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Why it's too early to be worried about Devers' historically bad start originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Saying Rafael Devers is struggling to begin the 2025 MLB season would be an understatement. Not only is the Boston Red Sox slugger 0-for-16 at the plate through the first four games, he has struck out in 12 of them.

That’s right — Devers struck out on 75 percent of his at-bats in the opening series against the Texas Rangers. His 12 strikeouts are the most ever by a player through the first four games of a season, which is crazy when you consider pro baseball has been played for more than 125 years.

Devers also has two walks, including one with the bases loaded that drove in a run. He has put the ball in play just four times, three of which were groundouts.

But wait, it gets worse.

Devers has swung and missed 31 times on 46 total swings for a whiff rate of 67.4 percent, per Baseball Savant. His career average is 27.7 percent.

Devers’ inability to produce anything at the plate isn’t just a problem affecting him. After scoring five runs to beat the Rangers on Opening Day, the Red Sox scored just six runs combined over the final three games (all losses) at Globe Life Field. Devers, as a $313 million man and two-time Silver Slugger winner, is being relied on to provide a bulk of the team’s offense.

There’s no way to sugarcoat Devers’ start to the season. It’s been very bad. But it’s also too early to panic.

For starters, it’s only four games. It’s silly to draw too many conclusions from a four-game sample when each team plays 162 times each season.

Devers has actually been a decent early-season hitter throughout his career, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he starts to turn things around pretty soon. He’s a career .266 hitter in March/April, and that includes his 0-for-16 start to 2025. He hit 10 home runs in April of 2023.

There are several factors that could be contributing to this slump.

After playing third base most of his career and expecting to do that going forward after signing a huge extension, Devers was replaced at that position by free agent signing Alex Bregman in the offseason. Bregman is a former Gold Glove winner and much better defensively than Devers. Adjusting to full-time DH could take a little bit of time. It also appears that Devers’ shoulder isn’t 100 percent healthy.

Devers also had just 15 plate appearances in Spring Training. He’s clearly behind where most other players are at this stage of the season. His timing at the plate looks off, too. His stance looks like it’s wider than years past. All of these things can be fixed/addressed with more reps and video work. If being out of a shape is affecting him, that can be easily addressed as well.

One way to get Devers back on track is to have him hit his way out of this slump. Red Sox manager Alex Cora is putting Devers right back into the lineup Monday when Boston starts a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore.

Devers is way too talented to be this bad at the plate for a prolonged stretch. He should eventually figure it out. Remember when David Ortiz didn’t hit his first home run in 2009 until May 26? That was 36 games into the season. He still finished that year with 28 homers.

It’s way too early to panic over Devers’ lack of production. If we’re in May and Devers is still batting under .200 and not giving the Red Sox any power at the plate, then it would be time to really worry. But for right now, he just needs to put a few good at-bats together. All it takes is one or two good games to boost the confidence.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and and Marlins open a three-game set in Miami on Monday at 6:40 p.m. on SNY.

Preview

Can the offense heat up in Miami?

Juan Soto was as advertised during the season-opening series -- launching his first homer as a Met and reaching base two or more times in all three games.

Everyone else offensively? Not so much. 

The Mets put up a combined five runs during the first three games of the season, and it wasn't for a lack of opportunity, as they went a combined 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position and left a total of 18 men on base.

Francisco Lindor reached just one time on a hit-by-pitch, otherwise going hitless across 11 plate appearances. Brett Baty struck out in three of his first five at-bats. Pete Alonso drew three walks but had only one hit, while Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo combined for just three hits behind him.

It's only a matter of time before things start clicking for this group -- and we'll see if that comes in Miami.

Strong start from the bullpen

Aside from Soto, the biggest bright spot for the Mets in Houston was the bullpen.

Edwin Diaz was a bit shaky during spring training, but he locked down his first save during Friday night's win -- striking out one as he cruised his way through the middle of Houston’s lineup in a perfect bottom of the ninth.

Prior to that, we saw the newly formed bridge ahead of him featuring A.J. Minter and Ryne Stanek.

Max Kranick was thrown right into the fire making his first big league appearance since 2022 on Saturday night, but he showed no fear as he retired Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker to escape a bases-loaded jam in a one-run ballgame.

As a group, the bullpen combined to allow just three hits and six walks across 9.2 shutout innings.

