The month of June was simply horrific for the Red Sox.
It ended with a flat 4-0 loss to the terrible Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox completed a six-game road trip where they went 2-4 in Texas and St. Pete. Losing two of three to the Texas Rangers is certainly no disgrace, as they currently have the best record in the AL. They started off the trip with a stirring 8-7 comeback in Arlington on Friday night, but it went downhill from there.
And Tampa Bay was on an 11-game losing streak as the series in St. Pete started. This looked like a series the Sox could get well in, with the remaining games before the All-Star break at home. They dropped two of three there, and really looked bad in the two losses.
Yesterday's loss ended the Red Sox' month of June at 10-16. On May 31st, they were at the high water mark of the year: 32-20, three games in first place ahead of Baltimore.
This morning, they are 42-36, just percentage points ahead of Toronto in second place, 5 1/2 games behind Baltimore.
To me, this looks like a death spiral. It happened the last two years, where a mid-season slump cost the team dearly and effectively turned the Sox into also-rans and a last-place team. I don't think it's as bad as those two, but they have to effectively stop this. And right now. There's no waiting until the trade deadline to bring in reinforcements.
The Red Sox now have nine games until the All-Star break, all at home. Three against the LA Angels, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay. They realistically need to take six of these games, as two of these opponents are AL also-rans. Another home stand of them going 3-6 or 4-5 and it might be time to make a change at the top.
I have long been a John Farrell supporter, but no longer. This team needs a jolt, and they won't get it from Farrell. He's made way too many head-scratching moves (too many to list here). Yesterday on Facebook, I saw a fan post that the 2013 World Series win was a "fluke," and that the Sox were lucky that year because Farrell is a terrible manager. No matter how you feel about Farrell, the Sox won 108 games that year and deserved their title. You simply don't win championships like that as a "fluke." Every year is a different animal, and the last two have been simply awful. Everything came together that season. A whole lot of things went wrong in 2014 and 2015, and many are going south this year as well.
It is, of course, not all Farrell's fault. But since you can't fire all the players, someone has to be held accountable.
Farrell will always have the 2013 title on his resume, and I will always respect him for that, especially after the abject embarrassment of the Bobby Valentine Era club. But he will also have the last two years of finishing fifth on it as well.
It's time to move on, and turn the keys of the kingdom over to Torey Lovullo. The Sox know they have a good thing with him, as they signed him to a new deal after his very successful reign as interim manager last season. They didn't want him going to another club, especially if things didn't work out with Farrell or not. It's clear they aren't now.
I'm not suggesting that everything will right itself if Lovullo takes over. It's a club with many faults and he'd have his work cut out for him if he gets the job. But he showed last season he can do the job, if it was only for a short time. It's time to find out for sure now and put him permanently in charge.
The 2016 season maybe on the brink.
