Trouble in Beantown?
April 6th 2011 18:09
The MLB offseason certainly took some interesting turns. Several of the larger name free agents wound up in destinations that many did not predict. A few of these moves left us entering the season with fairly clear favorites to represent each league come October.
The big fish this offseason was undoubtedly Cliff Lee, coming off a strong performance last year especially in the playoffs. He shocked the baseball world by passing on the Yankee's higher paycheck to join a filthy rotation in Philadelphia.
In the American League, most expected Carl Crawford to sign with the Angels. He seemed a great fit in Mike Scioscia's system. That and the owner's promise to shell out the dough needed to bring the Angel's back to contention after an embarrassing year seemed to almost guarantee Crawford's arrival in the AL West. Instead another team coming off a down year in their standards swept in and grabbed the former Ray. Along with adding Crawford, the Boston Red Sox went out and tabbed All-Star Adrian Gonzalez as their starting first baseman by trading several talented prospects.
Expectations were high not only in Boston and Philadelphia but nationally for the two teams. Many analysts and sports fans alike chose the duo as their favorites to make the World Series. The Phillies got off to a fast start against the Astros behind their stellar rotation. The same could not be said for the Sox, who stumbled out of the gates against the power-packed Rangers.
After 4 games the team remains winless, allowing just over 7 runs a game. Perhaps more astonishing, the vaunted Red Sox offense is averaging only 3 runs a game while playing 3 of their 4 in hitter-friendly Arlington. Terry Francona surprised many by moving Crawford down to the 7 spot in the order, and many questions surround the Sox rotation.
So the question is, should Sox fans be sweating this early season ineptitude? While I think it is way too early to worry and I know the Red Sox are not going to go 0-162, there are some questions being raised about the ability of this preseason favorite.
Most of my questions surround the starting pitching. After last season, the two wild cards of the rotation were Beckett and Matsuzaka. After his down year and rocky first start, many are starting to add John Lackey to that group. I think that Lester and Buchholz will be fine, but the veterans need to do their part if this team expects to be as successful as many predicted.
As far as the offense goes, I feel confident that they will not be averaging 3 runs a game for very long. Francona manages his lineups well, and once the new players gel with the returning stars, this should be a very formidable bunch of bats.
One thing that stands out to me is the catching situation. New addition Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been coveted by Theo Epstein for a while, and was seen as the young catcher Jason Varitek could pass the torch to. However, in his first 10 at bats, Saltalamacchia was 0 for 10 with 5 k's. His other responsibility will be handling this pitching staff. If he is not swinging a better bat than Varitek, why not allow the veteran with much more game calling experience to start and see if it not only improves the lineup's numbers but also the starters.
Even with this start it's hard for me not to have the Red Sox as a favorite to represent the American League in the World Series. If they were to lose 4 straight games in June or July fans wouldn't be nearly as worried as they are now. They may appear a bit more vulnerable now, but if the Sox real off a streak of convincing wins, this start will be all but forgotten.
The big fish this offseason was undoubtedly Cliff Lee, coming off a strong performance last year especially in the playoffs. He shocked the baseball world by passing on the Yankee's higher paycheck to join a filthy rotation in Philadelphia.
In the American League, most expected Carl Crawford to sign with the Angels. He seemed a great fit in Mike Scioscia's system. That and the owner's promise to shell out the dough needed to bring the Angel's back to contention after an embarrassing year seemed to almost guarantee Crawford's arrival in the AL West. Instead another team coming off a down year in their standards swept in and grabbed the former Ray. Along with adding Crawford, the Boston Red Sox went out and tabbed All-Star Adrian Gonzalez as their starting first baseman by trading several talented prospects.
Expectations were high not only in Boston and Philadelphia but nationally for the two teams. Many analysts and sports fans alike chose the duo as their favorites to make the World Series. The Phillies got off to a fast start against the Astros behind their stellar rotation. The same could not be said for the Sox, who stumbled out of the gates against the power-packed Rangers.
After 4 games the team remains winless, allowing just over 7 runs a game. Perhaps more astonishing, the vaunted Red Sox offense is averaging only 3 runs a game while playing 3 of their 4 in hitter-friendly Arlington. Terry Francona surprised many by moving Crawford down to the 7 spot in the order, and many questions surround the Sox rotation.
So the question is, should Sox fans be sweating this early season ineptitude? While I think it is way too early to worry and I know the Red Sox are not going to go 0-162, there are some questions being raised about the ability of this preseason favorite.
Most of my questions surround the starting pitching. After last season, the two wild cards of the rotation were Beckett and Matsuzaka. After his down year and rocky first start, many are starting to add John Lackey to that group. I think that Lester and Buchholz will be fine, but the veterans need to do their part if this team expects to be as successful as many predicted.
As far as the offense goes, I feel confident that they will not be averaging 3 runs a game for very long. Francona manages his lineups well, and once the new players gel with the returning stars, this should be a very formidable bunch of bats.
One thing that stands out to me is the catching situation. New addition Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been coveted by Theo Epstein for a while, and was seen as the young catcher Jason Varitek could pass the torch to. However, in his first 10 at bats, Saltalamacchia was 0 for 10 with 5 k's. His other responsibility will be handling this pitching staff. If he is not swinging a better bat than Varitek, why not allow the veteran with much more game calling experience to start and see if it not only improves the lineup's numbers but also the starters.
Even with this start it's hard for me not to have the Red Sox as a favorite to represent the American League in the World Series. If they were to lose 4 straight games in June or July fans wouldn't be nearly as worried as they are now. They may appear a bit more vulnerable now, but if the Sox real off a streak of convincing wins, this start will be all but forgotten.
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