Analogy after 60

 Written by: Matt Ferreira

Image Via Michael Dwyer/ Associated Press

 During the 60 game 2020 season, the Red Sox had the fourth worst record in baseball sitting at 24-36. After one offseason, Chaim Bloom turned the Red Sox to the third best record in the MLB after 60 games, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants. Without many big roster changes there are a few reasons on why the Red Sox have been more successful.

 Pitching: The Red Sox did not make that many changes to the pitching staff, signing Garrett Richards in free agency, trading for Adam Ottavino, and acquiring Garrett Whitlock in the Rule 5 Draft is the only “big”, notable additions the Red Sox made this offseason. The big thing for the Red Sox this year has been the establishment of a closer and how well the rotation has performed. For a closer, Matt Barnes has been lights out. Having a .722 WHIP and 2.73 ERA has given the Sox a reliable guy to close out games which they have not had since Kimbrel left for Chicago. Matt Barnes has 14 saves already this season and has been dominant in almost every outing he has been put into. Using his fastball more often, Barnes has been blowing by hitters and keeps them off balance with his changeup and curveball. The rotation has also seen a resurgence, while many starters are not going deep into games only one starter has an above 4.00 ERA, Eduardo Rodriguez. Even with his 5.59 ERA, Rodriguez has had a decent season with the adversity he has faced, with not pitching in over a year because of a heart condition Rodriguez has not missed a stride. Nick Pivetta has started showing his potential as he has 3.78 ERA and leads the Red Sox in strikeouts with 74. A sneaky good season from Martin Perez too who had a 2.60 ERA in the month of May. The team overall has a 3.81 ERA which is 5th best in the American League drastically improving from the 5.58 a year ago which was second to last. 

 Offense: The core of Martinez, Bogaerts, and Devers has been an unreal three, four, five in the lineup and scary to any pitcher. With Bogaerts and Martinez both hitting well over .300 and Devers at .274 it is hard to get an out in this part of the order, nevermind the combined 37 home runs from those three alone. While none of those three players topped 11 home runs last season all of them but Bogaerts have 12 or more. On top of the core three, role players like Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, and Hunter Renfroe have been getting the job done. Verdugo is hitting .292 with eight home runs out of the two hole. Renfroe had a great month of May hitting .319 with six homers. Overall the offense has produced very well and has shown up in big spots with clutch hits. 

  Even after losing Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Mitch Moreland in free agency the offense has produced. Alex Cora has come back to the Red Sox and has done a much better job managing the bullpen, knowing when to put certain guys into situations in which they know how to manage the pressure. The drastic turn around by the Red Sox has taken many by surprise, this squad has done things that have not happened in a long time. Sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx was a feat that had not been accomplished since 2011. While this team continues to grind through the dog days of summer in hopes of a playoff push, Chaim Bloom seems to doing magic tricks as the team continues to perform well.