Sitting at 10-19, the Boston Red Sox enter the second week of May in last place in the American League East. With their sixth consecutive series loss, the Red Sox have won just three series so far this season.

The signing of Trevor Story to a $140 million, six-year deal in March caused Red Sox fans to have high hopes for the season. Story joining all-star third basemen Rafael Devers and all-star shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the infield sounded almost unbeatable, so what happened?

The biggest problem for the Sox has been its offense. With only two starters- Devers and Bogaerts- hitting over .300, the Sox have had little to no offense. Story, who hit 24 home runs last season with the Colorado Rockies, is currently sitting at zero home runs with a 33% strikeout rate and .194 batting average, all while getting paid millions of dollars to do so.

Although Story has been struggling offensively, he is only a small part of the big offensive problems facing the Sox. Centerfielder Kiki Hernández, who made an unbelievable 2021 postseason run breaking many records, is currently averaging .176 with one home run. In addition to Hernández, first baseman Bobby Dalbec is hitting .139 and left fielder Alex Verdugo is hitting .212.

On the other end, the team’s pitching, specifically the bullpen, has let them down immensely. Late inning collapses and disasters have been a common theme for this pitching staff, who already has nine blown saves and is yet to find a solid closer. Their combined ERA of 4.19 ranks near last in the league.

The closer position was once thought to be the job for Matt Barnes after his stellar pitching in the beginning of 2021, resulting in an all-star selection and shiny new $18.75 million dollar guaranteed contract. However, Barnes is continuing his struggles from the second part of the season and currently sits with a ERA of 7.84 and one save in 12 games. Meanwhile, Jake Diekman and Hansel Robles have not been the solution to the problem, each having more blown saves (2) than saves (1).

One of the few bright spots, though, is the team’s starting pitching team. The rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, Nate Pivetta and new addition Garrett Witlock has kept them in many games this season. Their combined ERA of 3.28 is currently ranked No. 8 in the league and has been nothing short of stellar. However, despite their performances, the Sox only have a combined five wins.

Nearly everything went right last year for a team that was two wins away from playing in the World Series, but it all seems to be going wrong this year. The Sox have had some bad luck and struggled with injuries, but excuses aside, this team has too much star power and talent to be playing this badly. Something has to change, and fast, if this team has any hope of playing baseball in October.