The Red Sox are. . .

 The Red Sox are. . .

Don’t worry I will get to that. But first I need to add a little context. The 2018 Red Sox were an absolute wagon, only losing 3 times throughout the entirety of their World Series run. The one game I attended was one of those losses, the Game 2 loss to the Yankees in the ALDS. Walking into Fenway Park I saw a man carrying a speaker around (No it was not Aaron Judge that came after the game). I soon learned that this was Jared Carrabis, who at the time was working for Barstool Sports. He had just done a live show for his then Red Sox podcast Section 10. I was sort of familiar with who he was at the time, but I have become a lot more familiar with him now, having listened to his Red Sox and Baseball podcasts he made while with Barstool. Now having moved over to DraftKings, doing his unnamed Red Sox podcast and Baseball Is Dead, I continue to consume his content. Going into the 2022, season their were high hopes for this Sox team, but they started off poorly. Since then they have won 11 of their last 15, and things are starting to look up for this team. And on this unnamed podcast, it has been decided by Jared and his fellow co-hosts Jake and Tyler (no disrespect to Pete or Pat, they just haven’t been on consistently as of late understandably) that we will not declare that the Red Sox are b— yet. No until June 28th at least. That is when the b-word can be used again. Hence the unfinished title. 

Now that context has been laid out, I can get into this team. The season started off bad, with the team reaching a low point of 8 games under five hundred. Many people jumped off and thought the team was done for, and that Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom ruined the team from 2021 which had made it within two games of the World Series. They were upset with the six year one-hundred-forty-million dollar contract which was handed out to Trevor Story, and that Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers had not been signed to contract extensions (that last part understandably so, but I digress). Despite the poor outlook on the season at the time, I still had hope. The starting pitching was doing well, much better than expected. It was the high powered offense that was slow to come out of the gate, and I knew eventually they would heat up along with the weather. 

As the weather started to warm so did the Red Sox bats, especially Trevor Story who was the recipient of a lot of criticism for his slow start. People overlooked the fact he practically had no Spring Training because of the lockout, then his late signing, then he and his wife welcomed a child. Then he got food poisoning the first few days of the regular season. Because of all these things April essentially became his spring training. In the past week he is scorching hot with 7 home runs and 21 RBIs bringing him up to third in MLB in RBIs behind Jose Ramirez and Pete Alonso. Despite his hot streak he is not even the hottest hitter on the Red Sox. Since April 19th, J.D Martinez is hitting .437 and a 1.143 OPS seemingly getting a hit every time he comes up to the plate. His hot streak has brought him to the major league lead in AVG at .380. Rafael Devers leads the league in hits with 62 and Xander Bogaerts is continuing to be his amazing self at the plate. Early in the season, this trio was trying to do their best to keep this team afloat, but with the rest of the roster starting to hit this is the Red Sox team we thought we would see. 

Ever since Alex Cora shaved his beard, the Sox have not lost a series, splitting with the Braves, taking 2 of 3 from the Rangers, Astros and White Sox, and sweeping the Mariners at home thanks to a walk-off grand slam from Franchy Cordero. The next ten games are against the Orioles, Reds, and A’s with the first seven of those coming at home before heading out West. Asking for ten straight is a big ask, but this is a key stretch for the Sox against the bottom barrel teams. June is a big month for the team not facing any AL East teams until the back end of the month which begins a stretch of 17 of 20 games against the Blue Jays, Rays, and Yankees heading into the All-Star Break. Alex Cora brings an even keeled mindset to this team, with a great approach to the season. First get to .500, then 10 games over .500, then 20 games over .500. This is a key stretch for the team to start making those steps. 

Looking towards the remaining three quarters of the season, the eventual return of Chris Sale and James Paxton intrigues me. The rotation has been much better than expected with the additions of Michael Wacha and Rich Hill and Garrett Whitlock. With Sale and Paxton being plugged in, I expect Whitlock to return to the bullpen blustering a bullpen that has performed recently but could use the help Whitlock provides. I then assume Cora goes with a six man rotation, allowing for the starters to get an extra day of rest in the back half of the season. This not only takes stress off of the starters, but with an extra day of rest gives the opportunity for them to go longer in games potentially taking pressure off of the bullpen. The bullpen has been good as of late too, but too many high pressure situations early in the season can lead to burnout in the backend. The emergence of John Schreiber has been nice to see, and Matt Strahm has been one of the best relievers so far. Tyler Danish has also impressed me and Tanner Houck has seemed to have figured things out in his role piggybacking Rich Hill. Hansel Robles started out hot, but has cooled down a bit, but he is also someone who I still trust and Jake Diekman seems to have turned a corner. If Whitlock is moved back to the bullpen once the two injured starters are brought back will be a key addition. I assume that the trade deadline will see Chaim target a reliever because the Red Sox still lack a bona fide closer (even though I think Strahm should be put into that role for now). Josh Taylor suffered a setback, but he could be a “trade deadline acquisition” if he can come back healthy and perform like he did last year.

Overall I am still very high on this Red Sox team. Yes, there are still holes that need to be addressed but that can be said about nearly every team in Major League Baseball. First base has been disappointing so far, but Franchy Cordero has been impressive since being called up and the hope is that Bobby Dalbec can figure it out like he did last season. If not there is always the always looming Tristan Casas in Triple-A who can provide a spark and big bat to the lineup once he is ready. Currently, as it stands the Red Sox have the second best run-differential in the AL East behind only the New York Yankees, which is usually a key indicator of where teams will lie come season end. The big bad Bronx Bombers also won’t play .711 baseball for the remaining of the season, a drop off coming maybe soon with some key players going to the IL. I am not saying that the Red Sox are going to win the AL East, but it would be a surprise if they were 10.5 games back for the rest of the season. The gap should close. This team is too good for that to happen and things have already started to turn around and the success should continue. They are hitting and the pitching seems like it will continue to impress. The Red Sox are good, and will continue to be, but we won’t say they are b___ just yet. But once we do on June 28th, the league will already be on notice.