2014 MLB Team Previews – Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox will attempt to build on a worst-to-first 2013 campaign while trying to repeat as improbable World Series Champions. The Sox had a relatively quiet offseason – there were more departures on this team than there were acquisitions.
Bovada’s Odds to Win
AL East: +200
American League: 6/1
World Series: 12/1
Will the loss of Jacoby Ellsbury have an effect? Will an aging pitching staff hold up? Will the host of youngsters raise their level of game to make the Sox contenders again? Let’s break it down.
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Key Additions: A.J. Pierzynski, Grady Sizemore, Jackie Bradley
Projected Starting Line-Up
1 Shane Victorino OF
2 Daniel Nava OF
3 Dustin Pedroia 2B
4 David Ortiz DH
5 Mike Napoli 1B
6 Xander Bogaerts SS
7 A.J. Pierzynski Catcher
8 Will Middlebrooks 3B
9 Jackie Bradley OF
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The Red Sox had a terrific season offensively last year and on paper, there doesn’t seem that there will be much of a drop-off this year except for the fact that age is bound to catch up with a few of the super stars at some point. Jacoby Ellsbury is gone leaving a host of youngsters to pick up the slack.
Boston led the Majors in runs last year and although the departure of Jarrod Saltamacchia and Ellsbury will hurt in the long run, players like Will Middlebrooks and AJ Pierzynski are OK replacements for the players they lost. Expect the Sox to score some runs again this year – just don’t expect them to put up Major League leading numbers again. A top third offense they will be. Boston’s success looks as though it will be ties more to the…
Projected Starting Rotation
1 Jon Lester SP
2 Clay Buchholz SP
3 John Lackey SP
4 Jake Peavy Injury SP
5 Felix Doubront SP
6 Chris Capuano SP
Boston’s starters were very good last year – perhaps they overachieved just a tad. But former pitching coach turned Manager John Farrell got the absolute most out of his guys all season long. Assuming that Clay Bucholtz stays healthy and Jake Peavy returns to for, it isn’t out of the realm that Boston’s starter could be slightly better than their 2013 rotation.
Health will be key – there isn’t a ton of depth with the Boston starters. If everyone stays healthy and is able to take their games to an elite level once again, the rotation could be a strong suit of the Sox once again. That said, age could be a factor and so could the expectation for this unit to be among the best in the AL. If one or two Boston starters falters, this team could be in a little trouble.
Closer
Koji Uehara RP
Junichi Tazawa RP
Edward Mujica RP
Koji Uehara was lights out last year – one of the host of Boston players that far exceeded expectation. While we can expect a slight drop-off in his overall numbers this year (maintaining them would be monumental), Uehara is still a reliable and daunting figure to close out games.
The pen, on the whole should be strong as they were last year but they too overachieved just a tad. A lot depends on the effectiveness of the starters in 2014 – if they can go deep it will take a lot of pressure off a good, but not outstanding pen.
2014 Prediction:
It is difficult to imagine the Sox repeating what was a magical season last year. Nobody saw them coming! In 2014 they become the hunted, not the hunter. Durability, age and heightened expectations are the reality in Boston for the upcoming season. Is another 97 wins and a World Series Championship on the horizon? Likely not but 90 wins and a Wild Card spot are certainly within reach for this team.
The talent is there – Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Jon Lester give this team a chance to win each and every night but the question marks down the lineup are too numerous for me to give them a chance to repeat what was a stellar 2013 season.
Around 90 wins and an AL Wild card spot is the likely outcome for this team this year – they will sneak up on absolutely nobody in 2014!
