Sam Kennedy admits that 2024 Red Sox have ‘under-performed’ 

Red Sox

“It’s sort of been a tale of two seasons – really positive in in many ways, and then really negative in others.”

The 2024 Red Sox didn’t exactly enter the season with high expectations.

With most of Boston’s hopes residing in minor-league talent like Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel, and Roman Anthony, this year’s campaign at Fenway Park was poised to be a bridge season. 

That sentiment has been reflected in the standings, with Boston entering Thursday night with a record of 28-28. 

Even though Boston has been dealt a bad hand through the first two months of the season with a myriad of critical injuries, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy did take the team to task during his latest interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Thursday morning. 

Even with the sting of the injury bug, Kennedy stressed, Boston has been lacking this season when it comes to both offense (14th in runs scored) and defense (tied for last in baseball with a .981 fielding percentage) — squandering the strides made by a pitching staff that ranks third in the league with a 3.27 team ERA. 

“It’s sort of been a tale of two seasons – really positive in many ways, and then really negative in others. So, I don’t think so,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s a talented group, incredibly athletic, young. We’ve seen sort of the glimpse of how we’re going to get back to the postseason with athletic play and young, homegrown guys that have come through our system and performances from a pitching staff that has just been sort of otherworldly.

“On the other hand, our bats have gone quiet at the wrong time, our defense has not been where it needs to be, and of course, we’ve suffered the loss of guys like Trevor (Story) and Triston (Casas) and Tyler O’Neill now going down. So, that’s not an excuse. It’s on us to stay healthy. That’s part of competing. We’re right at the .500 mark here, 56 games or whatever it is into the season. Got 100-plus games to go. So, we need to get hot. 

“We need to continue to pitch the way we have and start getting guys on base and scoring more runs. But I don’t think we’ve over-performed. I think, if anything, we’ve under-performed just given the talent and the competitiveness in that clubhouse.”

Even with their .500 record, the Red Sox still sit in third place in the AL East with roughly two-thirds of the 2024 season still yet to be played. But with Boston only posting two series victories over 11 meetings with teams .500 or better, the Red Sox feel like a team still a season or two away from establishing themselves as a true contender.