The walks will need to be limited moving forward -- but the first three games are the type of showing Carlos Mendoza and the Mets are looking for from the bullpen as they try to navigate the first few weeks without Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas in the starting rotation.

Kodai Senga's first start

The last time we saw Senga during the regular season he was tremendous, striking out nine batters in 5.1 innings of work against the Braves back in July.

That effort quickly came to a screeching halt as he suffered a calf strain fielding his position -- and then we didn't see him back on the mound until the playoffs, where he showed significant signs of rust in three appearances (two starts).

Which leads to the question, what can the Mets expect from Senga this season?

If he can return to the form he showed when he received both Rookie of the Year and Cy Young votes two seasons ago, it would be a massive boost to this starting rotation.

Senga and the team played it safe early in camp to ensure that he'd be 100 percent healthy and ready to be a regular contributor by the time the regular season rolled around.

He was able to make his way into three Grapefruit League games down the stretch and looked pretty sharp, allowing just two runs (three earned) while showcasing his full arsenal and striking out nine batters.

The 32-year-old is expected to face a bit of a pitch count in the early going, but most importantly, he is back fully healthy and looks like a "man on a mission" heading into his first outing of the year on Tuesday night.

The Sandman is back

Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara is officially back. 

The two-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery -- but he’s finally back after building up late in the year and throughout the winter. 

He allowed just two unearned runs and nine hits during his five spring training starts, and then struck out seven batters while uncharacteristically issuing four walks in 4.2 innings of work during an Opening Day win over the Pirates. 

Alcantara has a 3.07 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 15 career starts against the Mets.

With another year of control on hi current deal, the 29-year-old makes for a perfect trade target for New York later in the season, but for now they'll face-off with him again in the second game of this set.

Can Clay Holmes rebound after a shaky first start?

Holmes was terrific for the Mets this spring, but he was a bit shaky during his Opening Day outing in Houston.

Making his first start since 2018, the big right-hander limited the Astros to just three runs (two earned) but he struggled with his command as he walked four batters and hit another while allowing five hits in just 4.2 innings of work.

He leaned on his slider 49 percent of the time against the righty-heavy Houston lineup and turned to the newly-added kick-change just four times -- despite the pitch developing into a legitimate weapon for him throughout spring training.

Certainly not the birthday present Holmes and the Mets were hoping for, but as he said afterwards, it's a "learning process."

Now that he's had some real-game data to look over during his five-day break in between starts, we'll see if the 32-year-old is able to put together a better effort during the series finale in Miami.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Pete Alonso

Alonso has 12 homers and a .904 OPS in his career at loanDepot Park.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

David Peterson

Peterson was tremendous this spring coming off a breakout 2024 campaign.

Which Astros player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Otto Lopez

Lopez has gotten off to a hot start this season, driving in runs in three of Miami's four games.

Turner takes grounders, could be back Wednesday originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies played it safe with Trea Turner on Monday, resting him again in the home opener after his back locked up fielding a ground ball Saturday at Nationals Park.

With the built-in off-day on Tuesday, Turner will have three full games off since suffering the injury. He took infield practice early Monday afternoon and it sounds like he’ll be back in the lineup Wednesday, barring a setback.

Turner thinks mild hip tightness felt late in spring training led to his back spasm over the weekend. Asked if Turner could be available off the bench Monday, manager Rob Thomson said “he’s gonna hit in the cages and throw, we’ll see as the game progresses. He’s feeling better.”

The Phillies will likely stay away from him in the home opener, but the Rockies aren’t a bad opponent to miss. They’re going to approach 100 losses, they have a lackluster offense and pitching staff and they struggle on the road.

Edmundo Sosa started at shortstop for a third straight game. He’s 4-for-8 with a double and walk in the early going.

J.T. Realmuto was back behind the plate after missing Sunday with a foot contusion from a foul ball the day before. He’s still a little sore but ready to catch Cristopher Sanchez.

Sanchez is a popular breakout candidate this season, both locally and nationally. He gave the Phillies 181⅔ innings of a 3.32 ERA last year, finished 10th in Cy Young voting, signed a midseason extension and added significant muscle over the winter that has led to increased velocity. He averaged 94.5 mph with his sinker last season and 96.5 this spring.

