The Boston Red Sox (0-1) fell in their home opener against the division rival Baltimore Orioles (1-0) by a score of 10-9, thanks to their pitching woes.
It may feel like déjà vu for Boston fans, as they boasted a strong offense in this game, similar to their fourth ranked scoring offense in the American League last season. Many forget that Boston scored 4.54 runs per game last year, despite finishing last in their division. The Red Sox obtained a 4.53 ERA as a team, ranking higher than only the Kansas City Royals in the American League. Once again, it seems that the pitching will cripple them this season.
This year, the Red Sox pitching gains some new faces, many of which are at the tail end of their career. Corey Kluber made the start for Boston after signing a one-year contract back in January that includes a team option for 2024. Kluber has won two Cy Young trophies in his career, but wasn’t highly coveted this past offseason, and struggled on Opening Day.
Kluber allowed five earned runs in 3.1 innings while having 4 strikeouts and walks. The Red Sox relievers didn’t exactly pitch much better. Ryan Brazier and Kaleb Ort worked the middle innings, allowing five combined earned runs. The Red Sox continued to chip away, but they fell short in the end, with a strikeout by Adam Duvall to end the game.
Going Forward
The Sox will look to Chris Sale to offer them consistency. As of late, Sale and consistency don’t even belong in the same sentence. He only appeared in two games in 2022, after dealing with a rib injury and a wrist injury.
As far as the bullpen goes, fans have some optimism about Kenley Jansen who’s proven himself as a strong closer. Boston was largely without a consistent closer all of last season. They’ll need young guys like Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello to come back from injury for manager Alex Cora to have confidence in the pitching staff overall.
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