Don't Panic, the Red Sox Will Improve

Sample size, sample size, sample size!

Remember the thing that increases the accuracy of whatever the available data happens to be? 

The offense has stunk it up; there is no denying that, but the hitters have had to face some pretty good pitching so far, too.

Matt Garza has great stuff. Scott Kazmir may have a little Dice-K in him, but he too flashes brilliance at times. James Shields is either a good pitcher or a great pitcher.

Joe Saunders is solid, maybe better. Jered Weaver is above-average, and he too might be better. 

Okay, Dustin Moseley and Dallas Braden are hittable, or should be, but neither is Sidney Ponson, and both are left-handed pitchers, which at times, seem to give any offense trouble. 

So sit back, sip your cup of java...and relax. 

Whether this team wins 89 or 97 might be a concern, especially in this division. But the Red Sox WILL be in contention when the end of the year rolls around. 

David Ortiz will hit. The form that he consumes is unknown. 

However, we are sure that he is better than this. Just last season, Ortiz actually swung the bat pretty well, overall. And there is nothing to lead us to believe that he is finished being a productive hitter.

Finished as a great hitter? That is possible, but even that is not set in stone.

JD Drew, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell? All much better than this. All somewhat unknowns as to how effective they will be, but definitely better than this.

So if our concerns are in regard to the offense, then maybe we should be concerned with how far above league-average they will end up as a unit. This is not—and will not be—a below-average offense. 

Not all of us are freaking out, and even I dislike losing, but let us gain some perspective on the subject.

"Our" rotation consists of Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brad Penny, and Tim Wakefield, with Clay Buchholz and John Smoltz waiting in their shadows. 

There may be a better rotation in the game. 

But there may not be one that is better, either.

In respect to position, there may only end up being a few great hitters on this team.  But the offense should score runs—more runs than most—and definitely more than they are on pace for.

It was just 2007—when they were the best team in baseball, if we don't recall—where the Red Sox had some serious downtime offensively. 

At one point during the year, they went out to Oakland and played a four-game series with the A's. 

Oakland, as we know, can be hostile to hitters.

They scored seven total runs. Seven! Losing three of four to an inferior team. 

The point of all this is that seven games is seven games. Eight games is eight games.

Sure, every game means the same, but accuracy is not reflected on such a small sampling. 

Any team can look great over a 10-game span, and any team can look terrible.

Maybe whoever you are that is reading this isn't freaking out. As I am NOT.

But scattered across the message boards of various Web sites, there are plenty that seem insecure about this team's talent.

And they simply shouldn't be. Definitely not after eight games.