Big Papi Isn’t Walking Through That Door For The Boston Red Sox

April Has Been Rough

There’s no sugar coating it; nothing has worked for the Red Sox through the first three weeks of the season. Boston is in the bottom third of the league offensively in batting average (.223), home runs (9), and OPS (.664), while striking out the eighth most in MLB. Their defense has been amongst the league’s worst (12 errors), and the pitching staff has not performed as advertised. The Red Sox are in the bottom third in ERA (4.58), having only registered 3 quality starts. Brayan Bello’s (9.00 ERA) slow start and the poor first impression of key offseason acquisition Ranger Suarez (8.64) have been the most troubling so far.

Alex Cora Has Been Here Before

As Red Sox Nation and local media call for manager Alex Cora’s hot seat to get even hotter, I argue that he is a strength of the franchise in its current state. Since guiding the Red Sox to a 2018 World Series, Cora has watched John Henry’s Fenway Group cut costs. Former Red Sox stars Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Kyle Schwarber, and Rafael Devers have been shipped out with little to show in return.

Gone are the days of Dave Dombrowski swinging for the fences with briefcases of cash. Craig Breslow continues to make baseball decisions without a true general manager, and Henry has him on a budget. I trust Cora and his staff, led by Jason Varitek, to eventually make a quality meal out of this particular bag of groceries.

The Red Sox Need Roman Anthony To Ascend

Anthony (U.S) and Abreu (Venezuela) shined in last month’s World Baseball Classic for their respective countries. Abreu (26) is already a two-time Gold Glove winner for the Red Sox. He hit a career-high 22 homers last season, but he needs to find a way to stay on the field more than his 115 games played last season. Fair or not, Anthony is expected to become the next superstar in Boston. The 21-year-old left-handed slugger’s swagger has Red Sox Nation wanting more from a small sample size of just 82 games, but Boston knows one when they see it. So far, Anthony is saying and doing all the right things in the hyperbolic pressure cooker of Boston sports.

End OF My Boston Red Sox Rant

The Red Sox had a nightmarish start to the season, but they are far from the worst team in baseball. Their talented pitching staff, led by Crochet, will right the ship and give Cora the time he needs to continue developing his young core led by Anthony and Abreu. Veterans like Story, Contreras, and Jarren Duran will be better, and the defense will stabilize as the temperature warms. I fully expect the Red Sox to be the playoff team they were predicted to be before the start of the season.