“It’s unlikely that Anderson will be able to turn back the clock to his days as a solid rotation piece…”
I’ll say.
No, literally, that’s what I said when Chase Anderson joined the Red Sox on a minor-league deal one month ago. Of course, I also had this pithy remark to say about the signing… “When the coffers are this bare, hey, why not roll the dice?”
With a second series in as many weeks on the line in a Thursday finale against Cleveland, the banged-up Red Sox rolled the dice by sending the 36-year-old Anderson to the mound for his first start of the season. They came up snake eyes.
After holding Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez at bay for nine pitches during a bases-loaded, two-out encounter during the second inning, Anderson served up a 91-mph cutter — his eighth of the at-bat, and eighth in a row — that Ramirez golfed into the right-field seats for a grand slam. Just like that, it was 5-1.
It was Anderson’s second homer of the night after Will Brennan took him deep on a solo shot earlier in the inning, and it ended his day. Alex Cora was quick to the mound to take the ball from his starter and give him a sympathy pat.
“It’s tough in a sense. You’re trying to get 27 outs understanding where you’re at, and you’re one pitch from getting out of the inning and maybe give us three more outs but it didn’t happen,” Cora told reporters. “Just one bad inning there.”
Anderson’s season ERA ballooned to 5.52 after his five-run, three-walk performance in 1 2/3 innings. But this story is about more than Anderson, who is but a bit player in the greater drama of the can’t-look-away theater that is the 2024 Boston Red Sox.
Much like last week, the Sox spoiled a chance to plant their foot on solid ground and balance themselves amid what’s been an early-season seesaw affair. A win would have given them a series victory over the best team in baseball with a chance to go back home and continue righting the ship at Fenway Park.
Instead, much like a week ago when they failed to secure a series split against this same Cleveland team, Cora’s team is moving onto the next challenge still treading water and none the closer to establishing a concrete identity.
“It sucks we lost the series, but we played well,” said Cora. “It was a good road trip at 4-2. So now we’ve just got to go home and figure that out.”
There’s truth in Cora’s words. The 14-12 Red Sox did have their moments on this trip — certainly in Pittsburgh, but also in Cleveland too.
Cooper Criswell took a big step forward in his pursuit of becoming a reliable option as a starter, tossing five scoreless, three-hit innings to pick up his first win of the season. That coincided with the return of star third baseman Rafael Devers, who launched a solo homer and finished 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs in his return from a bone bruise.
In Thursday’s finale, Devers stayed hot with a 3-for-5 day to provide more hope that maybe he’s over the hump with his injuries — particularly his nagging shoulder.
“I know we talked about the knee but I think the shoulder is where it’s supposed to be,” Cora said. “You’ve got to be patient with those guys. You have to be. Because at the end, when they’re healthy or close to 100 percent, that’s what they do.”
Hopefully so, because the Red Sox are going to need a healthy Devers as they continue to try to make the most of the opportunity in front of them. The next one is a six-game homestand beginning with three against the Chicago Cubs.
Much like Cleveland, Chicago is enjoying a strong start and will provide the Red Sox with another potential contender. Boston will begin with its best (remaining) foot forward as Kutter Crawford opposes new Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga in Friday’s series opener.
“We’ve got Kutter on the mound. He’s been throwing the ball great. Hopefully everybody is available and we can have our A-lineup out there,” Cora said. “We’ve got a tough one (Friday). (Imanaga is) really good at what he does. But we’ve got to be ready. Friday night at Fenway. Make it fun.”
Cora’s ballclub is well positioned to make the most of its weekend series with the Cubs with two of its hottest pitchers set to be on the mound. With Crawford posting in the series opener, the Sox will close out the series with Tanner Houck on the bump — with Josh Winckowski getting the start in between.
The Cubs will certainly be riding high after sweeping the Houston Astros to cap a 5-2 homestand. Fortunately for the Sox, Chicago has been a much better home team than a road team — going 10-3 at Wrigley Field, but 6-6 away from the Friendly Confines.
Unfortunately, the reverse has been true for Boston. After concluding a 4-2 trip to bump their road record to 11-5 on the season, the Red Sox now return to the harsh realities of a 3-7 mark at Fenway.
Something’s got to give as the road-weary Cubs collide with the home-weary Sox…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaguh on X/Twitter.