June demonstrated to us the true nature of this Red Sox team. Let’s not limit the fireworks to July 4th!
The second half of the season is officially underway! Hold on, what? The Sox won their 85th game of the season last night, 8-3 in Miami. That puts you more than halfway through the fight! That indicates that another month has gone by. June gave us a lot of insight into the makeup of this Red Sox club and what Craig Breslow SHOULD accomplish by the end of the month. We continue our monthly recap series with an analysis of the Boston Red Sox’s performance in June, putting sample size arguments to rest.
After much discussion about pitching being the Red Sox’s greatest asset in 2024, the offense at last declared, “hold my beer.” With a line up that read.276/.346/.462/.808, the Sox were ranked fourth, second, fourth, and fourth in the Majors, in that order. The lineup was obviously clicking.
The Red Sox attack triumphed in a variety of ways, showcasing their versatility, with Jarren Duran leading off, Enmanuel Valdez surprise in the second slot, Tyler O’Neill resurfacing in the third hole, Rafael Devers hammering in the cleanup, and some unexpected players on the back end. Require home runs? Devers and O’Neill are present. The key to success is making contact, as seen by the high averages of Rob Refsnyder, Wilyer Abreu, Connor Wong, Duran, and Valdez.
Rafaela deserves special recognition because she experienced a greater awakening in the sixth month of the year. He had 28 hits, 11 runs scored, three stolen bases, and a.315 batting average in 24 games. Although he hit a home run last night, which is actually counted for July, he still lacks power and struggles with a high strikeout to walk ratio, but his bat-to-ball success was obviously much more fruitful. That’s often only the first step. Of course, he has played absolutely fantastic defense at shortstop and center field. As long as he can throw web jewels with the glove like he does, I will gladly wait for him to bat.
The American League was topped by a wide margin with 31 stolen bases; the Seattle Mariners were in second with 23. The Red Sox’s success was largely attributed to their quickness on the basepaths. Jarren Duran and David Hamilton absolutely tormented their opponents. On June 16, during Sunday Night Baseball versus the Yankees, the Red Sox set a franchise single-game record with nine steals. In June, 48 doubles ranked fourth in the AL, while five triples ranked fifth. If Cora Ball is primarily about speed—which, based on what I saw in 2018—this 2024 Red Sox team is finally hitting its quota.
It was bound to happen eventually. With a 4.38 team ERA in June, the Red Sox ranked 22nd in the Major League Baseball. The Red Sox starting pitchers in 127.1 innings pitched in June had a 5.02 ERA, 21 home runs allowed, and an opponent batting average of.251, both of which were either team records or tied for the most. Teams are pursuing offspeed pitches right away, indicating that they have adapted to the rotation’s lack of usage of fastballs. With the exception of one awful outing against the Padres, Tanner Houck is still mowing down most batters he faces, but almost all other starting pitchers saw significant regression. Without holding back, Brayan Bello has acted badly, and Alex Cora is aware of this as well. Kutter Crawford