Red Sox's Biggest Red Flags Early in 2023 Season

Despite a winning record, the Boston Red Sox currently reside in the AL East cellar, and they face an uphill battle in their push for a playoff spot even if they improve on last year's 78-84 finish.

The starting rotation has been inconsistent, both middle infield spots have underperformed, and there's a glaring lack of in-house reinforcements on the way with most of the team's top prospects still in the lower levels of the minors.

Can they navigate those red flags and an imposing divisional climb to avoid missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five years?

Ahead, we'll dive a bit deeper into the issues the Red Sox will need to navigate as the 2023 season continues to unfold.

Limited In-House Reinforcements

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Marcelo Mayer

The Red Sox have a pair of high-profile rookies on the MLB roster in first baseman Triston Casas and outfielder Masataka Yoshida, but it might be a while before the next impact player comes through the pipeline. Here's a look at their current top 10 prospect list and each player's current age and level:

1. SS Marcelo Mayer (20, AA)
2. IF/OF Ceddanne Rafaela (22, AA)
3. OF Miguel Bleis (19, A)
4. 2B Nick Yorke (21, AA)
5. SS Mikey Romero (19, A)
6. OF Roman Anthony (19, A)
7. LHP Shane Drohan (24, AAA)
8. C Nathan Hickey (23, AA)
9. 1B/3B Blaze Jordan (20, A+)
10. LHP Dalton Rogers (22, A+)

There's a good chance we'll see left-hander Shane Drohan in the majors before the season is over, and Nick Yorke might have an outside shot if second base continues to be a question mark, but for the most part this group is at least a year away.

That means any major additions to the roster will have to come from outside the organization.

Poor Middle Infield Production

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Enrique Hernández

With Xander Bogaerts departing in free agency and Trevor Story sidelined following elbow surgery, the Red Sox have been forced to cobble together their middle infield, and the results have not been great.

Here's a look at how they stack up offensively to the rest of the league:

• 2B: .234 BA (23rd in MLB), .640 OPS (25th in MLB)
• SS: .221 BA (25th in MLB), .655 OPS (21st in MLB)

It has primarily been rookie Enmanuel Valdez at second base and Enrique Hernández at shortstop, and both players also have negative defensive metrics, so they are not contributing value on that side of the ball either.

A middle infield of prospect Nick Yorke and Story has upside in 2024, but how much can that duo realistically be expected to contribute in 2023?

A Lack of Quality Starting Pitching Depth

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Corey Kluber

The Red Sox rank 26th in the majors with a 5.34 ERA from their starting rotation, and veteran offseason addition Corey Kluber has already been demoted to the bullpen after struggling to a 6.26 ERA over his first nine starts.

Brayan Bello has intriguing upside and Chris Sale has shown flashes of looking like the front-line starter of years past, but the staff's overall depth is lacking.

Tanner Houck (10 GS, 5.30 ERA), Nick Pivetta (11 G, 8 GS, 5.77 ERA), Garrett Whitlock (4 GS, 5.14 ERA) and James Paxton (3 GS, 5.14 ERA) have all struggled, and there is little in the way of in-house help to be counted on for improvement.

The Red Sox have managed to walk a fine line and still post a winning record despite their poor starting pitching thus far, but it's not a sustainable recipe for success.

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All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Tuesday's games.