“He’s now at a point where he’s the combination of power and command, much like (Zack) Wheeler is,” Thomson said. “So when you have that, you’re in pretty good shape. Plus he’s got the swing-and-miss pitch with his changeup. The slider’s really coming along. The poise, the maturity, he’s really grown.”

The Mets head to Miami to open a three-game series with the Marlins on Monday at 6:40 p.m.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch on SNY...

Game Notes

• David Peterson takes the mound looking to build off a strong spring in which he allowed just two runs (one earned) across four outings
• Juan Soto reached base two or more times in all three games of the season-opening series in Houston
• Francisco Lindor reached base just once in that set, as he's stuck in an 0-for-11 stretch
• New York's bullpen was lights out against the Astros, combining for 9.2 scoreless innings
• Miami has recorded all three of its wins in walk-off fashion thus far this season
• Francisco Lindor is out of the lineup following the birth of his son, but the Mets hope he'll be available off the bench

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Walker's injury opens seamless return for Giants' closer Doval originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

CINCINNATI — In the opener, the Giants saw what can happen when you’re without your closer. Their comeback win in the ninth inning came against a Cincinnati Reds team that was without injured closer Alexis Diaz.

Three days later, Bob Melvin was without his guy, so he turned to a setup man who was an All-Star two years ago. Camilo Doval breezed through the ninth, picking up his second save since he was pulled from the ninth inning and sent to Triple-A last August. Closer Ryan Walker was unavailable for the final two games of the Reds series because of back pain.

“We’re lucky to have that dynamic, someone who has pitched in that role before and been successful before,” Melvin said. “If ever you can withstand something like that, it’s having a guy like Duvey that everyone feels confident in.”

The Giants are hopeful that Walker will be available Monday night in Houston. He felt discomfort after saving Thursday’s game, but he was said to be feeling much better on Sunday.

Without Walker, and with Randy Rodriguez having pitched in the first two games, Melvin turned to Lou Trivino for the seventh and then saved Doval to follow Tyler Rogers. Doval returned to the ninth by striking out Reds star Elly De La Cruz on a nasty slider down in the zone. After Heliot Ramos’ diving catch in left, he got a game-ending grounder to second.

Doval is coming off a good spring, one in which he threw more strikes and did a better job of paying attention to the small details on the mound. Melvin said all spring that you never know what can happen over the course of a long season, and while the Giants didn’t expect to need a second closer on the first weekend of the season, they certainly have a nice backup plan.

Ray’s Day

For five innings, Robbie Ray was perfect. He wouldn’t make it out of the sixth, and he ended up taking a line that didn’t at all represent how good his stuff was.

Ray was charged with three earned in 5 1/3 innings, but he felt good about his fastball command, his slider was sharp, and he was able to use his changeup as a different look. He even dropped in a perfect curveball to get a strikeout in the third inning.

It was the only curve Ray threw all day, and he said he initially shook when catcher Sam Huff put the sign down. It was the right call, though, and showed off what Ray believes is his first true four-pitch repertoire since 2021, a season in which he won a Cy Young award.

“This is probably the most I’ve felt like I’m being a true four-pitch pitcher,” he said.

The trouble came after Ray was hit with a pitch clock violation that he disagreed with. He felt he started moving toward the plate before the clock hit zero, but as he tried to make sense of it all, former Giant Austin Wynns hit a two-run homer. Ray said later that the sequence was “frustrating.”

In his Giants debut last July, Ray pitched five no-hit innings. While Melvin said he doesn’t start thinking about historic feats until about the seventh, Ray was well aware of the fact that he didn’t allow a baserunner until the top of the sixth, and he knew Nick Martinez was briefly doing the same thing on the other side. The innings were quickly melting away.

“Guys say they don’t know,” he said, smiling. “You always know.”

Shutting Them Down

The Reds didn’t get a chance to test Huff, who mostly caught perfection and then watched two homers leave the yard. Patrick Bailey took over in the ninth and didn’t see a baserunner, either.

That led to what was the most impressive stat of the weekend. The Giants somehow got out of Cincinnati without a single rain delay, and also without allowing a stolen base to a team that was third in the big leagues last year with 207.

The Giants had a pair, with Jung Hoo Lee stealing second on Saturday and Tyler Fitzgerald boldly taking off for third on Sunday. He was initially ruled out but replay determined that he was never tagged and a sacrifice fly brought him home.

