Welcome back to the Evan Angle! The Boston Red Sox have had an incredible recent run of success that has come to a screeching hault recently. The team finished in dead last in the AL East during the shortened 2020 season much in part to their atrocious starting pitching and bullpen. The team ranked 28 in earned run average with a collective ERA of 5.58. The team was missing some key cogs in the form of ace starting pitcher Chris Sale and rotation mate Eduardo Rodriguez but we'll go more in depth on the rotation later. The team still has a formidable batting lineup with key members like Xander Bogarets, JD Martinez, and Rafel Devers. Perhaps the biggest cloud that still looms over this team is last offseason's trade of the concesnsus best player in the league Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boston did recive some nice pieces back in return for Betts in the form of outfielder Alex Verdugo and top prospect Jeter Downs; but that still doesnt soften the blow of trading away a generational talent especially in a massive market like Boston. This team has potential to compete for 3rd place in the east but in all likelihood will find themselves in the 4 spot ahead of Baltimore. Lets look at the lineup in a bit more depth.
The Sox boast a strong lineup despite the aformentioned loss of Betts. The offensive attack will once again be led by the short stop and third base tandem of Xander Bogarts and Rafel Devers. The pair combined for a +2.4 WAR during the shortened 2020 season and both had OBPs above the .300 mark. J.D. Martinez will be a big contributor for the 2021season along with Bogarts and Devers. He struggled in the shortened season after playing like an MVP in 2018 and regressed a bit in 2019. He should revert back to his average self which would include smashing a healthy amount of home runs while hitting for average. Someone to keep an eye on for the Red Sox this year is Alex Verdugo; he came over in the Mookie Betts trade as a highly touted prospect with limited MLB expirence. Verdugo hit .294 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs in 377 plate appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019 before being traded to Boston in 2020. He started for the Red Sox in 2020 and raised his batting average to 308 but in less at bats. I think that a full season will do Verdugo well and he will unleash his full potential given the opportunity. The bottom of the order is a bit weak consisting of Michael Chavis, Enrique Hernandez, and Frachy Cordero. Boston was forced to rely on their offense a ton last year and that shouldn't change much in 2021.
It was no secret that the Sox had a rotation and bullpen that was attrocious during the 2020 season. The one catch to this was that one of their best pitchers was injured after undergoing Tommy John surgery and the other opted out due to COVID-19. Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez will be counted on to bounce back this season and provide the team with some stability in the rotation. The back end is filled with question marks which makes Sale and Rodriguez all the more important. Garrett Richards is often injured, Tanner Houck has little MLB service time, and Martin Perez has proved he is a below average pitcher. The Red Sox have also been busy upgrading their bullpen in recent weeks. They signed 32 year old reliver Hirokazu Sawamura from the Nippon Proffesional Baseball League in Japan. In 10 seasons in Nippon Sawamura had a 2.77 ERA and only gave up 66 total home runs. The team also acquired righty reliver Adam Ottavino from the New York Yankees to help bolster the pen.
The Red Sox should struggle again during the 2021 season. The only saving grace is the return of 2018 World Series champion manager Alex Cora. Cora seemed to have a good relationship with the team but was fired in 2019 due to his link to the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal. If Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez come back in their best form this season i think the improvements to the bullpen and slight upgrades to the rotation could vault this team to a third place finish and at their highest ceiling the last AL Wild Card spot. Like i said before; in reality this will be the 4th place team in the division baring anything spectacular.
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