Red Sox's Reeling Offense Faces Daunting Matchup Vs. Yankees Ace originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox's offense is not in a good place entering Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees.
For starters, the Red Sox just got shut out by the Yankees at Fenway Park for the first time since 2020. It wasn't a fluke, either, as Boston has scored two runs or fewer in four of its last five games.
The Red Sox's offense has struggled all season, ranking near the bottom of the league in numerous hitting categories. Entering play on Wednesday, Boston ranked 24th in runs per game, 23rd in hits, last in home runs, 29th in slugging percentage and 29th in OPS.
Current Red Sox ranks on offense:89 Runs - 26th.229 BA - 29th.314 OBP - 24th.338 SLG - 29th23.4 K% - 19th9.2 BB% - 20th84 wRC+ - 26th.309 xwOBA - 25th82.9 Zone Swing% - 29th30.8 Chase% - 21st65 Meatball% - 30th27.7 Whiff% - 23rd46.9 GB% - 29th89.8 EV - 6th pic.twitter.com/Lz9AlNlzmD
Weirdly, Red Sox hitters have been even worse at Fenway. They're averaging just 3.55 runs per game at home compared to 4.17 runs per game everywhere else, while their OPS is 36 points lower at Fenway.
Boston's struggled against lefties this year, and it's facing one of MLB's best tonight in Max Fried. He checks in with a 2.97 ERA and four quality starts in five outings this year.
That's bad news for the Red Sox, who are hitting a mere .223/.298/.332 with only three homers against southpaws this season.
And to make matters worse, Boston will also be without one of its best hitters tonight in Roman Anthony, who's been scratched from the lineup with back soreness.
Fortunately, the Red Sox have Ranger Suarez on the bump, who's been terrific lately and should be able to keep New York's bats relatively quiet. However, Boston must find a way to generate some offense tonight if it wants to come out on top and even the series.
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