ST. LOUIS — There are lots of stats that can describe why the Red Sox are two games under .500 and falling fast midway through a brutal May. But one might stick out above all.
Starter Kutter Crawford, who gave up a single run on six hits in 5 ⅔ strong innings Saturday against the Cardinals, has a 2.17 ERA in 10 starts this season. Five of those outings have been quality starts. On six occasions, he has allowed one or fewer earned runs. The second-inning homer he allowed to Nolan Gorman was just the third blast against him this season.
Yet, against all odds, the Red Sox have won just three of Crawford’s 10 starts. That’s right — they’re 3-7. And it’s almost entirely because of the offense. Boston’s bats have scored more than three runs for Crawford just four times so far this season and are averaging just 3.4 runs per start of his. On Saturday, as the right-hander dealt on a hot night at Busch Stadium, he left with a no decision in a 2-2 game; the Red Sox went on to lose, 7-2.
“That’s baseball. It’s baseball,” Crawford said after the game. “We’re struggling a little bit as a team. But I think it’s only a matter of time before we begin clicking on all cylinders.”
That the Red Sox are 22-24 — and 5-11 so far in May — is a loud indictment on the fact the offense hasn’t picked up a pitching staff that has constantly turned in strong performances all season. Crawford and Houck have both been dominant and Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello and Garrett Whitlock have been good in smaller samples, too. Even fill-in starter Cooper Criswell has pitched very well since joining the rotation.
Boston’s American League-leading 2.73 rotation ERA should have led to a much better record. But the offensive numbers leave much to be desired. So far in May, the Sox are hitting just .229 (19th in baseball) with a .668 OPS (21st) and 53 runs (25th). Entering Saturday, the club was hitting just .179 with runners in scoring position, marking the worst showing in the big leagues.
“It speaks to our offense. We need to be better,” said outfielder Rob Refsnyder. “We’re putting ourselves in good positions and guys are getting on base.
“I don’t think there’s any excuse for wasting Kutter’s starts. He’s got a sub-2.50 (ERA) the whole year. It’s all on us. We just need to do better. All of our starters are doing great and it just sucks. We’re trying hard and the results aren’t there. There’s no one to blame but ourselves.”
The Red Sox’ offense is down two key pieces (Trevor Story and Triston Casas) due to injury but has also seen prolonged struggles from some expected contributors throughout the month. Though Rafael Devers (.967 May OPS), Jarren Duran (.908) and Connor Wong (.843) have produced, others have not. Tyler O’Neill is hitting .164 in May while striking out 26 times in 57 plate appearances. Wilyer Abreu has cooled down to hit just .170 with four extra-bases on the month. Ceddanne Rafaela is hitting .220 with a .630 OPS and both first base pickups (Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith) have done little at the plate. Second baseman Vaughn Grissom (7-for-44) has a putrid .337 OPS since making his Red Sox debut May 3.
The struggles appear to be contagious.
“We’re struggling. I’m not gonna lie,” Refsnyder said. “We need to do a better job with guys on base. We’ve had some tough luck but we also need to execute better with guys on base, less than two outs and guys in scoring position. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes looking for that breakthrough.
“We’re probably pressing a little bit, to be honest. Everyone’s trying to make it happen. Everyone cares. Everyone wants to win. So guys are probably pressing. But we need to try to slow it down.”
The Red Sox’ bullpen has also been to blame for some of the May struggles. Rookie reliever Justin Slaten, who dominated with a 0.52 ERA in April, has been tagged for runs in four of six May outings and holds a 10.45 ERA in the first 18 days of the month. In the eighth inning Saturday, he was tagged for five hits (all singles) and four earned runs.
The pitching, though, has not been the problem — as evidenced by the fact Crawford has gone home after a team win just 30% of the time despite dominating.
“We need to execute and we haven’t done it,” Refsnyder said. “We need to score runs and we have to figure it out and figure it out fast because the pitching staff has done a great job keeping us in games.
“As an offense, we need to pick it up. There’s no excuses.”
