At the beginning of this century – say, 2000-2004 – this start to the season by the Red Sox would be cause for citywide panic. Going into Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, the Sox were 23rd in Major League Baseball in runs scored with 22. Their team leader in batting average, home runs and RBI was Sandy Leon (.368 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI), and their team leader in OBP and hits was Mitch Moreland (.385 OBP, 8 hits).
Mookie Betts has just one hit in 10 at-bats, Pablo Sandoval – despite showing signs of promise – is batting just .130 in 23 at-bats, and young phenom Andrew Benintendi is hitting just .174 in his 23 ABs.
The pitching, interestingly enough, has been a tad better. The Sox own a 3.17 team ERA – which is seventh best in baseball, and they the most runs they’ve allowed in a game so far is six in a 6-5 loss last Friday afternoon in Detroit.
