McAdam: In an otherwise disappointing second half, a few positives emerge for Red Sox

Thirty-three games still remain on the Red Sox' regular season schedule, so anything is theoretically possible.

But let's face it: the math doesn't look good. The Red Sox will need to go on the kind of extended run that has eluded them thus far and get some help from some teams ahead of them in the wild card race.

Still, it's not as though the some good hasn't come out of the last month or so.

Here are some positive developments the Sox can take with them to 2020:



 

1- The emergence of two lefty bullpen options

Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor have been second-half factors. Hernandez was somewhat expected; Taylor, frankly, came out of nowhere.

Hernandez was regarded as one of the better pitching prospects in the minor league system when the year began. Might he end the Red Sox long drought on developing homegrown starters? Not yet, anyway, because of his command issues.

But shifted to a relief role, where his already elite stuff plays up further and the shorter stints mean his elevated walk rate is less likely to be a factor, Hernandez has emerged as a terrific bullpen option.

He's averaging almost two strikeouts per inning (41 strikeouts in 21.1 innings) and since being recalled in mid-July for his use as a reliever, has pitched to a 3.18 ERA, allowing just 11 hits in 17 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .183 and slugging .283.

Unsurprisingly, lefties are finding him to be almost impossible to hit, with just two hits in 31 at-bats.

Of course, control remains a sticking point. Thanks to his 19 walks in 22.1 innings, his WHIP for the season is 1.657, which would seem unsustainable. But if Hernandez can display better control, the Sox could have a nice late-inning weapon for themselves -- not unlike Tampa Bay's Jose Alvarado.

Taylor, meanwhile, has been of one the year's pleasant surprises, with none of the attendant control issues Hernandez has battled.

He's unscored upon over his last nine outings, including a scoreless inning in Thursday's suspended-game victory over Kansas City. In his last 31 appearances, Taylor has a 1.69 ERA while limiting hitters to a .170 batting average. His 2.92 ERA for the season is the lowest of any American League rookie pitcher with at least 25 appearances.

For all the issues with the bullpen this year, the Red Sox appear to have uncovered two hard-throwing relievers with bright futures. As a bonus, for a team that will be carefully watching payroll, they can be paid just over the minimum salary next season, providing the team with some needed financial flexibility.

2- Sam Travis re-establishes his value.

Only a few seasons ago, Travis was considered a top prospect, with the potential to become the team's everyday first baseman.

But Travis didn't make much of his sporadic opportunities in the big leagues and his power numbers began to dip even at Triple-A -- not a great look when you're playing a run-producing position.

Each spring, Travis would hit the cover off the ball in the Grapefruit League, but those hot streaks would cease when the regular season began.

It seemed Travis was on his way to being typecast as a 4A player,  or an "up-and-down'' guy -- someone who could fill in for a week or so when another player was sidelined by an injury.

But Travis never quit

''It has to be hard (to be classified that way), but credit to him that he hasn’t stopped,” Alex Cora said recently. “He tried to make some adjustments swing-wise last year and it didn’t work out. I do feel he got caught up in hitting the ball in the air and hitting for power at the Triple-A level trying to open our eyes, and it was the other way around.”

This season, however, Travis has been far more direct to the ball, and while the rest of the industry trends toward launch angles, he has adopted a more level swing.

Since being recalled on July 15, Travis is hitting .292 with a .963 OPS. Over his last dozen games, he's hit four homers and knocked in eight runs.

His contributions haven't been so eye-opening that they suggest he can take over at first base full-time next season. But at the very least, his ability to hit lefties (.287 in his career in the majors) means the Sox could at least consider him as part of a platoon next year.

With both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce set for free agency and neither likely to return, Travis could be in picture somehow. Or, he may have shown enough to be part of a trade to help the Red Sox address other needs.

Stardom it's not. But that's a bigger role than Travis had even a few months ago.