The Major League Baseball trade deadline came and went, and the roller-coaster Red Sox surprisingly stood pat.
Boston, which has been out of the playoff picture for the majority of the season, elected not to address its struggling bullpen, or any other issue for that matter. The lack of activity was viewed by some as a vote of confidence in the current group, but it’s starting to look like the 2019 cast won’t be able to get it done.
The Red Sox suffered their eighth consecutive loss Sunday night, which sealed their second straight sweep at the hands of a division rival. The reigning World Series champions haven’t won a game since July 27, and they’re now 6 1/2 games back of the second American League wild-card spot.
It is painfully ironic that Boston really began to flounder once the trade deadline passed without the club making any moves, but manager Alex Cora doesn’t believe the inactivity had any effect on his team’s play over the past week.
“I don’t think so. I just think we didn’t hit; we didn’t pitch; we didn’t play well,” Cora said, per The Boston Globe. “That’s it. I don’t think it has to do with making trades or not making trades.”
Cora probably is right. A boost in the back end of Boston’s bullpen was viewed as the team’s most pressing issue as the deadline approached. The void remains, but it was the starting pitching that largely did the Red Sox in over the course of their series against the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. The Red Sox needed the likes of Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello to step up, and all of their veteran arms failed to do so.
Boston isn’t completely out of it, but it truly has become a now-or-never situation for Cora’s club. The Sox will look to flip the switch Monday night when they open a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park.
