Jackie Bradley Jr. should spend less time drinking water and more time scoring runs. Photo courtesy of Kelly O’Connor.
The Boston Red Sox of Boston have now won 32 games, which would be a great amount of wins if they had only played in 40 games, but unfortunately, they’ve already played in 70. Given this disappointing ratio of wins to losses, it seems clear that some changes need to be made so the team won’t lose any more games this season.
Luckily, I have just such a suggestion: they should try scoring more runs.
It’s a bold call, I know, but bear with me. It just might surprise you to learn that teams who score more runs than their opponents win the game almost 100% of the time!
Thus far, the Red Sox have scored 274 runs this season. That might seem like a lot of runs, but in fact, 20 other baseball teams plus the Marlins have scored more than that! That’s not ideal!
Last season, the Red Sox scored 853 runs, which was more than any other team in the league. In a potentially related development, the Red Sox also finished with the best record in the league. Coincidence? I think not!
How about these numbers?
2013 Red Sox: 1st in runs scored, first in AL East
2014 Red Sox: 22nd in runs scored, fourth in AL East
Wow.
This season, Red Sox opponents have scored 290 runs, which is a whole 16 runs more than they’ve scored. That’s not the best.
Last year, their opponents scored 656 runs, almost 200 fewer than they did. That’s probably the best.
Who is contributing to this lack of run-scoring-ness? Well, everybody. The Red Sox leader in batting average is Xander Bogaerts, who’s hitting only .277; that mark should ideally be at least 100 points higher. Jackie Bradley Jr. is batting only .205; that number should be more like his OBP (.295). Grady Sizemore’s two home runs are nowhere near the 33 we expected from him, like he had in his 2008 season.
It seems clear, then, that the Red Sox should trying scoring more runs. The previous strategy of not scoring many runs was creative and admirable, but unfortunately, hasn’t resulting in very much success against teams outside of Tampa Bay. An increase in run scoring should have dramatic effects for the team going forward; if they outscore their opponents in their games going forward, they have a good chance of winning them.
This has been a humble suggestion from Daniel Poarch of Fire Brand of the American League. Thank you.