Why the Boston Red Sox are out of contention

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – For a franchise steeped in history and lore, recent times are challenging, at best. As the Boston Red Sox prepare to traverse through another winter of discontent, there could be no surprise as to the club’s 2024 demise.

When Rod Tidwell commanded Jerry Maguire “show me the money” in that iconic 1996 film, these times call for the equal demands “to show me the glaring trouble spots.” Manager Alex Cora identified a stunning confession as a principal culprit, but the Sox fall from contention goes much deeper.

Before Boston opened a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Ray on Sept. 17 in central Florida, Cora was blunt in his assessment.  Quickly, he identified a struggling bullpen as the catalyst for the Sox underachieving season. Simply, Cora told reporters before the Red Box opened a series with the Rays, the failure of his bullpen could not be discounted.

At the same time, Cora did not come out and create a checklist of difficulties. A look through the Sox season reveals significant explanations.

As teams eye post-season qualification, most managers and pundits place a realistic goal of victories in the upper 80s. That may not be enough to capture division honors but certainly meets a criterion for post-season play.

At commencement of the Twins series and with six games remaining, the Sox stood at an even 78-78. That would be at least 10 games under the potential target of the mid-to-upper 80s and an opportunity to grab some October glory.

“Issues with the bullpen have been lack of execution,” Cora said. “We executed early and then after the All-Star break, we didn’t execute. Look, you used to strive to get to 92. If you get there, great, and if not, so be it. Now with the new format, it may take 84, 85, or something like that, to get there. So now, it’s five plays here, five plays, five pitches there and a game here and there. If that happened to us this season, we have a different conversation.”

At the All-Star break, the Red Sox were 53-43, in third place in the AL East and five games out of first place. Clearly, that put the Sox within striking distance of the Orioles and Yankees and began to create separation from the Rays.

Then, the calamity of the post-All-Star period.

From that mid-summer classic until the commencement of the Rays series in Tropicana field during mid-September, Boston went 22-32 in 54 games. Coming into the Rays series, they had dropped 12 of their previous 20 games and 17-23 through their previous 40.

Dropping an 8-3 decision to the Rays on Sept. 17 pushed Boston, for the third time this, under .500. Through the September Rays’ series, Boston was ninth in the AL in ERA and eighth with 37 saves. Plus, the Red Sox were dead last in AL fielding (.980 percentage) and the only team to make more than 100 errors during the 2024 season.

“Back to the original question, we have struggled and struggled out of the bullpen,” Cora added. “There is a lot of work we have to do and we always talk about the evolution of who you are as a pitcher. The engine has to be fixed and get stronger.”

A revolving door mentality followed the team.

Coming into the Rays series, Boston used 56 players so far this season and tied a franchise record for the fourth time. The Red Sox used 33 pitchers and that tied 2023 for the second most in a season. That was behind 37 pitchers used during the 2021 season.

That forced Cora into difficult bullpen positions. Ideally, he told reporters before the Tampa series, “you want your pitcher to go a soldi six innings and then turn things over to the bullpen.”

“The bullpen usage is at its’ highest,” Cora added. “That’s something we need to take a serious look, put this in perspective, and go from there.”

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