Is This Really the Team That Everybody Picked To Win the World Series?
There are plenty of good teams who blow big leads, but the best teams take those leads back and go on to win the game. That’s exactly what the Red Sox did on Tuesday night against the team that all the “experts” have picked to win the World Series this year.
I see a lot of similarities between the 2013 Red Sox, and this 2015 team. And no, it’s not because of the chemistry factor like everybody else has been saying. I see the similarities in the fact that fans were so soured by the team’s performance in 2012 that they almost didn’t start believing that the 2013 squad was for real until about August or September. I feel like that trend could continue in 2015 after having the task of following up another last place finish.
The Red Sox have been red hot right out of the gate this year, improving to 6-2, but it seems like a lot of media is trying to discredit how well they’ve been playing by saying that they haven’t truly been tested yet. That’s certainly an argument that you could make against the Red Sox pitching staff, but this lineup has already laid waste to Cole Hamels, Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg — three guys who have seven top-10 finishes for the Cy Young Award between them.
But as I’ve said before, the offense was never really in question. Justin Masterson reaffirmed, on Tuesday night, why we’ve been so skeptical about this rotation. But I also think it’s saying something that we can have guys go out there and give up five runs, and the Red Sox still walk away victorious. If the starting pitchers can ever get on a roll of turning in quality starts, Koji Uehara can take the summer off to get ready for October.
After their latest victory, the Red Sox secured their third consecutive series win to start the year. Boston hasn’t won their first three series of the season since 1952 when they took their first six straight.
On the injury front, manager John Farrell said that the MRI on Xander Bogaerts’ knee came back “clean”, and he could be back in the lineup as early as Wednesday night. The Red Sox placed Rusney Castillo on the 7-day disabled list before the game on Tuesday as a result of the outfielder jamming his right shoulder, diving for a ball on Saturday. Brandon Workman ended up on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with an elbow strain, and now reports are coming out that he needs to see Dr. James Andrews, AKA we wish you a speedy recovery from your impending Tommy John surgery. Pablo Sandoval took a Strasburg curveball off the toes on Tuesday night, and had to come out of the game. The Red Sox ran some tests, and there’s no structural damage — unless you want to count what he’s done to his own stomach — and he’s considered day-to-day with a contusion.
Oh, and Hanley Ramirez took over at third base when Sandoval left the game. He didn’t need any practice for that transition, apparently.
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