As the Red Sox plod towards their 5th AL East last place finish since 2012, the following basic statistic surprises me: Runs scored vs. Runs allowed. Only three teams in the AL have scored more runs: NY, Toronto and Houston and the Sox are virtually tied with Houston. But only two teams allowed more runs, Oakland and KC.
There has been a lot of teeth gnashing on SOSH about the Red Sox offensive decline: the overall decline in HRs, the SO rate, the subpar year of JD and indeed Devers as well, the lack of Renfro and Schwarber production, the ineptitude of JBJ and Dalbec, the prolonged absent stretches of Story and Arroyo etc. Yet the Red Sox essentially managed to be tied with Houston for the third most runs scored in the league. But whole it is said that statistics don't lie, it still seems that the Six were offensively challenged this year. They sucked at coming back from behind and they sucked at extra inning games.
Maybe those observations were manifestation of the dumpster fire that was our bullpen. While the team had its share of blown saves with no effective closer for much of the year, the larger problem was disastrous late inning relief that put many games out of reach which is why they never had much success after trailing.
The larger point is that had the team's run prevention been more effective, their run production despite the optics would have carried them into the playoffs.
There has been a lot of teeth gnashing on SOSH about the Red Sox offensive decline: the overall decline in HRs, the SO rate, the subpar year of JD and indeed Devers as well, the lack of Renfro and Schwarber production, the ineptitude of JBJ and Dalbec, the prolonged absent stretches of Story and Arroyo etc. Yet the Red Sox essentially managed to be tied with Houston for the third most runs scored in the league. But whole it is said that statistics don't lie, it still seems that the Six were offensively challenged this year. They sucked at coming back from behind and they sucked at extra inning games.
Maybe those observations were manifestation of the dumpster fire that was our bullpen. While the team had its share of blown saves with no effective closer for much of the year, the larger problem was disastrous late inning relief that put many games out of reach which is why they never had much success after trailing.
The larger point is that had the team's run prevention been more effective, their run production despite the optics would have carried them into the playoffs.