These Trends Can Keep Red Sox Offensive Surge Sustainable

The brutal late-inning loss for the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night should not take away from the offensive surge on the current road trip.

Boston posted 40 runs with 12 home runs through a 3-2 start to the road trip against the Cleveland Guardians and the Toronto Blue Jays. The top of the order is producing, the lineup has depth and the Red Sox continue to hit the ball out of the ballpark.

Alex Bregman, who had his best first month of the season in years, homered for the second straight night Wednesday and Carlos Narvaez added another home run at Rogers Centre. Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers have both shaken off early-April frost to dominate with their respective speed and power.

Hitting home runs and averaging eight runs a game is obviously preferred for Boston, but the difference almost always comes for the Red Sox when they avoid offensive trends. The lineup is certainly susceptible to strikeouts and will have nights where they rack up at a concerning rate. But when the Red Sox have put the ball in play this season, they’ve mashed to the level seen over the first five games of the road trip.

Boston ranks second in the American League with a .756 team OPS and fifth with 40 home runs. The lineup also only trails the New York Yankees in strikeouts at the plate. That’s not to say it’s all or nothing on a nightly basis for the Red Sox offense, but they can certainly be a different team when their stars like Duran and Bregman set the tone at the top of the lineup and the group as a whole puts the ball in play.

The Red Sox didn’t have much after the sixth inning Wednesday night, but the slugging trends of the road trip should encourage Boston as the calendar flips to May.