3 Red Sox players to blame for being swept by the Angels
It looked like the Boston Red Sox had once again flipped a switch following an embarrassing home sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. Boston took two of three against two teams that were involved in the 2022 postseason, the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, before preparing to face off against a team that hadn't made the postseason since 2014.
The final game of that Padres series saw Boston's offense fail to show up, as the team was shut out. I, and most of Red Sox nation did not bat an eye, as the offense had been what had helped Boston get off to the great start they had gotten off to. The Red Sox were 26-21 heading into this series against the Angels and had taken three of four from Los Angeles at Fenway Park in April.
The script was completely flipped this time around. Boston looked completely lifeless in all three games and got swept in brutal fashion. They scored four runs in three games against well below-average pitching. The whole team with the exception of Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello deserves blame, but these three players stick out in particular.
1) Boston Red Sox player to blame for being swept: Rafael Devers
When is it time to start talking about Rafael Devers? I love Devers. I'm very aware that he's tied for second in the AL with 13 home runs and is third in the league with 44 RBI, but he's also having one of his worst offensive seasons in years.
Devers is slashing .249/.290/.513 on the season which gives him an OPS of .803. Normally an .803 OPS is good, but it'd be Devers' lowest mark in a 162-game season since 2018 when he had a .731 OPS. This is excluding the 60-game 2020 season.
The power has been there, but that's about it. He's behind guys like Masataka Yoshida, Alex Verdugo, and even Jarren Duran in OPS. I like all three of those players, but c'mon.
Devers had a two home run game in San Diego but ended that series going hitless in his final eight at-bats. We saw this carry over in a big way in this series.
Devers recorded just two hits, both singles, in 11 at-bats. We even saw Devers inexplicably try to bunt in the first game of the series leading off the seventh inning.
The Red Sox need more from their superstar, especially when the rest of the offense is struggling to piece anything together. Boston has scored four runs in their last four games. Devers having two hits in 15 at-bats in those games is a huge reason why.
2) Boston Red Sox player to blame for being swept: Justin Turner
I don't expect Justin Turner to carry anything close to the burden I expect Rafael Devers to, but Turner is one of the better hitters on this team. He hits either second or third pretty much every night, so Turner is a guy Alex Cora relies heavily upon to produce. He did absolutely nothing this series.
Turner went hitless in his ten at-bats this series and struck out three times. He did draw three walks which is good, but to go hitless? Against the Angels pitching staff?
It's not like Boston saw Shohei Ohtani or even Patrick Sandoval in this series. They faced arguably the three worst starters the Angels had to offer in Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning, and Tyler Anderson. To end up with four runs, two of them coming off of Aaron Loup, is inexcusable.
Turner being hitless is a huge reason why this team couldn't do much of anything. Turner hit third behind Masataka Yoshida who had two hits in the opener. He hit second behind Rob Refsnyder who had a pair of hits in yesterday's game. He couldn't help the Sox rally at all.
I think Turner has been a solid player for Boston. He even came up big when the Angels came to Fenway in April. This series however, he did not show up.
3) Boston Red Sox player to blame for being swept: Kutter Crawford
It pains me to do this because Kutter Crawford had been so good leading up to this game, but Kutter Crawford deserves some blame for the Red Sox losing this series.
It's very hard to win when you only score one run, I completely get that, but Crawford had been turning into a guy Alex Cora could really trust. He got roughed up in his first start of the season, but since then, he had pitched to a 1.25 ERA in his six appearances and 21.2 innings of work. This situation was a bit higher leverage than Crawford was used to, but you still felt like he'd get the job done.
Crawford even got the job done in a game against the Angels in Boston earlier this season. He didn't win them the game, but his performance in relief helped save the bullpen.
Tanner Houck had pitched brilliantly in the series opener, allowing one run in six innings of work. Crawford game on for the bottom of the seventh and after giving up a leadoff double, retired the next three batters in order to keep the game tied at one.
The eighth inning came, and new Red Sox killer Mickey Moniak struck. He launched a solo home run to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. This wound up being the final score with Crawford being the losing pitcher.
Is it completely fair to blame Crawford for this? Probably not, but he also had a very clear responsibility to keep the game tied. If Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani did this to him I might've been more lenient but Mickey Moniak? Really? Hopefully the upcoming day off allows this team to regroup. They need it.
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