Sam Kennedy acknowledges ‘low point’ of Red Sox season

The 2023 Red Sox are still mathematically in the race for the American League Wild-Card on Thursday night.

But after being swept by the Houston Astros at Fenway Park as part of a 13-15 scoreline in August, Boston is currently 6.5 games shy of third place in the Wild-Card with a 69-65 record. .

With just over a month left in the regular season, FanGraphs ranked Boston with just a 4.6% chance of earning a playoff ticket.

During an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Red Sox President Sam Kennedy acknowledged the team’s unenviable position in what is already a bitter Wild-Card race.

“It’s a tough, really tough blow,” Kennedy said of Boston’s recent downfall. “We just don’t pitch. We don’t have the depth right now, and we saw it show up the other night. When you’re really thin with your starting pitcher, and you don’t have any starters you need to go deep, and you have 15 games in a row against baseball class, it just wasn’t not a good recipe.

“We had a really brutal month of August. I think we are 13-15 years old. So listen, this really feels like the low point. The odds are against us. But no one gives up. Until our playoff chances are zero, I think the clubhouse, our players, Alex Cora, the staff, they’re going to try hard to try to get back into this business. We have 28 games left to play, so let’s get on board and see what we can do over the next four or five weeks.

Given Boston’s struggles with depth, particularly when it comes to throws, Kennedy was asked if there were any regrets about Chaim Bloom and the organization’s decision to largely stay up to par. trade deadline and failing to reinforce a tiring bullpen and smashed rotation.

“I think it’s natural to question and look back and look at everything, but that’s not appropriate for us now – for those of us in the front office who are responsible for these things, at start with me and our entire organization. We are a team,” Kennedy said. “Others can look back and question and make distinctions, but for us, we have to focus on what’s ahead of us in the four weeks ahead of us and stay positive and try to get back into this business, whatever. whether the measures taken have been taken or not.

As Boston’s playoff hopes dwindle, Bloom and the rest of the Red Sox front office staff will need to be aggressive this winter in hopes of bolstering a young core of talent.

As for potential priorities in the offseason, Kennedy’s response wasn’t as surprising.

“Well, I think we’ve seen it, and it’s kind of proven in baseball: throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing again, is always necessary,” Kennedy said. “And I think we have young players and pitchers in this organization who are going to help us.

“We need to be active in the free agent market for the next five years. Because pitcher and defense win the championships. We all know that. And so that has to be a priority as we move forward.

Even though the Red Sox have a promising young pitcher to fall back on in 24-year-old Brayan Bello, Boston could use another top pitcher (or two) this winter.

The Red Sox have reportedly scouted Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto several times during the NPB season, while Blake Snell, Julio Urias, Lucas Giolito, Aaron Nola and Jordan Montgomery are just some of the best starts expected to arrive on the open market this winter.