State of the Union: The Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox finished a 3-game sweep of the Texas Rangers today and so I figured that today is as good a day as any to evaluate where the Red Sox stand as of today, Monday, April 21st.

The Good:

   It looks like there won't be a sophomore slump for 2nd basemen Dustin Pedroia. The youngster from Arizona State continued his hot start today by driving in the tying run today when he pinch hit for Joe Thurston in the 8th inning.

    So far, Pedroia has OPS'd .860 with 7 extra-base hits and solid defense at 2nd base. The perfect example of durability, Pedroia is also leading the team in at-bats with 78, and expect him to remain in the lead as Joe Thurston clearly doesn't belong as an capable fill-in.

    Even better news for Red Sox fans is that the future looks bright all over the middle infield, especially now that the Sox have brought up shortstop Jed Lowrie from Pawtucket.

     Called up for the game against Cleveland on April 15th, Lowrie responded with a 3-RBI night en route to a come from behind victory. For an encore performance he had multiple hit games twice since then, including this afternoon when he his second hit, a double down the right field line, plated Jacoby Ellsbury and sparked the rally.

    Lowrie looks like your typical rookie, 0 walks, a lot of swings at bad pitches, but a lot of raw talent and potential as well. He will most likely not remain with the club for the coming weeks, but Sox fans should feel safe knowing that when we finally replace Julio Lugo, shortstop will be in good hands. 

    From a pitching standpoint, aside from the fact that Josh Beckett is returing to form, it seems as if the Red Sox have found a reliable group of relief-pitchers to use in close games. David Aardsma, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima make a formidable group of pitchers before getting to Johnathan Papelbon.

    Okajima hasn't allowed a run in 6.2 innings pitched this season, and Aardsma and Delcarmen have combined for 20.2 innings pitched, 5 earned runs allowed, and 18 strikeouts. Both also have sub-1.5 WHIPs.

    This group needs to continue to pitch well so that the innings between the starters and Papelbon are smooth, a problem the Red Sox ran into quite a bit last year.

    In other good, and brief news, Sean Casey appears to be a wonderful signing. Lowell has been hurt, and Casey has been forced into duty at first base and has performed admirably.

    A heady and likeable veteran, Red Sox fans should feel comfortable with Casey at the plate because he rarely ever swings at bad pitches, and while his power output has vanished, he is still a serviceable back-up 1st baseman and DH. 

The Bad:

    Mike Lowell is still hurt. The team moved up the timetable for his return, but it will be awhile before Lowell will be able to return to 100%.

    Call me a traitor, but I think the Red Sox re-signing Lowell was an awful idea. Theo Epstein had shown a remarkable gift for being able to jettison sentimental favorites once they have out-lived their usefulness.

    He dumped Garciparra, the face of the Franchise. He let Pedro go despite all of the great work he had done for the team in 2004. Also he let Johnny Damon go as well by low-balling him on the offer, and while he still plays, Ellsbury is better right now in center-field.

    That being said, Lowell is old, and while he had a career year last year, I didn't think he was going to last the 3 years of his contract, and I still don't think it's going to happen. I would really love to see him hit 30 home runs again this year, but it just doesn't seem likely.

    The lack of a reliable 5th starter is going to be an on-going problem, and possibly something the Red Sox will address at the trading deadline.

    Clay Bucholz has a bright future with the squad, but management and Francona will not allow the young star to go over 150 innings, and I will bet the bank on that prediction. He is too precocious to run his arm into the ground this early in his career.

    Bartolo Colon has been good in the minor leagues, but I sure the Red Sox and Epstein would like some more stability at the back end of that rotation. I hate to say it, and I will still defend the trade, but it would be nice to have Johan Santana followed by Josh Beckett in the rotation.

    You can put a fork in him because Jason Varitek is cooked. The 36-year-old catcher for the team has been declining offensively every season since 2005, and apart from the occasional home run he has really looked over-matched at the plate.

     I have serious doubts that Varitek's usefulness behind the plate has been used up, and I am sure he is still a terrific game-manager and student of the game. I have to believe he has been at least remotely responsible for the development of Beckett and Papelbon and a host of other young pitchers, and that is integral to any team's success.

    But offensively he has struggled mightily. He has already struck out 14 times compared with only 3 walks, and his OBP has dipped below .300. I think he will continue to regress offensively, but keep his job until Epstein is ready to bring prospect George Kottaras up from the minors to usurp 'Tek's job.

    Aside from the aforementioned relievers, the bullpen is old. Mike Timlin is 42. Julian Tavarez is 35, and Bryan Corey is also 35. Throw in the fact that Tim Wakefield is also 42, and we have ourselves a playoff rotation for an old-timers league.

    While Wakefield's age is almost erroneous because he throws a knuckleball, and frankly could probably do it effectively until he is 60, but the rest of the guys make up strong part of the bullpen.

    Timlin was being counted on to be successful in a set-up role, and to help ease the transition for Manny Delcarmen, but it looks like Aardsma has stolen that spot. Tavarez is legitimately the only long reliever on the major-league roster now that Kyle Snyder has been sent back down to Pawtucket.

    Corey is a fill-in guy whose job is to make sure to eat up some innings that Okajima or Delcarmen would otherwise be taking. None of these guys have looked very sharp in the early going and this hopefully will not turn into a larger problem as the season progresses and people's arms start to get tired.

 Overall:

    The Red Sox are in good shape.

    Matsuzaka is improving, Manny is hitting the ball like its the mid-90's again, and the team has been infused with a lot of young talent that shows the Red Sox will not slow down as the season and the years continue on.

    No one is worried about David Ortiz, it is still April, and the big guy has been the model of consistent production for the past few years, and I don't expect anything less from him.

    There is depth in the infield with Lowrie and Casey, and in the outfield with CoCo Crisp and possibly Brandon Moss for spells, and Mike Lowell should return in May to make the roster even deeper.

    The three-game sweep of the Rangers wasn't incredibly impressive considering they were losing in 2 out of the 3. The Indians series was like this also, close games that could have gone either way. But good teams always win the close ones, or "find a way to win" as the old cliche would say, so I think the Red Sox will be in good shape

    Also, keep in mind....

    It's only April.