Red Sox: 3 takeaways from Boston’s series loss against the Rangers
Some thoughts on the Red Sox’s series loss in Texas
While April was a month filled with excitement and celebration, May has not started off the same way. Well, technically, it has. The Red Sox kicked off their regular season by losing three straight games to the Baltimore Orioles and so far they’ve started May by losing two in a row to the Texas Rangers. The good thing is that after losing that opening series to the O’s Boston rattled off nine-straight wins and finished the month 17-10. Will they repeat that process, maybe, but it’ll take some work.
Going into last week I was ecstatic with the schedule as it gave the Sox a chance to face the Mets, Rangers, Tigers, and Orioles in that order. One team is fighting to lead their division followed by three that are in the bottom of the basement. Things began well by sweeping the Mets but then the team lost three of four to the Rangers and are in serious need of a dominant week. With the Tigers coming to Fenway Park they have a chance at bouncing back from a tough week.
There were some good things that happened down in Arlington while others forced Red Sox Nation to rip their hair out. Questionable decisions, wasted pitching performances, squandered offense, and abysmal defense is the story of this most recent series. Before we turn the page toward the Tigers, let’s take a glimpse back at what was ultimately disappointing four games in Texas.
Takeaway #1: Garrett Richards comes through for the Red Sox
This is something I never thought I’d say but here I am for the second series in a row praising a guy at the bottom of the starting rotation. Garrett Richards knew what they had to do down in Arlington and they did their absolute best to get the job done. When you look at the starters that the Red Sox have in their rotation I think these two may have the lowest of expectations, but not anymore.
I have been hard on Richards all season long and in my defense, he’s made it pretty easy to dislike him. Poor performances followed by excuses don’t generally win over a fanbase. However, his last two starts have been absolute gems from the veteran righty and he looks to be finding his way after a rough start to the year.
His most recent start against the Rangers saw Richards toss 5 innings giving up just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run while striking out 7. He’s gotten better with each start in 2021 and has brought his ERA from a 27.00 down to a 4.40, awesome.
As the season progresses I look forward to seeing Richards revert back to his 2015 form where he pitched 207.1 innings with a 3.65 ERA and 1.240 WHIP. Despite a rocky start to his Red Sox tenure, the righty is proving to be a reliable arm in Alex Cora’s starting rotation. If he can keep pitching the way that he has in his last two starts then I think my days of being harsh on Richards will be over.
Takeaway #2: Red Sox slugger DH J.D. Martinez continues to mash
It should come as no surprise that J.D. Martinez continues to be one of the best hitters in the entire MLB. The Red Sox slugger has been tearing the cover off of the ball since that first series with Baltimore as he works to erase the 2020 season from people’s minds. He came into this season making his goals very clear that he wasn’t going to let two poor months define his entire career.
He’s been on such a tear that he’s currently tied for the league lead in homers (9) and does lead the league in RBI (26). That’s not all, though, as Martinez is also the MLB leader in Total Bases (72), and Doubles (10). Granted he also leads the baseball world in Double Plays (8), but we don’t need to talk about that.
Boston’s big DH wants everyone to know that he’s still one of the best hitters in baseball and he’s making that argument pretty clear. His biggest efforts in the series came in Game 2 where he had two homers and four RBI.
With the ability to opt-out of his Red Sox deal once again this winter it would be in J.D.’s best interests to continue crushing the baseball. The better he does at the plate the bigger his next deal will be. Whether or not that’s with Boston is the question. J.D. has made it clear that he wants to finish off his career with the Red Sox it’ll just come down to the two sides being able to come to the table and agree to terms.
Takeaway #3: Franchy Cordero is a Red Sox disappointment
This is one I think that everyone can get behind and should come as no surprise to anyone that’s watched the Red Sox in 2021. Franchy Cordero came to Boston as one of the five pieces Chaim Bloom acquired for Andrew Benintendi and so far he hasn’t had any impact on the team. Well, that’s a lie, he’s definitely had a negative impact. When Cordero comes to the plate more often than not it feels like an automatic out just waiting to be completed.
Cordero is batting a depressing .158/.213/.193/.406 with just two doubles and five RBI. Franchy has come to the plate 62 times in 2021 and has struck out 26 times. That’s right Red Sox Nation, he has a 42% strikeout rate through the first month of the season. Honestly, I don’t know what Franchy will eventually be but at this point, he’s an injury-prone player who is either boom or bust and there’s been too much bust.
WEEI’s Lou Merloni suggested that the Red Sox should send Cordero down to Triple-A Worcester to continue working on his swing and getting his mind right. With the Triple-A season kicking off today it makes more sense now than ever. Let him get a few weeks of reps at a lower level to work through his issues and call him back when he’s ready. This would also allow Boston the ability to promote Jarren Duran to the Majors, something the fans have been waiting for. Danny Santana is also an option to replace Cordero.
It would be a win-win as Duran can get MLB experience while Cordero gets back into his rhythm. When all is said and done it’s been really tough watching Franchy try and play baseball in 2021. Though he’s had some moments of brilliance at the plate and in the field, they’ve been far too infrequent to balance out the liability that he’s become. AC and Chaim Bloom need to make a move and make one soon because they can’t keep carrying Cordero around as dead weight if they want to win.
Looking Ahead: Red Sox v. Tigers
The Red Sox are back at Fenway Park for a quick trio of games against the last-place Detroit Tigers and it couldn’t come at a better time. Boston just went 5-5 in their most recent homestand and then lost 3 of 4 to the Rangers down in Texas. While they still sit atop the AL East their mojo has seemingly disappeared and they need to find it ASAP. They’ve gotten lucky with the rest of the division stumbling out of the gates but that won’t last for long.
Boston trots out Nick Pivetta tonight and the righty will look to build upon his strong April. The right-hander is 3-0 in 2021 which brings him to 5-0 in seven starts as a member of the Red Sox. It hasn’t always been pretty for Nicky P but his 25/7 K/BB ratio is just one chapter in the story. He owns a 2.81 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched with a 1.247 WHIP. He’s also given up just 15 hits in five starts this year which has been phenomenal.
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The Red Sox offense will be dueling Michael Fulmer who has been pretty reliable for Detroit with a 1-1 record and 3.86 ERA. While it isn’t the rotation the Tigers have trotted out in the past we’ve seen how this Boston team reacts to squads that are below them. If Boston wants to take this series from Detroit they’ll need to have their starters continue to be solid while the bottom of their order has to wake up. Too much is being done by the top five hitters in the order that the bottom four are getting bailed out, that has to stop.
The series breaks down like this:
- Nick Pivetta (3-0, 2.81) v. Michael Fulmer (1-1, 3.86)
- Martín Pérez (0-2, 4.70) v. Casey Mize (1-3, 5.06)
- Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.63) v. Spencer Turnbull (1-2, 4.50)
dark. Next. Red Sox will get back on track with soft schedule
This will be a very important series for the Red Sox and their drive to make it back to the postseason. Some will say it’s only May and these games aren’t as important, and those people would be wrong. You may not be able to win the division in May but you can sure as hell lose it. If they can put a stop to the bleeding and get back into the win column that’ll be a great boost to the morale with some big teams coming up on the schedule. The weapons are there and the opponents are just right for a perfect storm that could lead to Boston dominating this week.