John Henry Confident In Red Sox Despite Boston’s ‘Disappointing’ Stretch

BOSTON — Red Sox principal owner John Henry took stock of his team’s performance Tuesday.

The Red Sox entered the middle game of their series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park in the midst of a four-game losing streak, dropping their record to 12-14. Henry hasn’t lost confidence, by any means, but he’s a bit surprised that Boston sits in last place in the American League East.

“I think we’ve got the best team in the division,” Henry told WBZ’s Jon Miller before Tuesday’s contest. “The (New York) Yankees have gotten away a little and we’ve gone through a bad period, but I think we’ll turn it around.”

The Red Sox were swept by the Yankees over the weekend, compounding some issues that already began to emerge. Boston is searching for answers as it progresses through a difficult stretch against AL East opponents, which is especially important with a 10-game road trip looming large.

“They have to start performing,” Henry said of the Red Sox’s starting pitchers. “It’s been disappointing, and the bullpen hasn’t been great, either. Our offense hasn’t really gotten on track. We have to hope Hanley (Ramirez) isn’t badly hurt. It’s been disappointing.”

The Red Sox had a busy offseason. They shelled out almost $200 million to sign Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, and they revamped their rotation by adding Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson. Boston’s additions have had varying degrees of success to this point, but there aren’t too many regrets floating around Yawkey Way.

“I think we made a lot of moves during the winter to really to shore up our pitching staff and our hitting, but we haven’t seen the results,” Henry told Miller. “This is a great group of guys. We’ve gone through a bad period, haven’t hit with runners in scoring position, we’ve given up runs early. It’s something we can’t do.”

Are the Red Sox plotting any big moves to shake up the roster?

“We’ll be patient,” Henry said. “We’ll look to make moves that are appropriate. Overall, we feel this is the right team.”

Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images