“That’s a good question. It’s different for everyone,” Trevor Story said. “You work hard all year, all offseason, and you get to this point, and this is what we play for. You play to win in the playoffs, and to finish them (at Yankee Stadium) twice in a row is tough, and everyone will deal with it differently.”
For some players, there was an appreciation for the zombie-like return from the dead mid-year, a 15-game winning streak, and a 32-5 streak unlike anything most players had experienced. However, the traces of these summer memories were blurred by the blows they had just suffered.
The Sox hit .117 (7 for 60) – the second-worst average of any team in the entire postseason. Their on-base percentage of .159 was the lowest. They had virtually no runners in scoring position in either game, and when they did, they literally did nothing, going 0 for 3 without any base runners.
Willson Contreras was in no mood to find silver linings. At 34, he is their oldest position player. He was the team’s best hitter this year, hitting .275/.386/.516 with career highs in hits and home runs (27). He is an influential voice in the clubhouse.
Despite a number of injuries, he was their only source of offense Wednesday, going 2-for-2 with a homer and two walks. His four times on base doubled the combined total for the rest of the lineup.
His take on the series?
“We didn’t play well at all,” he said. “We didn’t pitch. We didn’t hit. And when you don’t have those two, it’s hard to win. (The Yankees) played better than us.”
For Contreras, this simple analysis was the beginning of a critique of the Red Sox organization that grew more refined as he continued.
“I’m really proud of this group, (but) everything we’ve done in the past remains in the past,” he said. “We have to improve next year. In every aspect of the game we have to improve. That’s the main thing.”
How did an offense that was the best in the American League during a 60-game stretch (5.18 runs per game from June 25 to Aug. 31) regress to its early season form staggering through September (MLB-worst 2.96 runs per game) and then collapse during a brief postseason?
“That’s a good question. I’m not going to answer it because I don’t want to give an honest answer,” Contreras said. “We got knocked out. That’s the bottom line…We didn’t produce. We didn’t execute any part of the game. And that’s why we (lost).
“I know we’ve had a really good run. I’m really proud of what we’ve done in the past, like I said. We’ve definitely been able to turn the season around 100 percent, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough.”
Contreras suggested both specific areas where the Sox needed to improve — for example, controlling opponents’ running game — but also adjustments on a macro level.
“It’s not enough when you have talent or data or computers telling you what to do. This is baseball and the data is there to help us,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you’re going to need experience and veterans to win games. There’s a lot of things I’d like to say but I’ll leave it at that.”
Does Contreras think the Sox are too reliant on data?
“If you watch the game,” Contreras responded incredulously, suggesting the answer was obvious. “If you watch the game.”
Given this perspective, is there anything Contreras or others can do to encourage the organization to evolve in its approach?
“I don’t know. I can’t make decisions,” he said. “The only thing I can control is my part of the game…Making decisions about the data, about all of that, there’s nothing we can do about it. Like I said, it’s there to help us. But at the end of the day, it’s not about the data. It’s about executing the game plan.
“At the end of the day, we can talk, we can share ideas. I don’t make decisions and we’re not going to make decisions. We’re employees. We get paid to play baseball and we play to be on the field, to perform. That’s the bottom line.”
Despite his misgivings, Contreras – who had to give up his anti-trade protection in order to finalize his December trade from the Cardinals to the Red Sox – suggested he was happy with the organization.
“I really had fun,” said Contreras, whose contract includes a guaranteed extra year, plus a team option for 2028. “It was my first season in Boston. I had no expectations here when I was traded. I didn’t want to put anything in my mind.
“(But) I’m really proud (of) what I was able to do throughout the whole season,” he said. “But also, I’m proud of the team we have here and proud of everyone.”
Alex Speier can be contacted at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.
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