MLB Notebook: The Red Sox have a Fenway problem and it goes beyond distractions

Following Boston’s 4-2 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night, veteran infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa suggested the club’s disappointing home record may be tied to the distractions that come with playing in one of baseball’s most demanding markets.

“I just feel like on the road we’re a very close-knit team,” Kiner-Falefa said after losing the series opener. “We’ve come home and there’s just a lot of people and it’s different, it’s a different vibe at home and we got to figure out a way to make it small like it is on the road. Just feel like at home we see a lot of people we don’t know, just don’t know that are around this area and when we’re on the road its a close-knit group and we’re becoming a really close team and, yeah, we got to find a way to bring that back home.”

While Kiner-Falefa did not specify exactly who he was referring to, his comments shed light on a reality of playing at home. Clubs naturally have more staff members, front-office personnel, family members, friends and outside obligations around the team during home games than they do on the road. That still shouldn't be an excuse for a team underperforming after making the postseason last October.

Kiner-Falefa revisited the topic Wednesday, doubling down on the idea that there is a noticeable difference between the atmosphere surrounding the club at Fenway Park and the more simplified routine players experience on road trips.

“Everything on the road is a lot smaller,” said Kiner-Falefa. “Here, it’s a big market at home and a lot going on and we just have to do a better job as a team to make it smaller. We haven’t played well at home. We’re trying different things and looking into different things. Everybody here’s treated me well; it’s a great group. We just have to find a way to translate it here at home.

“We need to a better job of simplifying everything. We have a young group as well, so the simpler we can make it, the easier it will be.”

The numbers back up Kiner-Falefa’s point. Boston has been dreadful at Fenway Park, going just 10-20 while ranking last in Major League Baseball in both runs scored and home runs at home. The Red Sox have consistently looked like a different team away from Boston, where many of their best offensive performances have occurred this season. 

“Just a little bit of everything,” Kiner-Falefa said about the distractions the team faces. “At home, it’s just big-market. This is what you dream of (but) there’s a lot going on. On the road, it’s just our small group. It’s part of playing in a big market. It’s what I signed up for. It’s what a lot of us dream of. Being able to put this jersey on, it means the world to us. Playing in Fenway, it’s like a golden ticket. To come out here and not play our best, or not to win, it’s frustrating. As an organization, we’re looking into everything. We’ve got to figure it out as a group.”

The Red Sox have developed a troubling habit of getting off to slow starts at Fenway Park this season. Tuesday’s series-opening loss to Baltimore was another example, as Boston managed just two runs and struggled to generate consistent offense. One night later, however, the lineup looked like a completely different group, erupting for eight runs and pounding the Orioles, 8-1.

“I think there’s like a lackadaisical thing going on at the beginning of games at home for some reason,” said Kiner-Falefa. “But when we need to come through, we’re actually making things happen, (but) just not getting over that hump. It’s frustrating because we’re so close and we know how much talent we have in this room. We’re very, very close.

“We take that momentum on the road, we play really well. Then we come home and we lose those games by a run. But we get the tying run on, we’re doing a great job. Something’s just not clicking. We’re looking into everything. We’re just not able to win. We’re very close to coming through and getting the big hit, walk-offs or whatever it might be. We’re just not getting it.”

Kiner-Falefa admitted that his comments on Tuesday night came out of frustration. 

“It’s not usual to have the record we do at home,” he said. “It’s usually the opposite. You go on the road and you try to play .500 baseball and come home and try to be above .500. That’s usually how you make the playoffs. We have it flipped. That’s really weird. It’s just something to look into it.”

Interim manager Chad Tracy said he understood Kiner-Falefa’s remarks and the motivation behind them.

“There’s a lot more going on here than there is on the road,” he said. “That’s probably the case in a lot of places, but maybe even more so here. But we have to get it squared away. I think winning solves a lot of it.”

Tracy is right about one thing, winning would solve a lot of the noise surrounding the Red Sox right now.

The problem is Boston simply doesn’t have enough offensive talent to consistently perform at the level the front office, coaching staff, players and fan base expect.

For months, the Red Sox have known they needed another impact bat.

Last offseason, while speaking at the GM Meetings, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow openly acknowledged the club needed more power, specifically from the right side of the plate. Yet when the dust settled, Boston never truly addressed that weakness.

The Red Sox essentially swapped Alex Bregman for Willson Contreras after Bregman departed for the Cubs in free agency, but the lineup remained largely unchanged. The lack of right-handed power that plagued the club a year ago remains a glaring issue today.

Now Boston is watching its season slowly slip away. The losses continue to pile up at Fenway Park, the offense ranks near the bottom of the American League in several key categories, and the margin for error grows smaller by the day.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Breslow is once again canvassing the league for offensive help.

“What I’ve heard today is, it’s not just that they are looking for a right-handed hitter, they are aggressively looking for a right-handed hitter and signaling to the industry, ‘Look, we’re willing to take on money. We’re willing to pay a lot of money,’” Olney said on Just Baseball Media on Wednesday. “Which, of course, raises the question, why didn’t you just pay Alex Bregman and pay the extra money?

“But the way this is being interpreted in other organizations is: Man, there’s some desperation setting in there in Boston because of this ugly start, how poorly they’re playing at home, winning a third of their games, struggling offensively and understanding they have an imbalance in their lineup.”

Breslow made a splash early on last year, trading away disgruntled slugger Rafael Devers to the Giants on Father’s Day. 

“What the Red Sox are saying is we really want to get a right-handed hitter, and we’re willing to pay big dollars for them,” Olney added.  “And remember last year, Craig Breslow was able to pull off that Devers trade relatively early in the season. Maybe he can do something, and it might be a case where the Red Sox are willing to take on a bad contract in order to get a good right-handed hitter.”

The Red Sox failed to land an impact slugger this past winter despite several opportunities to do so.

Boston was connected to players such as Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, but both ultimately signed elsewhere. Eugenio Suárez, coming off a 49-home run season, was another potential fit before landing with Cincinnati.

As a result, Breslow finds himself