Boston Red Sox: 10 Things to Watch as Sox Return to Fenway Park to Face Rays

The Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park tonight after a woeful road trip which has left them with the worst record in the major leagues. The Sox are 1-5, their sole win coming after a ninth-inning rally saw them score three runs off Toronto closer Sergio Santos.

Boston has always been a better team at home than on the road, and it will be a relief to return to Fenway, where pregame ceremonies will begin a week-long commemoration of the stadium's 100th birthday.

It will be a tough but captivating homestand, with three World Series contenders coming to town. A two-game set with the Texas Rangers is sandwiched between series against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.

With poor performances from many players and some fan unrest, there are plenty of talking points and things to watch as the Red Sox attempt to recover from their slow start.

The Fans' Reaction

With the way the team ended last season, started this season and treated former manager Terry Francona, there is a fairly strong chance the fans won't be entirely happy.

A poll in this article appears to have the fanbase split. With almost 600 respondents, 53 percent say they wouldn't boo the team at the home opener, but 47 percent say that they would.

Josh Beckett

If there's one player likely to draw the ire of Red Sox Nation tonight, it's Josh Beckett. Even if he receives a standing ovation, though, his performance will still be under heavy scrutiny.

Beckett was awful down the stretch last year and got smoked in his first start this season. The Detroit Tigers played batting practice against him, taking him out of the yard five times in his 4.2-inning, seven-run nightmare.

Last season, he came within a weak infield single of throwing a perfect game against these Tampa Bay Rays. He doesn't need to repeat that, but he nonetheless needs to pitch well and keep the Sox in the game.

Kevin Youkilis

Is Kevin Youkilis done?

Youk has been bothered by a myriad of injuries for the last two years, but the most worrying thing about his bad start this season is that he looks healthy.

Youkilis started 0-for-12 and is now 2-for-20 overall on the young season. He looks lost at the plate, striking out six times and not walking at all.

The Lineups

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has played around with the lineups a fair bit so far. In six games, Bobby V has put out five different batting orders—only the first two games shared the same nine.

At times, his decisions have made little sense. In the third game, he batted Nick Punto leadoff and started Darnell McDonald and Kelly Shoppach against a right-hander despite all three batting below .200 in those situations last season.

Clay Buchholz

At his best, Clay Buchholz is a great pitcher. If he can come at all close to his 2010 numbers—when he had the second-best ERA in the American League—the Red Sox will have a great one-two punch with him and ace Jon Lester.

His first start wasn't good. He gave up seven runs in four innings. But no one should be as concerned as they are about Josh Beckett's bad outing since it was Buch's first start since last June. It might take him a few outings to shake off the rust, but expectations are high for him this year.

The Bullpen

The Boston bullpen has been bad so far. While some relievers have had early success (Franklin Morales, Scott Atchison and Vicente Padilla have ERAs below 2.10), many have been downright awful. Justin Thomas (6.75 ERA), Matt Albers (13.50), Alfredo Aceves (27.00) and Mark Melancon (36.00) all had bad road trips and will hope to rebound at home.

Adrian Gonzalez

Adrian Gonzalez had a decent road trip, especially when taken in the context of his team's 1-5 record. However, a .261 average and one home run won't do for this homestand. If Boston are to take anything from the three upcoming series, they need their big hitters to perform well.

Adrian has a great swing for Fenway Park, but last year, was terrible against AL East opponents. He hit .183 against the Yakees and .131 against the Rays, with four home runs total in 36 games.

Ryan Sweeney

If your office had a pool going on who would have Boston's highest batting average after the first two series, you probably wouldn't be happy picking Ryan Sweeney.

But through the first six games, the newly-acquired right fielder has surpassed all expectations. He leads the team in average (.444), OBP (.500) and slugging percentage (.667).

Right field at Fenway is tough to play; we'll see how he copes playing there for the first time on the home team.

Home Runs

Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both had career-highs in home runs last year. You can pencil Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz in for 27-35 homers, and if healthy, Kevin Youkilis should contribute 20-odd. This is a powerful lineup.

Yet they rank last in the majors with only two long balls. Gonzalez had the first in Detroit, and Pedroia got the second in Toronto. Returning to Fenway Park should help considerably, but the lack of power is still concerning.

The Catchers

2011's catching tandem of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek ended up performing quite well offensively. The same cannot be said of the Salty-Kelly Shoppach combo through six games.

Combined, they are 2-for-20 with one extra base hit, no RBI, nine strikeouts and just two walks.

As a quick aside, can anyone suggest a nickname for this year's tandem? The names don't go well together. "Shalty?" "Salpach?" "Jelly?"

What do you think?

Adam MacDonald has been a featured columnist for the Boston Red Sox since October 2010. He also writes about cricket a fair bit. He likes video games and sandwiches. You can follow him on Twitter, or tell him how awesome/terrible this article was, by clicking here.