As the Celtics and Bruins enter the postseason, the Red Sox are getting underway with the 2022 season. However, unlike their fellow Boston teams, they have faltered in the season’s first few weeks, sitting in last place in the AL East at one point, even below the lowly Baltimore Orioles. However, the Celtics’ exciting run deep into the NBA Playoffs has allowed the Red Sox to fly under the radar, and many do not realize how poorly they have played.
Starting with a crushing loss in extra innings to their rival New York Yankees, the Red Sox hovered around .500 for most of April. However, at the start of May, things began to worsen. Due to a lackluster bullpen and minimal production from the bottom half of their lineup, the team began to falter, losing a series against the Baltimore Orioles and then getting swept at home by the Chicago White Sox. By the end of the first week of May, the Sox were 10-19, sitting at the bottom of the American League. After a month of baseball, almost any hope of recreating last season’s playoff run was squashed.
Nevertheless, things may be improving for the team. In mid-May, Boston managed to win their first series since taking two of three games in Detroit in the first week of the season, outplaying the Texas Rangers in two dominant victories. Then, the Sox returned to Fenway to face the star-studded Houston Astros. Surprisingly, the team managed to take two of three games against the Astros before facing off against the Seattle Mariners in a four-game series. This series may be the most hope-inspiring thus far, as the Red Sox managed to win all four games, sweeping a four-game series. Possibly the most exciting trend in the past few weeks has been the impact of Trevor Story, the team’s most noteworthy free-agent pick-up, who took 31 games to hit his first home run with the team. In the Mariners series alone, Story managed to hit five home runs in four games, and, after batting .360 with six home runs, was named the AL player of the week on Monday, May 23.
Hopefully, the Sox can maintain momentum, but the team’s lackluster April record will linger in the backs of every Boston sports fan’s mind. As the hockey and basketball seasons end, fans will have no choice but to turn to baseball, and we hope that the Sox will give us a team to root for and maybe recreate some of last October’s magic.
