The Red Sox' offensive struggles aren't hard to define. They require no deep dive into analytics. No additional data needs to be reviewed.
The plain truth is there, in black and white, at the bottom of the box score, which tallies a team's success (or failures) with runners in scoring position (RISP).
In the Red Sox' case, "failures'' seem like a generous assessment.
In their 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox were a woeful 1-for-14 with RISP. Over the last three games, they're a staggeringly bad 4-for-37.
They're getting their base hits, getting their chances...and failing to take advantage. Night after night, it's been a familiar tale.
The Sox managed a run in the first inning Monday, and then came up empty on the scoreboard in each of the next eight innings. It's been the same old story.
On Tuesday night, even as they squeaked by with a 2-1 win, the Sox were an equally abysmal 1-for-11. The day before, losing the series finale, they were 2-for-12.
See a pattern here? The manager does.
"I think we're expanding (the strike zone),'' said Alex Cora. "I have to take a look at certain counts, but it seems like, if we're ahead, we swing. And that's not good. We're better than that. We can use the whole field. When we're at our best, we use the whole field and stay up the middle. We saw it early on (in the season), with J.D. (Martinez) in Detroit, when we got going. We started hitting the ball the other way.
"Right now, it's about taking the little things. Staying on top of the ball, hit the ball back through the middle, hit the ball the other way, take what they give you. We can hit with two strikes. But when we get ahead in the count, we get into swing mode. As a unit, as a group, we have to do a better job containing the aggression in certain counts. If they walk, they walk you. Let the game go, keep the line moving. And if we do that, we can become who we are.''
Ah, walks. Remember those? It seems some Red Sox hitters do not. Going into Wednesday's loss, the team ranked 28th -- or second to last among all MLB teams -- in that department. Instead, it seems, they're too eager to make up deficits with one big swing.
Wednesday, they had Toronto starter Jose Berrios on the ropes a few times. They pounded the ball in the first with three hits, and scored their only run. Then, the drought ensued.
In the second, they had first-and-third with one out and the top of the order, and got nothing.
In the third, they got a leadoff double from J.D. Martinez (replaced by pinch-runner Christian Arroyo when Martinez felt some tightness in his adductor muscle) and never advanced him.
In the fourth, yet another leadoff double -- this one from Jackie Bradley Jr. -- was similarly wasted.
In all, from the third through the sixth, the Red Sox put the leadoff man on base three times, and came away empty-handed each time.
"Not taking care of mistakes that we get in those moments,'' sighed Trevor Story. "We just have to be a little better with runners in scoring position. We're getting guys on but we have to finish it off to have big innings.''
The frustration seems to be mounting for some struggling players. Kike Hernandez, who was 0-for-5, slammed his bat in abject frustration after popping out to first base in the fourth with a runner on second. Hernandez has run hot-and-cold all season. He began the year in a brutal 0-for-19 funk, got hot for a few games, and has since fallen into another slump, with just three hits in his last 20 at-bats.
It's hard to get things going when you're leadoff hitter isn't table-setting.
Things aren't much better up and down the lineup. Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo are all hitting .300 or above, but there are potholes throughout the order. Martinez hasn't gotten going, and now he's day-to-day with a sore hip. Story has had a few hits here and there, but still doesn't have his timing in the box after a shortened spring. Bobby Dalbec is 1-for-17 since the start of the homestand, showing the same streakiness that marked his game a year ago.
There are enough established hitters in the lineup that this won't last forever. But in the first dozen games, as they attempt to get their footing, the Sox haven't got their offensive game going.
It's not for a lack of effort, or even, a lack of opportunities.
But taking full advantage of them has proven elusive, which as much as anything, explains their .500 record.