3 players the Boston Red Sox should move on from to save their season
I would like to start this piece by apologizing for serving as a potential jinx to the Red Sox. In my last piece, I talked about how the city of Boston needed the Red Sox to have a successful season, and the Red Sox decided to immediately lose their series with the Reds and struggle against the Rays. Perhaps I weighed the team down with expectations that were too lofty with that piece, and in an effort to take any sort of bad vibes away from the Red Sox, I shall throw myself on the sword for this team and take the blame. With that being said, let's talk about how this Red Sox team can save themselves.
The Boston Red Sox are hurtling towards a potential breaking point in the season. As of writing, the Red Sox sit at 30-29, which is good enough for last place in the AL East, a few games behind the 4th place Toronto Blue Jays and slipping further out of contention recently, dropping 5 of their last 7 contests.
The offense outside of Alex Verdugo and Masataka Yoshida hasn't been anything to write home about, the pitching can never seem to marry a good starting performance with solid bullpen work, and the defense continues to come up with ways to embarrass themselves. There have been some clear weak spots in the lineup (I know we still have Trevor Story and Adam Duvall coming back, but bear with me), and I think it's time for the Red Sox to consider moving on from a few of these guys while they can.
Players the Red Sox should move on from -- No. 1: Kiké Hernandez
Man, oh man. What on earth are we going to do with Kiké Hernandez? I figured that Hernandez would be at least serviceable as the primary shortstop through this first stretch of the season, but oh my has it been awful to watch him fumble around at short. He leads the entire Major Leagues with 13 fielding errors this year, all of them coming at shortstop, which is never going to win you ball games. I would be able to excuse it if he was producing at the plate, but that hasn't been the case this year.
So far, Hernandez has been batting .233, with an OPS of .666 and an OPS+ of 80. He hasn't really shown any extended stretch of power this year, he has struggled to drive runs in, and he's been striking out at a worryingly high rate this year. This isn't 2021 anymore, that injury that Hernandez dealt with last year is clearly having a lingering effect on his production still, and to be completely honest, it might be for the best that Hernandez's contract is up after this season.
Chaim Bloom should try to look for some sort of deal involving Hernandez so that we can get something in return for him, but all in all, it is clear that the Red Sox need to move on from Kiké Hernandez, and fill his lineup spot with someone who can actually field the ball (hopefully Trevor Story comes back sooner than expected).
Players the Red Sox should move on from -- No 2: Richard Bleier
When it was announced that the Red Sox had made a trade for Richard Bleier, I was excited for it on two fronts: 1) the Red Sox had finally managed to get Matt Barnes out of the bullpen, and 2) I couldn't stop thinking of the Foolish Baseball video all about Bleier. I was extremely hopeful that Bleier could serve as a solid lefty option coming out of the bullpen, and would really work well later on in games.
So far, that hasn't been the case with good ole Dicky B. In 19 appearances, Bleier has put up a career low ERA+ of 79, pitching to the tune of a 5.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.35. Now, Bleier was placed on the injured list a couple of weeks ago, so his numbers may have been affected by this, but even still, I would've hoped for a bit more out of Bleier this year.
Even though it has been better than last year's iteration, the bullpen this year still hasn't instilled a lot of confidence in the fanbase. It feels like there's been at least one pitching decision that ends up being a mistake per game, and it would almost make more sense to try and cull out a lot of the stale arms in the bullpen in order for the Red Sox to turn their fortunes around, and that should start with Bleier.
Players the Red Sox should move on from -- No 3: Corey Kluber
Look, I understand why the Red Sox took a flyer on Corey Kluber going into this year. Not only is he a former Cy Young winner, but he's a veteran presence that could help settle the young arms on the pitching staff and maybe aid in their development. However, from the first inning of the season opener versus Baltimore, it became very clear that the Klubot is malfunctioning, and no on has figured out how to fix it.
Kluber, even after being demoted to a bullpen role, has posted a 6.25 ERA and an ERA+ of 73 with a 3-6 record. Now, Kluber does have a chance to show us that he still has something left in the tank, filling in for Chris Sale while he completes his current IL stint, but Kluber is going to have to really perform well to change any opinion about his borderline disastrous season so far.
Much like what I said when talking about Richard Bleier, if we reach the point where the bullpen needs to be taken apart and built back up again, Kluber has to be one of the first arms that gets sent packing.
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