Ron Roenicke gives incredibly frank comment on the state of the Red Sox

Ron Roenicke is off to a rough start as Boston Red Sox manager.

The Boston Red Sox have sputtered to a 6-11 start in what is a brutal debut season for manager Ron Roenicke. The skipper took over after Alex Cora was let go for his role in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.

Roenicke is without Chris Sale and is managing a team that traded away a superstar in Mookie Betts this offseason. Cutting payroll was a focus and it is showing on the field. Roenicke recently offered up a rather frank assessment of his struggling ballclub.

Roenicke straightforward about the Red Sox

This is a classic “you won’t win many games if you score fewer runs than the other team” type of take. But it is true. Roenicke was speaking after his team lost 8-2 against the Tampa Bay Rays in a game that saw the Red Sox get nine hits, but fail to drive in those runners.

The Red Sox are not an elite team in 2020. Martin Perez and Nathan Eovaldi are the two best pitchers in the rotation for a staff that has a collective 5.01 ERA. The staff is also 30th in WHIP at 1.53.

The offense doesn’t have anyone hitting above .286 and Mitch Moreland leads the team in home runs and RBIs in only 11 games played. So yes, Ron, it is going to be hard to win when the stars remaining in town can’t do what they are paid to do.

Roenicke’s club is currently sitting with a .353 winning percentage through 17 games. You have to go all the way back to 1965 to find a winning percentage below at least .400. The worst mark of the past decade came in 2012 when the Red Sox finished 69-93 with a winning percentage of .426.

Being in last place is not something Red Sox fans are used to and the team is nearly at the one-third mark of the 2020 season. Roenicke is being honest about his team and maybe the entire clubhouse needs to take time to reset after this terrible start.