What's wrong with the Red Sox' offense? Three ugly trends stand out

Well, it wasn't supposed to look like this.

When asked to name the Boston Red Sox' biggest strength heading into the 2025 MLB season, NBC Sports Boston's three-person panel unanimously mentioned the offense, pointing to the addition of Alex Bregman and an influx of young talent like Kristian Campbell and (potentially) Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.

Through 18 games, however, offense has been one of Boston's biggest weaknesses. The Red Sox are averaging a pedestrian 4.3 runs per game (14th in MLB), and that's including a 13-run outburst against the St. Louis Cardinals in their home opener and an 18-run effort in the series finale.

Those two games alone have accounted for 39.7 percent of Boston's total runs this season (31 of 78), and they're averaging a putrid 2.9 runs per game over their other 16 contests.

The Red Sox' bats have been especially dormant of late: They've scored a total of 15 runs in their last eight games, marking just the second time in the last nine seasons they've scored 15 or fewer runs in an eight-game span.

Yes, it's a small sample size. But the numbers above are still cause for alarm, especially for a team that was expected to compete for the postseason yet is floundering at 8-10 after a 16-1 walloping at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

So, what's causing Boston's struggles at the plate? Here are three statistical trends worth monitoring:

Strikeouts galore

Strikeouts are the team's biggest issue by far -- and it's not a new issue.

The Red Sox lead all of baseball with 179 strikeouts through 18 games after ranking third in MLB with 1,570 whiffs last season. Rafael Devers has been the primary culprit -- his 27 strikeouts lead the American League -- but he's certainly not alone.

Red Sox players account for five of the AL's top 15 players in strikeouts this season, with Trevor Story (22 strikeouts), Jarren Duran (20 strikeouts), Triston Casas and Alex Bregman (18 Ks apiece) rounding out the list.

Poor plate discipline

A peek at some advanced numbers reveals another issue for the strikeout-happy Red Sox: They're chasing a lot of bad pitches.

Boston has the eighth-highest chase percentage in baseball (29.5 percent) and is tied for the fifth-highest whiff percentage (27.5 percent), per Baseball Savant. Alex Cora's club makes contact on just 49.2 percent of pitches it chases, the third-worst mark in MLB.

Interestingly enough, the Red Sox rank fourth in baseball in walks to date (65), suggesting a somewhat patient approach at the plate. But when they do swing at pitches outside the zone, the results have (mostly) been ugly.

Stranding runners

The first two issues feed into this issue, but Boston simply hasn't been able to bring runners home this season.

The Red Sox have left an average of 7.4 runners on base per game, second-most in the AL and fifth-most in MLB. They're hitting just .233 with runners in scoring position with a league-leading 55 strikeouts in those situations.

They've also been especially bad in close games, batting .190 with an MLB-leading 27 strikeouts in "Late/Close" situations (seventh inning or later and the score within one run).

Of course, there's plenty of time for the Red Sox to snap out of their early-season slump. But in a competitive AL East, they can't afford to have quiet bats much longer.