3 Red Sox players that are ready to breakout against the Orioles
The ice-cold Red Sox are poised to get white-hot
To say that things haven’t been going well for the Red Sox in 2022 is an understatement. While there’s plenty of time left on the calendar they aren’t doing themselves any favors with the way they’re playing. Add in the fact that a majority of their games this month have been within the division it’s easy to see why some are eyeballing the panic button.
Luckily for Boston, they’ve made their way through the monsters of the AL East and now get a three-game weekend series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles. Granted, the Red Sox aren’t doing much better than Baltimore is at this point in the season but it still offers the squad a chance to rebound. This series also marks the end of an incredibly long road trip and brings us into May.
With all that said, some players are carrying their weight and are doing what they can to try and deliver the win. Garrett Whitlock has been a beast in the bullpen while Nathan Eovaldi has given every ounce of gas he has in the tank for the starters. Add in Xander Bogaerts single-handedly putting the offense on his back and that about sums up the positives.
Not everyone is underachieving as some are just up and down right now. I’ve singled out three specific players that I think we all would hope to turn things around in what should be a relatively stress-free trip to the Charm City. If they can start to warm up as the weather does then it could offer a spark to the rest of the lineup to get things cooking.
Red Sox OF/INF Kiké Hernández
Kiké Hernández is one of the most beloved players on the roster right now and he became an instant fan favorite with Red Sox Nation last season. A similar cold spell was the first chapter of his tenure in Boston but he would soon grow into his role as the leadoff man and became a force. As the season went on he would become one of the more clutch hitters in the lineup and would then go on a historic Postseason run.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to carry that hot streak into this season and his bat has definitely been missed. It’s gotten to the point that we’ve seen Alex Cora already shuffle the lineup and Kiké has seen his role in the order change a few times.
Through yesterday’s loss to the Blue Jays, Hernández is hitting a paltry .197/.267/.342 with one homer and 11 RBI. One positive is that he currently leads the American League with 8 doubles.
However, on the other hand, there is one glaring negative that seems to be the crux of all of his problems. In 76 at-bats, he’s struck out 20 times compared to just 8 walks. One of the things that made him a dangerous hitter in 2021 was his ability to lay off the junk and attack pitches he knew he could handle. Kiké currently owns a 9.3% BB%, down from last year’s 10.4%, and 23.3% K% way up from last year’s 18.8%
This is also a problem in the grander scheme for the Red Sox as they have too many guys in this department. We’ve even seen Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez chase at things they would never whiff at in the past so it’s not just Hernández that’s getting over-eager at the plate.
With this matchup against Baltimore coming at the right time, I fully expect him to find his patience and get back to wrecking opposing pitchers.
Red Sox 2B: Trevor Story
Trevor Story signed late with the Red Sox to much fanfare and seemingly as a statement from Chaim Bloom’s team that they’re willing to spend money. Right after signing though he left camp to witness the birth of his first child and shortly after that would get food poisoning. To say things haven’t been the greatest since coming to Fenway may be on the kind side.
Story has a beautiful swing and should be absolutely causing havoc with it all over but things just haven’t clicked yet. On some nights it looks like he’s finally putting the puzzle together and on others, it looks like he’s swinging at a golf ball. He started the season colder than a Maine winter but has since started to thaw out. His line is up to .224/.308/.293 with 13 hits and 5 RBI.
Similar to Kiké, he’s swinging at some pitches that he doesn’t have a hope of catching and has racked up 19 whiffs for a 29.2% K%. If he can do what he’s done his entire career and wait for those pitches that he knows he’ll rock then he will earn that trust from the Fenway Faithful.
He’s also learning a brand new position and despite some of the geniuses out there that think just because he’s a professional he should pick it up overnight, that’s not how the real world works.
He’s flashed some great leather over at second and you can absolutely tell that he’s putting in the work to retain his instincts but it’s going to take time. Look no further than the series against the Rays where his defense was the main reason we won one game and then the main reason we lost the next. The more reps he gets the better he’ll get and then we won’t have to worry about anything getting by him.
He’ll be facing some serious slop coming from the Orioles so this is a perfect opportunity for him to not only get some confidence in the batter’s box but also work on his mechanics. Hell, I wouldn’t complain if we finally got to see his first home run in a Red Sox uniform either.
Things are already looking up for Big Trev and these next three games could really allow him to kick in the door and show by Boston invested so much into him.
Red Sox SP: Nick Pivetta
Nick Pivetta has already turned into more than I think Chaim Bloom or anyone else expected. He was half of the return from Boston’s fleecing of the Phillies back in 2020 and has since locked in his spot in the starting rotation. Last year could definitely be considered a breakout for Pivetta but with a new role in the pitching staff in 2022, this season was to be his real-time to show what he’s capable of.
You know me and you know how much I love me some Captain Canada, but I’ll be honest and admit that he hasn’t made it very easy on us lately. He’s earned more than enough goodwill thanks to his Postseason heroics in 2021 that I’ll give him his time but I need to start seeing some consistency from him. His first three starts this campaign were atrocious and saw him give up 13 earned on 16 hits in just 11 2/3 innings of work. Not good.
However, in his most recent outing which came in this last series against the Blue Jays, it looked as if Pivetta found something. He’s spoken at length that something is off with his mechanics and he and the coaches have been watching tape to try and diagnose the issue.
Nicky P was able to hold the Jays to just two runs on three hits while striking out six and walking four. Considering what we’ve seen from him I’ll gladly take that kind of start from him again this weekend.
The biggest thing holding him back right now is the free passes. He currently leads the AL in walks with 13 which also factors into his AL-leading 15 earned runs. Want to stop the other team from adding tallies to the scoreboard? Don’t give up walks.
They’ve come back to bite him more often than not so far in 2022 and stopping the bleeding early in the season can lead to one hell of a year. We know what he can do and so do the Red Sox, it just a matter of getting him back into that mode.
Next. Red Sox move on from Travis Shaw. dark