The Boston Red Sox were eliminated from the MLB playoffs on Wednesday. Two of the players had some characteristics that led the team to the exit.
Both starting pitcher Sonny Gray and All-Star first baseman Willson Conteras clearly expressed disagreement with some part of the team’s decision making in the hours after the Game 2 loss to the New York Yankees. The Yankees swept the Red Sox by an aggregate score of 18-2.
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Game 2 was largely hinged on the plan to remove Gray in the fifth inning. Gray had been solid up until that point, allowing the game’s only run on a solo homer by Luis García Jr., but ran into a jam with runners on the corners and two outs. Rather than leave Gray to left-handed reliever Cody Bellinger, Red Sox manager Chad Tracy removed left-handed reliever Eric Miller. Gray was 70 words.
The plan didn’t pay off, as Miller allowed a single to Bellinger on a run, then another to García, who was handballed by the aggressive Yankees to throw at the plate.
The real damage came an inning later when Boston turned on ace Garrett Crochet, making his first appearance since April after being sidelined for shoulder and tendon issues. Crochet failed to release, then the game broke open when Tracy ducked Garrett Whitlock.
It was a disgraceful loss, and it got even worse when Gray openly consulted the plan to draw him;
“I think I’m going to be the best pitcher in the American League in the third row. I think it’s done. I’d like to live or die with myself at that moment, but I’m like, ‘I’m undefeated. Maybe you guys are looking and I felt the same way. I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convinced.
Tracy was promoted to Boston manager last week.
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Gray clearly believes the Red Sox are worried about the much-dreaded third-inning penalty by the order, which steers many teams thinking through the season into counter-intuitive territory. As a matter of fact, that factor doesn’t seem to affect him much this season, as he was putting up a .180/.235/.280 slash line in his third straight game this year.
It is also a matter of dividing the left and the right. Graius has been better against right-handed batters than right-handed batters this season. Bellinger has been better against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers this season.
Sonny Gray wanted to stay on.
(AP Photo/Franklin II)
Miller has better stats against lefties, but it could be argued that there is little improvement for the Red Sox with him going over Gray. Tracy said after the game that he knew Bellinger’s opponent was cracking, but he expressed confidence in his bullpen:
“When” [Garrett] Crochet [Garrett Whitlock] and [Aroldis Chapman] toward the end there, and we could string up a bunch of hits and we couldn’t stop the bleeding there.” Like I said, they mowed down the bats. Not working out.”
Contreras was also asked about the decision to pull Gray. His only response was to pretend his mouth was closed, clearly indicating disagreement.
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Of course, the veteran had no doubt telling reporters that he was unhappy about the data-driven approach this year under baseball manager Craig Breslow:
“It’s not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball. The data helps us here, but at the end of the day you need to try and get the old guys to win games. There’s a lot of stuff I’d like to say, but I’ll say it this way.”
Contreras also played the screw with a question about the team’s lineup:
Question: “You guys have found a lot of time, especially in the hot season, so many parts fit in the lineup. What do you think happened down the stretch and in the playoffs?”
Contreras: “That’s a good question. I’m not going to answer it because I don’t want to give an honest answer. We’ve been taken away, that’s the bottom of the line.”
None of this is the stuff you see in Harmonic Composition, even after playoff elimination. This is also far from the first time in years that we have received that players are unhappy under Breslow’s leadership, as many have spoken about the decision to fire manager Alex Cora in April and there was also Rafael Devers’ infamous feud with the front office.
Ultimately, leadership comes down to results, and this argument is not exactly in Breslow’s favor. Chaim Bloom was fired in 2023 and the team has failed to win 90 games or a playoff series in the three seasons since.