“Pretty slow times to the plate (there) so we were pretty confident he could do it,” Melvin said of Fitzgerald.

The Giants want Fitzgerald to run more, and the second baseman always has the green light. He was hesitant late in Saturday’s game and ended up getting wiped out by a double play, but that was against a reliever who was about 1.2 seconds to the plate, making it much more difficult. The swipe on Sunday should be a nice boost of confidence.

As for the rain, the tarp was on all morning Sunday and went right back on after the final pitch. It rained most of the evening and there were thunderstorms and tornado warnings in the Cincinnati area, but the Giants were already well on their way to Houston.

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The Dodgers could be excused for thinking they dodged a torpedo. Good thing for them that in last year's World Series most New York Yankees hitters had yet to equip themselves with the bat conceived by an MIT physicist turned baseball analytics nerd.

Aaron Leanhardt was hired away from MIT by the Yankees in 2018 and soon put his Ph.D in physics and bachelor's degree in electrical engineering to use developing a novel shape of a bat, one that moved the fattest part from the end to the area where most contact is made.

Yup, looks like a torpedo, and that's the working nickname in headlines across the Big Apple.

Result? The Yankees hit nine home runs in a 20-9 win Saturday over the Milwaukee Brewers. The first three pitches to Yankees hitters were hit over the fence — a record feat — and most of the bombs were hit by torpedos. The Bronx Bombers hit four more Sunday, giving them 13 over the weekend and tying a Major League record with 15 in the first three games of a season.

The reaction across MLB? Shock and awe.

Read more:The Dodgers received their World Series rings. Here's what they look like

Leanhardt downplayed his contribution in an interview with the Athletic: “Really, it’s just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where you’re trying to do damage on the baseball."

He acknowledged it didn't take a rocket scientist or whatever it is they do at MIT to come up with the design. It might not even be a revelation.

“Ultimately, it just takes people asking the right questions and being willing to be forward-thinking,” he said.

Or maybe Leanhardt was inspired playing slowpitch softball. Bats used in those rec leagues — while metal — feature lengthy barrels that taper at the end, looking a bit like a bowling pin.

The instant success of the Yankees opened eyes. Expect copycats throughout the game.

“Obviously, [the Yankees'] performance threw a whole lot of attention to it.” said Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to become a field coordinator with the Miami Marlins this offseason.

Before he departed, however, he made sure his bat design was within Major League Baseball rules, that limit bats to 2.61 inches in diameter and 42 inches in length. The only other stipulations are that bats must be made of solid wood, not have a cup at the tip deeper than an inch, and not have pine tar or another grip substance more than 18 inches from the handle.

Read more:Hernández: Dodgers visiting Trump's White House goes against everything they represent

The rules say nothing about the location of the fat part of the bat.

"That’s the original concept right there, just take all that excess weight and put it where you’re trying to hit the ball," Leanhardt said. "And then in exchange try to take the thinner diameter that used to be at the sweet spot and put that on the tip.”

Pitchers, of course, already detest the torpedos.

“It took a minute for the shock to go away, since from the bullpen they looked like bowling pins,’’ Brewers reliever Trevor Megill told the New York Post. “We weren’t able to process it. But that’s the game. It’s a big data race, with science and technology playing a huge role in baseball now. You can’t hate them for trying something new.”

Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells are among the Yankees using the torpedo. However, the jury is still out for Aaron Judge — baseball's premier power hitter with 161 home runs since the beginning of the 2022 season.

He hit three home runs in the first four innings Saturday and another homer Sunday with the bat he's used for years.

Read more:Moving Teoscar Hernández in lineup pays off for Dodgers in sweeping win over Tigers

"What I did the past couple of seasons speaks for itself," Judge explained to reporters. "Why try to change something if you have something that's working?"

Teammate Giancarlo Stanton was an early convert to the torpedo, using it last season. His playing time has been severely curtailed because of tendinitis in both elbows, however, something he attributed to “bat adjustments” made last season.

He hasn't said the torpedo inflicted the damage, but now that the bat is the talk of baseball, Stanton certainly will be asked for details.

Meanwhile, players throughout the game are curious.

"They should send a few over here if they’re going to be hitting homers like that," Padres slugger Manny Machado said with a laugh during an in-game interview with ESPN on Sunday. "So whoever’s making ‘em, they can send a few over to Petco with this big ballpark.”

