Three Strikes: Red Sox an American League Favorite?
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To keep my articles quick, simple, and clean I'm going to be using a bulleted style. Usually it will be three points, sometimes more, sometimes less.
So are the Boston Red Sox the favorites to win the ALCS and go to the World Series?
- Barring catastrophic injuries the Red Sox have one of the most intimidating offenses in all of Major League Baseball. This lineup is reminiscent of the Yankees lineups of last decade. Top to bottom this lineup is scary. They can beat you in so many ways, it's truly frightening. The only reason to nitpick is that the lineup is a bit lefty heavy. Francona will have his hands full trying to create a lineup that is effective and balanced (more on the new additions to follow).
- Here comes the big question mark for the Red Sox in the 2011 season: their starting pitching. Last year had its pros and cons for the starting pitching. Jon Lester took another positive step and really established himself as the ace of the staff. If not for the late blow up versus the Chicago White Sox he would have finished with an ERA under 3, which could have really opened some eyes as to how good this kid really is. Clay Buchholz also took another step forward. His overall numbers were very good, although the lack of strikeouts is concerning (more on Buchholz, Beckett, and Lackey in the next few days). Along with Buchholz, Josh Beckett and John Lackey are the X-Factors for the Red Sox. Beckett battled a back injury for much of the year, but even when he was "healthy" he wasn't any good. He certainly wasn't the ornery ace we've come to expect. As for John Lackey? He needs to justify the Red Sox giving him a big contract. As long as his WHIP comes down and the strikeouts stay constant his ERA will fall as well.
- Now for the pièce de résistance: the bullpen. Although Jonathan Papelbon had a down year last year it certainly wasn’t too detrimental. He still racked up 37 saves and 76 strikeouts. Should he falter this year the Red Sox have more than enough bullpen pieces to pick up the slack. It seems like only a matter of time before Daniel Bard takes over as the closer for the Sox, and if he isn’t ready for the pressure newly signed Bobby Jenks has been there before. Dan Wheeler, Alfredo Aceves, and Hideki Okajima round out this highly effective bullpen.
So simply put, yes the Red Sox are the favorites in the American League to get to the World Series if their pitching bounces back and they stay healthy. No one else can compare to both the lineup depth and the bullpen depth of this team. The money spent was worth it, this team is truly among the top tier of the MLB.
-Josh Plouffe
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