Garrett Crochet spun seven excellent innings for the Boston Red Sox in Anaheim on June 24. Crochet notched 10 strikeouts and didn't allow any runs on three hits, yet the Los Angeles Angels still walked away with the win.
Boston wasted another stellar outing by Crochet with its incapable offense. Marcelo Mayer had a great day in his home state with three hits, a run and an RBI, but the rest of the Red Sox's offense was nowhere to be found. As a team, they posted five hits and nine strikeouts in another brutal one-run, extra-innings loss.
It feels like such a loss, and Boston's slip back below .500, could've been avoided. Maybe if the Red Sox had a slugging designated hitter at the top of their lineup, say, in the No. 2 spot, they could've plated a few more runs.
Since the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers on June 15, their No. 2 hitters, of which there have been many, are slashing .199/.262/.349. Couple that with Jarren Duran's offensive regression and Roman Anthony's slow start, and the top of Boston's batting order has been well silenced.
The Red Sox offense needs Rafael Devers' production to stay afloat
The Red Sox front office made some pretty ridiculous claims after the Devers trade, but one from chief baseball officer Craig Breslow immediately caught fans' ears.
“I do think there’s a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would’ve,” Breslow said.
It didn't take long for this comment to seem even more unfathomable than it was when Breslow first said it. Boston is on a four-game losing streak, including two games dropped against the Giants, Devers' new team, and it has averaged less than four runs per game in that time.
The Red Sox have consistently struggled to put complete games together, which was evident even with Devers on the team. When the starting pitcher steps up, like Crochet has done so many times, the offense disappears. When the pitching staff implodes, the offense is there to pick up the slack, just to fall a run or two short. The season is still only half over and Boston has time to sort out its issues, but it's running out of time to justify an aggressive approach as a buyer at the trade deadline.
The Red Sox aren't a better team without Devers, and that was never going to be the case. Boston's front office made its already streaky offense worse and potentially mortgaged the season because its ego was bruised. If the Red Sox miss the playoffs, management will have no one to blame but themselves.
