Let’s see how objective I can be with today’s baseball breakdown. This is the tough one for me, as it’s the Boston Red Sox. That’s my team, and naturally, I’m pretty charged up about some of the off-season additions as the Bosox try to rebound from the disastrous 2014 campaign.
I don’t think there’s much question that this has a chance to be a very good offense. Pablo Sandoval can hit anyplace, but Fenway really appears tailor made for Kung Fu Panda. Hanley Ramirez is back with his original organization, and I really like him being moved to the outfield. Ramirez is less likely to get dinged up getting away from his shortstop duties, and the fact he’s muscled up to about 225 this season should be a plus with the inviting Green Monster just a pop fly away.
David Ortiz needs to fight off any age issues, Dustin Pedroia needs to stay healthy as does Mike Napoli, Rusney Castillo needs to live up to his promise, the team needs to find a way to get Mookie Betts on the field, Xander Bogaerts needs to step forward as he slides back to his natural SS position. Then there’s what to do about Shane Victorino. He’s penciled in as the starting RF right now, but my modest proposal would be to see if he can be dealt for an arm.
The pitching is another story entirely. I am not bullish on this staff. Rick Porcello should be solid, but the rest of the rotation is ultra-dicey. Clay Buchholz is always an injury risk. Wade Miley is a good mid-rotation fit as long as he doesn’t get a case of the southpaw blues, which is always in the mix for lefties unfamiliar with the perils of Fenway. I remain convinced that Joe Kelly is better suited to pitch high leverage innings out of the pen, and Justin Masterson is a huge question mark at best.
The bullpen is actually down a notch from last season, as Andrew Miller is gone and he was simply lights out last season. No real concerns with Koji Uehara and the righty setup guys should be okay. But I don’t know if there’s a reliable situational lefty on the staff and that’s a potential hole.
The Red Sox won’t repeat the miserable ’14 campaign. That’s a virtual certainty. If the pitching is respectable they can win the division and get past the 84.5 O/U. But I have too many worries about this staff to take a strong enough stance to actually wager that way. Nevertheless, I’m going glass half full and will call for Boston to get back to serious playoff contention this season and I’ll give them a shaky endorsement to win the AL East.