What's a manager to do?
Alex Cora has a talented roster, one which was leading all of Major League Baseball in virtually every offensive category only last week. The Sox were slugging and scoring with the best of them, propelling them to the top of the American League East.
The middle of the lineup was particularly fearsome, with J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers all ranking in the Top 5 in OPS in the American League. What pitcher would want to face a lineup like that?
Just days later, the current Red Sox lineup has somehow gone from formidable to forgettable. It was something of a breakthrough that Martinez had a single and Devers had two Wednesday night -- and never mind that both of the hits for Devers never left the infield. At least something was done to snap the collective 0-for-21 sinkhole the three had fallen into the previous two days.
Alas, that wasn't nearly enough to overtake the Houston Astros, who seem to be staging a replay of the 2017 ALDS without letting the Red Sox in on the throwback party. When the Astros need a big hit, they get it; when the Sox need one, they either flail helplessly or take a called third strike passively.
Ordinarily, this would cause a shakeup of the lineup, or at least a rejiggering of the batting order. But Cora's options on both counts are rather limited. He has just three bench players, one of whom is a backup catcher. On Wednesday night, his two other available hitters -- Danny Santana and Marwin Gonzalez -- were both sporting sub-.200 batting averages.
And sure, he could tinker with the order some, and remove KikΓ© (0-for-24) Hernandez from the top of the lineup at least temporarily. But what are the alternatives? Other than Hunter Renfroe, there's not a single member of the lineup who's swinging it well right now.
Some of that credit should go to the Astros, who look to have game-planned the Sox to perfection through the first three innings. Houston's starters, in particular, have been masterful in keeping the ball out of the middle of plate, pitching to the edges while trying to entice Boston hitters to expand the strike zone.
Red Sox hitters have taken the bait. On Wednesday, starter Framber Valdez induced 11 swings and misses at pitches out of the strike zone, the most of any opposing starter this season.
True to form, Cora is exhibiting no panic.
"This is the season right now,'' he said. "We've got a lot of guys who are struggling. We got pull happy when we had pitches in certain counts and that's not working right now. It's not working around the league and it doesn't work for us. You have to use the whole field. You've got to stay up the middle and go the other way. When we're really good, we do that.
"They expanded the zone on 3-and-2 counts. They're not giving in. They pitch to the edges of the strike zone. That's how they do it. I think when teams do that, as a unit we have to be more selective and look for pitches middle-middle and when we get them -- it doesn't matter if it's early in the count -- do damage.''
The selectivity quotient is definitely absent of late. The Sox entered play Wednesday dead last in the American League in walks and while they had two walks in their first six plate appearances - the second of which, with the bases loaded, accounted for the only run of the night -- they didn't have a single walk the rest of the way. They have a grand total of four walks in the first 27 innings of this series.
And so Cora waits. He can preach about being more patient at the plate, and he can offer some rest to a couple of players in Thursday's matinee getaway game. But mostly, he's got to let this play out, waiting for order to be restored and for his offense to reappear.
"What kind of adjustments can we (make) right now?'' he asked rhetorically. "We trust the process. We trust the players. They're due now, that's the way I see it. I keep saying the same thing; I sound repetitive. It's 162 games. This happens. You're going to run into good pitching and they're going to avoid damage.''
These days, Cora sounds less like the manager of a slumping team and more like the owner of a dog who's run away. He has faith that the dog will soon find its way home, because, well, experience teaches him that he always has before.