The Red Sox are a mess and I'm not really sure where they're going with this

I try to not be too reactive in this space. I don’t write enough to freak out over each game individually and I hate looking at some article on the top of the site that says “They suck!” three days after they won three straight on the road. So I try not to do too much of that here. Save it for Twitter. But at the same time, let’s not mince words. Last night’s game sucked.

The Red Sox got smoked, 10-3. That might not have been such a shock considering they called up Matt Dermody to start the game. You might be wondering who Matt Dermody is and I would answer, “Exactly.” All you need to know about Dermody is he lasted four innings, gave up two homers, and was DFA’d immediately following the game.

It seemed they were using Dermody in order to not have to use Corey Kluber, their ex-starter since moved to the bullpen where he spends his time waiting for games to get wildly out of control. This one wasn’t that, at least not until Kluber came in. But once he did, whoa baby! He gave up seven runs including two homers in 3.1 innings, which effectively torpedoed Boston’s chances.

I try to stay away from roster shenanigans here because often times those can get extremely complicated and not really serve much of a purpose. However, in this case, because they could have just started Kluber and avoided the whole Dermody situation in the first place, it would appear the Red Sox were attempting to stay away from Kluber. And they got four innings of three run ball from Dermody, which, come on, let’s be honest here, was about as good as they could have possibly hoped for. So they dodged that particular bullet and then they went and brought Kluber into the game anyway!

So yeah, I don’t get it.

Kluber was awful, but he’s been awful so it’s not unexpected. Put your head in the lion’s mouth and you’re going to get bit. Or in this case, put Corey Kluber on the mound and you’d probably rather have your head in a lion’s mouth. Or something.

Kluber needs to go, or at least someone in the front office needs to invent an injury that he can get. It doesn’t take a genius to know we’ve seen enough of Corey Kluber as a starter, and if he can’t come out and pitch even decently against one of the worst hitting teams in baseball I’m not sure what the point of carrying him in the bullpen is. Or on the roster.

Today the Red Sox will activate The Greatest Living Baseball Player, Adam Duvall, from the 60 day IL. He’ll be splitting time in the outfield with, well, probably everyone out there. I can see Duvall getting significant time in right field if Alex Verdugo decides not to run out another grounder. Beyond that, Duvall hits right handed and Jarren Duran hits lefty, so there’s a center field platoon right there for ya. On days when Justin Turner needs a day, Duvall can DH. Duvall has even spent some time at first base, though it came way back in 2018 with Cincinnati. But hey, it’s all on the table for a team that suddenly can’t score runs, right?

As Red Sox Stats on Twitter pointed out, Duvall’s return signals the reintroduction of Boston’s full opening day lineup. The rotation, other than Chris Sale, is mostly as imagined as well. Not that losing Sale isn’t important, but this, for the most part, is what the Red Sox had in mind when they designed this roster. This is it. This is the team.

Is that good? I guess it’s not bad. I mean, the Red Sox are 31-32 with an even run differential. Duvall could help, but he’s one guy and he’s not a good pitcher (presumably) so unless he’s going to put hit .500 with a 1.500 slugging percentage, it’s probably not going to make a massive difference.

Which is unfortunate because the Red Sox are about to hit an important stretch of games. They’ll finish June by playing against the Yankees, Rockies, Twins, White Sox, and Marlins. That’s not a bunch of push-overs, but it’s certainly not a murderers row either. If the Red Sox run the table and head into July at 51-32, we’ll certainly reevaluate. The same of blowing every lead and ended up 31-52. Short of either extreme we’ll have a much better idea of who this team is and what they’re capable of.

That’s important because the trade deadline is at the end of July and trades usually start picking up early on in the month. If this team is going to accomplish anything in 2023 we’re going to need to get a sniff of it soon, likely before July starts. These games are going to be pivotal in deciding which direction the Red Sox are going in? Are they going to bolster the team in search of that Wild Card spot? Or are they going to take advantage of what figures to be a sellers market by moving a bunch of their players on expiring contracts? Are they going to decide this whole Chaim Bloom thing isn’t working out and we need to find out if Dave Dombrowski has a brother.

The next 20 games, played with the team the front office envisioned, will yield an answer. Whether we like it or not.

Thanks for reading.