With the first two months of the schedule in the books and nearly a third of the season complete, team executives traditionally take stock of where they are around the Memorial Day benchmark.
Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox chief baseball officer, is no different. Taking a look at where his team stands as it winds down a disappointing homestand, Bloom is far from satisfied.
"Our record's in a better spot than the last time I talked to (reporters) as a group,'' he said, "but if you go back to where we wanted to be when we started the season, this isn't where we wanted to be. The last several weeks, as a whole, we've looked a lot more like the club we thought we were going to be, particularly offensively. The last couple of days notwithstanding, we've been very, very good offensively and that started with the approaches we've had up and down the lineup. We're seeing the ball better, (making) better swing decisions and really, in our better games, our whole lineup contributing, top to bottom. So that's been good.
"It's fair to say at this point, we were hoping to have a more settled bullpen than we have. We have seen some guys jump in and show that they contribute here. On the whole, I think we've played a lot better the last couple of weeks, a lot more like the club we thought we'd be. But what we did the first month of the season still counts. So we're going to have to do this for a while longer to really jump in this thing where we want to be.''
The Sox would like more stability in the bullpen when it comes to performance. More than anything, though, Bloom wants to see his relievers achieve some consistency.
"I think it comes from guys either stepping up as contributors, as we've seen with guys like (John) Schreiber and (Tyler) Danish, showing they have the potential to do recently,'' said Bloom, "and also just guys from either Triple A or established guys rounding into form where you know what you're getting eight or nine times out of 10. That's what major league relievers. Nobody's going to be perfect, but to have a really good idea of what you're getting. I think we're seeing signs of that.''
As for structure and prescribed roles, Bloom is willing to see what develops.
"I don't necessarily think it has to be a lineup where the same guys pitch in the seventh and the same guys pitch in the eighth,'' he said. "You can do it that way; you don't have to do it that way to be effective. I think the key is, really, having guys in a spot where when Alex (Cora) and Will (Venable) and (Dave Bush) are mapping out how we're going to get through the last inning of a game, there's some consistency in knowing, 'Here's what we can expect,' and then they can game-plan accordingly against the opposing lineup.''
The debate over how to best utilize Garrett Whitlock continues, but for now, he's in the rotation.
"We've seen some of the growing pains that we would expect (as he transitions to a starter's role),'' said Bloom. "The thing that stands out to me, is the outings that have gone better for him have been the ones where he's been able to take the exact same approach he had in the bullpen and just go right after guys, using his whole arsenal and attacking the strike zone relentlessly because he's got good stuff.
"He's been so good for us since he showed up that really, whatever role you deploy him in, he's helped us a lot. It so happened that we've had some games we lost late where, I don't think we'd have had a save opportunity late if he hadn't done what he did starting that game. So that just speaks to the importance of having a ton of quality pitching options and then you can figure out how to best deploy someone like Garrett. The thing we set out to do is give him some consistency and some regularity as he progresses in his career and also make sure that he's in an important role, pitching important innings and put us in a position to win.
"If those innings happen at the beginning of the game, obviously that leaves it up to other guys to take care of the end of the game. If they might happen at the end of the game, we have to be in a position at the end of the game to make it worth it.''
Bloom added that there's been no real discussion about how Whitlock's role might change when Chris Sale returns later this month or in early July.
"We've got to see where we're at when we get to that point,'' said Bloom.
Meanwhile, at Worcester, there's a host of young arms who might be able to contribute in Boston later in the season: Connor Seabold, Brandon Walter, Josh Winckowski and Brayan Bello in the rotation, and Frank German in the bullpen. Any of them could be used in a variety of spots, depending on need and fit.
"I wouldn't rule out (using one of the starters in relief),'' said Bloom. "We do see a lot of those guys get their feet wet in the bullpen. But we wouldn't necessarily use them like a veteran reliever who's done that for a long time. It's a big adjustment and there's a learning curve. But it's something we'd consider.''
As for the lineup, Bloom was asked about the poor starts by left fielder Alex Verdugo and center fielder Kike Hernandez.
"That's something that, in both cases, I would expect to turn,'' he said. "We saw some of this last year with Kike and he picked it up and even of late, he's been a little bit more like the hitter he's been his whole career. And as for Dugie, we know Dugie can hit. At times, he's gone in and out of his approach and he's probably gotten rewarded less for his hard-hit balls than just about anybody in baseball. Mentally, that can wear on you. But I think the talent is such that the results should turn. And with the way he's hit the ball, he's deserving of better results than he's had.''