That could have gone better

The Sox sure don’t like making things easy. It certainly would have been nice to take at least one of those games against the other Sox this weekend. It was beyond frustrating to watch the debacle over and over. I don’t know which was worse. Seeing the Sox just not score the runs they needed despite good pitching, or watching they throw balls every which way, and drop them on the rare instances they actually reached their target. Was it the bullpen blowing every lead they saw, or the starters not giving them a lead in the first place? They certainly didn’t look like a team that deserved to be in the playoff hunt. At least many didn’t completely go off on them. I had fear of him blasting ball after ball over the wall in left. But, he was only mildly annoying. (He was actually less annoying than the fans that continue to boo him for reasons I have yet to understand.) So, the Sox ended the weekend with their heads low.

Thankfully, in baseball, momentum is the next night’s starting pitcher. Jon Lester was just great last night, as the Sox secured a game they absolutely had to win. It shaved a game off the lead, and kept them in the hunt. If it is followed by two more, the Sox could have something.

Even in the blowout, the main Sox weakness shone through. The bullpen has been horrible. All the talk about injuries to the offense have glossed over on thing. Theo assembled an absolutely terrible bullpen. He sat on his hands through the first trade deadline. He sat on his hands through the second trade deadline. Did nothing to improve the team. If the bullpen had any talent in it at all, the Sox would be a lot closer than they are now…even with half their line-up no the DL.

I often wonder if the Sox re-injuries caught Theo off guard. Did he actually think Dustin Pedroia was coming back in July? (BTW, I’m so glad Pedroia worked so hard to get himself back on the field so he could make things worse and be gone even longer. That’s better than looking soft.) Was he counting on Ellsbury and Cameron being back when they were supposed to be? Did he not make any moves just waiting for them to come back? Did he assume they would be out longer than everyone thought, so he just gave up on the season?

I’m not sure I’d be happy with either answer.