Two weeks into the 2008 season and the Boston Red Sox must be pleased with how the season has gone thus far. Granted they are only two games over .500 at 8 and 6 and have split their last 10 games, but things could be much, much worse. When the Yankees went to Japan to open the season, they proceeded to go 11-19 in the first month of the season before finally snapping out of it and going on to win the division. Boston is only half a game out of first place in the tightly packed American League East which is currently lead by the surprising Baltimore Orioles who do not figure to hang around much longer.
Things looked like they were about to get really bad after the Red Sox got swept in Toronto and capped off the second series of the season by committing four errors during a game in which ace Josh Beckett looked very ordinary in his return to the mound. Since getting swept, however, Boston has won 5 of the next 7 against such projected American League powerhouses as the Yankees, Tigers and Indians. Little by little, the Red Sox that we saw win the World Series last season are coming back.
Kevin Youkilis is up to batting .375, JD Drew is off to a hot start batting .316 and Coco Crisp is putting up an awfully good fight to hold on to the centerfield job and now Boston seems content to hold onto him until it gets blown away by a trade offer. Manny Ramirez, who has started slowly the last couple of seasons, is also on fire and leading the team in RBI’s and coming through with a big hit almost every time the Red Sox need one, none bigger than his ninth inning home run last night in Cleveland to put the Red Sox ahead 6-4. Dustin Pedroia is also beginning to sting the ball around the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.
The pitching still needs to step it up a little but with each start Josh Beckett looks closer to returning to ace form. You have to remember, after missing most of Spring Training due to back spasms, Beckett never faced Major League hitters until his first start in Toronto and is essentially a couple of weeks behind everybody else. Daisuke Matsuzaka has looked much more comfortable so far this season and leads the league in strikeouts, but nonetheless needs to cut down on the walks and challenge hitters more. The key to the rotation at this point seems to be whether or not Jon Lester will be able to step up and become the top tier pitcher Boston expects him to be.
The problems Boston needs to fix are no worse than what any other team around the league has to deal with, and in fact they are in a much better situation than a lot of teams. Sure it would be nice to see them jump right out to a big lead in the division, especially with the Yankees not playing particularly well at the moment. Given the distractions and difficulties they’ve had to open the season though, their situation is looking pretty good. Many fully expected them to struggle coming off the trip to Japan to open the season as they fought to get back into their routine and comfort zone. Boston has managed not to dig themselves and early hole which could prove difficult to climb out of given the depth of the American League East, nor have the sustained any major injuries that could potentially derail the season. The key is that they build momentum as the season progresses and catch fire in the second half. In the meantime, Boston has plenty to be optimistic about.
