The Boston Red Sox won the East title last year, with a 97-65 record and then parlayed that in to win the World Series. They did lose a few key pieces from that team, but are still clearly one of the best teams in the league and will fight all year for the right to get back to the Fall Classic.Vegas Odds have the Red Sox at +225 to win the AL East, +500 to win the AL Pennant and +1000 to win the World Series.
The Red Sox ranked 1st in the league in runs scored at 853, which was 57 runs more than the 2nd ranked team (Detroit) scored. It may be hard for them to score that many runs again this year, but clearly this offense is very good. Shane Victorino is back and is one of the bestter leadoff men in the league, while Daniel Nava is good in the two hole and will get on base plenty for a very good middle of the lineup that includes Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli to drive him in. Ortiz had a huge year last year as he hit .303, with 30 HRs and 103 RBIs. You can expect similar numbers from him this year. The bottom of the lineup is also solid with Will Middlebrooks and AJ Pierzynski both having solid home run power and the ability to drive in runs.
The Red Sox were in the middle of the league in terms of ERA as they finished 14 th (3.74). Jon Lester struggled some in the first half last year, with an 8-6 record and a 4.58 ERA pre All-Star game, but he was 7-2 with a 2.72 ERA after the All-Star game. I would not expect a slow start from him this year. Lackey was the opposite as he had a strong 1st half and a weak second half, but he is still a solid pitcher and should keep the Sox in games. Clay Buchholz and Jake Peavy are both capable of big years, while Felix Duobront will look for another solid year on the mound. Koji Uehara solidified the closers role last year, as he went 4-1 with a 1.09 ERA, 21 saves. Edward Mujica was added for depth and he Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa will all be solid in the late innings. This is a tough bullpen for sure and it has depth as well.
Outlook: It will be hard for the Red Sox to duplicate last year’s offensive numbers, but don’t expect them to drop out of the top 3 in runs scored either. This lineup is stacked and should have another great year. The pitching will also be solid again, as they have one of the better 5 man rotations in the league, while the bullpen will be very tough to score on, especially in the late innings. The Red Sox had allot of things go right for them last year and those breaks don’t usually happen 2 years in a row, and that is why I am picking them second here. The Sox and Rays are pretty even, but it the end it will be Boston in second and most likely a wildcard spot.
Info gathered from FoxSports.com and CBSSports.com
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