Red Sox disappoint in playoffs/postseason takeaways

No. 1 starting pitcher gives up three home runs in one inning before he’s pulled: Rick Porcello.

No. 2 starting pitcher doesn’t know how to pitch in the postseason: David Price.

No. 3 starting pitcher did about what you could ask for, but he only pitched four innings: Clay Buchholz.

The offense, that was another disappointment for the Boston Red Sox. Add it all together and it’s easy to see why they were swept by the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. They really just got beat by the better team. Not much you can do there.

It was quite the way to end the season, losing eight of their last nine games. They peaked two weeks too early. And it cost them. There’s not really any way to put the blame of this on one person. It was a team effort. Even in Price’s bad outing game two, the bats were non-existent.

If anything, the playoffs put next year into perspective. So here are some takeaways from it:

David Price can’t pitch in the playoffs.

The Red Sox lack a big game pitcher.

The Red Sox catching situation is still a major question. Sandy Leon can’t hit a curveball. What about Christian Vazquez and even Blake Swihart? Someone needs to figure this out.

Xander Bogaerts isn’t a very good shortstop. At some point, he’s going to have to move to third base — just not next year.

Third base is still a hole. Maybe Pablo Sandoval fills it. Maybe he doesn’t. Someone needs to.

Joe Kelly’s stuff really does look good in the bullpen.

Koji Uehara might be a free agent, but he’s earned another year in Boston.

The Drew Pomeranz trade came back to bite the Red Sox.

Hanley Ramirez should be playing first base next year. He’s too good defensively to DH.

Jackie Bradley Jr. is about the least consistent hitter you’ll find. And his arm can be a bit erratic.

I don’t know about Clay Buchholz. But if that’s it for him in Boston, then what a roller coaster it’s been.

But David Ortiz is their biggest loss — by far.

The Red Sox have a lot of small, MLB caliber pieces to move this off season. More talk about that later though.