McAdam: Twenty runs and 11 homers in last two nights a reminder of Sox' offensive potential

They won't all be this easy for the Red Sox because, frankly, not many opponents are as inept as the Baltimore Orioles, who may yet eclipse the 115 losses they racked up a year ago.

But Friday night served as a reminder -- ballpark and opponent aside -- of just what the Red Sox are capable of offensively.

No, they won't always have nights in which they hit six balls out of the ballpark, as they did Friday night in their 13-2 pasting the hapless O's. But it's not a stretch to say that the Red Sox, to date, have barely scraped their offensive potential and there's plenty more to be unlocked.

In this, yet another season in which balls are flying of MLB ballparks at a record pace, the Red Sox haven't really began to hit yet. Before they fattened up with six homers -- one night after hitting five -- the Sox ranked just sixth in home runs in the American League, just one ahead of the Los Angeles Angels, who had played one fewer game.

Call them middle of the pack when it comes to flexing their muscles. And to paraphrase John Paul Jones, they have not yet begun to mash.



But they may be starting.

"We know we're good offensively and we haven't even been close to who we are,'' said Alex Cora after the rout. "That's the cool thing.''

"I haven't seen this offense since last year,'' said Eduardo Rodriguez, who was the beneficiary of his teammates' largesse. "I know what they can do.''

This is (virtually) the same lineup that a year ago led all of baseball in runs scored, slugging percentage, and a laundry list of other offensive categories.

By contrast, the Sox went into Friday night's action ranked eighth among all teams in runs scored per game at 5.23, down about a quarter run per game from last year's pace. Eighth isn't bad, of course, all things considered. But the Sox could -- and should -- be better.

For all the hand-wringing about the bullpen and concern about how Nathan Eovaldi's absence from the rotation is hurting the club -- the performance of spot starters is yet one more category that has regressed from last season -- it's the inconsistent offense that has held the Sox back through the first 70 games.

As Cora noted the other day, the Sox have yet to get to a point where both J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts, the team's two most dynamic offensive stars, have been hot at the same time. The whole lineup, with very few exceptions, has been spotty.

Rafael Devers has been a revelation for the last seven weeks, but did virtually nothing for the first 24 games (no homers, just three RBI). Jackie Bradley Jr. hibernated until the third week of May, as has become customary. Michael Chavis flashed across the sky in his first few weeks in the big leagues before suffering the inevitable nosedive as pitchers began exploiting some obvious weaknesses.

On and on it goes. Andrew Benintendi? Uncomfortable in the leadoff spot, and only now beginning to break out. Brock Holt? Out of action for several months, robbing the team of depth and a potent lefty bat off the bench.

And while both Martinez and Betts have been good, they haven't produced the way they did a year ago when the former flirted with winning a Triple Crown and the latter was an easy pick as A.L. MVP.

Among the regulars, only Xander Bogaerts has produced steadily.

Recently, however, there have been encouraging signs.

The Red Sox made it a point to marshal most of their resources to reinforce their starting rotation, signing Eovaldi to a four-year, $68 million deal. To date, they've gotten exactly one good start from their investment and Eovaldi will have missed more than two and a half months by the time he returns to the rotation.

The other established starters are mostly pitching well now, but surely didn't for the first few weeks. And the bullpen, we know, remains under construction with additional pieces needed.

But until Eovaldi returns to return order to the rotation, it wouldn't hurt the lineup to carry the team until then. There are enough proven run producers to do it, and as Cora noted Friday, there's reason to hope that the best if yet to come. For one thing, it's hard to believe we've seen the best of either Betts or Martinez already.

"We know what we're capable of,'' said Bradley. "Now we have to prove it.''

Now would be a good time to start.