Red Sox hit hard by MLB’s new schedule

The 2020 Major League Baseball season has yet to begin, but many Red Sox fans probably wish it was already over.

Boston will enter baseball’s abbreviated 60-game campaign barely resembling the record-breaking squad that won the World Series in 2018. Mookie Betts and David Price are in Los Angeles, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Nunez are cashing checks in New York, Hector Velazquez is ringing up batters in Baltimore, Brock Holt is shagging flies in Milwaukee, and postseason hero Steve Pearce is sipping pina coladas on the beach after retiring in April.

Boston also bid adieu to Alex Cora, who was stripped of his duties in mid-January after being implicated in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. The popular manager has been replaced by Ron Roenicke, a 63-year-old baseball lifer who spent the past two seasons as Boston’s bench coach.  

Adding injury to insult, the Red Sox will have to make do without ace Chris Sale, who underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow on March 30. The 31-year-old southpaw was an All-Star in seven of the past eight seasons and was among the league leaders in strikeouts per nine innings in 2019.

The bad news doesn’t stop there.

Boston’s uphill climb got a whole lot steeper on Monday night following the release of MLB’s new schedule, which favors geographical proximity over competitive balance. The Red Sox are slated to play 40 games within the American League East, including 10 games each against all four divisional opponents. 33% of Boston's games will be against the New York Yankees, who won 103 games in 2019, and the Tampa Bay Rays, who won 96 games. Things won’t get much easier against the burgeoning Toronto Blue Jays, who feature an enviable young nucleus led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Bo Bichette.

Boston’s remaining 20 games will be played against the National League East, where they’ll face off against the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals, as well as a trio of hard charging squads in the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. All four clubs won 81 games or more a season ago, and appear primed for even more success in 2020. The Phillies, in particular, could be dangerous, after acquiring shortstop Didi Gregorius and 11-game winner Zack Wheeler.

We ranked the Red Sox 18th overall in our recent MLB power rankings, but that may have been too generous. Given their many departures and self-inflicted wounds, it’s hard to imagine Boston breaking .500 in 2020.

There are reasons to be excited about baseball’s long-awaited return, but they have little to do with the Red Sox, who should struggle mightily in Roenicke’s first year at the helm.

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