The Boston Red Sox came out of the gate, appearing as one of the best teams this MLB season. Having led the American League East for more than a month, Boston is now fluctuating between a single game up and three-and-a-half games up on their division foes.
Om their previous games, the Red Sox’s offense was ranked third-best in the American League behind the White Sox and the Astros. They also highlight the third-best wOBA, battling average OBP in the AL. What’s more, they are the second-best in slugging, only behind Houston.
When it comes to home runs, they are middle-of-the-pack and have cracked 44 bombs in 38 games. Now, this only tells half the story. The total offensive numbers for Boston are solid. However, the Sox’s offense has been quite inconsistent.
With most of the New Jersey gambling sites listing Boston Red Sox, here is everything you need to know about the Boston Red Sox this season.
The Health of the Rotation
While this is not the only thing that matters, this might basically be what it all comes down to. At the beginning of the season, the Boston Red Sox had a challenging roster. Their pitching apart from where it was last year. Though it is the lowest bar in the history of bar heights, rest assured, they are actually solid.
Eduardo Rodriguez, Garrett Richards, and Nathan Eovaldi are above the average, with Rodriguez capable of scoring Cy Young votes. In addition, Martin Perez can be a solid back-end arm, and one of Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck can catch lightning in a bottle.
The issue is they have to be so for most of the year. This is not just about perfect health, but the Red Sox can’t afford to lose these three guys for at least three months. So, for instance, this is very much on the table, and it is the kind of scenario that everyone down on this team.
According to other teams, “Red Sox requires pitching to stay healthy,” especially this season. Nevertheless, a few teams are on the unwarranted side of a health situation, given the injury history in their rotation as the Red Sox. However, if they stay healthy, this team can sure be a wildcard team.
J.D. Martinez Bounce-Back
While Red Sox can’t be the Yankees, Dodgers, Braves, or some other elite team in the line-up, they do have the chance to be in the next tier, thanks to their talent up top. You don’t really have to be worried about Alex Verdugo, Rafael Devers, and Xander Bogaerts. From what can be seen, they will hit.
J.D. Martinez is the X-Factor who made the top of the lineup a total nightmare for opposing pitchers day in and day out. But, while he had a terrible season last year according to his standards, there are reasons why you should throw those numbers away—ranging from the pandemic to the lack of video.
Now, along the same lines, he is also getting older. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to know it was just an exaggerated start to his decline. But, of course, if the Red Sox really wants to surprise people, they will have to make sure the above scenario is not the case. But this is not to say that Martinez has to be the 2018 version of himself, though it is a worthy goal to aim for.
The Back of the Bullpen
The Red Sox don’t have a considerable margin for error this season. Their roster looks quite .500-ish, and they are playing in a division that has a chance to be among the most competitive in the game without considering the fact about the potential wildcard race. However, it is quite clear they cannot afford to blow a lopsided number of fun in the late innings with all that in mind.
Presently, the Red Sox bullpen is relatively better than the general consensus, and a lot of this has to do with their depth. Based on elite late-inning arms, both Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes have the upside to hold these roles down pretty well. However, if those guys don’t have it, the Red Sox will blow many games both in the eighth and the ninth innings. It is hard to see them being good on the other parts of the roster to overcome that.