The Boston Red Sox, a team many expected to finish comfortably in the cellar of the AL East, enters Wednesday's action with a record of 50-40. They're in sole possession of the third Wild Card spot, and are just 6.5 games back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. Postseason aspirations feel very real.
The Red Sox have gotten tremendous contributions from several unexpected individuals, but arguably the biggest surprise has been the performance of Kenley Jansen, a legendary closer who had not quite been his old self the past couple of seasons. His 2024 campaign, on the other hand, has been elite.
Despite being in trade rumors since the offseason, Jansen has dominated as Boston's closer, posting a 2.01 ERA in 31 appearances and 31.1 innings of work, converting 18 of his 19 save opportunities. He had a very legitimate All-Star case.
Not only is Jansen shoving on the mound, he's also trying his best to get the message across to Boston's front office that they need to add pieces. If they add the right ones, Boston can potentially make a deep run in his eyes. He detailed exactly what he believes Boston needs to do at the deadline on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast.
Kenley Jansen pleads for Red Sox front office to show some urgency and add needed pieces
"Would I go to the front office? No. The reason why is because I get paid to close ballgames. … I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. I think they are smart enough to know what we really need," he said. "It’s obvious what we need. It’s obvious we need a right-handed bat. It’s obvious we need a starter or two. And we’ll compete against anybody."
This sums it up pretty well. Boston's needs are obvious, and Jansen knows that. He won't go up and tell the front office people how to do their jobs unless they ask him to, but he expects action to be taken.
Adding a right-handed bat makes a lot of sense. Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran and Triston Casas, the clear-cut three best hitters in this lineup, are all left-handed. Guys like David Hamilton, Masataka Yoshida and Wilyer Abreu are all left-handed. Boston's best right-handed bats are Tyler O'Neill and Connor Wong. No shade to them, but that should be upgraded. Adding more balance could make this lineup even more dangerous.
In terms of starting pitching, he's spot-on again. Boston's 3.65 starting pitching ERA is good for seventh in the majors, which isn't bad, but it's not what it was earlier in the season. They rank 17th in the MLB with a 4.29 ERA since June 1. They're without Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock for the season.
Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, and Brayan Bello have all had recent struggles. Houck and Kutter Crawford are on pace to shatter their career highs in innings. Adding a starting pitcher or even two like Kenley said would add some much-needed stability.
The bottom line here is that the Red Sox are 10 games over .500 on July 10. They're sitting by themselves in a Wild Card spot, and that's with several injuries. This team is good. They might not be favored in series against teams like the Orioles or Guardians, but they're good. They deserve a shot at making a run, and that happens with the front office providing the necessary reinforcements.
Jansen isn't asking for them to decimate the farm system—just make moves to make this team better. Hopefully their front office, and most importantly, Red Sox ownership, will be on board.