, the club has player’s who so overachieved that regression is actually too obvious of a conclusion.

Too many things fell in place for the Red Sox—this season, everything is simply going to collapse. However, I am still expecting 80+ wins out of the club.

The rotation owns the No. 1 and No. 22 most abused pitchers from 2007 in Matsuzaka and Beckett respectively. Beckett already had a tendency of being brittle and is struggling to be healthy to this point in Spring Training.

Matsuzaka is in an entirely new world in North American baseball. Whether or not Dice-K's second half was a sign of things to come, or simply a small sample size and an aberration to the bigger picture is yet to be determined. But his walk rate and drop in strikeouts over the second half has got to be alarming for any fan of the Sox.

The rotation will also count on a pair of youngsters in the place of Curt Schilling. While Schilling did not have the greatest season in 2007, it is tough to imagine a rookie performing better then he did at Fenway.

Hideki Okajima is not a quality relief pitcher. While many may argue with this assertion due to his performance in 2007, I am willing to go out and state that his numbers were directly related to a unique delivery that confused American League hitters for the first half of the season.

David Aardsma is a guy I anticipate will take over a meaningful role within the bullpen and be a name Red Sox Nation remembers.

The Red Sox hitters are efficient and play their required roles to perfection. The club though, is extremely thin and cannot afford an injury to any one of its key players.

I don’t imagine the Red Sox can go another season without suffering a major injury to either of their aging sluggers, Ortiz or Ramirez. As is, both Lugo and Drew are hurt and their backups are less than stellar. Outside of that, the youth and potential is far and few between.

 

Breakout Candidate: Manny Delcarmen

Everyone expects that it is only a matter of time before Jonathan Papelbon’s arm falls off. Delcarmen is the best choice and will be a major factor in the Sox bullpen long term.

 

Major Addition: NONE!

This roster is essentially the same one as 2007’s.

 

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?