent the massacre that was 2019? Let’s take a look at some ways that these problems can be solved to once again make Boston a contender in 2020.