Key Red Sox batters looking for answers

BOSTON — As hitting coach Tim Hyers sees it, the Red Sox offense is currently a tale of two lineups.

Xander Bogaerts appears locked in and Mitch Moreland has homered in five of his eight starts. Christian Vazquez and Kevin Pillar have both provided some punch from the right side and Alex Verdugo has ascended to the leadoff spot in the Boston order.

Those five might well be the headliners if the Red Sox were off to a decent start in the American League East. Instead, [...]

BOSTON — As hitting coach Tim Hyers sees it, the Red Sox offense is currently a tale of two lineups.

Xander Bogaerts appears locked in and Mitch Moreland has homered in five of his eight starts. Christian Vazquez and Kevin Pillar have both provided some punch from the right side and Alex Verdugo has ascended to the leadoff spot in the Boston order.

Those five might well be the headliners if the Red Sox were off to a decent start in the American League East. Instead, Boston remained at the bottom of the division entering Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. That means additional scrutiny for those underachieving at the moment.

"Then you’ve got the other group that’s really struggling," Hyers said. "They’re working hard. They’re trying to get after it."

Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. might be less surprising than Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez. The Red Sox currently have multiple holes they’re attempting to plug, and it shows. Take out a 9-7 loss to the Yankees last Sunday and Boston has managed just 19 runs in its last seven games.

"I think we came out of training camp and we felt like we were going to score a lot of runs," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "I don’t know that there was a lot of pressure on them there. I think they really thought they were all swinging great and we were just going to carry this into the season.

"Then when it happens where all of a sudden after the first couple of games some guys start scuffling a little bit, then I think they realize that yes, we’re going to have to pick this up. Everybody is going to have to do a little bit more. That’s not really what you want to do."

Benintendi is just 2-for-34, and one of those hits was a bunt single last week against the Mets. Pillar served as his pinch-hitter in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Toronto, facing left-hander Anthony Kay. This comes after a 2019 in which Benintendi’s walks dipped, his strikeouts rose and his peripheral numbers declined across the board.

"I think right now he’s losing his barrel," Hyers said. "He fouls off a lot of pitches in the zone where he wishes he could end the at-bat instead of falling behind. When you foul it off, you work deeper into counts."

Bradley has been no stranger to slumps throughout his career and generally receives a wider grace period thanks to his spectacular defense in center field. His 1-for-26 skid going into Sunday included a lone infield single at Tampa Bay and followed eight hits in his first four games.

"If you remember that first series, he was just killing them opposite field with the shift," Hyers said. "I think they’ve made an adjustment on him with how they’ve attacked him. They’ve thrown a lot of cutters in on him. They’ve pitched him in hard, which is probably not his strength."

Devers entered in an 0-for-10 funk and doesn’t have the sort of time to find his swing that he enjoyed during his breakout 2019 season. The third baseman totaled just one home run and two RBI through 14 games — it was no home runs and just 10 RBI in 32 games last year, but 130 remained instead of 46.

"He’s just really swinging hard instead of allowing his good hands to work," Hyers said. "We know he’s one of the best hitters in the game whenever he gets the ball in the zone and relies on his hands."

Martinez has been affected by a change in routine more than anything else. A tireless worker who generally arrives early and stays late, the designated hitter has found his hours in the cage and studying video restricted by COVID-19 protocols. He came into Sunday with no home runs in 52 at-bats.

"He’s putting some pressure on himself to carry this team," Hyers said. "He knows he’s a big part of it. We got off to kind of a rough start, and I know he put a lot of pressure on himself trying to produce."

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25