The longest the Red Sox have gone this century without winning a World Series is six years. All this talk for 80 odd years about beating the curse, the Sox have routinely been competitive, have more rings than anybody since the start of the 21st century, and haven't lost a World Series since 1986. If the Sox don't win this year, it'll be their longest drought since before 2004. Which is a little funny. Yankee fans have been bagged on for their W.S. drought since 2009, well now we're both getting a taste of it.
And the Red Sox, since the ring basically, have hung back and faced some tough years. Many were lost due to pitching injuries, or pitching inexperience. Some were lost because of the long wait for the team that's succeeding now to develop. In that period things only clicked once, in 2021, which a lot of people forget [I always remember the Rays being the ones to advance that year], but the Astros outlasted them in the ALCS. And then back to pitching woes and dilapidated play.
Well...from the looks of things, 2025 will be the year the Red Sox come roaring back. Look at this damn offense. Yanks-Sox is gonna be bloodthirsty this year.
This lineup clicking is the result of A.) the contracts finally lining up and producing, as Alex Bregman and Trevor Story are both playing like they were signed to do, B.) the last wave of prospects inheriting the team, as Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Raffaela have been great so far, and C.) the current wave of prospects taking over handily, as Kristian Campbell is already a sure thing weeks into his MLB career. Campbell is hitting .341, but ABREU is hitting .378, with 14 hits, 12 RBIs and 3 homers. The man has been hot as hell lately, and is picking up where he strong-but-injury-shortened 2024 left off. This team is reliant on the big guns obviously, but if a middle of the pack guy like Abreu can be the hero for this team, that'll be even better. Even Romy Gonzalez, after losing his job to Campbell, has been hitting like crazy off the bench. Maybe he'll get more opportunities eventually but he's definitely still a vital guy.
It's all the more important because of what has been missing so far, like Masataka Yoshida, Connor Wong, and...Rafael Devers' average. Guy struck out a ton to start the season, and while he's slowing recovering with 9 RBIs and a homer, it's not the start people were hoping for. There was a whole thing about whether or not Devers was really okay with losing 3rd to Bregman, he says he's fine, but there's still the slightest tinge of tension present. He could be fine, but I don't think Boston should have risked alienating their longest tenured star, especially considering that he could very clearly link up with a competitor and make them regret it.
The pitching is a little wobblier, especially without Bello and Crawford. Buehler's gotten lit up a lot, hopefully he's not completely cooked. Richard Fitts, for all his rotation readiness, is 0-2. Hunter Dobbins is great but clearly still learning the ropes. Crochet looks good at least. The lineup is the real takeaway right now though, and it's making me really concerned about the division, especially as the Yankees cool off.
Obviously there's a lot more games to play [the O's in last? With THIS lineup?] but it's at least affirming that the vibes this team was giving me preseason are accurate. They are for real this year. It's just a matter of how far they'll go.
Coming Tomorrow- He began the season by striking out 13 Phillies. That's certainly a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment