Weekly Red Sox Report: July 9th

Outfielder Mookie Betts will make his first All-Star appearance next Tuesday.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Red Sox’s offense, which has added two-time Silver Slugger Aaron Hill, was very good over the last week, as quite a few players put up OPS’s above 1.000. They scored double digit runs in three of their last four games, and moved to 11-0 when scoring at least 10 runs this season.

Although the pitching has not been very consistent, eight Red Sox had hits and runs in Wednesday’s rubber match victory against Texas.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: June 28

It may be a small sample size, but catcher Sandy Leon  has been mashing for the Red Sox at the plate.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- Now that summer is here, we're brining back our weekly look at how each of Boston's position players are contributing offensively. Each week, our resident stat guru Adam Lowenstein will break down who's trending up, who's spiraling down, and how it will affect the Red Sox.

Losers of their previous two series, the Red Sox close out June with a three-game series against the struggling Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. However, just like Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez continued to struggle in the first inning on Monday. John Farrell tried to keep the newest Pawtucket Red Sox player in the game as long as possible, but E-Rod became the main reason for the Rays setting a new season high in hits.

RF Mookie Betts continues to lead off games well, but his on-base percentage took a dip in Monday’s blowout at the hands of the Rays. His five-game hitting streak ended in the 13-6 loss, as he went 0-for-5, including two unsuccessful at-bats with runners in scoring position. However, he is not a person to worry about, as he readies to start his first All-Star Game.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: August 4th

Other than a disappointing Saturday, Mike Napoli has been mashing for the Red Sox lately.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The non-waiver trade deadline came and went last Friday and Ryan Cook came to the Red Sox from the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. Then, on Sunday, Boston placed Rick Porcello on the 15-day disabled list with a right triceps strain and activated Cook.

Henry Owens will take Porcello’s spot on Tuesday, but there also have been some interesting substitutions in the lineup over the last week.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: July 28th

Pablo Sandoval broke out of a slump over the weekend to record back-to-back multi-hit games.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

After seeing how Joe Kelly pitched on Monday, this looks to be a very up-hill climb for the Red Sox. With the team scoring eight runs against the Chicago White Sox, just after plating 11 on Sunday in the rubber match win over the Detroit Tigers, Boston should be winning more games.

If the offense can continue to be consistent, then the pitching needs to hold up its end of the bargain.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: July 22

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Well, those Los Angeles run totals escalated quickly at Angel Stadium on Monday.

The Angels scored the first seven runs of the first game of the doubleheader, en route to their 11-1 victory. Then, later in the evening, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout led the way to six straight Angel runs before the Red Sox scored in the second game.

The sweep at the hands of Los Angeles pushed Boston nine games below .500, and nine games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Boston’s horrific pitching performance against the Angels pushed the ERA of John Farrell’s squad to an American League-worst 4.45 on the season. I’m sure Cole Hamels can change all that.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: All-Star Break Edition

Utility man Brock Holt represented the Red Sox in Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Red Sox headed into Friday’s contest against the New York Yankees as winners of their last four series. However, the Red Sox allowed their rival to score first in all three games of the series. After losing two of the three contests to the Yankees, the Red Sox fell to 11-35 when their opponent has scored first this season.

With the series loss, Boston remained in last place of the American League East, two games behind the fourth-place Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are the last team not named the Red Sox to be in last place of the division – it was June 9, the day John Farrell’s squad started a three-game set against the O’s in Baltimore, and it was the beginning of the Red Sox’s season-worst seven-game losing streak.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: July 8th

Utility man Brock Holt is Boston's only All-Star (so far), and Boston's chances of winning jump dramatically from to 36% with him on the bench, to 51% when he's in the lineup.

 By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Just before Red Sox fans witnessed the lackluster fireworks display at Fenway Park on Friday night, the Houston Astros moved to 48-34, tying their season-best number of games above .500 on the year.

Friday’s 12-8 extra-inning loss was only the 12th time this season that Boston was defeated when scoring first. However, the Red Sox bounced back to score first in their wins on Saturday and Sunday.

Entering Tuesday’s series against the visiting Miami Marlins, John Farrell’s squad was 29-12 in games it scored the first run in.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: June 29th

David Ortiz has been inconsistent lately, but belted a pair of home runs last week.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

After registering just one extra-base hit in their loss on Saturday, the Red Sox bounced back to slug three home runs as a part of a 5-3 win in the rubber game against the Tampa Bay Rays. With Boston's victory on Sunday, they have alternated wins and losses every game since June 19th. From Thursday to Sunday, the Red Sox batted their best three wins above replacement players as the top three in their lineup: Mookie Betts, Brock Holt and Xander Bogaerts.

Just What Happened to the Red Sox? From Worst to First and Back Again

Manager John Farrell transformed the Red Sox from a last place team to a World Series champion in his first season at the helm, but year two hasn't been nearly as magical.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Heading into Wednesday night, the Red Sox had lost four games in a row, and seven of their last eight, to drop to a season-worst 12-games below .500. The last-place team in the American League East avoided their 52nd loss of the season in yet another one-run game Wednesday when Brock Holt delivered his first walk-off hit of his young career.

Mike Carp would follow those heroics with a 10th-inning walk off Thursday night against Chicago, but the Red Sox are still sitting in last place, 9.5 games out in the American League East, and eight games out of the Wild Card, heading into this weekend's All Star break.

Bob Lobel: What Drew's Return Means to the Red Sox

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

The roller coaster Red Sox are a better team with Stephen Drew at shortstop. 

Spare me the stunted growth argument about Xander at third base. This isn’t an instructional league where players learn to play positions. Reminding one and all, this is a win or else league, and the best people at the best places are key to making that happen. 

Here’s what I noticed and why: Xander started raking the ball the day he found out that Drew was coming back. So what does that actually mean? Is there a connection?