![]() Rafael Devers (hamstring), Christian Arroyo (groin) and Eric Hosmer (back) have all been sidelined as well, and the result too often has been the club trying to patch together a roster with Triple-A band-aids and players who simply aren't up to par.Įven if the injuries have been a real problem, the club can't attribute all of its struggles to ill health and bad luck. Prime free agent addition Trevor Story missed a month and a half with a broken wrist suffered after getting hit on the hand by a pitch. Kiké Hernández missed two months with a combination of hip and core injuries. Meanwhile, the Red Sox also lost Tanner Houck to a back injury after he moved from the rotation into the closer role, lefty Matt Strahm to a deep bone bruise after getting hit in the wrist by a comebacker, and several other relievers as well. Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill all missed time due to injury, in some cases more than once, and Garrett Whitlock also wound up on the shelf after a month-long stint in the rotation. Losing Sale was a huge blow, but to then also lose virtually every other starting pitcher besides Nick Pivetta? No club could survive a run of injuries like that. ![]() Other than a strong stretch against the soft underbelly of their schedule in June, the Red Sox never got going and now risk finishing in last place for the second time in three years and for the fifth time since 2012.Īs if to add further insult to injury, Sale later broke his right wrist in a bike accident, wiping out any possibility of a September return. The Red Sox trail in the Wild Card by seven games with four teams to jump, and barring a miracle their postseason hopes look all but extinguished.Ĭoming off a thrilling 2021 in which the Red Sox reached the American League Championship Series and fell two wins short of the World Series, this summer's middling follow-up has been a massive disappointment. Instead they lost two of three to Baltimore, got swept by Toronto and now it almost makes no difference if the Red Sox can complete the sweep against Tampa Bay in Sunday's series finale. With series against the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, all the Red Sox had to do was string together some wins and by week's end they might have looked up and found themselves right back in the hunt. 28-Even after all their struggles dating back months, the Red Sox still had a clear path back to contention heading into this past week. In his career, he has a 2.46 career ERA with 391 career saves - second-most among active players behind Craig Kimbrel’s 394, and eighth all time.Aug. The 35-year-old right-hander from Curacao – just a short hop from Bogaerts’ native Aruba - went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 64 innings while helping the Braves with the NL East. The bullpen gave up the most earned runs in the AL last season, and manager Alex Cora struggled to find a dependable closer. Honestly, I would have been surprised if that had not been the case.”īloom stressed that there are different ways to build a ballclub, and with Bogaerts gone the team has necessarily turned its attention to its other weaknesses. Fully expected it,” he said on a frigid Tuesday in a function room overlooking the field, which was laid out for Saturday’s Fenway Bowl football game. Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said the reaction from fans was no surprise. The atmosphere, you see how intense the fans are, how much they get it, how hard they root for their team.”īut Jansen arrives in Boston at a time of near-revolt among the fandom, which watched Bogaerts depart just three years after former AL MVP Mookie Betts was traded away in the interest of financial flexibility. ![]() “It’s all about winning here,” said Jansen, who led the NL with 41 saves for Atlanta last year after spending his first 12 seasons with the Dodgers. The elder Jansen, a three-time All-Star, is Boston’s biggest acquisition so far this offseason after agreeing to a $32 million, two-year contract that pays $16 million in each season. Jansen’s son is one of the few Red Sox fans excited about the team this winter following a last-place finish in 2022 and then the departure of shortstop Xander Bogaerts as a free agent last week. ![]()
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