Red Sox Chairman's Off-Base Quote About Defense Looks Worse In Hindsight

Things are coming unglued for the Red Sox in August...

Aug 26, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong (12) reacts after Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (28) scores in the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if we had league-average defense."

That was Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, speaking to NESN's Tom Caron, all the way back in January.

Coming off a second-straight disappointing season, Werner said with a straight face that members of the Red Sox front office had told him his team would have had nine to 10 more wins, potentially even making them a playoff team, had they simply been able to catch and throw the baseball.

This was a ridiculous premise for two reasons. First, there were other obvious issues with the 2023 Red Sox, chiefly among them the complete lack of pitching depth that persists into 2024. But second? It's not as though terrible defense just fixes itself.

The Red Sox are learning that in August, as their season is rapidly flying off the rails. They have dropped five games in the past four days, and their haphazard defense has been a bugaboo all season. There's no telling how many games it has actually cost them in their ill-fated playoff quest.

In Monday night's excruciating 7-3 loss to the last-place Toronto Blue Jays, each of the last four runs Boston allowed were unearned. It added to their astonishing total of 85 unearned runs allowed on the season, 64 more than the second-worst team (a tie between the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins).

As for errors? The Red Sox have made 98 of those, 12 more than the runner-up Nationals for the league's badge of shame.

Somehow, Boston has managed 26 defensive runs saved, which puts them in the top half of the league on an advanced stats basis. But that almost makes things worse--despite all the defensive wizardry from players like Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela, the Boston defense manages to cough up easy plays when it actually matters.

And the culprits have changed throughout the season. Early on, David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez were unequipped to take over middle infield duties. Rafael Devers contributed his usual share of mistakes at third base. The catchers stopped being able to throw out baserunners. And lately, outfielders have started succumbing to the team-wide defensive woes.

It's affected the pitching staff, too. In what has been a breakout year for Tanner Houck, the 28-year-old righty has had to overcome allowing a league-high 13 unearned runs. That means Houck is in the top 15 among starting pitchers in ERA (3.23), but is also tied for 23rd in runs allowed (70).

It's hard to pinpoint someone to blame for all this. The front office put the roster together. The coaches tell defenders where to play and how to attack the baseball. And the players are ultimately responsible for getting the job done, or not.

All season long, the job simply has not been getting done. And the worst fear of Red Sox fans is that the Werners of the world say the same thing about the defense when this winter rolls around.

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