Boston Red Sox Need Power Injection to Make Postseason Run

It's hard to imagine the 2011 Boston Red Sox competing to win the American League East without adding some power to their lineup. 

When I say "power," I am not only referring to home runs, but, hitters' capacity to hit the ball for extra bases consistently. 

The Red Sox have too many non-hitters or "singles hitters" and no one who has come close to replacing the void left by the departure of Manny Ramirez or the "old" David Ortiz. We all tend to forget just how fantastic the Ramirez-Ortiz combination was in the lineup back from 2004-2007.

Going into their Sunday (Mother's Day) game vs. the Minnesota Twins, the Sox had a total of 28 home runs—lowest in the AL East. The Tampa Rays had 30; the Toronto Blue Jays had 32; the Baltimore Orioles had 33 and the New York Yankees had 49. 

With 34 games played, how many "important" home runs have Red Sox players hit in the 2011 season? A few, I guess, but not many for a team that must get through the Yankees to go anywhere. 

The one impressive streak this team put together was the result of outstanding pitching—not hitting.

I'm sure many Sox fans shrug these home run stats off and expect that more home runs will come as the weather gets warmer. 

But my question is: Where will those additional home runs come from in 2011? 

What troubles me is that when I examine Red Sox hitters one through nine in the lineup, I just don't see who will supply that power between now and October.

Yes, Adrian Gonzalez is very likely to hit many more home runs (he hit his fourth today), but who else can be counted on to hit many home runs? Kevin Youkilis? Youkilis has some power and has twice hit more than 20 HRs, but he's more of a line drive hitter who hits home runs in a streaky fashion.  

David Ortiz still can hit for power, but much more sporadically than in his glory days. Big Papi has four home runs as of Sunday. Ortiz tends to hit his home runs on "mistake" pitches—fastballs left down the middle, but cannot hit as many different pitches out as in the past. 

Carl Crawford has never been a home run hitter and has never hit 20. Dustin Pedroia hasn't hit 20 before. JD Drew hit 24 HRs last year, but they came in a quiet, subpar year for Drew. Though Jacoby Ellsbury has four home runs in 2011, his hits tend to be line drives that don't go deep.

Jarrod Saltalamachia doesn't appear to be a deep threat and Jason Varitek's hitting has deteriorated badly in recent years. Jed Lowrie has some pop from the right side, but is not viewed as a home run hitter. 

So that leaves Gonzo, Youkilis and Ortiz as the only players likely to hit more than 20 HRs. Ortiz hit 32 last year, but they seemed a "quiet 32." Often, he hit home runs during "garbage time" parts of games. 

The Red Sox, in summary, are NOT close to the power hitting team they were when Manny Ramirez played here or with Jason Bay in his hot 2009 year or last year, when they had a hot Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez.  

The Red Sox are not at all in the same league as the Yankees in the power category.

The Yanks, of course, have more home runs (49) in 2011 than any other team in baseball, but 20 more than the Red Sox. It's disturbing to just go down the Yankee lineup and compare each hitter to the Red Sox hitter in the same position.

Curtis Granderson, who hits second, has 10 home runs. Mark Teixeira, who hits third, has eight home runs. Alex Rodriguez, who hits cleanup, has five home runs. Robinson Cano, who hits fifth, has eight home runs. Jorge Posada, the DH this year, has been in an awful slump, but he still has six home runs. Nick Swisher hits home runs—and on, and on it goes.

Do you recall the recent season when most guys in the Yankee lineup had 20 or more HRs?

Look, I'm not hung up on home runs, actually, but, I've come to appreciate how "efficiently" they can bring a team back in a game or win a game. 

The Red Sox, for most of my life, have had a few power hitters and it seems appropriate, playing in Fenway Park. 

Sure, the 2011 Red Sox may be a decent team by hitting singles and doubles and stealing bases but my guess is they won't outscore the other good offensive teams in the AL East without going yard a lot more often. The bottom half of their lineup doesn't make pitchers worry much about power.

My guess is that by the July 31 trading deadline, GM Theo Epstein will have some tough decisions to make about the power-hitting on the Red Sox.