As I was browsing through some of the more common
resolutions the other day, I thought a few could easily be applied to the Red
Sox. In light of a disappointing 2014 season, there is certainly plenty of room
for improvement, and it really won’t take too much to get back to the happy
side of .500. I know some readers will chide me for being satisfied to break
even and then some, but when you consider the roller coaster that we’ve rode in
the past three years, it might be time for some “normalcy” just to get our feet
planted firmly on the ground. As my very astute colleague over on Red Sox Nation Fans, Bob Ambridge
(vegasbob222) has mention on the site, Boston may just be aiming for a 87 – 90
win season with their vision on the bigger FA fish for 2016 (Cueto, Price) with
money to spend. Futhermore, they also have three electric left-handers on the
farm that may be ready to make their mark before 2015 goes into the books. Any
shortcomings that may be experienced in the starting rotation might be buoyed
by the offensive pieces we picked up this winter.
Here are five resolutions that the Red Sox need to make a
reality in order to regain their rightful place as an AL East superpower.
1) Lose weight – This is directed at the pitching staff with
regards to ERA. Boston placed 23rd in the majors in this category at a 4.01 clip.
The biggest offender here in the starting corps was Clay Buchholz who turned in
a hideous 5.34 mark. Craig Breslow was not to be outdone though as he gorged
himself and was a few ticks shy of 6.00 in only 54.1 IP coming out of the pen.
Boston took a flyer on him in the off-season hoping he returns to 2013 form,
and even though Clay’s name was bandied about in trade rumours, it was wise for
Boston to see if he can indeed become a leader in a re-built starting rotation.
Last season, Boston opted to see what the kids could do in Workman, Webster and
De La Rosa after dispatching Lackey, Lester and Peavy to differing locales. The
result? Well, you know how those younguns can eat! With muffin top ERAs of
5.17, 5.03 for Workman and Webster and a
mediocre 4.43 for Rubby to go along with a combined record of 13-21 (ten of
those losses were hung on Workman), Sawx brass pulled the plug on the latter
two leaving Workman hanging on by his fingernails to nail down the long man
role in the 2015 pen. Cherington’s focus in the off season on sinkerball
pitchers in Miley, Porcello, and Masterson tells us that Ben looks to trim this
excess fat in the coming campaign by letting his defense dictate their success.
The Red Sox were 23rd in fly ball and groundball percentage, and the
scales start to tip to the plump side when the baseball gets into the air,
especially in Fenway.
2) Get more exercise – When Boston baserunners got aboard,
they didn’t run nearly enough. The Red Sox ended the season 11th in
the AL in runs scored, and with RISP they were dead last hitting a paltry .237.
It didn’t help that they fielded one of the most anemic offensive outfields
since the mid sixties (Did we really have Grady Sizemore on the roster?). David
Ortiz was one of the only bright spots here on a regular basis batting .285.
Despite his slow start Daniel Nava was also a factor here batting .295 with 31
RBI in this situation. The best mark of all Boston hitters belonged to the now
departed Yoenis Cespedes as he raked with a .344 clip. No worries though, as
Hanley Ramirez clubbed .321 with 59 RBI and the Panda drove in one less that
Hanley and batted .291 last season.
3) Get out of debt – Here, this is all about Shane
Victorino, Mike Napoli, and Allen Craig. With the money these guys are pulling
down, they need to produce as they owe big time for 2015, especially Nap and
Vic. To be fair to Victorino, he was on the mend for pretty much the entire
2014 campaign playing only 30 games, but he is now barking about being left off
the lineup Farrell was tossing around a few days ago. Hey, injuries happen and
we all understand it’s part of the game, but Shane needs to get the work done
this spring before he gets penciled into the lineup. Napoli and Victorino are
among the top five highest paid players on the team earning 16 and 13 million
respectively in 2015. Napoli was hampered with injuries throughout the year as
well and owned a brutal .170 batting average in 106 opportunities with RISP.
Craig’s haul is a reasonable 5.5 million this coming season but it grows
exponentially in the next two seasons to 9 and then 11 million. Boston needs to
find out if Craig can be a factor, but where do they put him? Napoli will
anchor first and the outfield is very crowded. If he remains on the roster
coming out of Spring Training, I doubt he lasts the season in Boston. He was
also injured and never got on track playing in only 29 games and hit .128.
Boston will actually truly get back in the black with
regards to Napoli and Victorino, as they will become free agents after 2015 and
come off the books.
4) Learn something new -
At this point, Boston will attempt to navigate through the 2015 season
without a true ace on the starting staff. With the departure of “on again, off
again” ace Jon Lester. As mentioned earlier, newcomers Wade Miley, Rick
Porcello, and Justin Masterson will attempt to keep the opposing offenses
grounded. Porcello (50.85) and Miley (53.23) were in the top 25 in ground ball
percentage last season. However, despite his hefty 5.88 ERA, Masterson topped
them all with 58.20%. The caveat with this approach is a stingy defense and all
eyes will be on young Xander Bogaerts to see if he can be an effective part of
the puzzle.
The question is: Can Boston return to the playoffs and
challenge for a world title without an ace in their rotation? The answer is
yes, but it is a rare occurrence. The last team I can think of that won a world
title without a bonafide ace would be the 2005 Chicago White Sox. Of course,
they had a workhorse in Mark Buehrle who might deserve consideration of this
tag by some, but it doesn’t seem to ring true to me. They also had Jon Garland,
who won 18 games in 2005, but was a .500 pitcher coming into that season. Also,
the 2002 Angels won it all with rookie Jon Lackey, Jarrod Washburn, and Ramon
Ortiz so…yeah… it certainly can be done.
5) Take a trip – Yeah you know where I’m going with this.
Boston will be eager to return to the post season and with the pieces they
currently have, they have a decent chance. Many things, as with any club, have
to fall neatly into place for a playoff berth. But with Boston’s current
approach, there isn’t a whole lot of room for error. I’ll be satisfied with a
healthy 2015 with all the major players having the chance to show us what we
missed out on last year. If this comes to pass,
Boston should be right in the thick of things when the leaves turn in
September.
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