Red Sox streaky at the Quarter-mark of the 2008 Season

The first quarter of the 2008 season has been one of streaks for the Boston Red Sox.

With 43 games under their belt, they stand at 24-19 and are a game-and-a-half behind the surprising Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East. The first leg of the season has seen three winning streaks of at least four games, but also two losing streaks of equal length, including one right now.

The Sox won 15 of 22 contests to start the season, but since have been playing sub-.500 ball. The fact that no one facet of the team can be blamed for this poor streak is troubling.

The bad turn of events began with the bullpen giving up three straight games and squandering good outings by the starters and solid run support from the offense.

Next, the offense went sour, scoring only four runs over a five game period as the Boston starters, backed by a recovered bullpen, gave five straight extraordinary efforts, allowing only nine runs and 23 hits over the five games.

After a short winning streak, the Red Sox went back down, losing six of eight to this point in the season. Jonathan Papelbon blew his first two games of the season back-to-back, and every starter other than Daisuke Matsuzaka has given a bad start and lost.

Despite these woes, the Red Sox are still an offensive juggernaut, ranking in the top three in the majors in batting average, runs, doubles, on-base percentage, slugging, and base-stealing percentage.

While their home run numbers are down, Boston has compensated with speed at the top of the lineup. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp are all perfect in base stealing situations with a combined 25 swipes. Ellsbury ranks 11th in the majors with 31 runs.

Pedroia, the only player to appear in all 43 games this season, ranks fifth with 55 hits and is tied with teammate Kevin Youkilis at fourth with 14 doubles apiece. Youkilis also ranks in the top ten in slugging and extra-base hits.

While the offense is at or near the top of the league, the defense as a whole is not. The pitching staff’s 4.25 ERA and 193 runs given up is in the middle of the rankings, and the 171 walks surrendered is the fifth most of any team. The defense has a fielding percentage of .986, good enough for eighth in the majors,but one must remember that the team’s 23 errors are bolstered by Julio Lugo’s league leading 11.

Individually, the only starter pitching to his potential is Matsuzaka, who is 6-0 with a 2.45 ERA in eight starts. The other starters combined are 11-10 with a 4.43 ERA.

Other than Papelbon’s two blown saves, the end of the bullpen is business as usual. In 18 appearances, Papelbon is 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 11 saves while sporting an unbelievable strikeout to walk ratio of 23 to 2. Hideki Okajima is 1-0 with a minuscule 0.93 ERA in 18 appearances.

The rest of the bullpen has been lacking, however, with a combined 5.84 ERA and is responsible for seven of the team’s 19 losses. The front office has subsequently been shopping some players to determine their market value in a possible trade.

Despite these troubles with the pitching and some inconsistencies with the offense, the Red Sox are in good position. Ten of their next 13 games are against teams with records under .500, but after that they play 31 of 41 against teams of the other side of that mark leading up to the all-star break.

By the midpoint of the season, Red Sox Nation should know what the 2008 team is really made of.