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

WATCH: ‘Welcome Home Phillies' celebrates the team's home opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

We’ve already welcomed the Phillies back. Now it’s time to welcome them home.

The Phillies are scheduled to face off against the Colorado Rockies in their home opener at Citizens Bank Park on Monday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Before the game – which will air on NBC10 – we’re celebrating the home opener with our one-hour special, “Welcome Home Phillies.”

The show will feature live coverage of the parade of Phillies players into Citizens Bank Park, an introduction of the roster, the National Anthem and the ceremonial first pitches. Aside from the live coverage, the show will also feature the following special features:

Bryson Stott grants a wish

Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott made a “Make a Wish” Phillies fan’s dream come true during Spring Training. Only NBC10 was there for the special moment.

Cole Hamels’ new role

Phillies legend and new broadcaster Cole Hamels talks about his new role in the booth for select NBC Sports Philadelphia telecasts.

1-on-1 with Jimmy Rollins

Phillies legend and the team’s hits leader Jimmy Rollins speaks about this year’s squad and their World Series chances in an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark.

1-on-1 with John Middleton

Phillies principal owner John Middleton talks about this year’s team in an exclusive interview.

Watch “Welcome Home Phillies” on NBC10, NBC10’s streaming channel and in the video embedded above on Monday, March 31, at 2 p.m. ET. After the special, be sure to watch the Phillies home opener against the Colorado Rockies on NBC10 at 3 p.m. ET!

The Yankees completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, winning on Sunday afternoon by a score of 12-3.

Here are the key takeaways…

-Marcus Stroman had a bumpy first inning on the mound, and more damage could have been done if not for a tremendous catch on the run by Cody Bellinger in center field, who raced down a Jackson Chourio fly ball just in front of the wall. But Stroman allowed a walk and pair of hits in the inning, including a Sal Frelick RBI single, as Milwaukee took an early lead.

Stroman ended up allowing a two-run homer to former Yankee Jake Bauers later in the game, and he finished his season debut going 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk.

-After homering three times in the first four innings on Saturday, what would Aaron Judge have in mind for an encore? Well, his day on Sunday started much the same as the slugger demolished a two-run home run off of Aaron Civale in the first inning, putting the Yankees up. With that blast, Judge became the first Yankee ever to hit at least four home runs in the team’s first three games of the season.

-Following their nine-home run outing on Saturday, the Bombers lived up to their nickname again on Sunday, homering four times. Following Judge’s early blast, Ben Rice got in on the action with a solo home run into the second deck in right field in the bottom of the second. In the same frame, the Brewers elected to walk Judge this time around, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. made them pay with a two-run blast.

For good measure, Chisholm ripped another home run, this one a three-run shot to blow the game wide open at 12-3 in the seventh inning.

-Chisholm is one of a handful of Yankees using the newly designed torpedo bats, and it's clearly paying off for him and other users like Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Anthony Volpe. Who's to say what the Yankees' home run numbers would look like without these bats, but as a team the Yankees hit 15 home runs in this series, tying the 2006 Detroit Tigers for the most ever through a team's first three games.

-Following Stroman's up-and-down start, the Yankees bullpen did not allow a run. Tim Hill (who struck out three batters among the four outs he recorded), Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz, and Ryan Yarbrough combined to go 4.1 scoreless innings.

Who was the game MVP?

Chisholm, who had two homers, three hits, five RBI, and three runs scored.

Highlights

Belli tracks it down! pic.twitter.com/7pq16wvvvy

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 30, 2025

Aaron Judge is not human. pic.twitter.com/pZh8ZAx922

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 30, 2025

Ben Rice hits baseballs hard 🍚 pic.twitter.com/T2Umn42luL

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 30, 2025

Jazz Jolt 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eXGVP8I8NT

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 30, 2025

Great play by Anthony Volpe! pic.twitter.com/o2IX5O7h6L

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 30, 2025

JAZZ. pic.twitter.com/LpYGrt3NPJ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 30, 2025

Upcoming schedule

The Yankees have a day off on Monday before hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set, starting on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Will Warren will face Corbin Burnes.

It didn’t take long for someone to call out the Yankees’ newly designed bats.

