The Boston Red Sox weren't satisfied with their finish in 2010, and appear ready to climb back to the top of the AL East.
While the New York Yankees kept quiet this offseason, the Red Sox made the big splashes this time around. Bringing in Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford made the Red Sox an instant contender to win it all this year. They also expect to get several key players healthy and sport a revamped bullpen.
Boston still needs the starting rotation to improve from last season if they are going to take home their third World Series title since 2004. Check out my MLB predictions on Boston below as well as a list of the players you will see on the field this year.
Projected Lineup
Boston should have no problem scoring runs with the additions of Gonzalez and Crawford in the heart of this batting order. Crawford won't hit a ton of home runs—he hasn't hit more than 20 once in his career—but he finished last year with a career-best 90 RBIs and has stolen at least 46 bases in seven of the last eight seasons.
Gonzalez ended last season with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs playing in San Diego. Now that he is playing at least half his games in Fenway Park, those numbers should jump big time this season—especially his RBI numbers.
Add these two in with the likes of Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, and you can see why this lineup will be as good as any in baseball in 2011.
Boston had to play most of last season without Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, which was a huge blow considering the numbers these two put up in 2009. Ellsbury figures to remain at the top of the lineup and we think he will have no problem returning to his 2009 form where he hit .301 with 94 runs and 70 stolen bases.
Pedroia played in just 75 games last year, and Boston just wasn't the same without him in the lineup. Look for the 2008 MVP to have a monster season hitting in the No. 2 spot, and we think he could be even better than he was in 2008.
The bottom of the order does draw some concerns for Red Sox fans, but nothing that should slow this unit down much. J.D. Drew is coming off a poor 2010, but has vowed to prove that it was a fluke and that he will be a much better hitter this year. Shortstop Marco Scutaro couldn't stay healthy last year, but should be ready to bounce back with a big season.
The Red Sox's biggest risk comes behind the plate, where Jarrod Saltalamacchia is expected to take over for veteran Jason Varitek. Saltalamacchia has failed to live up to his potential, but if he figures it out, there might not be any stopping this lineup in 2011.
Projected Rotation
Boston shouldn't be too concerned about the top of the starting rotation with Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. Both performed really well despite the overall struggle of this staff. Lester went 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA, his third-straight season with at least 15 wins. Buchholz showed he was the real deal, going 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA; if he gets even better this season, watch out!
The question marks come in the other three starting spots. Josh Beckett wasn't good at all last year, going 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA, but he turns just 31 this season. If he can stay healthy, we see no reason why he won't make huge improvements this year.
Another guy the Red Sox are hoping can turn things around is John Lackey, who also struggled in 2010. Lackey went 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA—which isn't all that bad for a No. 4 starter, but they didn't sign this guy to an $82.5 million deal to be an average starter.
Daisuke Matsuzaka figures to start the year as the No. 5 starter, but who knows what they will get out of him. Matsuzaka amazed everyone with an 18-3 record and a 2.90 ERA in 2008, but hasn't been anything close to that the last two seasons.
2011 Projection: First Place AL East
This is the best lineup in baseball from top to bottom. The Red Sox had to deal with a number of injuries last year and didn’t have enough depth to overcome it. Now, they could take an injury or two and still field a scary lineup.
With the insanely athletic Ellsbury and Crawford in the outfield and on the bases, the steady Youkilis and Pedroia and the powerful Ortiz and Gonzalez, Boston should be a joy to watch this year. The bottom half of their rotation can’t possibly be worse than it was a year ago, and they have shored up some bullpen issues as well.
The Red Sox's current MLB odds to win the AL East this season are -150
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments