Imagine you’re a student in high school and you’re about to take a final exam that you know is going to be really hard, but the teacher let you use notes. But then right before you are about to begin the test, the teacher takes away your notes from you–making the test impossible to pass.
Well, that describes Ron Roenicke’s year as the manager of the Boston Red Sox.
He had the Yankees and the Rays in the AL East–two teams that were better–so he knew it was going to be hard to make the postseason.
But then he had his help taken away from him. Former Cy Young winner Chris Sale and last year’s best starter Eduardo Rodriguez were supposed to be his two best starting pitchers. He would’ve at least had a chance to win–but then Sale had Tommy John surgery and Rodriguez did not pitch a single game in the 2020 season after dealing with COVID-19 complications.
In case you forgot, Andrew Benintendi–Roenicke’s starting left fielder–was hurt in the middle of the season. Chaim Bloom traded his two best relievers before the Trade Deadline (granted they were already out of it).
But when you look back at everything that happened to Ron Roenicke’s club this year, he had no pitching to work with. I haven’t even mentioned that he didn’t have Mookie Betts and David Price who were traded and he didn’t have their former Cy Young winner Rick Porcello who signed with the Mets in the winter.
Alex Cora wouldn’t have led this team the playoffs either. Ron Roenicke was given an impossible task to handle this season so it isn’t fair to him to be the scapegoat.
Yes, it is obvious that Roenicke was going to be the manager for one season but he should not have been let go, as he deserves to be on the coaching staff. He very well could be on the next manager’s staff but right now he has no job and that isn’t right.
(Photo: Kim Klement/USA Today)
