Red Sox are giving fans nothing but unending pain down the stretch
By Rylie Smith
After an unpredictable season, the Boston Red Sox see the end approaching quickly — and it doesn’t seem to be a happy one.
Chris Sale’s bike debacle encapsulates the entirety of the Boston Red Sox season: bizarre, unpredictable, avoidable, and ultimately tragic.
They’ve had several ups and downs, but they’ve been on a consistent downfall throughout the summer that shows no sign of improvement. If Boston continues at this tepid pace, they won’t be able to make the playoffs.
To add to struggles throughout the season, the Red Sox now have several players who are suddenly underperforming. Veteran outfielder J.D. Martinez started the season well and was hitting .406/.467/.604 by the end of May. His performance has significantly gotten worse each month since, and he’s now down to a low .161/.206/.226 for August.
Boston’s star pitcher Nick Pivetta has also had a major decline in performance. He allowed three runs in six innings in Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, which ended in an 8-4 loss. According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the “Red Sox bullpen has a 7.16 ERA since the All-Star break, the worst (by more than a run) in MLB.”
The once-hopeful team will likely say goodbye to any championship hopes this season long before October.
Boston Red Sox seem unlikely to make playoffs amid Nick Pivetta and J.D. Martinez struggles
The Red Sox are sitting at the bottom of the AL East standings and are the only team in the division below .500. They’ve only finished last twice in the past eight seasons (2015 and 2020).
Though it wouldn’t be impossible for Boston to make it to the playoffs, they’d have to turn their performance around and consistently play well. FanGraphs currently has their playoff odds at 13.1 percent and their World Series win probability at 0.4 percent.