Article: Rob Refsnyder's "We Suck" Comments Are Correct, But Red Sox Need A Different Leader

[Alex Mayes]

Rob Refsnyder summed up this most recent stretch of the Red Sox’s season pretty succinctly when he told reporters: “We suck right now.” Yeah, that’s hitting the nail squarely on the head. This has been a rough two weeks to watch the product that is on the field day in and day out. Take away the offensive onslaught against Baltimore during the day on May 23, and you have a middling offense who can’t pick up their top tier starter when he goes out and gets 11 strikeouts against a middling Brewers team. It’s infuriating, and someone needed to speak up.

Enter Refsnyder, who has quietly become a leader in the clubhouse. Yes, he doesn’t play every day, but he’s been in the league for ten years and he has seen and been around leaders in other clubhouses. Now, he’s stepping into that role in Boston. If you have a hot mic feed when he’s at the plate, you know that Refsnyder is outspoken on the field. If you’ve watched Netflix’s docuseries "The Clubhouse", you know the kind of weight his voice holds in the Red Sox's locker room.

When the most recent drama surrounding Rafael Devers occurred, it came out that a player in the clubhouse told Devers to ‘just stop talking’ and that veteran players were ‘frustrated’ with how everything was playing out through the media. It stands to reason that Refsnyder was one of those veterans and is outspoken enough to be the voice telling Devers to stop talking. 

The one issue here is Rob Refsnyder shouldn’t have to be a vocal veteran in the clubhouse. He’s not Justin Turner, brought in a few seasons removed from winning a World Series title as a championship-caliber clubhouse presence. The thing is, Refsnyder is one of the longest tenured players in the clubhouse as it currently stands. Devers has never been a vocal presence. Duran has had some leadership roles thrust upon him but he’s still in his 20s and struggles with pressure from time to time. Trevor Story has been around, but injured. Alex Bregman should be a calming voice in the clubhouse, but he’s now out with a quad injury for an undetermined amount of time. Who else has the ability to step into that role? Garrett Crochet is young, Tanner Houck is spending time on the IL (and struggling horrendously this year), and the rest of the team is still under arbitration or playing out the first couple of seasons of an extension. It's odd to say, but the Red Sox may be lacking older players this year that can help navigate the clubhouse through tough periods.

Someone needed to say the quiet part out loud, and I applaud Rob Refsndyer for being that guy. He’s right: the team sucks right now. It’s not fun to watch, so I can’t imagine it’s fun to be in the clubhouse or on the field. Maybe Refsnyder getting vocal will wake something up in the roster. If it doesn’t, then it’s going to be a long season to endure, especially since it appeared so promising at the outset.

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[Kimmi]

I applaud Refsnyder for taking on a leadership role.  I also applaud him for almost always having a professional at bat, even though his playing time is limited.  With so many young players on our team, we need guys like Refsnyder.

I understand that not everyone has the makeup to be a vocal leader.  However, one can be a strong leader by example without necessarily having to be vocal.  Devers, I'm looking at you.