Through four games, the Red Sox rank 29th in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage and 24th in slugging percentage.
If you're paying careful attention, do you know what the operative number in that first sentence is?
That's right - it's "four.''
It's not terribly relevant that the Sox are next-to-last in two important offensive categories or fifth-from-last in another.
What is important is that just four games have been played. For a variety of reasons, the Red Sox offense hasn't yet arrived. Blame it on the short spring, the cold weather or the pitching of the Yankees, and on Monday, the Detroit Tigers, but to date, the Red Sox lineup has been a virtual no-show.
The Sox scored five runs on Opening Day. Since then, they've been held to two runs, four runs and one run in their subsequent games, two of them losses. Unsurprisingly, they're 1-3. In the American League, you're not going to win a lot of games averaging three runs per game.
The good thing, from the Red Sox' standpoint, is that this won't last. A lineup that features Kike Hernandez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Alex Verdugo, Trevor Story and Bobby Dalbec is not about to be contained for long. (We can argue that the bottom section of the order is somewhat more problematic, with little production expected from Christian Vazquez or Jackie Bradley Jr. But even the best teams have the occasional hole or two in their lineup, and the Sox are no different in that regard).
Is there another lineup that you would trade, even up, for the one the Red Sox have? Toronto, perhaps, but they've got a black hole of their own at the bottom of their lineup. The Yankees seem to have improved, now that they've got both Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo for the entire season to help provide some lefthanded balance, but they, too, have a big dropoff at the bottom.
Other than that, which offense in the American League is as formidable as Boston's? Few, if any.
Through four games, the bullpen has been surprisingly effective. Even after Ryan Brasier was tagged for a game-winning two-run homer by Javier Baez in the eighth inning of the Sox' 3-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, Red Sox relievers have allowed just three earned runs over 16.2, which translates into a 1.62 ERA. If we're using the phrase "way too early'' to begin worrying about the offensive attack, then the same caveat has to be applied to the relievers. Still, it's an encouraging sign that the Sox bullpen has been as effective as it's been in the early going.
As for the offense, there would seem little reason to worry. The lineup is full of accomplished, experienced hitters. The jury is still out on Dalbec and who he is, but he offers plenty of power potential. Everyone else, meanwhile, has been there and done that -- repeatedly.
"I've been surprised (by the lack of production),'' acknowledged Alex Cora. "But if this is (the problem) we're talking about, we should be fine. I believe we're going to score runs. It's just a matter of slowing the game down and don't try to do too much. And start having good at-bats. Don't get caught up in the results, and just get back to the process.''
While everyone worried about what impact the compressed spring training schedule would have on pitchers and arm strength, perhaps not enough consideration was given to how hitters might also be impacted. Instead of more than four weeks of facing live pitching, as would be the case most spring, hitters had, in some cases, less than three weeks.
And sure, elsewhere, runs are piling up and balls are being crushed with absurd exit velocities. Just not by the Red Sox, who were handcuffed by second-year starter Matt Manning and a trio of effective relievers. The Sox never got into an offensive rhythm. Manning never had to pitch out of the stretch, and as a team, the Red Sox didn't have a plate appearance in which they had a baserunner in scoring position until Devers cracked a one-out double in the ninth.
It will help when the Red Sox get Story back in the sixth spot of their order. He played two games, was out sick Sunday and Monday, and will likely miss Tuesday, too. In his place, Jonathan Arauz represents a big dropoff when it comes to firepower.
Elsewhere, Hernandez doesn't have a hit after four games, and has reached base just twice. That's hardly kickstarting the lineup at the top, as Hernandez did from June onward last season. Xander Bogaerts seems to have fallen into an early-season funk the last three games. Dalbec has been, predictably, streaky.
For now, the very small sample size has produced a distorted snapshot of an offense that has yet to get untracted.
Feel free to worry about whether the rotation is deep enough and whether the Sox will get enough innings from their rotation. Fret about the bullpen, which is still being defined, and for now, lacks an obvious closer candidate.
But if you're worrying about the offensive production that's going to be supplied, you're worrying about the wrong thing. Then again, if the offense does become a liability instead of being a club strength, what they get from their pitching staff will be rendered irrelevant.