The Boston Red Sox have lost five of seven games. Here are their number of runs scored in each loss: 0, 0, 2, 1, 0. A little tough to win those, no? 

Two key points emerge on the 2017 Red Sox: 

  1. The offense has scuffled for much of the season. 
  2. Red Sox legend David Ortiz retired after last season. 

Is it really as simple as connecting Ortiz's departure to what ails the Red Sox? Probably not, but they do miss him. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts admitted as much after Thursday's loss. 

"What's been different [from last year]? I mean, David's not here," Bogaerts said (providencejournal.com). "We definitely miss him. We've got to do it without him. We're trying. Having that (No.) 34 in the lineup was something opposing pitchers definitely were afraid of."

This is the first time we've seen a Red Sox player admit this. As recently as Sunday, manager John Farrell insisted Ortiz's name had never even been brought up in the clubhouse. 

Something's definitely missing, though. 

The Red Sox have hit only 11 home runs, the same number as Eric Thames of the Brewers. The next-lowest team total is 15 (Giants). Seven teams have at least 30 HRs while 24 have at least 20. The Red Sox have already had three games in 21 starts without an extra-base hit after having only eight of that variety all of 2016. 

Here are the offensive rankings for the Red Sox among AL teams from 2016 compared to 2017: 

Red Sox AL rankings

Runs

Home runs

Slugging percentage

OPS

2016

1

7

1

1

2017 to date

13

15

12

10

They do rank second in the AL in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage in 2017, but the loss of power is killing them. Last season, Ortiz hit .315/.401/.620 with 38 homers and 127 RBI, which seems to account for a good chunk of the lost power and runs. 

Everyone knew removing Ortiz would have a direct impact on the offense, but the top returning personnel are not holding up their end of the bargain. Take a look:

Player

2016 AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS+

2017 YTD AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS+

Dustin Pedroia

.318/.376/.449/115

.242/.311/.259/59

Xander Bogaerts

.294/.356/.446/108

.313/.353/.328/89

Mookie Betts

.318/.363/.534/130

.310/.380/.465/131

Hanley Ramirez

.286/.361/.505/123

.235/.297/.324/71

Jackie Bradley Jr.

.267/.349/.486/115

.226/.306/.387/89

Betts doesn't look a ton different on OPS+, but look at the slugging shortfall. Bogaerts looks better in average, but notice, again, the huge slugging shortfall. The other three are dreadfully worse across the board. 

Sure, the Red Sox battled a team-wide flu earlier in the season and Pedroia has been banged up since last Friday, but every team goes through issues. This team is not hitting like it should. I'm not sure we can point to Ortiz for the total downgrade, though I believe his departure is at least somewhat responsible. 

We obviously don't know how Ortiz would be hitting right now, nor do we know if any results would have been changed. Throughout the above-linked Providence Journal story, though, there are quotes from Red Sox players, opposing AL East players, Yankees manager Joe Girardi and former players indicating how much different the lineup felt with big No. 34 in the middle of it. Bogaerts also believes he's being pitched differently without Ortiz protecting him. Maybe that accounts for the loss in power -- since he's not getting as many pitches to drive. 

On the flip-side, some of these players have too much talent to be hitting like they have been and it's still pretty early in the season. Things have a tendency to even themselves out in the marathon that is an MLB season. 

Whatever the case, the Red Sox's offense needs to pick it up the power if they hope to repeat as AL East champs. The good news is they have more than enough time to do so. It's only April 28 and they are 11-10, leaving five-plus months and 141 games to get it going. The smart money is on things improving, even without the presence of No. 34 in the middle of the order.