Matt Johnson
The Boston Red Sox came into the season with aspirations of winning the AL East, and some in baseball viewed them as a dark horse World Series contender. Hours after a series loss to the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park, with fans booing the team and chanting “Sell the team,” at least one fan-favorite is backing some of the frustration.
Speaking to reports after Sunday’s loss to the Padres, outfielder Roman Anthony criticized the team’s energy and made it clear the way everyone is playing is unacceptable.
“We need to find a way to just bring more energy and just be better. This is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to the fans. It’s unacceptable to the standard we set for ourselves.”
Boston Red Sox OF Roman Anthony after Sunday’s loss to the San Diego Padres
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What’s Gone Wrong for the Red Sox?
Things looked promising on Opening Day. Boston opened the season with a 3-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Anthony went 3-for-4, Trevor Story had an RBI single, Jarren Duran went 2-for-5 at the plate with an RBI, Marcelo Mayer went 2-for-2 off the bench with two runs scored, and Ceddanne Rafaela went 2-for-4 with an RBI. It’s largely been all downhill since.
Across eight games played from March 28 to April 5, the Red Sox lineup has collectively posted a .211/.286/.374 triple-slash line. Boston ranks 27th in runs scored (27), 25th in walk rate (8.5 percent) and 18th in OPS (.659) during that span with the second-highest strikeout rate (29.2 percent) in baseball, per FanGraphs.
Coming off a stint with Team USA, Anthony has been part of the problem. He started hot on Opening Day but has since posted a .167/.242/.333 triple-slash line across 33 plate appearances with an alarming 36.4 percent strikeout rate. Meanwhile, Mayer (.136/.200/.364), Story (.108/.108/.216), and Duran (.160 batting average) have also been abysmal at the plate since the season-opening win.
Pitching has also been a problem for Boston. Top free-agent signee Ranger Suarez has allowed 13 hits and eight earned runs across 8.1 innings pitched in his first two starts, Brayan Bello (eight hits and five earned runs) was woeful in his first start of the season, and Connelly Early’s command was an issue on Saturday.
As the Fenway Sports Group continues to ask fans to pay more at the ballpark, the on-field product seems to be getting worse. Given everything that’s happened so far, it’s no surprise that fans at Fenway Park chanted “Sell the team” on Sunday, and we’ll likely hear more of that in Boston moving forward.
