The Boston Red Sox have nine games (all at home) remaining before the all star break. They have six of those games against teams that are a combined 27 games under .500.
That all sounds great, but if the Red Sox continue to pitch poorly, it doesn’t matter who they are playing. Over the past nine games, the Red Sox have gone 3-6, including losing two out of three against a team that had an 11 game losing streak coming into their series. During that span, they only received one decent performance from a starting pitcher. That came from Rick Porcello in a 8-2 win over the Rays on June 28th
With the all star break approaching, that also means the trade deadline is approaching. That deadline comes one month from today. Everyone knows the Red Sox need another bullpen arm or two, another starting pitcher, a left fielder, and some bench depth. We all know the number four and five spots in the rotation are an issue as they are for most teams except the Indians, Cubs, and Mets. However the top of the rotation shouldn’t be an issue and if it continues to be, even getting the pieces they need and getting rid of the worst in game manager in baseball may not be enough. If Steven Wright and Rick Porcello do what they have done most of the season and David Price can be what he was before he put on a Red Sox uniform, Dave Dombrowski can do what he needs to do to put the 2016 Red Sox where they need to be.
The nine game stretch starts against a struggling Angels team. They have pitched very poorly. They do have Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, so the pitching will need to be better to slow down that duo. The next three games will come against the Rangers, who currently sit at the top of the American League a West. The final three games before the break come against the lowly Rays. The same lowly Rays that took two out of three against the Red Sox.
The Red Sox have who they want on the mound to start things off with Steven Wright taking her ball tonight against the Angels. As bad as things have been recently the Red Sox are only five games behind the first place Baltimore Orioles in the American League East and currently hold one of the wild card spots. These Red Sox need to get over June and hopefully get back to doing the positive things they were doing in April and May.
