Is it any coincidence that the Boston Red Sox, built around offense, are winning now that their offense is coming around? The Red Sox won six of seven games on this homestand and nine of 12 since May 10, including five straight and three consecutive series for the first time this season and their first extra-inning win on Sunday, scoring four or more runs ten of those 12 games. The Sox now have the American League’s eighth-best record (19-22). They are three games back of the third-place Toronto Blue Jays and the last Wild Card spot. And Boston is tied with the New York Yankees for the best record (8-2) in Major League Baseball in the last ten games.
CHAIM!!!pic.twitter.com/Pbqsp70VPL
— The Pesky Report (Red Sox 19-22)(9-3) (@PeskyReport) May 22, 2022
Red Sox Offense Is Heating Up
Guess what? It’s beginning to come together. The Red Sox have had three blowout wins since May 10 and had four comeback wins on this homestand. Boston’s offense since May 10th is hitting .285/.348/.506/.854 with 79 runs scored, 32 doubles, and 19 home runs. J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers have been the Boston Red Sox’s offense all season until now.
Trevor Story is hitting .295/.377/.795/.1.173 with seven home runs, 19 RBI, and four stolen bases since May 10th and has a .883 OPS and 149 wRC+ in May, and Christian Vasquez is batting .313/.353/.375/.728 with six RBI (13 hits in 15 games in May with four walks and seven RBI) during that time. Enrique Hernandez (12 hits in 12 games with four walks and five RBI), Franchy Cordero (119 wRC+ in May), and Jackie Bradley Jr. (14 hits in 17 games in May with a 112 wRC+) are starting to contribute as well.
In May, Boston’s offense ranks sixth in runs and third in batting average, slugging percentage, and wRC+. The Red Sox rank fourth in OPS and wOBA, eighth in on-base percentage, 11th in home runs, and they have the ninth-best strikeout rate. The Sox are hitting the ball hard, too, ranking 12th in average exit velocity, 10th in hard-hit rate, and first in barrel rate.
Red Sox Went off on the Homestand
The past two weeks have been fun; however, the last seven games were even more entertaining. On Monday, Trevor Story hit his first Fenway Park home run, tying the game at three and setting the table for Xander Bogaerts’ two-run home run. Nathan Eovaldi had a historically bad second inning on Tuesday, allowing five home runs to the Houston Astros. On Wednesday, Nick Pivetta absolutely shoved in a complete game two-hit shutout. Then Story went off, hitting three home runs with seven RBI, fueling a Red Sox comeback victory from 4-0 down on Thursday. He hit a grand slam on Friday and another clutch home run on Sunday to put Boston ahead after Eovaldi gave up another home run (a cheap Fenway Park home run).
The Red Sox had another comeback win on Saturday, rallying from 5-0 down, capped off by a four-run fifth inning. And they added yet another come-from-behind victory on Sunday, their first win in extra-innings, on a Franchy Cordero walk-off grand slam in an eventful, to say the least, 10th inning. After allowing five home runs to Houston, Eovaldi, in a bounceback 6.2 inning, two-run, career-high 11 strikeout performance, picked up his 1,000th career strikeout on Sunday. In their four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, the Red Sox hit 10 home runs and drove in 23 runs. They hit .293/.348/.570/.919 with 48 runs scored, 18 doubles, and 15 home runs on this homestand.
Not going to lie; Franchy’s walk-off grand slam was reminiscent of Travis Shaw‘s walk-off grand slam last August when it looked like they’d turned a corner before… you know what happened.
Red Sox Could Get Right Back in This Thing
Over the last couple of weeks, but particularly during this homestand, the Red Sox have shown the fight and never quit attitude that defined the 2021 team. The agony, despair, and frustration that we all felt over the first four weeks of the season are all but gone. We (at least I) no longer worry about the Red Sox’s ability to claw their way back from any reasonable deficit. The Boston Red Sox offense is back to being one of the best offenses in MLB. Boston has a legitimate shot at getting back into contention in the next 13 games. After a three-game series vs. the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the Red Sox play 10 straight games vs. the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and Oakland Athletics.
Don’t let the Red Sox get hot. It’s not over yet.
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