Opening Day Red Sox Prediction
As Red Sox Opening day enters the back end of the game, I think it’s a perfect time to release my prediction for the season. I know many people think they won’t be that good this year, nevermind a playoff team, but those people are what we like to call idiots. Spoiler alert, they will!
Predictions
The Red Sox will get into the playoffs. It is just a matter of how they will find their way in. I think the Sox go 90-72 and sneak into the playoffs via a Wild Card spot. The AL East is still a very good division, with the Rays making the World Series last year and the Yankees’ lineup still being unbelievable. The Red Sox and Yankees find themselves in the same area of concern, pitching. Outside of Cole, who got rocked last night, the Yankees rotation is a giant question mark as well. The Rays, on the other hand, who the hell knows. Glasnow is a legit number 1, and they always find ways to get their bullpen guys to outperform expectations. I don’t expect the Blue Jays to live up to expectations and really see them falling to right around that .500 mark, if not below. The Orioles are a nightmare and will be shocked if they win more than 60 games all year. I expect the Yankees to win the division and it to be a battle between the Rays and Sox for that Wild Card spot.
How They Get There
Fast forward to July, and I think the Sox are only a few games over .500. Yes, you heard me. I think they struggle the first half of the year for a couple of reasons. The first being, the health of two of our key starters. Both E-rod and Sale are sidelined at the moment. While we don’t know the full severity of E-Rods injury, it doesn’t sound great. Sale is progressing well and should be back around the All-Star Break. The second reason is how versatile this team is. Yes, I’m saying it is going to be a weakness at first. It is going to take Cora a little bit to see exactly what his best lineup is. Now for the reasons why they will piece it together after the All-Star break. Sale is coming back, E-Rod being healthy, Cora knowing his best lineup, and finally, Bloom makes more moves to help bolster the team. They will play .600 baseball or better to close out the regular season and beat out the Rays by 3 games for the final Wild Card spot.
Conclusion
The Red Sox will be better than anyone is giving them credit for. They will find themselves in the Playoffs, and once they get in, it’s a brand new ball game. The AL is still very competitive but not as competitive as it once was. Once the Red Sox get their pitchers healthy, they will be good to go! It will be a good summer of baseball, and it will be a lot of fun to watch.
-Kevin Perdios (@Perdios95)