There was seemingly no reason to think Boston would struggle so mightily out of the gate in 2019. Virtually the same club that spent the better part of eight months steamrolling the competition last season is only 3-8. The starting rotation has been battered and a certain crispness in the field has been sorely lacking.
BOSTON - One might have thought the record would be reversed when the Red Sox made their triumphant return to Fenway Park for Tuesday’s home opener against the Blue Jays.
There was seemingly no reason to think Boston would struggle so mightily out of the gate in 2019. Virtually the same club that spent the better part of eight months steamrolling the competition last season is only 3-8. The starting rotation has been battered and a certain crispness in the field has been sorely lacking.
“We know where we’re going,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks. “We know how good we are. We know that we have to get better. We learned a lot on this road trip, but now it’s over.”
Perhaps the schedule itself should have set off an alarm or two. This is the latest home opener in the big leagues this season. The Red Sox trekked more than 6,600 miles on flights from Fort Myers to Arizona, Seattle, Oakland, Arizona again and home. Only the 1980 Twins – who played 12 straight on the road to avoid the brutal early spring in the Twin Cities – waited longer over the past century.
Boston also carried no momentum out of its Grapefruit League slate. Spring training games are meaningless on paper, yes, but going 12-17 in March as opposed to 22-9 last year couldn’t have set a more divergent tone. Cora cited the 17-2 start to the last regular season as a continuation of what the Red Sox did at JetBlue Park – not acknowledging the opposite to be true in this case would be a touch hypocritical.
Boston’s starting rotation members have been the primary architects of this early malaise. Chris Sale, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello have covered only 46 1/3 innings, allowing 47 earned runs. Porcello’s 13.50 earned-run average includes a pair of hammerings against the Mariners and Diamondbacks. Hector Velazquez has turned in the lone scoreless outing – three innings in a spot start on Sunday.
The last Red Sox home game on an October night against the Dodgers was part of a return to the sport’s pinnacle. Price was on his way to postseason redemption, winning Game 2 of the World Series and following less than a week later with another dominant performance in the Game 5 clincher. Boston was just about finished making its case as the best club in franchise history, no small feat for an institution that has lasted for near 12 decades.
Those two home victories against Los Angeles to begin the Fall Classic were nothing new. The Red Sox are a strong 152-91 at Fenway Park since the start of the 2016 season, the backbone of a run to three straight American League East titles. Boston was a scorching 57-24 at home last season, including a memorable Opening Day victory against the Rays.
In hindsight, that particular win carried with it what would become the hallmarks of the 2018 Red Sox. The 3-2 stunner in 12 innings featured an escape from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the ninth and carried with it key contributions from a handful of players – Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts and Bobby Poyner chief among them. That only Bogaerts made the postseason roster spoke to the wide range of assistance Boston received while storming its way to 108 regular season victories.
So break out the ceremonial uniforms with gold trim. Welcome various members of the New England Patriots – including, if rumors are true, the recently retired Rob Gronkowski – for some pregame honors. Hand Keith Lockhart his conductor’s baton and open your ears. The Red Sox are coming home, and they can’t wait to see you.