But the last 50 PA sample size you note includes only 9 PAs hitting RH'd. That sample is so small that it's hard to find much meaning in it. That's basically a bad 3 games. Coming off an injury, there's so much that could affect that sample: elbow pain, opposing pitcher, weather, stadium.
As for Alex writing this article, I don't think it's distracting at all. This is NOT a pennant race. The Sox have zero chance at catching the Rays. The Sox are firmly in the 2nd WC slot. It would be very hard to move up to pass the Yanks or move down to the 3rd slot. Even so, many of us are able have multiple conversations about the Red Sox at once. This isn't Chad Tracy talking about Dylan Brown in a press conference right now. We can talk about a ton of topics all throughout the year and it's not really a big deal. It's always been that way on here.