10 Ways the Red Sox can save their season

10 Ways the Boston Red Sox can save their season

By Tyler Trudeau
Guest columnist

The Red Sox surrendered 21 runs to the Los Angeles Angels Saturday night. The 21-2 beating was the worst Boston loss in 16 years. (Photo credit: Associated Press)

​It's official. The Boston Red Sox's struggles have officially hit rock bottom.

The Red Sox came out of the gates at the start of the 2016 season on fire. They were on top of the American League and were the most dangerous offense in all of baseball. David Ortiz, in his final season, was turning back the clock and having a monster spring, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogarts had impressive 25+ game hit streaks and Christian Vasquez was even hitting the ball well. 1-9, this team was dominating any pitcher that stepped on the hill. At the start of June, the Red Sox were 32-20, in first place in the AL East by 3 games. Since then, the team is 10-16 and now trail the Baltimore Orioles by 5 games. Many experts think it’s time to hit the panic button on this team. With June in the book and July’s much needed All-Star Break right around the corner, here are 10 things the Red Sox can do to save this season and make a World Series Run. 
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1. Explore moving on from John Farrell. 

The Red Sox are in a tough spot with manager John Farrell. He came to the Red Sox a hero in 2013 after the Bobby Valentine nightmare and led them to a World Series Championship that fall. Since then, Farrell’s squad has carded to back-to-back losing seasons, and if things don’t change soon, it could be a threepeat. He has been constantly criticized for his in-game decision making that may have cost the Sox many important games. But is the solution to this problem already on the team? At the end of last season, Farrell had to step away from the team to take care of his health when he was diagnosed with cancer. Bench Coach Torey Lovullo took over and led the team to a 28-20 record to finish out the year, at one point nearly getting the team back to .500 in late September. Lovullo had a good handle on the team and he could produce the same success at the end of last season. But just how much could Lovullo change the team? For all we know, he could be making all the same calls as Farell. Unless the team goes on a huge losing streak, I believe Farrell will be coach until the end of the season. 
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2. Find a new pitching coach.

Something else that needs to happen within the next week is the replacement of the Red Sox pitching coach Carl Willis. Whatever he’s doing clearly isn’t working. The Red Sox are in the bottom half of pitching with an team ERA of 4.46 (Keep in mind this is the team that just signed ace David Price to a massive contract, as well as the emergence of pitcher Stephen Wright, who has one of the best ERA’s in the bigs). Pair that with only 40 quality starts from what has appeared to become shotty starting pitching, which leads to a tired bullpen (don’t worry, we’ll get to that)… Main point, Willis isn’t doing a good job, and the Red Sox need to get rid of him immediately. Dustin Pedroia has been more helpful to the pitching staff than Willis. And where is John Farrell in all of this? Isn’t he supposed to be the pitching Guru? Solution: Fire Willis, move Farrell to pitching coach and make Lovullo manager.
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3. Bolster the bullpen and add some much needed depth.

One of the biggest weaknesses of last year's Red Sox was the lack of bullpen pitching. If a starter had a good start, God forbid we had to bring in someone from the pen that wasn’t Koji. Dave Dombrowski came into power and boom the Sox suddenly have a bullpen… Sort of. Adding Carson Smith and Craig Kimbrel seemed like genius moves at the time, but Smith hasn’t panned out due to season-ending injuries, and Kimbrel has struggled at times. It is still a huge improvement over last year but the Red Sox still need another piece. Koji is 41 years old and he will never be the player he was in 2013 when he was unhittable in the 9th innings of games. Junichi Tazawa is extremely talented but is only at his best when he has had plenty of rest. Without Smith being in the bullpen the Red Sox need to get another piece to ensure a smooth end of games. They need to find teams selling like the Atlanta Braves or the Milwaukee Brewers. I like David Hernandez of the Philadelphia Phillies. He started the season as their closer and was terrible. Since moved out of the position he has been pretty much lock down. A good young arm with a deadly fastball and slider combo. Whether it is Hernandez or someone else, the Red Sox are one more good arm away from having a lockdown bullpen.
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4. Secure a top-of-the-rotation arm.

