Seven questions to ponder as the Red Sox enter the final weekend of another season gone wrong.

1. Does the 2024 season qualify as a failure?

In some ways, this season has been successful, especially through the homegrown lens. Their three All-Stars, Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, and Tanner Houck, are homegrown. Ceddanne Rafaela split time at shortstop and center field in a way no other Major Leaguer ever has, let alone a rookie who just turned 24 last week. Houck, Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello are the first trio of homegrown arms to make 30-plus starts apiece for the Red Sox since Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst and Al Nipper in 1987.

The Red Sox enter their final series of the season with 80 wins and mathematically guaranteed to finish better than last place. If they can win at least one of their remaining three games, they’ll finish at or over .500 for the first time since 2021.

They seemed destined for so much more, though. They had momentum igoing into the break, holding a Wild Card and five games out of first in the division. They had so many opportunities in the second half, too, but as manager Alex Cora told reporters after their mathematical elimination from the Wild Card race on Wednesday night, they “blew it.”

“If we hadn’t had the All-Star break, we’d probably be winning the division,” one player told the Herald earlier this month.

No matter what happens this weekend, the Red Sox will finish in a better position than in each of the last two years. For some teams, that might be enough to deem a season successful, or at least, not a failure. However, for clubs as storied as the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers, failure and success are measured differently. Since 2003, the Red Sox have been to the postseason 11 times; this is only their second time missing three consecutive postseasons in the last three decades.

But this isn’t about demanding a championship every year. It’s about one of the wealthiest and most important franchises in the sports world acting like they need to be cautious, parsimonious, and wait for things to get better instead of making better happen now.

This season is far from a complete failure. But if the front office had done more, this team could’ve been more.

2. What happened to the offense?

Are the Monstars from Michael Jordan’s (and LeBron James’) ‘Space Jam’ real? Because at this point, that’s the only explanation for this team’s offensive collapse.

Last Friday night the Red Sox matched their record 20 strikeouts in a brain-breaking extra-inning loss to the Twins in which Boston went 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position and left 17 runners on base.

Though the Red Sox entered their off-day Thursday as a top-three AL team in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage, they also ranked second in strikeouts and runners left on base. The follow-through hasn’t been there, especially over the last month.

On the list of offseason priorities, these issues should rank near the top.

3. Did anyone predict this starting rotation?

Imagine being told before Opening Day that the Red Sox starting rotation would be the most consistent facet of this year’s team.

Houck, Crawford and Bello each surpassed their previous career-highs in starts and innings. Houck’s 3.12 ERA is the best mark by a Red Sox pitcher who’s made at least 30 starts since Chris Sale in 2017; he’s thrown 72.2 more innings and given up three fewer homers than last year, and he entered Friday with a 0.6 HR/9, the best in the American League.

Though he’s given up an MLB-leading 33 homers, Crawford leads the staff with 32 starts and 179.1 innings. After posting a 5.32 ERA over 17 starts (89.2 innings) before the All-Star break, Bello owns a 3.47 ERA over 13 starts (72.2 innings) since; opposing batters hit .277 with a .796 OPS against him in the first half, and are down to .219 with a .629 OPS in the second.

Strong contributions from Nick Pivetta, Cooper Criswell and rookie Richard Fitts rounded out the surprisingly strong rotation.

4. Should Rafael Devers have been shut down earlier?

After an MRI on both shoulders on Saturday, the Red Sox placed Rafael Devers on the injured list with left-shoulder inflammation, officially ending his season.

The slugging third baseman was an All-Star for the third time in four years. He hit like the best version of himself for long stretches in the first half, showed serious improvement on defense, and seemingly broke Gerrit Cole.

But over his last month, Devers, who leads MLB in extra-base hits since the start of 2019, hit just one double and one homer. Even a casual observer could see he wasn’t himself at the plate.

5. Is Richard Fitts the real deal?

It’s been a treat watching Richard Fitts begin his Major League career.

Last Friday night, the right-hander made franchise history by becoming the first rookie to go five-plus innings with no earned runs allowed in each of his first three big-league outings. He finally gave up his first career earned run (and three more) on Wednesday night, but he’s pitched well overall amidst the pressure of a playoff race.

In some ways, it’s reminiscent of Houck’s arrival in the Majors. Though the Red Sox were already a lost cause when he debuted and made three starts late in the shortened 2020 season, his performance gave fans something to be optimistic about for the future.

6. Why can’t the team win at home?

Fenway Park used to be the ultimate home-field advantage, but that hasn’t been the case over the last few years. They enter the last weekend of the season 37-41 at Fenway, compared to 43-38 in away games.

It’s a problem Cora and other members of the brass have discussed often throughout the past few years. The solution, however, continues to elude them.

7. Why wasn’t 2004 team celebrated more?

At the 2024 home opener in April, the Red Sox held a beautiful pregame ceremony with members of the ‘04 team led out to the diamond by Brianna and Trevor Wakefield, the children of beloved knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, who passed away on the final day of the ‘23 season.

There hasn’t been much in the way of commemoration or celebration of that historic year since, though, and some ’04 players have taken issue. One told the Herald he was “really disappointed” the Red Sox didn’t do more throughout the season.

The line between wanting to bask in the glow of the glory days and not overdoing it is a difficult one to walk. It’s understandable that the Red Sox wouldn’t want to overdo it, especially in recent weeks as the current team circled the drain, when it could’ve been perceived as an attempt to distract from the present struggles.

Yet perhaps, as one ‘04 champ suggested, the Red Sox also don’t want to keep reminding fans of how things used to be; the contrast is more stark than ever.