Injuries Pile Up: Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Lead the way on to the DL

Injuries Begin to Matter for the Sox

Most of the season, this blog has been a pretty much a love fest between me and the Sox. I felt, (rightly so, in hindsight) that on paper at the beginning of the season, the Sox were the team to beat. Phillies & Rays looked good pitching-wise, but I didn't think they had the punch they needed to get past the Sox. Texas had a heck of year last year - could they keep it up? I was skeptical, and with the roster the Sox had, didn't think it mattered.

 

Well, it matters now.

 

What changed on the Red Sox

I'll tell you what changed: The rotation. When Dice-K was lost for the year, people shrugged it off. But he was a quality arm, and they aren't easy to replace. Lackey has looked better, but is still pitching like a fifth starter, not a 2 or even a 3. And when Buckholz goes down, now replaced with Bedard, you realize: They've got two quality starters.

 

That's not enough to guarantee them the division championship, let alone the World Series. Although I still think the Yankees may crumble down the stretch, all evidence points to the fact that the Yankees are tough, motivated, and perfectly capable of competing this October. The good news is the Sox match up well against New York, as evidenced by the record against them this year. Bad news is, they match up poorly against the Phillies, Texas, and even Detroit.

 

Can the Sox hit Good Pitching

Folks, this is the big question. Everyone hits less well against quality pitching, but this Sox team has slumped three times this season, counting the current slump, and has looked rather ORDINARY against bad teams when they aren't putting 10 runs on the board. That's not a good sign folks. Not good at all. I usually feel the team that catches fire offensively in the playoffs is the one that goes home with the trophy, you just need hot bats to get past all the quality pitchers, and clearly, the Sox are looking to rest their guys now, get them healthy, and then kick-ass in September and storm the playoffs. It's a good plan, but if they aren't hitting, we got problems.

 

And they aren't hitting. We're in trouble for sure if Youk and Ortiz don't get healthy. Crawford can't be the strikeout maven he's been almost all season at this point. Salty and Scutoro have had good stretches but we need more, and Reddick needs to make the adjustments to stay a viable threat. That's over half the line-up, and it's majorly concerning. Worse, the Sox have had Jekyl and Hyde routines against quality starters. When they're good, they get their smacks, but often times, the hitting evaporates. That means you can pencil in two wins for Detroit against Verlander in a short series, and makes me decidedly uneasy for the Phils if we get that far.

 

I'm not panicking. They're in it. They've got talent. And you can certainly win the whole thing with two quality starters and some sluggers. But it won't be the unfettered joy-ride it looked like in April. It'll be nail-biting series all the way.

 

 

Do Good Things Today!

Matt Heisler