The Boston Red Sox were riding high on a six-game winning streak from June 10-16. On June 14, though, Boston traded its best player.
Rafael Devers first suited up for the San Francisco Giants on June 17 and posted a two-hit night with a double and an RBI. The Red Sox also posted a two-hit night as a team after facing off with Bryan Woo and the rest of the Seattle Mariners' pitching staff.
Boston's recent winning stretch has been courtesy of its own pitchers. Garrett Crochet was elite as usual in his 8.1 inning outing against the Yankees on June 13, but the rest of the staff picked up the slack. Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, Hunter Dobbins and Walker Buehler held it down and logged a 0.89 ERA over the streak. The momentum was never going to last, and finally came to a screeching halt on June 17.
Buehler was rocked by the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. He let up eight runs on eight hits, including a grand slam off the bat of American League home run leader Cal Raleigh, with four walks over 3.1 innings.
The Red Sox's offense was nowhere to be found. They were left scoreless and dejected as their former best hitter started anew across the country from the home ballpark he'd always known.
The Red Sox's offense, weakened by Rafael Devers trade, may not be enough to compensate for rough pitching
Boston's pitching is nowhere near good enough for the front office to justify gutting the offense by trading Devers. The Red Sox's offense is top 10 in almost every metric; however, those numbers include Devers' production from the first part of his season in Boston. The Red Sox are staggeringly un-clutch and have struck out 697 times, the third most in the league. They've also fanned a league-leading 203 times with runners in scoring position, 31 more times than the second-place team.
The Red Sox's offense hasn't even been great throughout their winning streak. They didn't post more than four runs in any of their six wins, and averaged just over three per game throughout their six-game streak. Devers was in the lineup for five of those games.
Devers is the best version of himself at the plate this season, and the Red Sox need that production to stay afloat in the American League East and to justify buying at the trade deadline. He's slashing .274.401/.505 with a .906 OPS and led the AL in walks, way back when he was an American Leaguer. The Red Sox can't bank on Carlos Narváez and Abraham Toro maintaining their level of offensive production forever, and no one in the current lineup is as consistent at the plate as Devers.
If the Red Sox were serious about winning, Devers would still be in Boston as its permanent first baseman. Instead, the front office axed its offense, fully aware of the depth of its issues, to resolve a problem that it created.