A handful of Yankees have been using what’s been dubbed “torpedo" bats to start the season, bats in which more wood is added to the sweet spot, creating an elongated barrel while taking mass away from the tip of the bat.

And while the bats have been deemed legal by Major League Baseball, that doesn’t mean everyone is going to be okay with them.

“I think it’s terrible,’’ Milwaukee Brewers reliever Trevor Megill told Dan Martin of the New York Post. “We’ll see what the data says. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slow-pitch softball. It’s genius: Put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”

“It took a minute for the shock to go away, since from the bullpen, they looked like bowling pins,’’ Megill added. “We weren’t able to process it. But that’s the game. It’s a big data race, with science and technology playing a huge role in baseball now. You can’t hate them for trying something new.”

The Yankees exploded for 20 runs and nine home runs on Saturday, and while Aaron Judge powered his three homers with a traditional bat, players like Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Anthony Volpe also went yard with the help of their new bats.

And while these new bats were designed by Aaron Leanhardt, a former member of the Yankees analytics department who now works for the Miami Marlins, it’s a safe bet that more players around the league will begin to use them, especially if the Yankees continue to hang 20 runs on the board.

“I’ve already talked to some bat companies since the game to see if I could get my model made like that, just to see what it’s like,’’ Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins told The Post. “We’ll see. Just because it worked for somebody doesn’t mean it’ll work for everybody. Hitting is such a feel thing. But I’d try it.”

On Friday night in California, the New York Rangers went head-to-head with former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba for the first time since they traded him to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6. And Trouba’s Ducks dealt the Blueshirts a serious blow to their Stanley Cup playoff aspirations by beating them 5-4 in overtime, underscoring a season-long issue for the Rangers: their defense.

Trouba isn’t an advanced analytics darling, but on a Ducks team that needs veteran experience, he’s averaging 20:49 of ice time per game, up slightly from the 20 he averaged for the Rangers in the 24 games he played for them before he accepted a deal to Anaheim. Yet, before and since the trade, the Rangers have largely been unable to stop opponents’ offense, averaging three goals-against per game – the 17th-best mark in the league in that category.

When the Rangers lose, they lose by a lot. Indeed, in 13 of their 28 losses since trading Trouba, the Rangers have allowed five goals or more. And they’ve gone 22-22-6 since the Trouba deal. For a team that has an elite goaltender in Igor Shesterkin – even if he has struggled at times this season – that’s simply unacceptable. And given that the Rangers are not locked to make the post-season this year, you can make the argument that their sub-par defense is the key reason for it.

Now, we’re not here to tell you that the Rangers would have been a strong shutdown squad if Trouba had stayed in Manhattan. But look at their defense corps today, and you’ll see a flawed group that can’t contain the opposition’s scorers.

Top blueliner Adam Fox has been decent with 56 points and a plus-8 plus-minus total, but K’Andre Miller is a minus-6, and Will Borgen – a decent pickup in the deal that sent Kaapo Kakko to Seattle – is only a plus-6. Plus-minus isn’t a perfect stat by any means, but it's still an indicator of a team’s all-around play, and the Rangers’ struggles in that metric says a lot about where they are in the standings today.

In making the Trouba trade, the Rangers obviously wanted to get out from under Trouba’s annual $8-million salary. But it's not as if they’ve used that cap space to improve defensively. Instead, it’s been more of the same, time and again, and Shesterkin hasn’t been able to steal games the way he has in previous seasons. And the Rangers’ offense – currently ranked 13th in the league at an average of 3.01 goals-for per-game – also hasn’t been able to bail out the defense.

You can point out that Trouba hasn’t been especially effective defensively since joining the Ducks, and that’s accurate, as Anaheim presently is 21st in the league with an average of 3.13 goals-against per game. But tellingly, the Ducks have been a better team than the Rangers since the Trouba trade, going 22-21-5 since Dec. 6. And Anaheim has allowed five goals or more in 10 of those 26 losses – again, not anything to write home about, but slightly better than the defensive efforts of the Blueshirts.

With their team’s struggles, Rangers fans are right to question the moves GM Chris Drury has made this season. Many Rangers fans were ready to part ways with Trouba well before the deal was consummated, but they can’t deny that trading their former captain hasn’t solved much of anything. 

And if the Rangers do miss out on the playoffs this year, their suspect play in their own zone will be the chief culprit for their demise.

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