Where Do The Red Sox Stand?
The Boston Red Sox are now 1/3 of the way through their season they have had some up and downs to say the least. I haven’t had the chance to write that many Sox articles this season due to me covering the Celtics. But now that the NBA season is over, I wanted to get my thoughts out on the Sox season thus far.
Standing at 37—28, the Red Sox are 2nd in the AL East and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. In today’s article, I’ll be breaking down the good and the bad that has come out of the season so far. Being an optimist, I’ll start with the good. How do you begin with anyone else other than Craig Kimbrel? It’s almost inhuman what this guy is doing. He has an ERA below 1.00 and has twice as many strikeouts as he does innings pitched. That’s crazy. Then of course you have Chris Sale. The much hyped offseason acquisition has lived up to the hype to say the least. He leads the majors in strikeouts with 126 and is tied for 2nd in the AL in wins. As for the hitting, Xander Bogaerts has really been the only standout. Everyone else has been pretty good or just ok. Bogaerts is hitting a career best .325 and has continued to be an excellent defensive shortstop.
But while there’s been some good, there has absolutely been some bad. Rick Porcello has been a major disappointment and it’s seem to come out of nowhere. He’s lost 8 games already this season, which is twice as much as lost last year total. He doesn’t seem to have the same amount of confidence in his sinker ball for some reason. Then of course we have Pablo Sandoval. It’s getting sooooo bad that its to the point that he may be cut. When hitting, he’s only batting .212 and sits against lefties. When he’s on the field, he’s an utter disaster waiting to happen. Honestly the only reason Sandoval is still on the team is because the Sox have no other option at 3rd. The only real option is when Brock Holt returns from the DL and we have no idea when that will happen. Finally, how do we forget the David Price saga? He returned at the end of May and actually pitched well. But then the drama kicked in. Price went on a full assault of the Boston media after disliking a few tweets were said about him. Price then pitched terribly and said that he would only talk to the media after he pitches. Is an angry Price a good thing? Maybe, but he just created a huge distraction for the team.
As for what to expect for the remainder of the season, I thinking that the Red Sox are going to get better. The lack of power will eventually turn around and the Red Sox will go on a run. Porcello needs to get going as the Sox just can’t rely on Sale to be the only consistent pitcher. Even if all that happens, the Red Sox are going to be in a dog fight with the Yankees this year for the AL East crown. That is for sure.
Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)
