The 5 most disappointing Boston Red Sox in the first half of the season

I think we all knew that this season wouldn't be an easy one for the Red Sox. Playing in a stacked division, losing key members from the 2018 team in Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi, and J.D. Martinez, and with key signing from last year Trevor Story spending at least the first half of the season rehabbing from offseason surgery, I would have called you crazy for thinking the Red Sox would be challenging for a title, or even the division title.

Even with these tempered expectations, however, you can't help but feel frustration and disappointment with this team. They've shown us through different points in the year that there's ... something there with this team: the eight-game win streak from April into May, sweeping the Yankees at Fenway to get the season series off to a great start, and the possible birth of our future ace in Brayan Bello. Beyond that, there's been stupid losses, poor performances at the worst possible times (we couldn't get Bello anything on offense while he NO-HIT the Marlins through 7???), and just a general feeling of "what is this team doing?". Let's take a look at the main reasons behind those frustrations with this team (note: this article is in no particular order, just the 5 Red Sox that have disappointed fans the most).

Most disappointing Red Sox in the first half -- No. 1: Kiké Hernandez

I swear, I don't mean to only write about how bad Kiké Hernandez has been this year when I write about him, but it's been so hard to avoid this year. I had hoped that Hernandez could figure out how to play shortstop a little better at some point this year, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen anytime soon. Pretty much anytime Hernandez is listed as the starting shortstop for the Red Sox, I pencil in a "1" into the error box on the box score before a pitch has even been thrown. If there was ever a prop bet offered for players to have a fielding error in a game, I would heavily advise everyone to bet Kiké Hernandez on any given night.

The most disappointing part of Hernandez this year has been his complete lack of offensive output. When looking at batters that have played at least 50 games for the Red Sox this year, Hernandez comes in dead last with an OPS+ of 69. His current WAR of -0.5 places him as a sub-replacement level player this year, and as I mentioned in my previous article, the Red Sox really need Trevor Story to come back, shore up their middle infield, and have Hernandez ride the pine for a little bit so he can figure out what is going on with himself.