Memorial Day has come and gone, and the Boston Red Sox have now been a disappointment for a third of the 2025 MLB season. It's fair to wonder if the team is going anywhere but in a big circle of mediocrity as we hit an important point of the season.

Over a long 162-game season, Memorial Day is seen as the first tentpole of the playoff race. We have a two-month sample size which is usually a pretty good indication of what's to come the rest of the way. Big runs and larger collapses are still possible in the standings, but where teams are near the end of May can give fans a good idea of the summer ahead. 

As of right now, the Red Sox are in baseball purgatory. They're not a bad team by definition (the 9-45 Colorado Rockies set a high bar for being bad this season), but they certainly aren't a very good one at 27-29. That sub-.500 record has Boston sitting in fourth place in the AL East and 7.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees. The Red Sox are 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League. 

Boston has a 25.3 percent chance at making the playoffs this season, according to FanGraphs. But that has more to do with the mediocrity of the American League, as 11 teams have at least a 23 percent chance of making it to the playoffs right now. 

Maybe the team is gearing up for another stellar June and July. Last year's Red Sox were 29-29 at the end of May, and then went 24-14 from the start of June to the All-Star Break. But more mediocrity followed as the team quickly ran out of gas, and they were back at .500 by the start of September.

This year's Red Sox team came into the season with high expectations and aspirations for October baseball. But they simply haven't been good enough on a number of levels, and Memorial Day brought another frustrating loss, 3-2, to the Brewers in Milwaukee.

Complementary baseball has escaped the Red Sox all season, and did so again Monday when the team wasted another gem by Garrett Crochet. On a day when Crochet looked like an ace on the mound, the Red Sox bats went silent yet again.

"Right now, we're not putting a complete game together," manager Alex Cora said after the loss -- Boston's third straight. "You look around, it's just up and down. We haven't been consistent offensively the last three days, and that's the reason we haven't scored too many."

The Boston offense took a massive hit late last week when third baseman Alex Bregman landed on the IL with a right quad strain. Bregman has been the team's most consistent bat all season, and has provided Rafael Devers with some protection in the lineup. 

The Red Sox have been held to one run in two of their four games since Bregman landed on the shelf. Over that span, the team is just 3-for-29 with runners in scoring position.

The issues are aplenty with the Red Sox, and it doesn't sound like Cora has many answers at the moment.

Red Sox not hitting with runners in scoring position

After going 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position over the final three games of a four-game series against the Orioles, the Red Sox went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Monday. The team's lone hit came in the top of the ninth when Jarren Duran singled in a run to make it a 3-2 game. Two batters later, after Devers was intentionally walked to load the bases, Connor Wong harmlessly flew out to right field to end the game.

Boston had plenty of opportunities to pull even or ahead on Monday. The Red Sox had runners on the corners in the top of the second, but the struggling Trevor Story popped out and Abraham Toro grounded out to end the threat. The Red Sox had two on and one out in the top of the seventh in a 1-0 game, but Duran grounded into an uncharacteristic inning-ending double play. 

The Red Sox stranded 10 runners on Monday, and have left 30 on base over their last four games. 

Story, Campbell slumping for Boston

Two of Boston's seven hits on Monday actually came off the bats of two players who are struggling the most right now: Trevor Story and rookie Kristian Campbell.

Story was back in the lineup after a day off on Sunday, and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. But for the month of May, he's slashed just .163/.212/.213 with just two extra-base hits (a homer and a double) and 28 strikeouts. He's hitting just .200 with runners in scoring position for the season (11-for-55) with 20 punchouts.

Story's 65 strikeouts on the season are tied for the fourth-most in baseball. He's on pace to strike out 188 times.

The struggling Campbell continues to hit in the middle of the Boston lineup despite hitting a wall the last month. He drove in Boston's first run Monday when he beat out a double play for an RBI groundout in the top of the eighth, but Campbell has slashed just .113/.160/.155 in May. He has just one extra-base hit for the month while striking out 20 times.

And with runners in scoring position, Campbell is just 9-for-55 (a .164 average) with 17 strikeouts this season.

Ups and downs are expected from a rookie breaking into the big leagues, and the easiest solution is to drop Campbell in the lineup. He hit .358 over his 45 at-bats in the seventh spot in the lineup, but has hit just .178 over 123 at-bats while batting fourth, fifth, or sixth in the order.

It's a different story for Cora with his struggling shortstop. Story is signed for two more years at $25 million, and at some point his struggling bat will outweigh the hefty price tag the team is paying him. Benching the veteran won't be easy, but Cora might not have a choice if Story's struggles continue.

Losing one-run games

Monday's loss to the Brewers was the 20th one-run game the Red Sox have been a part of this season. The team is just 6-14 in those contests, giving Boston the most one-run losses in baseball. 

Winning close games is a calling card for a good team and one with the makeup to make it to October. The Red Sox have not been one of those teams so far this season.

Red Sox squander another Crochet day

One reason Boston sits under .500 this season is because the team keeps wasting solid outings from Crochet. 

Over his last six starts, Crochet has allowed just nine runs over 38 innings -- good for a 2.13 ERA -- while striking out 45 batters and issuing just nine walks. Outside of the leadoff homers he's allowed in two of his last four starts, Crochet has been nails and everything the Red Sox have needed.

But the Red Sox keep squandering his stellar starts. Over those last six Crochet outings, Boston is just 2-4. Despite a 2.04 ERA over his 12 starts this year, Crochet's record sits at just 4-4.

Crochet has put the team on his shoulders and given the Red Sox a chance to win every time he has taken the mound. It's time for Boston to start taking full advantage of their ace in the hole, or the steps taken to preserve the 25-year-old for a playoff run will have been a complete waste of time.