One of the biggest weaknesses of last year's Red Sox was the lack of bullpen pitching. If a starter had a good start, God forbid we had to bring in someone from the pen that wasn’t Koji. Dave Dombrowski came into power and boom the Sox suddenly have a bullpen… Sort of. Adding Carson Smith and Craig Kimbrel seemed like genius moves at the time, but Smith hasn’t panned out due to season-ending injuries, and Kimbrel has struggled at times. It is still a huge improvement over last year but the Red Sox still need another piece. Koji is 41 years old and he will never be the player he was in 2013 when he was unhittable in the 9th innings of games. Junichi Tazawa is extremely talented but is only at his best when he has had plenty of rest. Without Smith being in the bullpen the Red Sox need to get another piece to ensure a smooth end of games. They need to find teams selling like the Atlanta Braves or the Milwaukee Brewers. I like David Hernandez of the Philadelphia Phillies. He started the season as their closer and was terrible. Since moved out of the position he has been pretty much lock down. A good young arm with a deadly fastball and slider combo. Whether it is Hernandez or someone else, the Red Sox are one more good arm away from having a lockdown bullpen.

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5. Get rid of Clay Buchholz.

Oh Clay. Clay, Clay, Clay. I wanted to have confidence in you. You were one of my favorite players for so long. Even the last two seasons you showed that you can be dominant. Going on streaks that show that you can be an Ace. But you have the mind of a scared tee-ball player nervous to face his dad throw underhand to him. In the 17 games Buchholz has played he is 3-8 with a 5.90 ERA (One of those wins being a 1 inning relief performance in extra innings). Plain and simple- the Red Sox need to get rid of Clay Buchholz. I don’t care what they get in return, if it’s underwhelming prospects, a major league bum, or even a cardboard cutout of Nolan Ryan. Buchholz and Boston will never work. Fans dread whenever he is on the hill and with a fragile mind like his it is clearly affecting him. Maybe he can be great somewhere else. I really hope he is, but he has been in Boston for far too long. Maybe a change of scenery will be good for both of us… Clay, it’s not you, it’s us. 
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6. Get healthy.

The Red Sox have been hurting as of late, which could be a reason to the recent struggles they have had. Brock Holt has just been activated from the DL and he will definitely help the Red Sox outfield. The Red Sox currently have 7 MLB level players on the DL, like pitcher Brandon Workman, and outfielders Chris Young and Blake Swihart. Maybe the Red Sox just need to get healthy and the winning will return! 
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7. Win games against bad teams.

Last weekend, the Red Sox lost 2 of 3 games to the last place Tampa Bay Rays. Before the series with the Red Sox started, the Rays had lost their last 11 games. WHEN YOU SCORE 7 RUNS IN A GAME YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO BEAT THE WORST TEAM IN YOUR DIVISION. If the Red Sox want to make the playoffs they are going to need to win games against inferior opponents. 
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8. Re-discover the offensive attack.

The bats of the Red Sox have gone quiet since the start of June, then out of nowhere the Sox snap back into true form and rip the cover off the ball. However, it’s been too sporadic, and it doesn’t happen as often as it used to. They need to return to the success they had at the beginning of the season. Do I expect them to score 10 runs every single game? NO! But with such a stacked line up the Red Sox should never be shutout or held to one run! Even if Chris Sale is pitching! They need to hit because if the Red Sox can’t win with pitching. If they don’t hit, they don’t win. Simple. 
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9. Harvest the farm and bring it to the market.

The Red Sox have many big name prospects in the farm system. The biggest names are Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada. These guys are making big noise in the minors and they could even see themselves in the big leagues by the end of the season. However, the Red Sox are not in a position to keep these players. The Red Sox have a talented roster now and 
Dave Dombrowski needs to do what he does best and make trades. These young players are the best bet we have at getting an Ace like Sale or Gray. They can’t waste the prime of players and not give this team a shot at a championship for players that only might pan out in a few years. Use the farm to get established players to win now!
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10. Do it for Big Papi!

Finally (and most importantly), this team needs to rally behind David Ortiz. It is his last season and this man needs to go out with a chance to be on top. Big Papi had lead the team to three World Series rings, and without him they never would have happened. Give the heart and soul of this team one last hurrah in the playoff spotlight. It would be a shame to see his career end in the regular season, especially with the year that he’s had thus far.