When you get right down to it, Chaim Bloom is really not much different than you.
Like you, he watches each Red Sox game. And also like you, he can't quite believe what he's seen to date, especially with the offense.
Although the Red Sox have shown signs in recent days that they're about to bust out of their collective slump, it's difficult to fathom that the Sox have scored three runs or fewer in half (nine of the first 20) of their games. Or that three of the regulars would be hitting under .200 as the calendar is close to flipping to May.
Or that, as a team, the Sox would go into Thursday slugging .353 as a team. Or that they'd have gone six straight games without hitting a homer, or have just two homers in the previous 11 games.
Bloom, like most of you, did not see that coming.
"I don't think anybody here is, or could possibly be happy with where we are,'' Bloom told BostonSportsJournal.com. "I do think the level of frustration we have over this start -- against the tough schedule -- speaks to the expectations that we have and the belief in the talent level. But this isn't where we want to be. We obviously have a long way to go, but it isn't how we wanted to start. There have been some bright spots but it just hasn't synced up and we need to start firing on more cylinders.
"We're confident that we will because we've seen enough to continue to believe in the talent. But obviously, this is now how we wanted to get out of the gate.''
It's bad enough that the Red Sox have a losing record three weeks into the season and have sunk to fourth in the competitive American League East. But what makes it more mystifying is that it's largely been the offense that has them where they are.
"No question,'' agreed Bloom, "and we are confident that that's going to turn. Even in recent days, we've seen the approaches improve, the at-bats improve. We haven't always gotten the results to show for it. But nothing has happened that has changed our opinion on the talent level that we have. It hasn't come to fruition in the first few weeks, but we have every confidence that we will.''
If there's any consolation from the poor offensive showing, it's that some of the underlying numbers -- hard-hit rate; exit velocity; barrel percentage -- suggest that the Sox have mostly unlucky. They've hit some balls hard, but often, right at defenders.
"I think it's a good indicator,'' said Bloom. "It does validate our estimation of the talent we have. But I don't think we take solace in it. We're in a results business and the results haven't been there. It's a good reminder of what we know and when you're in a stretch like this, you sometimes need those reminders of what the underlying talent level is. Because sometimes when you're in a stretch like this, it looks like it will never end. Sooner or later, you end up in a hot stretch and it looks like that will never end.
"The truth is, this is a game where a season is a roller coaster ride with 10 different storylines and every time you think you know what the storyline is, it flips. We need to remind ourselves of that. This is a not a game that has ever going to reward panic, and certainly not in April or May. Obviously, that doesn't make it feel better when you're not scoring runs and you're not winning games.''
One of the more disconcerting performances so far has been the poor start by Bobby Dalbec. The Sox had reason to believe that his second-half play (.955 OPS) was an indication that he had figured things out. Instead, through the first 20 games, Dalbec looks eerily like the over-matched hitter from the first half of 2021.
"Having seen him come out of it last year, we know he can,'' said Bloom. "We even saw some interesting things, approach-wise, especially with two strikes, in camp, even with it being a shortened spring, that were really interesting and really encouraging. We know he can do it. I think one of the lessons of last year is not to give up on somebody who has talent and who cares and who puts in the work. Because we know he can turn this around and we've seen him do it before.''
Another area of concern -- at least of late -- has been the bullpen, which experienced two walkoff defeats in the span of four games on the current road trip. The Sox added Jake Diekman and Matt Strahm as free agents, but otherwise, brought back the relief staff of a year ago.
Has Bloom second-guessed himself for not adding more in the offseason?
"I feel good about who we brought in,'' he said. "Obviously, they haven't gotten the job done every single time, but nobody does. On the whole, I think they've shown a lot of what we had hoped they would show. We've been really encouraged. We also wanted to make sure that we had flexibility with our roster, that we had different looks. And we think that some of these guys who have not yet impacted us, including some guys who haven't even had a shot yet, are going to emerge and we wanted to make sure there was space for them to do that.
"Where exactly that sweet spot is, I think is something that there can be a lot of opinions on. It's certainly something that we've talked about. We like the guys that we brought in and feel good about what the guys who are here are going to contribute. It's something we're going to have to keep tabs on as it plays out.''
Bloom added that he was speaking of options like Tyler Danish and John Schreiber, who replaced the ineligible Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford this week, as potential contributors in the long run, "guys who might not be that well known, but have the ingredients to add effective new dimensions to our bullpen.''