After avoiding a series sweep on the back of Garrett Crochet and Trevor Story on Sunday, the Red Sox sit at 8-9 in a disappointing AL East thus far.
Taking one of three games against the lowly White Sox adds to the early frustration of the Red Sox season. Boston has an equal run differential heading into Monday’s series opener against the Rays, as the team has scored 77 runs while allowing the same amount.
Across the past week, the Red Sox offense has endured a slump after putting an 18-spot on the Cardinals just eight days ago.
Scoring a whopping total of six runs in a series against one of the MLB’s worst pitching staffs is something to be ashamed of, no matter what the weather conditions present in Chicago’s South Side.
On the other end, the Red Sox pitching staff has been able to keep Boston firmly in games but has taken them completely out of others, such as Friday night’s 11-1 loss to the White Sox.
The Red Sox bullpen has a 3.99 ERA, good for 17th best in the majors. Newly acquired Aroldis Chapman has been a bright spot for the unit, tallying three saves and eleven strikeouts in eight appearances.
While Chapman has been worth the contract to date, one of his counterparts has been struggling and could fall out of the bullpen completely if he doesn’t pick it up.
Zack Kelly On the Chopping Block As May Approaches
Aside from Cooper Criswell, who the Red Sox demoted to Worcester a week ago, Zack Kelly has been one of the worst arms in the bullpen so far. The looming return of Liam Hendriks doesn’t help the 30-year-old’s case, either.
Through 7.1 innings (5 appearances) this season, Kelly has surrendered eight hits, five earned runs, and two walks en route to a 6.14 ERA.
His last appearance came in Saturday’s loss to the White Sox, where he gave up a two-run home run to Luis Robert Jr. that evened the game at 2. Kelly has given up at least one run in his past three relief appearances, after only allowing one hit in three innings of work in his first two appearances against the Rangers and Orioles.
Over the weekend, Liam Hendriks made his second rehab start for Triple-A Worcester as he inches closer to a return after starting the season on the 15-day injured list. The 36-year-old pitched just a single inning on Sunday, surrendering a walk but no further damage.
A recent article from MassLive’s Chris Cotillo explained how Hendriks could be the first to return out of the three significant arms on the IL right now, those being Hendriks, Bello, and Giolito.
“Hendriks might be activated first, because as a reliever, he needs the shortest build-up to be big-league ready. The veteran, who started the year on the IL due to elbow inflammation (more specifically, a compressed nerve that required a cortisone shot on Opening Day), worked around a hit and struck out three batters in a scoreless inning in his first rehab outing Thursday in Worcester.”
Chris Cotillo
This is bad news for a guy like Zack Kelly, who has disappointed in his last three appearances after a strong start to the season. Looking at the Red Sox bullpen, Kelly seems to be the odd man out when Hendriks returns.
Kelly sports a 4.14 career ERA through 85 innings for Boston and even made three starts for the team last season.
Hendriks’ long-awaited return, paired with the strong performances of other righty arms like Whitlock and Weissert, leaves Kelly’s job in jeopardy as the team navigates the early part of the season.
The Red Sox are in Tampa to take on the Rays for a three-game set starting Monday as the team looks to revive their offense after struggling over the past week.
