The Red Sox were not built for the challenges they faced, much less those that lie ahead

Red Sox

The coming weeks will provide Boston with a test against some of baseball’s best.

COMMENT

These are the days that will define who they are.

Yes I know. We all kind of know who and what they are, these 2024 Red Sox. Swells and giggles, as we said before the weekend. An exultant three-game sweep of the Rays, followed by four straight days of ice-cold bats, Monday’s coupled with Baltimore slamming around Cooper Criswell.

“We have to keep throwing. We have to be better defensively. I think the other aspects of the game are going to be fine,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters. “Obviously, we’re missing three big sticks in the lineup. But the guys who play do an outstanding job. We feel good where we are.

“Obviously it’s not enough, but I feel really good about the group and what we were able to do.”

Days like Monday happen, even for the best teams. Damn, weeks like this are coming. The 2021 playoff team scored 15 points in seven games in early August. The 2018 World Beaters collected 10 through five June games against the 115-loss Orioles, the 100-loss White Sox and the 98-loss Tigers.

“Teams go through periods like this,” Cora told reporters at the time, with a little more good faith than when I say it.

They are not the Red Sox of 2018 or 2021. I would argue that they are not the team of 2022 or 2023 either, although the very real injuries they suffered will likely make the final record quite similar to that of the 78-84 which preceded it.

It’s a tricky subject, these roster losses, and I suspect it’s going to seem even trickier in a few weeks.

The Sox just lost two of three at home to NL Central-leading Milwaukee and have two more in Baltimore, 34-18 in record and 34-13 in runs while beating the Sox four times. After Boston plays four against Detroit .500 at Fenway, comes Atlanta – dangerous even without Ronald Acuña Jr. After four with the league’s worst White Sox, comes Philadelphia (38-17) and the Yankees (37-18), baseball’s current 1-2. .

A few brief moments to breathe between now and mid-June, but not much respite. Especially not when they’re playing without Triston Casas, Trevor Story, Masataka Yoshida – the third “big bat” Cora mentioned – as well as Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock.

Casas is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list due to a torn cartilage in his ribcage on June 21. That’s about a week after this 18-game series ended.

The above is an indisputable fact. Saying that doesn’t rule out that this team they built wasn’t the Red Sox using the full muscle of their operation. We should be able to hold both things to be true.

I’m afraid we can’t. I fear that the good vibes from the first third of the season will quickly dissipate in tough times like these to come. (Boston is just 10-19 against teams with a .500 record or better.) And I fear this is turning into a discussion about how this team could have competed, without all these names, from those in positions who know better.

This is the great flaw of modern gaming, the drawback of creating a reality in which virtually everyone is involved. There is no desire to be great when being good is enough, and another empty October for a certain percentage of the chasing Mets/Yankees/Phillies/Dodgers at the top of the payroll will bring that point down again. the House.

So it’s critical to remember that the Red Sox told you loudly that 2024 isn’t about the rivalry. Not with words, but with inaction. The fact that you are still here means that, to some extent, you have accepted the larger vision at play.

Hey, me too. And the Red Sox aren’t the only ones doing it. Frankly, we’ve already seen the benefits, and they won’t go away even if the .500 ceases to be within reach.

Tanner Houck has become the starter many have dreamed of since that Frisbee slider night in September 2020 in Miami. Kutter Crawford also seized his opportunity, perhaps to a lesser extent, but while being less dependent on his very good fastball.

They see that they have something real with Wiyer Abreu. They see a more complete Jarren Duran at the plate and in the field. They see that, yes, maybe Ceddanne Rafaela won’t be much more than the regular defender he appeared to be.

Perhaps more than that, they see that their offensive approach could use the kind of overhaul the pitching received. Because we could continue with the first, and we’re pretty much done with the second.

Craig Breslow’s first year isn’t the first year this franchise idea has grown more of its own produce. There are already pieces in place, and while the tank wasn’t as severe as the one Baltimore went through to get where they are, it’s a lot closer to the same idea than many first thought .

However, grand speeches do not eliminate the here and now. The Celtics might stick around for another month, but the Red Sox will likely leave this race against baseball’s steel with the stage mostly theirs.

Will their pitching staff still be among the best in baseball? How long will Kenley Jansen, with four days between releases, be around? Will hits with runners in scoring position start to show up, or will offense with no one on base start to dry up in the same way?

How much of a problem will home defense be again?

The next few weeks will pose tough questions to a group that doesn’t seem ready to answer them. Luckily for them, their test isn’t scheduled until after this baseball season ends.