The middle of the diamond has been depleted beyond recognition. Gone, for now, are two middle infielders (Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo), one center fielder (Jarren Duran) and a fourth player who can play second, short and center (Kike Hernandez).
The bullpen, too, is a shell of its former self. Unavailable are Matt Barnes, Josh Taylor, Hirokazu Sawamura and Martin Perez.
But as the Red Sox deal with the ravages of COVID -- and other assorted maladies -- they have one particular area of strength. The team's starting rotation — its makeup, depth and quality a question mark since spring training — has overcome a mid-summer drop-off to again serve as a strong point.
After Eovaldi allowed three runs in 6.1 innings in Friday's victory over Cleveland, the BIg Three of Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez had combined to go 7-2 with a 2.70 ERA in their last 14 starts.
Sale, of course, is returning from Tommy John surgery and is not yet at full strength. But he's yet to allow more than two runs in any of his four starts and the Sox have to lose a game he's started. Eovaldi has been the team's most dependable starter since the beginning of the season. But his best stretch is current with a 1.85 ERA over the four starts prior to Friday, As he took the mound against Cleveland, he had the second-best WAR (as calculated by Fangraphs) of an American League starter, behind only the Yankees' Gerrit Cole.
Finally, there's Rodriguez, whose season has been, somewhat predictably, uneven. After missing all of 2020 with COVID and resulting in myocarditis, nobody knew what to expect from the lefty, Accordingly, he racked up wins in April and early May when his stuff wasn't quite there. Throughout the season, though he's had his clunkers, Rodriguez's secondary numbers indicate that he's pitched far better than his ERA suggests. (His standard ERA sits at 4.88, but his FIP (fielding independent ERA) is more than a run lower at .386. That numbers, coupled with an outrageously high BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .356 suggests that Rodriguez has been both unlucky and the victim of poor defensive support.
Either way, he, like Eovaldi, is peaking at the right time.
"We feel,'' said Alex Cora earlier this week, "that we can pitch with anyone in the league.''
The rest of the rotation isn't nearly as solid. Nick Pivetta appears to have hit something of a wall over the last six weeks. Since July 11, roughly seven weeks ago, he's posted a 5.91 ERA and has given the team five innings just four times in those nine outings.
Meanwhile, Tanner Houck continues to flash elite stuff at time, with a fastball comfortably in the mid-90s and a wipeout slider, but like a lot of young pitchers, needs more. He's made just 12 big league starts, and at times, that lack of experience is obvious. Houck has difficulty keeping his pitch count down, and even when he does, has struggled when tasked with facing a lineup a third time.
Such obstacles are not uncommon for young starters, but navigating them in the midst of a playoff race can be burdensome.
Still, if the Red Sox can reasonably expect quality, deep starts from Sale, Eovaldi, and Rodriguez, they can take their chances on the other two turns in the rotation. This is especially true in September, which offers the promise of five off-days beginning Thursday. That affords Alex Cora and pitching coach Dave Bush the luxury of skipping a slumping starter here and there. And because the Sox have been so careful in protecting The Big Three all season -- arranging for the occasional extra day, careful monitoring of workloads, etc. -- they can no hit the gas over the final four weeks.
Having three reliable starting pitching options may not sound optimum, but at this point of the season, it's more than most teams can claim. When Sale, Rodriguez or Eovaldi are on the mound, the Sox don't need to score seven runs to win. And for a Red Sox team missing players in the middle of the field and with a giant hole where their bullpen used to be, the rotation -- or a chunk of it, anyway -- could be a season-saver.
It may, in fact, help them make up for some other deficiencies in the playoffs -- with the scheduled off-days -- should they qualify.
For now, they have to get there. The rotation could be their key. And back in March, who would have imagined that?