Scuffling Red Sox Plunge Seven Spots In The Athletic’s MLB Power Rankings originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox have recovered a bit from their slow start, but after 22 games, they’re still not where they want to be.
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At 9-13, the Red Sox are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for last place in the AL East. They’ve been outscored by 13 runs and still aren’t playing great baseball, ranking 20th in runs per game and 21st in ERA while committing the seventh-most errors.
Accordingly, Boston has been steadily dropping in the power rankings since the season started. The club took a big plunge in The Athletic’s rankings this week (subscription required), falling from 13th to 20th.
While the drop wasn’t explained, it may be due to several alarming developments for the Red Sox last week. Garrett Crochet turned in a pair of rough outings and clearly doesn’t look like himself, while the team also lost its No. 2 starter, Sonny Gray, to the injured list with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, Boston’s lineup continues to underperform, ranking tied for last in home runs and 27th in slugging percentage. Several of their best hitters still haven’t shown signs of breaking out, suggesting those struggles may continue.
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The Red Sox have had a tough schedule thus far, and it doesn’t get any easier this week. They host the first-place New York Yankees for three games at Fenway Park before heading to Baltimore and Toronto to close out April, so they’ll need to start playing better baseball if they want to make up some ground in the division.
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