Baseball can be a frustrating game not only to play but also to watch.
One moment, your team is winning and making things happen day after day, and you’re feeling joyful, then suddenly, you’re on a losing streak or the win-one-lose-one train.
This year’s Boston Red Sox have been on a win-one, lose-one streak for a little while and have finally returned to being on the right side of the win-loss column, sitting at 20-19.
It is beneficial to go through your struggles early so that when the team gels and starts to take off, which should happen soon, you have a head start instead of digging yourself out of a hole.
Alex Bregman
Alex Bregman made history with his 200th career home run, a notable achievement. Don’t look now, but Rafael Devers is starting to heat up. On Thursday against the Rangers, he smacked his sixth home run of the season and is beginning to look like the Devers we all know. Fingers crossed he maintains that level of performance for the rest of the season.
If only Brayan Bello could pitch every game as the Sox are undefeated every time he takes the mound. Of course, he’s not going to win every game he starts, but it’s been a fun ride when he’s been on the mound.
Triston Casas
Triston Casas got hurt and is most likely going to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury after trying to beat out a check swing dribbler and lunged at first base in which it looked like his knee bent in a way that it is not supposed to he was carted off the field and will have surgery for his ruptured left patellar tendon.
What will the Sox do in his absence? That is the million-dollar question, as depending on how they are looking in the standings, my thinking is that they will find some outside help to play first base at some point, as Alex Cora does not seem thrilled to play Devers at first in Casas’ absence. Everyone is patiently waiting for Anthony and Mayer to arrive.
With each stumble and barely playing above .500 baseball at the moment, that is testing Red Sox Nation’s patience.
Fans know that this can be a playoff team and a first-place Yankees team, while having an excellent offense, but they are not the Yankees of old. Their pitching is sometimes suspect, especially their bullpen, so winning this division is not a pipe dream but a realistic goal for the Sox.
PHOTO: Boston Red Sox/FacebookI know this from personal experience: when you watch the games and analyze them as fans do, you see the talent on this roster. Now that this is not a .500 team, we are watching. Realistically, they should have won a few more games and should either be tied for first or leading the division right now. Shoulda, coulda, woulda is the saying, so this team needs to buckle down and start playing more consistent baseball, which they are capable of.
Being a baseball fan is a rollercoaster of emotions, but the good thing is that when your team has a bad game, there is most likely another game the next night where you can erase that bad taste from your mouth and watch the Red Sox play winning baseball at Fenway again.
In the past, the dog days of summer usually cost the Sox a chance at the postseason. Here’s hoping their struggle time is over now, and they will take off in August to sit high and mighty in first place. A fan can only wish and know Red Sox Nation that it could always be worse as this team competes on most nights, even if their record is only one game over .500.
The coming weeks should be fun as they could mean some new blood is added to the roster, whether through a trade or a call-up. Soon, we will get to see our highly ranked prospects’ talent displayed on the field at Fenway Park.
By that time, the Sox should be a few more games over .500. Here’s to hoping.
PHOTO: Boston Red Sox/Facebook
