McAdam: Return home offers Red Sox a chance to begin again

After six weeks in spring training, another few days in Arizona for exhibition play and a tortuous 11-game season-opening road trip, the Red Sox are finally back home.

The longest season-opening road swing is over and not a minute too soon after the Red Sox dropped three straight series, losing three-of-four in both Seattle and Oakland while dropping two-of-three in Phoenix.

It was a given that the first trek of 2019 would be a challenge. But the Sox couldn't have possibly imagined how poorly it would go.



The Sox have been outscored by 26 runs in their first 11 games. Even after Sunday's shutout victory in the road trip finale, the staff's ERA sits at a bloated 6.28, second-worst in the American League. Opposing hitters have posted an .879 OPS and allowed a staggering 23 homers.

They're only a little better offensively, batting a collective .238 with an equally anemic .378 slugging percentage, ninth-best in the AL. They've already permitted eight unearned runs.

But Tuesday will offer a reprieve from the misery of the first week and a half of the season. Prior to their home opener, the Red Sox will be presented with their championship rings, emblematic of their World Series win and a record-setting season of 2018 that now must seem like a decade ago.

Perhaps the ceremony can serve a dual purpose, reminding them of what they accomplished while providing closure on a season that has hung over them as they stumble out of the gate this time.

All spring, manager Alex Cora was faced with questions about "turning the page,'' and asked how -- or even "if'' -- he wanted to distance himself from 2018. Cora deftly navigated such questions, maintaining that the team merely wanted to continue writing a new chapter of success.

Of course, the first three series have made that difficult. The Sox have shown lapses in fundamentals that they rarely displayed in 2018. They've demonstrated a lack of communication on the field, highlighted by an embarrassing incident in Oakland when Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr., two of the game's better outfielders, allowed a ball to drop between them in silence. For now, at least, that moment stands as a symbol of the team's early-season futility.

The starting rotation, perceived as a team strength, has instead faltered, with exactly one quality start in the first 11 games. The team is still searching for its first win from a starting pitcher. The road trip culminated with the best effort from a starter to date -- a three-inning, one-hit stint from spot starter Hector Velazquez -- that served to further illuminate how unreliable the rest of the regular rotation had performed.

The hope is that a return home will provide a sense of normalcy for the Sox. The sell-out crowds provide backing, the atmosphere is intensified and like most teams, the team experiences a comfort in its own ballpark that is impossible to replicate away from home.

Last year, the Sox scored 60 more runs -- or almost exactly three-quarters of a run per game -- at home than it did on the road. Always an inviting hitting environment, the familiar backdrop and even the cramped-but-familiar home clubhouse will be welcome sights Tuesday.

The pre-game ceremony will feature the usual pomp-and-circumstance: the requisite flyover, special guests, introduction of the roster and ceremonial first pitches. There will be nods to the other franchises in town, and very likely, participation from all of them.

There will be the presentation of the rings, the raising of the new championship banner and, ultimately, a closing of the book on 2018.

That season, with the benefit of hindsight, offered far fewer challenges. The Sox sprinted to a 17-2 start, gaining early momentum and confidence, and the team seemingly never looked over its shoulder the rest of the way. There was no reason.

Already, this year is different. There are ongoing debates over the wisdom of bringing the starting pitchers along slowly in spring training and uncertainty over the alignment of the bullpen, though truthfully, the latter hasn't been much of an issue -- in part because there have been so few late-inning leads to protect and because the bullpen has been, with rare exceptions, superb.

The schedule offers a bit of a break. The Toronto Blue Jays, the opponents for the first two games at Fenway, are the only team with a record as bad as the Red  Sox. Next in are the Baltimore Orioles, who, after a surprising 4-1 start have reverted to form and dropped four in a row.

The Red Sox have dug themselves a hole with their first road trip of the season. They won't extricate themselves immediately.

But in returning home, they can at least begin the process of digging out.