Red Sox Hitters Just Need to Find Their Rhythm

Boston fans don’t panic, the Red Sox will hit this year. After scoring only 14 runs and batting .268 as a team in the four games to open the season, I’m sure Red Sox Nation is thinking it was a good thing Boston has been playing against a team even more anemic offensively or else they could be 1 and 3 instead of 3 and 1. David Ortiz, the biggest bat of them all, went 0 for 11 before coming alive in the fourth game. Take heart Sox fans, Ortiz (who is hitting .188) and Mike Lowell (.133), last season’s leading run producers, will not finish the season batting below .200.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox hitters were victimized by a travel schedule that saw them go from Florida to Japan to Los Angeles to Oakland in the course of two weeks. While every other Major League club was still in the midst of Spring Training, Boston and Oakland had to travel to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to play two official games a week before anyone else did. To say either team looked rusty would be an understatement. To make matters worse, instead of being able to assume a normal routine, the teams then had to turn around and fly back to the United States and play more exhibition games before meeting up again in Oakland to complete a four game series.

Baseball players are creatures of habit to whom routine is very important, especially hitters. Timing, balance, rhythm and comfort are all key to being successful at any level, but especially so in the Major Leagues where pitchers are supremely adept at keeping hitters off balance and guessing. Manny Ramirez does not just roll out of bed and hit .300. He spends hours hitting in the cages, taking soft toss, and hitting off a tee to get his rhythm down and fine tune his swing. Batters constantly watch video looking for the slightest glitch that could be the difference between a week ground out to second base or a frozen rope hit into the gap. So when players are taken out of their routine and not given a chance to find their rhythm at the plate, even the best will struggle to get hits.

So fear not Boston, the bats will come around. David Ortiz will end up hitting his 35 home runs and 130 RBI. Manny Ramirez will not be far behind. Dustin Pedroia will hit .300. Mike Lowell will hit around 40 doubles. The Red Sox will end up scoring plenty of runs this season and every game will not be a nail-biter waiting for the bats to come through.