From April 27 to May 4, the Boston Red Sox won four games in a row followed by a three-game slump. Rafael Devers thinks he knows what caused the Red Sox's recent skid.
The slugger called out the front office for its roster construction after Boston's series against the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox have undergone many lineup/roster changes — manager Alex Cora likes to move his players around regularly, but a surplus of injuries have led to more frequent alterations.
When critiquing the front office's choices, Devers did not name any specific players, but it isn't hard to conclude which moves he was referencing. In the past two weeks, the Red Sox have added four new players to the roster: Garrett Cooper, Zack Short, Dominic Smith and Vaughn Grissom.
Boston substituted some of those players into the slots of other Sox who were optioned or designated for assignment. Joely Rodríguez and Pablo Reyes were both DFA'd within one day of each other in late April. Enmanuel Valdez and Bobby Dalbec were the next players to be sent down on May 2 and 3, respectively.
Rafael Devers calls out Red Sox front office for its many roster changes that hurt the lineup
Some of the Red Sox's new additions haven't performed well offensively, but not all the blame for the stall can be placed on new faces. Smith has four hits and three RBI in his four games with Boston so far, but the other players haven't made such a palpable impact. Cooper has just one hit in four appearances with the club and Short has yet to register a hit in a Boston uniform, which was likely expected due to his offensive struggles throughout his career.
Boston also fumbled at a few crucial times. Devers fanned with the bases loaded on May 4 which spoiled a potential rally. Smith was thrown out at second after trying to stretch a single into a double earlier that same inning.
The Red Sox's new additions likely didn't perform any worse than their prior options. Valdez was batting .156/.186/.267, Reyes .183/.234/.217, and Dalbec collected just seven hits in 22 games. But a huge part of Boston's early success was due to "good vibes," as Cora stated — the Red Sox are friends.
Vaughn making his first Red Sox hit count! pic.twitter.com/gaAlBABClP
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 5, 2024
The Red Sox made so many swift changes to the roster that some players exchanged first greetings on the field during warmups. The players didn't have time to get to know each other and establish new "good vibes" before they played together for the first time.
The new and old Red Sox needed a few days to get used to each other, and it showed on May 5. Boston put up nine runs against Minnesota in its rebound game and both Grissom and Smith posted two-run doubles.
The Red Sox got their positive energy back just in time for a tough matchup with the Braves and former Boston pitcher, Chris Sale. Hopefully, the Sox's hot bats can carry over and the "good vibes" will be fully set in by May 7, but it's hard not to side with Devers since a lot of the team's problems can be traced back to the overall poor roster construction over the past few seasons, which has led to a revolving door at the beginning of 2024.