With Koji Uehara out with shoulder soreness, should the Boston Red Sox be concerned? (Photo by Kelly O’Connor via SittingStill.smugmug.com)
The Boston Red Sox may have finished the week with a 3-4 record, but it could have been a lot worse had it not been for the heroics of David Ortiz on Wednesday evening and the ace Jon Lester stepping up once again. The Red Sox starters have struggled, but the real struggle has been the offense who can’t really find the big hit early in the season. Nothing to be too worried about, but it should be monitored once Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino return from the DL in about a week.
Big Papi at it again
Ortiz has been probably one of the all-time greats when it comes to hitting the clutch and a huge three-run shot to lift the Red Sox out of a 1-2 hole to a 5-2 edge in the eighth inning on Wednesday was great timing on his part. This saved a home stand that was otherwise a loss as the team went 1-4 in the other five contests before Ortiz gave them a boost.
The 38-year-old already has two home runs in 2014 and has looked pretty solid at the plate. With injuries hampering the full potency of this lineup for the time being, the Red Sox will need to rely on the bat of Ortiz for the time being and Big Papi will need to respond in a big way for at least another week.
Red Sox fans can embrace another clutch comeback from Ortiz for now, but just make sure to think back to all his moments when his career starts coming to a close.
Pitching, pitching, pitching
The Red Sox record is basically in correlation with how the starter’s perform this past week. In two of the bigger loses, Felix Doubront was roughed up for five runs, six hits, three walks in only 2.2 innings of work against the Texas Rangers on Monday night. John Lackey gave up a career-high four home runs to the New York Yankees Saturday afternoon and the Red Sox fell to 0-2 in those two games alone. This was after a seven inning performance on Monday against the Rangers in which Lackey allowed only one unearned run to score in a 5-1 victory.
Lester and Jake Peavy both pitched well and Lester earned his first win of the 2014 season with 6.2 strong innings against the Yankees in the Bronx Friday evening. Peavy may have struggled the most of any starter down the stretch last season, but he still can get the job done in the majors. He showed this with 6.2 innings while allowing just three hits and one run while striking out eight and walking four in a no-decision against the Rangers.
The starting pitching has been promising and the bullpen has had its bright spots. Though, injuries may put a damper on things in the coming weeks.
Koji Uehara is dealing with a shoulder issue, which means Edward Mujica is the temporary fill-in closer. No one has mentioned anything about the 39-year-old’s timetable, but Mujica should be a solid replacement with the year he had with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013. He finished with a 2.78 ERA and 37 saves before slowing down as the season started to wind down in September for the stud reliever Trevor Rosenthal.
With the pitching looking solid for the most part, the Red Sox should have another contending season with many of the teams in the AL struggling out of the gate. Plus, it is early in the season, so the starters and relievers have plenty of time to regroup after a couple of rough outings.
Going Forward
With six games on the table, including a contest Sunday night against the Yankees, three at Chicago White Sox and two at home against the Baltimore Orioles, it is a great week for the Red Sox to get back on track against a White Sox staff that has compiled a 5.86 ERA through 12 games entering Sunday. Plus, the Red Sox have an off day on Monday, so the extra rest should help the team who has not been off since after the first game of the season.
Prediction: 4-2