With all the injuries, the players still can see how close they came. With flawed teams ahead of them in the division, and even with major roles being played by Darnell McDonald, Bill Hall, and Daniel Nava, the Sox still could have played deeper into October.
That they won’t is the result of many factors, from a bullpen that lacked consistency — especially in middle relief — to a rotation that struggled after the top two starters, to an inability to win close games. Yes, and the injuries, too.
“Our margin for error was small,’’ said manager Terry Francona. “That doesn’t mean you can’t win. And we’ve lost a lot of tough games. We’ve lost a lot of walkoff games on the road, 13.
“But if you have to play perfect, OK, let’s try to play perfect. It’s too easy to sit and go, ‘Well, we had injuries.’ That’s too easy.
“During the season, you’ve got to figure out, ‘OK, how are we going to win?’ And sometimes we didn’t do that good.’’
So the Sox lost, marking just the second season under the current regime in which they missed the playoffs and did not win at least 95 games. That’s why, for the first time in Francona’s tenure, the baseball operations and field staff met for a breakdown of the season Friday.
“We lost,’’ Francona said, simply. “I’m not happy about that because I feel like we’re still good enough to win, even in our division. But I don’t know. We’ve not made the playoffs, what, twice? We’re trying to get better. But I know that I’ve tried hard to do everything we could and remain positive and give it a fight. We weren’t good enough.’’
Stumbling out of box
The losing started back in April, when the team limped to an 11-12 record. Angst and disenchantment seemed to be the dominant theme, as the manager struggled to find answers amid a difficult transition. Stars were no longer stars. Role players were not performing. It made for tricky navigation through the clubhouse, especially for Francona.
“Sometimes I think doing your best is being patient, getting out of the way, sometimes maybe it’s giving somebody a kick in the pants,’’ Francona said. “I was frustrated early on, in April. I think it was evident.
